Vectis Auctions

The Simon Hope Collection. Part One.

I was born in 1951 - a great time for car design especially in the UK and the US.

Some of the greatest models of all time came out in the period I was growing up and I was hooked. They have been a huge part of my life ever since, given me huge amounts of enjoyment and taken me around the world to meet some fascinating people.

We had ordinary family saloons like the Hillman Minx and the Sunbeam Talbot 90 (quite racy for us) so I looked out of the windows and dreamed. We lived in a semi-detached south of Warrington in Cheshire (not far from where I live now) which was a growing post-war industrial town with wire works, tanneries and many other industries. However, we saw precious few ‘great cars’ until we travelled. We went to London regularly and played golf and other sports all over the country. Everywhere I went the trick was to spot the best. We were about 10 miles from Oulton Park race circuit so even though sport featured a lot in my life we found time to go to watch the racing too.

A life of unfulfilled dreams and large wish lists – well, it would have been if it wasn’t for Matchbox!!

My love of cars was obvious from the off so my parents started by buying me the little car in the box from 2 years old. However, I simply opened the box took the model out, looked it all over, ran it a couple of times along the table or floor and promptly put it back in the box. It didn’t help when Gran simply refused to let me play with them at all when we went to see her. It then got put on a shelf in my bedroom and waited until the next birthday etc for another friend to join it on the shelf. This continued until I started to earn pocket money or ‘paper round’ money and it all went on models (well maybe the odd sweet) and most of those models are included in this sale.

I branched out into Dinky, Rio and Brumm during my teenage years but from the end of schooldays I more or less forgot all about them as I was working and anyway, I was playing with the real thing - I was collecting different things. Fifteen years or so later I got them out and started to buy some more models and I dealt with a few dealers all of whom at one stage or another didn’t live up to their hype and decided to only buy from auction.

I was not though still really collecting. I had not joined a club, I did not have a price guide or a list of rare models or anything - I just bought what I liked but I was buying lots, and luckily, I met Julian Royse from Vectis early on and he helped point me in the right direction. We have built this collection together and I would place his knowledge and trustworthiness amongst the best in the model collecting world and not just matchbox. He has rated all of these models.

Why are they for sale?

No room left so I am just keeping a selected 1500 or so but I will still be at the sales for the odd one I am missing.

My world is auctions. Real full-size Collector Cars, Motorcycles and Automobilia at H&H Classics.

So I bid you the best of luck.

Simon

The TV and Film related sale held on the 28^th of February featured The Iain Gothard Collection, 21 lots of Bubble gum trading cards, vintage TV and film related collectables, games and Lego. Other items in the sale comprised a number of vintage and modern Star Wars lots, including carded figures, boxed vehicles, a large collection of Black Series 6” scale items, Star Wars Unleashed, graded figures, graded model kits, vehicles and accessories, porcelain figures, cookie Jars, annuals, games and much more. There was a nice collection of UK graded Transformers within the sale, plus Dr Who DVDS and figures, Action Man, Gerry Anderson, Laurel and Hardy figures and collectables, Subbuteo, Lego, a large collection of Marvel and DC Comics, Diecast vehicles, retro games and consoles and vintage children’s toys and games.

Dear Collector

Mother started it all. Clearing out her loft in preparation to move into a retirement bungalow she had found a box of my old Dinky and Matchbox toys she had put away as a keepsake. So here I was in 1975 back in ownership of my early 1950's toy cars bearing the scars of a playful thrashing.

From an early age I had always found fast cars exciting. This interest in all forms of motorsport has remained with me all my life. Having had my interest in model (toy) cars rekindled, wandering into my local model shop in December 1975 I discovered Polistil - and the just released model of the Renault "Alpine" Rally. I bought it, and then other models in this Aladdin's cave. At the British Grand Prix in 1976 I came across a stall selling Solido, and bought a Porsche 911 in bronze. This is when things took off. I had my local toy shop put new models to one side as soon as they came in, and I collected them on a weekly basis. I soon expanded to Dinky, Corgi and Matchbox. At the end of 2018 reviewing my 43 years of collecting revealed that I had models from 79 different manufacturers from across the world.

At this point I should mention that I was also afflicted with "collectionitus" at about the age of 8. In those days Brooke Bond tea came in packets and with each packet would be a card to collect. These started with a 25 set of "Birds of Britain", and then moved on to larger sets of Wild Flowers, Wild Animals etc. The clever marketing bit was that a few cards were deliberately made rare, thus making this young collector demand that tea consumption should drastically increase in our household so that my set could be complete. This need to "complete a set" has consumed me all my life, and was readily transferred to model cars.

Matchbox 1:75 scale models were not good news for me as they came in a set of 75, which I obviously had to collect. This only lasted for a few years before I refocused on the last of the Corgi models, and in particular the rarer colours and export models (still under valued I think)

From the start all my models were logged on handwritten spreadsheets in a green lever arch file, stating where purchased, price, condition etc. I never got around to transferring to an electronic spreadsheet system. Storage space was becoming a problem. The curse of all collectors. Having filled all the usual spaces under beds, on top of wardrobes etc. I realised a more comprehensive approach was required. As luck would have it there was a cardboard box manufacturer close by. Now armed with an endless supply of the same size boxes, I designed high level perimeter shelving around the bedrooms to house the expanding collection. A neat solution, but not entirely popular with my long suffering wife.

Initially, regularly touring the local toyshops for new models, I expanded this to attending the Swapmeets in the area. On holidays I sought out toy shops for old stock, including foreign trips. For example, while skiing in Crans Montana in Switzerland I found a tiny toy shop with some rare old stock Corgis. As an architect I became involved in remodelling banks across the UK from Portsmouth to Aberdeen thus travelling all over the country with the chance to raid the old stock of even more toy shops.

I had had visions of large display cabinets around the house. Like Brexit this negotiation proved difficult. A compromise of four small display cabinets was agreed, which I made myself at evening woodwork classes. The consequence has been that the vast majority of my models, once purchased, have laid dormant leading a very sheltered life in a cardboard box in a bedroom. The upside of this is that most are in time warp condition and will hopefully, via Vectis, find proud new owners to cherish them for the enjoyment of future generations.

I have obtained immense pleasure from both collecting and seeing the collections of others. Talking with other enthusiasts from all walks of life has fuelled my passion over the years. I am now at an age that I realise we are all merely custodians of what we collect. Downsizing is on the horizon and my collection must go. I do not resent this as I feel pleased that I will have contributed by passing on my models for future generations to see and have a 3D glimpse into a previous world.

Colin

The Specialist Sale held on the 13^th of March featured five private owner collections. The first included Dinky aircraft, military and emergency vehicles plus trucks, Corgi TV & film related, helicopters and Matchbox superfast. The Colin Collin's Collection featured over 280 lots of Corgi racing, road, sports and rally cars; buses, emergency vehicles and giftsets, Corgi Juniors James Bond and TV vehicles, plus Dinky cars, kits and shop displays, Solido groups and gift sets, plus models from Siku, Mebetoys, Joel, Schuco and many others. The Thailand Dinky Toy Collection featured 107 lots of cars, trucks, tankers and French Dinky; and The Spanish Dinky Toy Collection included cars, buses, farm, trucks, military and French Dinky including a “Coffret Cadeau Tourisme” set. The Tynemouth Collection included Dinky Military, Corgi Farm, Chipperfield’s Circus vehicles, tankers, trucks and gift sets. Further items in the sale included White Metal & Resin models from TW Collection (Trevor Wright Models), Brooklin and Lansdowne, Dinky Toys and Corgi instruction packs, and collectors club leaflets.

Day 2 of the Military, Civilian Figures, Equipment & Accessories sale started with Modern and Contemporary Issues from Britains, King and Country, Figarti, Thomas Gunn and more. There were 19 Lots of Grenada Studios, Lead Army, Aeroart studios and similar in the Connoisseur Miniatures From Russia; plus Britains Motorcycle Series and Civilian Issues from Benbros, Timpo and Britains Racing Colours; and Plastic Issues including Connoisseur Selection. The sale continued with Britains - Boxed & Unboxed Military Issues, Un-boxed - Special Editions & Paris Office, Militaria including medals, uniform and clothing, and Toy Soldier & Military Books and original Airfix Archive artwork.