Farm smartly!, matchbox, Checkered-eared rabbit and spring football. Among others, we were able to meet these at the retro toy fair held for the first time in the Railway Community Center, better known as VOKE.
Mainly retro games
In an event similar to the fifth Debrecen Comic Book Fair in the spring, masterpieces from the 70s and 80s were mainly featured. We saw great interest in metal toys, small cars and board games on site.
Sampling the collections, both small and large families found their solution, we were able to take part in a kind of time travel. I also had many fond memories of each game when I noticed a “moon car” displayed on the table of one of the organizers, Zsolt Bíró. We were also able to see very rare pieces, such as a 1930s Japanese-made drummer figure, the TV Maci, Mirr-Murr, who is so dear to us, but also a smaller copy of Rumcájsz and Elek Mekk, which was very popular among those present.
Among the figurines, the astronaut bear was particularly noteworthy, whose clothes were tailored and sewn directly from the material of the space suit of the first Hungarian astronaut, Bertalan Farkas. The owner said that he has been collecting toys for about 20 years, and after his children grew up, he began to increase his collection more seriously. It also applies here that the rarer a game is and the more it has been valued, the more it is worth. If you have the original box, it can be worth several times more to a true fanatic collector.
Matchbox madness
The other most important part of the exhibition was small cars, of which the participants paraded several makes. Such was the matchbox, which is known all over the world, but the models of Corgi in England and Siku from Lüdenscheid in Germany are also well known to those in the know.
I learned from them that the latter has the most elaborate models, while the Corgi was named after the late British Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite breed of dog. The matchbox cars got their name from their size the size of a matchbox. According to the other organizer, András Zsibók, he has been a fan of matchboxes since he was a child, and at home there are thousands of boxed copies in the cupboard made for this purpose. In the beginning, as a child, he also went to the former Unió in Debrecen for toys, where many Soviet and Hungarian metal toys were sold at that time. When asked about the reason for his fandom, he replied that it is a passion, and it takes us back to our childhood.
He bought some of the rare models from E-bay and brought here mainly the pieces of which he had two. By the way, several series of this brand were made for many countries, including Australia and Japan. The series intended for the latter market is also the most expensive. He also said that sometimes the original boxes are worth more than the car, truck, or what’s inside.
Therefore, it can be really rewarding if someone takes care of their toys as a child. In addition to toy models, there is also a puzzle on this topic, which is considered so rare that a St. Stephen can be asked for a piece.
At the end, I also learned that there will be a similar event in December, only with small cars, and exhibitors will even come from across the border.
– Translated from László Faragó’s article on the Debreceni Nap page –
