THERE'S A TOY CELLAR IN US ALL!

I had another blast from the past at my Daughter's house over the weekend. She returned a plastic box I hadn't seen in years. 

This green box was one of many I had on shelves in my big old sunlit  'toy cellar' back in the 90's, when I used to trade stuff from there and do mail order as well. It was called Moon Zero Toys and I actually had regulars!

Having a full-time job as well, buying and selling old second hand toys was my hobby back then - it still is! - and these plastic boxes were how I divided up my stock into manageable parts. The one in the picture - TV Action - would have held all manner of oddments from the TV shows listed - James Bond, The Saint, the A Team, Bionic Man and Zorro - ranging from key rings, novels, action figures, jigsaws right up to small boxed toys.

Larger boxed toys and board games were stacked as they came, on a separate shelf and the biggest thrill was to see several of the same boxed item stacked up. I remember having three second hand and excellent boxed Batman Animated Batmobiles on top of each other and it used to make me so chuffed. Like a proper toy shop! ha ha

There were some inspirational toy sellers in the 90's, who took the hobby - for them a business - to a whole new level and it was always a buzz reading their mail order catalogues and sales lists on Model Mart magazine. 

Notable among the many was the late great Jim Star Wars Stevenson and the inspirational Andy Foley and his TV Toy Zone, the catalogues of which are still a treasure of mine as they were really the catalyst, along with Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie, to start looking for old toys and collect the toys I owned as a kid.

My 'cellar' closed in 2003 when we moved and the new house didn't have one. Also with the advent of Ebay in the UK in 2000 my mail order side had already stopped. It was the end of an era and I was sad to leave that cellar behind. It had been a lot of fun.

I don't have any photographs of the old cellar so when I saw this box again this weekend it brought back happy memories of a time before Ebay changed our lives forever. Thanks for listening to an old man reminiscing!

Did you have an old store room, cellar or attic full of your stuff? Did you buy and sell or swap old toys? Do you still readers?