I recently caught an episode of Scouting for Toys, the TV documentary about the life and times of Vectis toy auctions in the UK. Vectis are possibly the biggest vintage toy auction house in the country.
The episode I saw was about Matchbox cars. A lifetime's collector of these cars was selling up and his entire collection was up for grabs. It included every model mint and boxed, together with unique one-offs and prototypes. A big deal even for Vectis and that really came through in the programme.
The seller, one Graham Hamilton, was treated like Matchbox royalty by the punters who turned up at the sale, shaking his hand and I even think I saw him signing something. In the world of Matchbox collecting Graham Hamilton is king!
The auction itself, or the highlights shown in the show, was exciting, largely because the buyers were clearly excited by this stunning collection, the amazing quality of everything and the scarcity of some prize items like a reversed colour recovery pick-up, which had everyone jumping.
When the hammer fell for the last time and the bids were totted up Mr. Hamilton had made a staggering half a million pounds! Clearly a huge sale for him and for Vectis too. He explained that he wanted a large American car to drive around in real life now and would use some of the dosh for that.
I enjoyed the show and will look for the others on repeat somewhere. Inevitably the toys themselves take second place towards the finale and it ends up being about the money but it is an auction house after all.
What do you think of Scouting for Toys?
I watched it all and quite enjoyed it. It is always interesting to see people enthusiastic about something.
ReplyDeleteOur kind of show Kev after all.
DeleteI saw it too and, though not a collector at all, enjoyed seeing the vintage toys and, like Kevin, the huge enthusiasm of those involved.
ReplyDeleteDear God, the prices though !
They've gone through the roof Mish I know!
DeleteIts interesting to see ehat a complete bunch of amateurs Vectis are, they advertise like theyre Sothebys, but are just a bunch of chancers in a warehouse!
ReplyDeleteI thought the Matchbox estimator at Vectis knew what he was doing.
DeleteMight be me out on a limb here, but I think some of the prices old toys raise are just silly. I can understand people wanting to collect them, many are attractive, but maybe it's getting out of hand?
ReplyDeleteThe prices of some vintage toys have gone stratospheric Andy I agree. Just look at the prices of Project SWORD toys! I hope its not the blog effect with those!
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