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Vintage Toy Shops and Collectors

The definition of a vintage toy is hard to describe, although the designation from the wine trade is a good place to start - "characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal". Whatever view people have of what best defines a vintage toy, there would seem to be a broad consensus that a 50 year old person for example would consider that the toys he or she played with in their youth were now vintage. Antique toys are considerably older and are even rarer.

Trik Trak, Bayko and Johnny Astro will all conjure up feelings of nostalgia, whereas Meccano or Hornby may not, because a version of the toy is still available on the market, although Hornby Dublo most certainly will! Several online retailers have traditional shops as well. They specialise in buying and selling vintage toys, which some people may well describe as being toys or games that are merely discontinued, and therefore may be relatively new.

Other vintage toys to remember could be Sutcliffe clockwork metal boats, Pelham Puppets, Triang pedal cars or dolls prams, and the wonderful steel Mobo rocking horses with the big open springs that were a great trap for little fingers! Whatever your view of the definition, vintage toys could still be lurking in your lofts.