Deceased Father's Collectible Toys - What to do??

Morglin

These might be ok:

http://helpemptymyattic.co.uk/

Lin

margaretclare

There IS a market out there for them but the best prices are for those with rarity value i.e only a few ever produced, and for those which have never been out of their boxes i.e never been played with.

This was a hobby of my late husband's, he died in 1992. I didn't know what to do with them. We had them all over the house, in special display shelving and cabinets that he made. For a long time I thought I mustn't touch them, if he came back he'd be upset and angry to see they weren't where he'd left them. Then I couldn't bear to see them at all so with my daughter's help (she died in 2002) I listed them all, we packed them up and put them in the loft. Then we read of a Dinky lorry that had been sold at auction for a huge amount. We decided to put them up for auction and we took them all to an auction house in west London.

The trouble was, my late husband had picked up many of these in a battered and paint-less state in local jumble sales and boot fairs. He'd had enjoyment repainting them, making up his own fleet of vehicles with his grandparents' (who were greengrocers) name and inventing a colour for them, like modern Stobart.

We did get some money for them, but nothing extraordinary. It helped my daughter anyway, it was her 'inheritance'.

mgdavid

you say you want a 'fair' price for them, quite right too; so I'd avoid dealers and toy fairs as they will be buying to sell on so won't pay a full fair price. It will help you if you have a rough idea of their worth, especially if some are rare or unusual and especially valuable - you can use ebay to research what others have sold for, do an advanced search for each model, use the 'completed listings' option and you will see all the previous sales. You can then either go to an auction house (a specialist, not any old auction house) or sell on ebay, your choice.
Just remember, you don't get 'owt for nowt, if you're prepared to put a bit of effort into valuation and selling you will get top price, if you just want shot of them you will get less.

Kernow666

as your in cornwall try these i have used all in past & all good

www.cornwallauction.co.uk they have regular collectable sales based near redruth

also

www.davidlay.co.uk based in penzance has specialist toy sales

www.lodgeandthomas.co.uk based in truro

www.jeffreysauctions.co.uk based in lostwithial also has specialist toys/collectables auctions

aileth

I'd try and find some hobby/collector's forums and try and garner some interest, perhaps take pictures and post them asking for people's advice on possible worth etc. You may even have some which are very rare and the collectors will make offers, or at the very least give you some idea of their worth.

snowleopard61

If you are willing to wait, you could always go along to Antiques Roadshow! - serious suggestion, as they haven't anything to gain so would at least give you unbiased advice on the value:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/beonashow/antiques

DUKE

My husband had cars from his Dad too, unfortunately his Dad threw the boxes away :eek: We did look into selling but they weren't worth a lot even with the boxes. So he passed them on to his son who could hold on to them for another 40 years, just in case. Good luck anyway

jwil

If you can put the work in, then I disagree with janb and ebay is the place to go! We sold my late FIL's collection on there and some of it went for really decent money.

It's one of the few places where you can get a huge audience for your items. A lot of overseas buyers bought stuff, and I don't think we had a single problem.

If you are looking for a local auction house, then I would recommend looking for one that has an online presence, then at least people from all over the country/overseas will be able to bid.

If you offer to dealers etc, they will obviously want to make a profit, so you'll have to balance the money you might get against the ease of the deal.

ben_m_g

Some years ago I inherited 40 - 50 toy cars (unfortunately not the original matchbox types) in varying conditions.

I doubt that they are worth any real money, but they are just sat in the garage, to be perfectly honest, full of bad memories.

Would it be worth taking these to an auction? i know nothing about cars and putting them on ebay would be a task that I just cannot find time for.

*edit, just to be clear these are reproductions, I vaguely remember some at least coming from the paper. They are probable not worth much if anything.

jwil

ben_m_g wrote: »

Some years ago I inherited 40 - 50 toy cars (unfortunately not the original matchbox types) in varying conditions.

I doubt that they are worth any real money, but they are just sat in the garage, to be perfectly honest, full of bad memories.

Would it be worth taking these to an auction? i know nothing about cars and putting them on ebay would be a task that I just cannot find time for.

*edit, just to be clear these are reproductions, I vaguely remember some at least coming from the paper. They are probable not worth much if anything.

To be honest, if they are from a paper, I'd be surprised if they are worth anything. If you have some of the popular brands, you might find that there are some decent ones in there.

I'd either stick them on ebay/facebook as a job lot, car boot them or send them to the charity shop if you don't want them hanging around.