Keep Your Childhood Toys!

It's no secret that I'm an eBay fanatic. One of the things you quickly discover, is that your childhood starts flashing before your eyes. I can't tell you how many times I've stumbled upon an item I used to have from my childhood. Some of the listed items are in horrible condition while others appear brand new. But, it still brings the same response - Why did I get rid of it? Well, sometimes I got rid of those toys by choice. Other times, it was so completely destroyed from hours of play, or misuse, that it had to be discarded. (I melted an entire set of plastic cars in our backyard incinerator. Of course, there's also the time I cut the head off an army man by using a razor blade. Also, cut the tip of my finger off too. But, I digress).

One of the things that I've still held on to from childhood are my Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars collections. I started collecting Hot Wheels the first year they were available - 1967. I continued this hobby into the early 1970s. I treated my Hot Wheels very well. (Unlike Sid from Toy Story). I never took them outside and only played with them in my Hot Wheels sets. I actually got annoyed when other kids would smash their cars together. Sometime in the late 1970's my Hot Wheels went into deep storage in mom's attic. When I got my own home, versus an apartment, mom said it was time to get your stuff out of the attic. So, the Hot Wheels moved into storage in my own home.

Sometime around the year 2000, I decided to price my collection. I figured 30 years had gone by, and some of the cars were sure to have gone up in value. I was shocked to find out that I was sitting on a rare 1967 White Enamel Redline Custom Camaro. At the time, I didn't do anything with that car. It just continued to stay in storage.

Recently, I got to thinking about selling the car. I starting doing my homework, reading price guides, talking to other collectors, scouring the internet. Any type of collector will tell you that research is SO important whether you're a buyer or seller.

Well, today I finally sold the Camaro. Being a gentleman, I can't devulge what I sold it for. But, I can tell you it's time to go shopping for a new camera.