Micheal, business owner & founder of Collectors Toys Ireland has his own story to tell below about how he started up Collectors Toys Ireland
“The seed that led to the creation of Collectors Toys was planted many years ago when I got a train set for Christmas. I was eight years old. As my father and I developed this basic train set into a large lay out we had many hours of shared enjoyment. At that time there was a model toy shop in Cork called “Boats Planes and Trains” and long enjoyable hours of exploring , selecting and finally buying were spent in that shop.
Later as a young man working in the city I often visited “Boats Planes and Trains” and bought collectors magazines. In one of these magazines I came across the photograph of a Corgi Holmes Recovery Truck for sale. Because I had one of these as a child it brought back happy memories. I tightened my financial belt for a few weeks and bought it. It was my first step into collecting models.
At home in our family business we sold general toys and in 1986 we started retailing Matchbox and Britians Farm Machinery. Through this we discovered like minded adults who were into collecting models. Then we branched out into Hornby Train sets, Scalextrics and Corgi Classics and we also began to do Collectors Fairs and outdoor events. We soon found that collectors were looking for more specialized pieces. We were on a learning curve and the customers were pushing out the boundaries!
By the 90’s we were selling all the major international brands but we had customers looking for Irish models. The problem was how to fill this gap in the market?. This specialized market would be limited so large production was not practical. The answer however lay within our own store as we were at the time retailing “British Tekno Collection” by Les Duplock of “Model Road and Rail”. So the next step was to launch the “Irish Tekno Collection”. Under the guidance of Les Duplock we then launched the Irish Tekno Collection.
This has since built up into a who’s who of the Irish Road Haulage business. It is the first time that properly detailed models have been manufactured for the Irish Collectors market. These models are not cheap but the quality of the Tekno’s detail and finish is superb.
In the coming years we will keep the Collection growing, together with other projects geared towards the Irish market.”
- Micheal O Murchu – Collectors Toys Ireland, Cork
