A place to share my collection of vintage and retro toys

When I tell people I collect vintage and retro toys I often get asked about my collection and how it all started.  Its a subject I could talk about at great length.  This website is probably the best way to talk about my collection in detail without boring people, and overstaying my welcome in everyone's attention span.  Here I hope to show off my hoard, talk a little about the history behind the items and promote why collecting in general can be an investment as well as a hobby.

Why Andy's Forgotten Toys?

Andy's Forgotten Toys is a subtle nod to the foundation stone of Disney's Toy Story.  As much as the characters in those movies are loved the world over, the general arc of the films is how the toys fight to remain relevant as Andy and indeed his sister grow older.  We've all been Andy, had a favourite toy, played with it every day and then somehow discarded it, forgotten about it, relegated it to the toy box, wardrobe or attic.  Where did it end up?  Probably in a bin in bits, a charity shop, or if you were like me; swapped for something one of my friends had and I wanted.  The irony is that some of the merchandised toys from the early Toy Story movies will have already been discarded and rediscovered as valuable vintage collectables.

The truth is I cant actually remember. I do remember seeing a news article about a Corgi Batmobile Gift Set, still boxed, in near mint condition that sold at auction for something like £2500 back in the late 90's.  I also remember with great horror that I once owned that same gift set, and how I enjoyed playing with the 3 vehicles in the mud, the bath and pretty much anywhere my imagination would take me.  Who in their right mind would keep something that cool in a box and never play with it?  It was probably only about £5 to buy back then too.  The other more important question I asked myself at that point was why didn't I ask my mum or dad for 2 gift sets?  Oh, that's right because I was only 4.

I guess after seeing that news story I started to think about what else from my childhood is still out there boxed up like new and for sale? I think I felt a sense of guilt that I had owned all these amazing toys and didn't appreciate them fully at the time. I have friends who sill have some of their childhood toys in an attic somewhere but I am not a hoarder by nature and kept nothing from my childhood. I decided I would start to source all my favourite toys from my childhood, in as good a condition as I could find at the time, and for the right price.  That led me to my first acquisition, A 1962 Corgi 261 James bond Aston Martin DB5, but that's another story.

I realised quickly that my search was mostly for toys related to film and TV, which I guess at first I didn't really reflect on.  Don't get me wrong I had other toys too, like Action Man for example but they didn't immediately spring to mind or figure in my initial plan. 

Along the way I did start to acquire other classic vintage toys though, and soon realised there was a market to sell these on and earn some extra funding to purchase new items for my personal collection.  Lets face it there is no money to be made from banks these days and this way I earn interest from my interest. Win win.

As the direction seemed to establish itself, I continued to go with it, and so the majority of my collection is related to TV and film and continues to grow past my initial childhood toys.  As each decade passes, toys from that era become someone's childhood memory and now I suddenly realise... I am that person who buys a toy and never takes it out of its box.