Category:Collectors Market

Toy Robot, Collectors' Market [image info]

Cast lead ships (Collectors Market) [image info]

Gauge 0 cabinet (Collectors Market) [image info]

Under-counter cabinet #1 (Collectors Market [image info]

Under-counter cabinet #2 (Collectors Market [image info]

Toy cars and 00-gauge cabinet (Collectors Market) [image info]

Brighton Toy and Model Museum hosts a thriving Collectors' Market, which takes up most of the Museum's shop display space.

The principle of the market is to act as a permanent version of the market stalls at collector fairs (but without an entry fee!).

Although a lot of this sort of material is increasingly available on eBay, many collectors like to pop in to see us when they're in Brighton, not only because they can get to see the actual items before they buy, but also because buying in person though the museum shop doesn't incur any postage charges, which on eBay sometimes amount to more than the cost of the items being bought!

More about the Collectors' Market

The museum doesn't "buy in" stock for the collector's market, pieces on sale are either sold on commission for their owners, or have been donated to us for resale.

The museum treats the Collectors' Market as a valuable part of the museum's culture, and although we take a percentage of the selling price for each item (which helps towards the museum's running costs), it's comparatively small.

The stock on display is a selection of what we hold, and we try to rotate unsold stock regularly, partly to give all pieces a chance, and partly to make the displays and selections more interesting to regular visitors.

Display cabinets

The Collector's Market have five main display areas:

Inside entrance #1 - Gauge 0 locomotives, rolling stock, accessories and track
Inside entrance #2 (other side) - toy cars and small model railway items
Counter desktop glass cabinet - mostly old lead model ships (not for sale to children!)
Under-cabinet areas #1 and #2 - miscellaneous items, mostly model railway items and scenery
Back Wall - miscellaneous items, usually boxed (such as old intact Airfix kits and boxed trains and cars). These are usually items where light handling is not problematic.

Terms and conditions

"Collector" items sold in the shop are normally sold under the same terms as items sold on toy fair or market stalls, i.e. they are strictly "sold as seen". Items are briefly assessed and labelled accordingly, but since many of the pieces are non-functioning and sold as restoration projects or for their parts, the collector's pieces don't come with a guarantee.

Since these items are being sold on behalf of their respective owners, we also don't offer a "returns" option.

Age limits

Most "collectors' pieces" can't be sold to children - many of them would probably fail current "health and safety" regulations for children's toys, and some of the more attractive small items will be painted with toxic lead-based paint.

Parents looking for new toys for their children are directed to the Toy Carousel.

"Mains" electrically-powered equipment

Our policy on old mains-powered electrical equipment (such as ancient Triang and Meccano Ltd. model railway transformers) is that we don't even attempt to test these pieces - they emphatically fail modern electrical regulations, and even if a piece were to hypothetically appear to be functional, we wouldn't be allowed to pass that information to a customer when selling it. These items are sold strictly on the basis that they are assumed to be non-functional pieces of historical or aesthetic interest.