A BIT ABOUT ME

I came to Australia in 1988 but before that I lived in London. Most of my collecting is now done through auction sites such as eBay and the MICA Club. It was way back in 1978 that my father came home with a Y1 SS Jaguar in white that someone had given him at work. The next week it was the Y5 Lipton's Tea van and I was hooked. From then on I used to search out toyshops on the way home from work and spend ages browsing through their stock of Yesteryears. On one of many visits, the owner of a toyshop in Victoria, London suggested that I join a club for collectors called 'U.K.MATCHBOX'. I did this and was amazed to find that there were regular swap meets held where these models could be purchased. I think in this period most of my wages went on anything that I could lay my hands on until a few dealers started to give me information on what to collect and what to look out for. It was at one of these meetings, a small obscure one, somewhere  in the East end part of London that I happened to walk past a table with just box lids on it with loose unboxed models. I took no notice as I was now looking for ' Mint & Boxed' only and this display was rather dreary compared to some stalls. However as it was a small meet I wandered back around and noticed that a Y21 Woody Wagon was not in a colour familiar to me. I was informed  that it was a pre-production model as it had no date or Y designation and was made to test out the model before production commenced. To cut a long story short, the guy that I met was Derek Grundy, the Senior Quality Control Manager at Lesney. Over tea & bickies at his house or mine he would tell me wonderful stories about Lesney and the times when he worked for Benbros, another English die-casting company. Invariably he would produce some more models and ask if I could spot the differences without comparing it to another model. I usually lost as sometimes there would only be 1 or 2 millimetres in it. I usually ended up buying these models as I found it a far more interesting aspect of the hobby. Sadly Derek passed away a few years back, but I will always remember him for fanning the passion that I have for these models now. I believe, that although he never collected them, that Derek had the same passion.

I created this site out of my love for these models and to show others the beauty of what is out there for collectors and was somewhat surprised at the response. One of my great memories as a kid was walking into Woolworth's at North End Road in Fulham and seeing a whole display bench filled with Regular wheels, sweet days indeed.

I have now updated the site with hopefully a lot more content for you to browse and enjoy. I love nothing better to chat about, so mail me if you wish as all are replied to or if in Sydney, Australia then you are welcome to visit. You can also find me on the MCCH site at the Yesteryear board there where I am moderator. We have collectors from all around the world there and a real friendly bunch so come and join us (see links page)