Collectable Matchbox Toys go under the hammer in Shrewsbury
Collectors of Matchbox Toys are in for a rare treat at an auction in Shrewsbury today when 18 packs of toys that have never been opened go under the hammer.
The packs, each containing six toys, were purchased by the North Wales vendor in 1970 from a toys wholesaler in the West Midlands. Each pack is expected to sell for around £80 when they are sold at Halls’ toys and collectable auction at the Welsh Bridge saleroom on Wednesday, May 11.
“These toys are still in their original factory shrink wrap packaging,” said Halls’ toys specialist Stewart Orr. “The difficulty is that the value of Matchbox Toys can be dependent on their colour and we of course have no idea what colour these toys are. It’s very much a case of collectors taking potluck.
“Matchbox made large numbers of each model and sometimes ran out of a particular paint during production. Rather than waste production time, they would complete the run using trial or end of run colours. Collectors are particularly keen to own toys painted in trial colours because so few were made.
“To make it even more complicated, some of these models are very collectable. There is a chance that a collector could buy a collectable model in a rare colour.
“The vendor, who is not a toy collector, decided to buy what he could from the wholesaler and would probably have paid around 80p for each pack, which makes them a very good investment 40 years ago.”
The auction also features a selection of mint condition Dinky and Corgi toys, including a Dinky Bedford lorry advertising Heinz Baked Beans, which is expected to fetch around £300. The lorry comes complete with its original blue and white striped box.
Train collectors are likely to be attracted by a German made Bing clockwork King George V locomotive and tender in its original box with straw packing, which is valued at around £300.
Also going under the hammer is the second consignment of a collection of aeroplane models made by Dinky, including a rare McDonald Douglas Phantom Fighter in the livery of the Luftwaffe, which is valued at up to £200.
The first part of the collection, assembled by a late British Airways pilot, made £9,500 at Halls in January.
