UKC

Having a bit of a clear out and have found a box of my old toy cars, so wondering what to do with them, as trying to decide whether they are worth anything, or just junk.

They are a mix of Tonka, Matchbox and so on and all very well played with, so the paint is a bit chipped and so on. I don't have any of the original boxes, or anything like that.

Please can anyone suggest anywhere that might be interested - as a last resort, I'll stick them on eBay as a job lot and see if anyone bites.

Thanks,

Come round my house with em. I’ll get the hot wheels track out and make a jump off the kitchen table, and we can make tunnels out of our annuals

Let's make a loop-the-loop!!

Serious answer: local primary school may like them. Perhaps. 

This isn't Antiques chuffing Roadshow you know, this is UKC.  The correct thing to do with them is thread a length of cord through the doors and use them as pro, the Tonkas would probably be good for at least 10kN.

An old Austin Princess would make a great number 9

There does appear to be a demand for old toy cars, even id used and unboxed. Worth trawling ebay to see what your models go for.

Pretty much like other collectables, value will depend on condition and rarity. So most will be worth naff all but maybe you've got one that's rare enough to be worth something even in poor condition.

What a nice suggestion. 

I had a massive cardboard box full of matchbox cars when I was a young un and it was my favourite thing back then.  I've just had a mental flashback of playing with them, and the revving and screeching tyre noises id make. Wonder if that was the 70's equivalent of playing GTA? 

My grandparents owned a gift shop/barbers/guest house in Ambleside. Every time I visited they would give me a matchbox car and I would rip open the box and play with. I’ve checked on eBay how much they be worth (fully boxed etc) and then start sobbing....but at least I enjoyed them. 

If only parents had the foresight to buy two of everything and keep one untouched.

I remember my brother had the James Bond Aston Martin with the ejector seat and guns and rotating number plates and armoured panel at the back and spikes (or something) that came out of the wheel nuts. Pristine examples of these go for quite a bit I believe.

Incidentally, why did it have rotating number plates (with different registrations)? Not really going to work on a distinctive car (gold Aston Martin FFS) is it! Needed something nondescript like a Ford Anglia, can't quite imagine Sean Connery as Bond driving an Anglia though 😁

Ah, but it’s enough to foil the Soviet ANPR cameras, isn’t it.

Probably the same logic as James Bond being the greatest secret agent in the world, yet all the baddies seem to known his name and recognise him

a). Silver Aston Martin DB5, not gold. first seen in Goldfinger though

b). He had a citroen 2CV in 'for your eyes only'  and a Tuk Tuk in octopussy so maybe an anglia isn't so far fetched. 

Don't forget the period when he had a BMW. This endangered the franchise as everyone thought he was now the baddie and took against him so he went back to Aston Martins.

OP: I still have my Corgi DB5 which is mint but sadly missing the wee man who gets fired out of the ejector seat. I believe the original packaging increases the value massively. 

But, for some reason, the Corgi model was gold.

That might have been a special edition like the Hornby Gold princess elizabeth of the early 2000's.  My original corgi DB5 is silver (although very badly battered).

edit: google suggests the gold db5 is a 30th anniversary special edition

Just be careful that they're not old enough to have lead paint on them! The school might be wary of accepting them for that reason.

Funny thing about that, the first time I knowingly handled lead, off a camera counterweight, I realised that the smell is extremely familiar and I knew what it tasted like too: Everything in my primary school yard was painted with the stuff, we'd do pull ups on the goal posts and it'd rub off on our hands.

Nope. This was an original when i was a kid, so mid-late 60's.

I had the silver version, but I remember an older cousin (probably in the 1970s) saying he used to have one in gold, so there must have been an early gold model.

http://www.007magazine.co.uk/factfiles/factfiles_collectibles_corgi1.htm

Where I lived all the wiring outside was pinned to the wall with strips of lead.  I was fascinated with the stuff as a small kid, and used to peel the strips off, scrape off the oxidized coating, and make models out of it (it's surprisingly soft for a metal).

My (6 years the older) brother was also fascinated by the stuff, although in his case it was more to do with stripping the lead off the roof of the recently abandoned Victorian school opposite, and selling it to the local scrapyard for something like 10/- per lb.

What fun growing up on the outskirts of Byker late 60s.  Or something.

Or more to the point Ford (who owned Aston Martin at the time) bettered BMW's offer, this is also the reason he drives a gleaming Ford Mondeo in Casino Royale.

I used to love those miniature guns that Britains made that fired tiny shells (for the first few minutes before they were all lost, followed by using matchsticks).