My Collecting Adventure

As most boys, I loved playing with toy cars from a very young age. My father was a car enthusiast, who loved driving us to and around many destinations in my youth.

My early toy cars were Matchbox and Tekno, later some Dinky and Corgi Toys followed. In 1986 I bought my first house in the East of Holland. It is then that  I started to collect model cars. New diecast models from a specialised model shop in Rijssen and also from De Bijenkorf. The latter organised an annual Model Car Event with exclusive limited editions on offer.

One of my friends also collected model cars and it was with him that I first visited the NAMAC toyfair in Houten and some other toyfairs in Amsterdam and Raamsdonkveer. The new diecast models were offered  there at somewhat lower prices than in the model shops.

On these toyfairs I first encountered obsolete models, which reminded my of my youth. I remember buying a Tekno Volkswagen 1500 for Hfl. 100,- mint boxed. My girlfriend thought I had lost my mind, paying so much money for a mere toy car....

Later on I decided to specialise in English made Dinky Toys. Dinky Toys because of their charm and English made because we love England.

In the nineties we visited England a couple of times per year. We travelled around, enjoyed ourselves and when we saw an antique or obsolete diecast shop, we could browse for Dinky Toys. Sometimes we unexpectedly noticed a local toyfair and stopped.

At the NAMAC toyfair we met some English dealers, like John Worley who has become a close friend and the late Mike Bowen. I started visiting Sandown Park toyfair on a regular basis, many times together with Jos Souren. I also looked out for Dinky Toys on several trips to the US, Canada and South Africa. My career enabled me to buy more and more Dinky Toys including the more rare and valuable models like Guys and Fodens.

In the late nineties obsolete diecast shops were gradually disappearing. I remember a trip to the South of England when I decided to buy what I could find. I returned with 36 mint/boxed Dinky Toys....

Internet came and I bought Dinky Toys from websites like Keith Harvey's. Around the year 2000 eBay started and enabled me to buy without travelling. A bit less "charming" but very efficient. In the first years of eBay it was easy to find rarities and bargains.

My collection of Fodens was rapidly expanding and I wanted to try to find and buy all varieties. I found 56 different Fodens, including all known rarities and all boxed. When I became member of the DTCA, I also started to write some articles on my Foden collection.

From 2015 until last year I could buy around 70 Dinky Toys from an amazing collection. The owner, Arthur Williams, passed away in 1979. His grandson Kevin sold the collection on eBay. I published an article for the DTCA on this collection.  Many rarities and one-offs, pre and post war. Arthur Williams was a railway engineer, who worked in South Africa for some time. The purpose made box for the display of the SADF Delivery Van and Loudspeaker Van is one of a kind. It mentions "not for sale" in Afrikaans on the box and later on a price was added and the set was eventually sold to Arthur Williams in the late 1950's. It gave me goosebumps when I first held it, realising that I could never ever find another one.

In the last ten years of my collecting adventure I have tried to specialise in known and unknown rarities. Like a 480 Kodak Van Trade Box, a 157 Jaguar XK120 in red with black hubs, or a 152 Austin Devon in yellow with grey hubs. I can go on for some time, I was and am very lucky with the Dinky Toys I was allowed to find and buy.

During my trips and with the use of the internet, I bought some other diecast, tinplate and plastic models. I especially love the Thunderbirds, the Century 21 models, and the later Matchbox models. The tinplate clockwork robot made in Occupied Japan with its now hardened rubber head is not in the best condition, but it is very rare indeed.

After more than 35 years of collecting, it is now time to let it go. At Vectis Auctions, during the viewing days, it will be the first time for me to see my entire collection. It was simply too large for me to be able to display it all. I look forward to attend the three-day auction starting on 20 September.

I truly had a great time to collect it, I enjoyed writing about it as a DTCA member and showing it to fellow Dinky Toys collectors.

I sincerely hope that all buyers enjoy and cherish my models as much as I have done.

Rob van der Hoort

The Rob van der Hoort Collection will be Auctioned over three days - the 20th, 21st and 22nd of September, and features approximately 1600 Lots. 

The collection is predominantly Dinky models from 1933 to early 70s and includes Gift Sets, Trade Packs and Accessories, plus rare and unusual variations.