Dinky toy cars, buses and military vehicle collection sells for £180,000

Steve Bonney spent 30 years scouring specialist toy shops and auctions in pursuit of high quality mini models to build up his huge collection.

Most of the 700 toys were proudly displayed in eight specially-made cabinets in the study of his home but he stored the most valuable dozen in a safe.

They sparked fervent bidding amongst collectors at auction and exceeded the pre-sale estimate of £150,000.

Mr Bonney, 65, a retired financial director, said his love of Dinky toys emerged as a five-year-old boy and collecting them allowed him to re-create his childhood.

He stumbled across a toy fair in the mid-1980s and when he encountered Dinky toys he missed out on as a child he was hooked.

However, the grandfather of three decided it was the right time to part with the collection so that other people could 'love' and 'cherish' the toys.

The top seller was a Dinky Foden 8-wheel Flat Truck with chains which achieved a price of £5,760.

A rare 'Sweeteners for Industry' Leyland Octopus Tanker which was produced in 1963 sold for £5,280.

A Dinky Foden 8-wheel Flat Truck with tailboard went for £4,800, while a Dinky Foden 8-wheel 14-ton Tanker fetched £4,080.

A Dinky Big Bedford 'Heinz 57 Varieties' van smashed its £260 estimate to sell to a telephone bidder for £3,120, 12 times the amount.

Mr Bonney, of Bretherton near Preston, Lancashire, said: "It all started when I was a little boy of five in the late 1950s.

"Dinky toys were the only toys I was interested in.

"If you got me one for Christmas or a birthday I would always be thrilled to bits.

"But you get older and you discover girls and Scaletrix so you stop playing with the toys.

"Then about 30 years ago, completely by accident I stumbled across a toy fair at a hotel in Liverpool and there were Dinky toys I never had as a child and the passion returned.

"I started collecting and became a very keen collector for 20 to 25 years first visiting toy fairs and then moving on to auctions because that is where you get the highest quality toys.

"I kept them in my study at home and had eight bespoke cabinets made to display them although I put the most valuable dozen in a safe.

"The last few years I slowed down and it was always my intention to put them on the market.

"For old boys like myself when you get to a certain age you like to recreate your childhood and the Dinky toys have allowed me to hark back to my childhood which was a very happy period in my life.

"I have been the custodian of the toys and have loved and cherished them but it was time for them to fall into the hands of people who will cherish them like I have."

Mr Bonney said his wife Pat, 62, did not share in his passion for Dinky toys but she has amassed an impressive collection of her own - of handbags.

He said: "My wife just saw it as one of my quirks and she was happy to go along with it.

"She collects handbags so we are well-matched!"

Auctioneer Andrew Reed, Dinky toy specialist at auctioneers Vectis, of Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, who sold the collection, said: "Steve would come to auctions like ourselves and also Dinky toy specialists and he would never be afraid to wait until the toy in the perfect condition was available.

"The quality of the toys in his collection really stood out to me. He only wanted to get the best of the best, whatever the cost.

"The auction went extremely well and Steve is delighted with the result."