Collectors Hive recognizes every collector in the world. We are happy to share their stories here in our blog. Each of them has a story to tell. Today we feature this extreme collector, Ronald Toby from Philadelphia, who actively began collecting vintage toys at the age of 15. Ever since he grew a life-long fascination with toys, he now owns over 80,000 items. Ronald displays his collection in various rooms throughout his home, in a museum style.
He estimated that his entire collection of toys and memorabilia could go be as high as $1.4 million – after it was appraised by Philadelphia News in 2011. This 64-year-old hobbyist is proudly saying, “One thing I have learned about toys is that when you become a man, you’re still a kid inside.”
“My collection is like living inside a toy store. I always loved going to the toy store, so having that in your own house is really great.
“Whenever I’ve made a bad move or whenever things go wrong, I just go down the basement to the toy store.”
“I try to have a different thing in each room. I have a swatch room, I have an African room, I have an ice house room which is filled with frozen icicles.
“From there I have a boxing memorabilia room, a 1941 room, and a doll’s room.”
He displays a detailed battlefield featuring some 10,000 miniature figures, which were hand-painted over time.
Ronald is looking for a warehouse to keep his huge toy collection. He wanted to embark a legacy in the future.
Sources:
http://www.barcroft.tv/one-million-dollar-vintage-toy-collection-philadelphia
http://www.barcroft.tv/one-million-dollar-vintage-toy-collection-philadelphia
Inspiring 🙂