Leicester Vintage and Old Toyshop - Dinky, Corgi, Matchbox - Die Cast - The end of an era? 

Corgi and Dinky will always be part of my life ..I grew up with many model's . I still collect these BEAUTIES when I find them here in CANADA ... Yes , it is sad how times have changed and people are more interested in their bloody cell phones these days !!

It stands to reason. I am 42 and the matchbox of the 1980s have a spell over me. Whatever about collecting, you have a special connection with the models you couldn't buy when a child, but can now. There must be a sweet spot when toys are 40 to 50 years old and the former child is at middle age with the disposable income to buy a toy they've looked for over 3 decades. Once that period passes the prices plateau and it just becomes an "adult collectable" rather than "a toy from my childhood".

I am from Denmark so Tecno was more my toy to pick. But I have several Dinky toy cars. All in all it was a great time to grow up in, with toys of such fine quality. Thank you for showing.

It really is sad to see these beauties not being collected like before. I love Corgis and see the same with them.

Here in the states, when I was kid, Matchbox and Corgi were the thing. Loved them. I still have many Corgi's from the mid 70's, some still with the box. Not sure why I kept them, most likely because we didn't have much and what we did have although we played with them, took care of them. I have a great love for the Corgi's and have my favorites. Good job guys.

Super cool la colestion top😊

I INHERITED MY FATHERS CORGI DINKY MATCHBOX COLLECTION WHEN HE PASSED. OVER 19,000 PIECES MOST M.I.B. FROM 1947-1978. HE HAD CATALOGS MAJOR SETS PLAYSETS COLORING BOOKS ALL IN MINT CONDITION. HE LEFT BEHIND NOTEBOOKS CONTAINING DATE OF PURCHASES WHERE PURCHASED AND PRICES AND DATES PAID AND BOUGHT FROM.

Loved your video, it brought back so many memories and I still love dinky,corgi and matchbox models.

I was born in 1978 and began collecting Dinky and Corgi at the age of 38 or so. I entered the market thanks to the science fiction vehicles. I think you’re quite right; prices are dropping. It’s a shame.

Last year I was talking to one of the auction house about selling off all or part of my collection. Their specialist said there was likely to be a five-year 'window' before prices begin to fall off considerably as that would be the time period when older collectors start to 'fall of their perches' resulting in much larger numbers of models coming to the market. He could well be right, except for those rare models or those in mint-boxed condition as rarity and quality will always be in demand.

I only live in Derby so will have to pay you a visit next time I am in Leicester. Still collect most of the stuff I had as a kid back in the '70's. Recently bought the Dinky US jeep and 105mm howitzer along with the Dinky Police Ford transit , not cheap but worth it. Also managed to get the Corgi James Hunt 1976 Championship winning McClaren and the Corgi mach one Mustang rally car. The Dinky UFO interceptor got to be next on my hit list. Matchbox King size and Battle kings were my other favourites. A great collection you have on show. Kids will catch on eventually when PS5 are out of favour?

I love these guy's Brilliant shop ,I must get there

when i started driving in 1970 you could pick up many cars, today called classic cars, for next to nothing - £5 for a mini was common! i enjoy collecting model die casts today of the cars i used to drive and have a good collection but they are becoming expensive again.

Love this shop. I go on and just walk around staring at stuff. Thankfully I have bought a few bits and bobs too.

When I was a boy I got Dinky and Corgi toys. We where pretty poor so I only got a few at Christmas but I was so excited and had many hours/days of playing with them. Don’t know About the prices as I don’t collect them anymore but you could be right as many of those who had them as boys are now dying off and kids now wouldn’t have the interest to want them

I LIKE OLD DINKY TOYS

You are right. Collecting model cars has been in decline for many years and we are a long way now from the collectables boom of the 1990s. You only have to look at the current moribund Corgi range, nothing at all from EFE and the fact that handbuilt white metal has more or less disappeared. Even Brooklin, effectively the last man standing, is downsizing again and moving to direct sales only (no dealers). Yes, some older models definitely are still collectable (market moving towards 70s/80s rather than 50s/60s models) but overall things are not what they were. Ebay too is awash with models that hang around for months or even years and only seem to sell if heavily discounted. I recently bought a mint boxed Somerville Ford Anglia Tourer for just over £30 when the original price would have been ~£150 in today's money. I was the sole bidder with a twice reduced reserve price of only £32. So much for the collectability and potential for future finanancial gain that was suggested 25 years ago when these were new! At least there are bargains to be found for those of us still collecting.

Great video chaps, very informative:) It's interesting to guess what will be the future collectible. I returned from a short holiday at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk this week and the seaside shops were awash with brightly coloured rubbery finger-poppers and 'tik-tok' plushes (temporary fads like finger-spinners). None were selling affordable vintage die-cast for the kids to take home as a souvenir. All the best.

A good watch. I've just bought the matchbox Superkings K105 Peterbilt from you ;-)

I still love my Dinkys from the 50’s …..mostly Army stuff and a few race cars

Just come across the channel, very interesting. Not a collector myself, but I remember receiving a dinky toy as a present in the 1970s. It was a Messerschmitt 109 in desert camouflage pattern, with I think a working propeller, came in bubble top packaging, still remember to this day. 👍

Saw it happen with Models of Yesteryear - generations die off

"It`s not dead. It`s resting".

4:45 Even us TV Dinky collectors are in our mid 60's and another 20 years or so most of us will be gone. Re-runs and DVD's have helped to keep them fresh in younger minds though. At the end of the day, collecting is based on nostalgia. Wrenn trains used to be collectable but who wants that crude stuff now? Tri-ang is better and still has a following. In your shop, you sell mainly 80's and 90's stuff which I have no interest in whatsoever but I can see why you stock it ... the 30 and 40 year old collectors are where we oldies were 30 years ago ... and they tend to have more disposable income. It is always a pleasure to come into your shop as sometimes you do have something for us oldies with short arms and long pockets.

I grew up in Canada and back in the sixties British toy car's ruled, we loved them especially the army trucks, double-decker busses, Thunderbirds, UFO, Captain Scarlet, etc, Couldn't afford them all back then.

On the positive side, at least future collectors of Dinky (there must be some) won't have to pay mad prices.

As Stephen Nolan commented 5 months previously, all of us middle-aged guys who want to capture some of the innocent magic of youth go back to either collecting models that they had and are gone for whatwever reason, models that they would like to acquire but in better condition, or models that they desired but could not afford on an allowance. We've hit the point where we are at peak income earning or so, and have that disposable income. Although I am American, I grew up with a hobby shop close by that had glasses display crammed full over neatly displayed Dinky and Corgi models, but those were out of my price range. This was as both Dinky and Mettoy were heading towards bankruptcy, and youth interest shifted from tangible models to computer games like Atari (remember that???). I focused on the small 1/64-scale models like Corgi Juniors and similar. Now, the 1/64 scale models have picked up a great deal of interest in the past decade, and much competition from recent manufacturers that produce "adult collectibles", as well as the veteran makes like Matchbox, Hot Wheels, Majorette, and Tomica. In terms of values, I suspect that the peak for Dinky and Corgi occurred and one possibility is that prices may drop. One factor because who were children of that era will gradually die off as we all will, but also because now Atlas is manufacturing new replicas of original Dinky and Corgi models. People who want a nice model but don't want to pay a high price can buy the reproduction . Less demand for the real MIB model means lower prices.

Dinky I guess is the best model car makers .. followed by matchbox ... I see these new fancy car models .. nothing's exciting about them .. but seeing a dinky n matchbox and I can't help but buying them in an instant .

I've been after a 1/50 scale Mercedes-Benz coach I saw while back when model zone toy shops were here wish I'd brought it.

You can see the demographic shift from die cast to plastic in sellers at toy fairs too. The original sellers I saw as a kid are hanging up their boots, plus a lot can't / won't make the shift to the online market.

Great vid guys.I collect tv related Corgi and dinky.They seem to be holding out well.Prices seem to be rising.I guess people collect what's relevant to them or what they had .So makes sense as people pass on there are less collectors.As stone has stated already it will happen to the original star wars stuff one day.Prices for that stuff at the moment seems sky high. Would love you to do.a vid of just your tv/film related diecast.

Well Gentlemen, just parcel those Dinkies up and i will gladly take 'em off your hands. :-)

Sadly it will be end of an era for all toys in the future, even vintage star wars.

Take 'em home!! 😀

I hope they will stay with us ,I sell and buy and restore, at the moment they sell like candy ,nice channel guys ,subbed

There is an American guy on TV who buys and sells old toys. He was offered a mint condition item from the 30s that was really popular at the time. He didn't want it at any price. But Star wars and similar from 70s and 80s were very sought after. Basically, the kids who remembered through toys of the 30s are all gone.

Sad indeed. A little depressing in fact. Give it 20-30 years and matchbox will go the same way. What will adult toy collectors buy in future?

I have got a lot of dinky and corgi plus matchbox toys

dont know if you still have it but the matchbox #73 mercury station wagon was a superfast transitional model in the previous regular wheel model F type box...you can see on the front it tells you it has auto steer front wheels...if the box was for superfast it wouldve said superfast on it until it went from F type to G type box

The collapse of large companies is unfortunate .

🔝

Britains toy tractor prices seem to be going up in price lately

I'm 1976 too🤣🤣

Why did you not mention Dinky Atlas, they make perfect reproductions of most of the early Dinky vehicles, I have lots of them, the original ones are still out of my price range, but I can get a China made one now and then.

The only people interested now days are old school or people in their 60’s like me

I'm still wanting some Red Dwarf stuff, so hard to find anywhere.

These car were poplar for kids of the 60s and 70s and picked in price around 2009 as the video said. When do you think 80s toys will peak? Are we at the peak now?

I'd have killed for the McLean 948 not long ago but I just can't afford the high prices so I have two restored ones that will have to surface unfortunately.

u f o is on the horror channel everyday now.great series. a lot of things in this we are seeing today,zoom calls,mobiles,sky one.

its a shame im in my late 50s and still buy the odd dinky. but ive seen a big price drop over the last few years . with hearing what you have said . i dont know if im going to sell dinkys but keep old of my corgi and matchbox models

I am the author of "The Unauthorized Encyclopedia of Corgi Toys". Corgi prices have collapsed over here in the USA. A number of collectors have approached me asking how the can sell their collection. I wish I could give them an answer.

Same thing has happened to pre war cars (real ones) prices have collapsed. 70s and 80s cars such as an Escort RS holds value. corgi are hanging in. but the era is done

No one stopped collecting these what it is is people stop paying thousands of dollars for a car that you found in an old garage that they sold for 60 cents what it is is people are finally tired of getting robbed

Hi mate any news on that attak trak ?

Sad, Millennials and Gen Z kids don't cars about all this Cool stuff, eventually my collection will be worthless! 😔

hotwheels got about 800 new ones

I think more and more are buying the rough play worn ones and restoring them looking at the amount of RU-vid channels. Buying the mint ones doesn't interest me at all compared to bring a rough one back to as new.

The boomers are dying off. its them that have the connection with these toys. newer generations have no tangible connection to these toys so demand will drop off and drop off a cliff in the next 20 years. I am sitting on a vast array of corgi & dinky TV and film related cars bought in the late 80s and early 1990s all mint and boxed when they were cheap. Mine will likely stay as a family heirloom after i am gone, but I doubt it will ever be added to by my descendants.

Have you any triang spot on models in play worn condition

9:47 I'll 'ave 'arf :)

Any rambo toys ?

Can't see a thing!😨

I collect them still and I’m 25 The reason I collect them is to show people with dementia

I disagree, in my opinion Corgi Toys or Dinky Toys in the mint Condition will never lose value

Dinky toys die-cast they are ok the fouruner to matchbox

guys, how much you asking, telling us would be an idea.

Who hasen't grown up with matchbox i feel sorry for the kids these days, not only because they have crap toy cars these days, but seeing that this is the point of the video and this comment, i'll leave it as that. Die cast, is the only way for toy cars, can't stand those plastic cheap junk of this generation. i still should have my toy cars some where, if my darned nephews didn't ruine them in the mean time.