Trains and boats and planes - toys that is!

Barry Potter (left) with his family team at a recent toy fair at the NEC. Photo Rob Tysall Pro Photography.

Being interested in toys isn’t just for kids! Adults of all ages are enjoying the hobby of collecting toys of all types. For some its model trains, others go for diecasts such as Dinky, Corgi and the many other models and manufacturers. For some it’s the distant past when tin plate was all you could buy; or it might be dolls and teddies, and the ever-popular TV, film and sci fi memorabilia.

There’s always the internet of course, when buying collectable toys but you can’t beat browsing toy stalls and actually seeing and handling the items for real. One of the biggest and best toy fairs around is the Barry Potter Collectors Fairs which regularly has up to 500 stalls selling every kind of retro toy imaginable, as well as the latest models on the market.

How many of these do you remember. Photo by Rob Tysall Pro Photographer.

Barry’s fairs are held at the Birmingham NEC, the Ryton Sports Connexion in Coventry, Stafford Showground, Buxton, Sandown Park, Bolton and Doncaster. We went along to the Ryton Sports Connexion recently which saw hundreds of toy enthusiasts browsing the 200 stalls.

There was so much to look at from Thunderbirds comics to Simpsons’ Monopoly, POP toys to trading cards, and from Star Wars figures to model trains – and much more. Prices ranged from bargain boxes where you could pick up a vintage toy at pocket money prices, to rare, mint, boxed items with prices stretching into the hundreds.

Sujan on his Dragonvault stand. Photo by Rob Tysall Pro Photographer.

Amongst the newer stalls and bang up to date with current interests, was Dragonvault.gg specialising in rare trading cards such as Pokemon, Disney and Anime. The young man behind Dragonvault is Sujan from Bicester, who gave up a full-time job in teaching to follow his passion for these vintage to mid era game cards. Incredibly, these range in value from around £5 to over £2,000.  

A variety of toy clubs had stands such as the Coventry Diecast Model Club and the Bachmann Collectors Club, while some dealers also had toy shops such as Steve Taylor whose toy shop, Love Retro is in Oxfordshire. Steve has been collecting toys for the last 40 years, beginning when he was 15 with Star Wars collectables. It was an interest which just grew and grew. He specialises in vintage toys from the 1960s to the 2000s and regularly does a video tour of his shop which is posted to Facebook.

Steve of Love Retro. Photo by Rob Tysall Pro Photography.

Adjacent was another Steve with his wife Angie, also of Oxfordshire. Their stand was Tinkering With Toys, linking the character toys to their Pokemon cards, setting them in a small diorama and showing them under a dome – definitely an attractive way of displaying your favourite toys or cards.

Browsing the many stalls, we found all kinds of toys from one-off rarities of hand-made cars, videos, TV and film figures, James Bond collectables, Aliens and Predators, Terminator figures, transformers, clockwork tinplate and so much more.

Steve and Angie with their brand of collectables. Photo by Rob Tysall Pro Photography.

So if you just fancy a trip back to your childhood or you're thinking of taking up collecting - or have never stopped, then keep your eyes peeled for a toy fair near you. Details of Barry Potter fairs can be found here: https://www.bpfairs.com/