Could there be more of these than the real thing? They’re die-cast toy cars, and if you no longer have yours, for sure you had some. In this country yours were almost certainly Matchbox, Dinky or Corgi, and there’s a non-stop trade in them. (By the 1980s American Hot Wheels had strangled the UK makes and they have their own collecting world, but that’s beyond my period.) We’ve all heard of the precious rarity that sells for thousands, but what’s in that box in your attic is unlikely to contain one of those gems. For most of us their value lies in transporting us back to the magical days when that Volkswagen camper and Ford Capri on the carpet weren’t toys, they seemed the real thing. Rich in memories, they are likely to be intermittently exhumed and exclaimed over and then consigned to the dark once more.

“A Diamond T tow vehicle sold last year for £2750 – and I have one!”

Yet there are people who trade in these metal miniatures and while you’re unlikely to get a great offer from a dealer you can make something on private sales. David Harper, often seen on BBC’s Antiques Road Trip, has a YouTube video in which he reckons there is money to be made on Matchbox cars. But he counsels that the key is to buy in bulk and sell separately, and that profits won’t be rapid. Having bought an assorted boxful, Harper reckons it could take a couple of years to realise the individual values. So if you can bear to part with them, your box of childhood favourites can net you a decent return online, but it will take patience.

You won’t be surprised to hear me mention the phrase ‘mint and boxed’ – this is one

KHLOE Kardashian has been slammed by fans for having a garage for her daughter’s toy car and scooter collection.

In a resurfaced clip from KUWTK, Khloe is seen bringing in organizers to help straighten up the garage.

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“This is a plethora of True’s automobiles,” the reality star said in a video posted to Tiktok.

The Home Edit ladies shouted an enthusiastic, “yes!’ and nodded their heads.

“This is a little mish-moshy. I just don’t know….. like how to make it look nicer,” she said.

The women are then seen rearranging the cars, laying down blush pink tape, and adding cones to make the “parking garage” look the best it can be.

When the organizers are finished, Khloe walks back into the garage.

“Oh… my…. God!” she exclaims.

The video then shows all of the cars in their own make-shift parking spot, made out of tape, and the scooters lined up against the wall.

Fans took to the comments and wonder why a 4-year-old needed that many cars and a garage for them.

“I know they have the money but why so many cars Maybe a few but this is crazy,” commented one fan.

“Rich people problems!” said another.

“I bet True doesn’t even use the cars lmao,” added a third.

Many other fans commented that Khloe should definitely donate some of them.

“Nah this is a complete waste. Rich people consume so much it’s crazy. All that for 1 kid who’s gonna grow out of them and 100% they’re not gonna reuse,” commented a Tiktok user.

Other commenters said they didn’t even see a difference in the garage

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. — After 29 years of joyfully sharing their auto and toy collection, the Duellman family honored Elmer Duellman with the auction of a lifetime.

Elmer and his wife Bernadette shared treasures of classic cars, motorcycles, pedal cars, bikes, tools and antique toys in Elmer’s Auto & Toy Museum in Fountain City, Wis. The large collection spanned five barns on their property. After Elmer passed away in July 2019, the Duellman family continued running the museum through Labor Day 2022.

The auction, held Sept. 14-17, 2022, celebrated Elmer’s love for the items and offered nostalgic experiences to visitors. Mecum Auction ran the days’ events of 2,020 items with total sales reaching $8.5 million.

“I love people,” Elmer said in a 2012 interview with the Post Bulletin. “When they come here, it’s fun sharing it with them.”

The final celebration brought bidders from around the world. Brothers Brad and Les, two of Elmer’s six children, said the auction items averaged more than anticipated.

“We’re fulfilling our dad’s wishes to share … each piece with the rest of the world so they can make new memories,” said Brad.

From their family to the collectors, the Duellmans know the items are in good, new homes. But the auction days were “bittersweet,” Les said. The Duellmans drove the cars and motorcycles, presented at car shows and played with toys at family gatherings.

“It hits home pretty hard when you’re seeing other people buying the collection and stuff that we’ve had in our family for most of my adult life or beyond, even back into my childhood,” Les said.

The collection featured more than 100 classic cars with a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS topping the sales at $242,000. The top 10 car sales at the auction included:

• 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS at $242,000

Welcome to Time Machines, where we offer up a selection of mechanical oddities, milestone gadgets and unique inventions to test out your tech-history skills.

The military complex has certainly embraced the concept of telerobotics, especially in the use of drones, but luckily the technology has also led to other, more peaceful applications. Drones have been used to entertain, take on laborious tasks and even deliver packages (and burritos!). As we pursue the development of remotely controlled and autonomous craft, we must tread carefully or suffer the same fate as the fabled Icarus. Nikola Tesla saw both the terrible as well as the beneficial consequences for this technology when he debuted the “remote control” and the jury is still out as to whether we’ll succumb to a dystopian Terminator-style future or reach a peaceful stasis, where we harness the usefulness of robots and autonomous devices, and avoid the worst-case scenarios.

Nikola Tesla’s Remote Control Boat

Tesla once said, “The world moves slowly, and new truths are difficult to see.” It was his way of responding to the crowd’s stunned disbelief upon viewing his scientific wizardry at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1898. Using a small, radio-transmitting control box, he was able to maneuver a tiny ship about a pool of water and even flash its running lights on and off, all without any visible connection between the boat and controller. Indeed few people at the time were aware that radio waves even existed and Tesla, an inventor often known to electrify the crowd with his creations, was pushing the boundaries yet again, with his remote-controlled vessel.

Tesla’s presentation, which was part of an Electrical Exhibition, was decried as magic by some, but it’s unsurprising that others would focus on its potential as a weapon. It wouldn’t be the first