The Rise and Fall of Matchbox's Toy-Car Empire

Years ago, with the help of eBay, I built a "dream" small collection of Matchbox cars that I would've liked in childhood, and that would've practically been impossible to find amongst brick&mortar stores then.

Sorry, I'll admit I unboxed the ones still boxed, since I think toys are meant to be out and played with, not pumped collectible investments.

(I no longer have them, though. I was selling my Concept 2 erg, in preparation for moving house, and the buyer noticed my Matchbox dream collection in a tray on the table, and remarked that her nephew/grandson would love those. She'd just given me several hundred dollars for the rowing machine, and I was moving, so I threw in the Matchbox cars.)

Love that you threw them in. I’ve found this funny as an adult in my life— you may spend time collecting xyz, but suddenly letting it go can be easy in certain situations.

I sold the last of my vector arcade games to a friend when I was moving (Tempest and Space Duel). I threw in a PCB from Major Havoc too just to give it a good home. A few days later I decided to price check that board and some collector had recently paid $1200 for one. I was happy it went to a decent home instead of sitting on my shelf.