An avid John Deere model tractor enthusiast has sold part of his vast toy collection of over 500 lots for £24,400, writes Chris McCullough.

Retired building surveyor, Peter Green, 77, from Saffron Walden, Essex in England, has amassed his collection over the past 12 years, investing in tractors and implements in a 1:16 scale.

The sale of the extensive collection of the famous green and yellow toy machines was conducted by the Cheffins auction house at the Cambridge Vintage Sale in Sutton, near Ely.

The venue is well-known for its auctions of used tractors and machinery.

Like the real life versions sold by Cheffins, interest in Peter’s models came in from all over the world, and were sold to buyers throughout the UK, as well as from France, Romania, Germany and Australia.

Collection

At its peak, his collection consisted of a total of 900 toys and models.

With just over 50% of the toys now having been sold, Peter said he intended to expand other parts of his collection.

The toys offered at the Cambridge Vintage Sale were agricultural 1:16 scale models, and included rare and highly sought-after examples of the American John Deere tractors and implements.

The majority were manufactured by Ertl, which was founded in 1945, and is one of the main global leaders in the production of farm toys.

Other examples in his collection were made by Spec Cast, Gilson Riecke and Nolt.

Highlights

Some of the main highlights of the sale included a John Deere RX830, which achieved a price of £670, a John Deere BR sold for £380, and four John Deere 730s that were sold for £300.

Peter said: “The auction was extremely well organised, and I was grateful for the extent of the publicity which it received.

“The young auctioneers on the rostrum worked extremely hard to get the best bids from the audience, and I would like to thank them particularly for their hard work.

“I was really impressed by the quality of the buyers which the auction attracted, and I am delighted that all of the models were sold to keen collectors the world over.

“I won’t be entering the market for a few months, but early next year I intend to use the proceeds to expand my collection of 1:32 scale models.”

Ted Shepherd, associate at Cheffins expressed his satisfaction with the results achieved by the sale of Peter Green’s collection.

"The sheer scale of it really helped draw buyers in the world over and the result was a testament to Peter’s level of research and attention to detail behind the collection.

“All of the toys were offered without reserve and they all found new homes, with some significant prices paid for the most unusual examples,” he added.