Toy tractors on sale to make room for more items

A large collection of about 500 toy John Deere tractors are being put up for sale at auction so their owner can buy more collectables.

Peter Green, 77, from Saffron Walden, Essex, has amassed the items over 12 years, but has decided to only put about half of what he owns up for sale.

He said: "The house is just about full up and I need to be able to make space for the other part of my collection."

It is expected the bespoke commission, a 8650 Kinze conversion; a 4520 V8 with twin rear wheels and a modern 9RX830, could fetch between £300 to £500 apiece, at the Cheffins vintage sale on 16 October in Cambridge.

Green, a retired building surveyor, said he had been "interested in tractors from a very young age" and initially started collecting tractor leaflets and pamphlets.

"Over time that collection grew, and I then decided to sell it all, but by then I had the collecting bug," he said.

"So I started collecting John Deere toys instead."

He said he built up the collection slowly including "some of the rarest models out there, including the specialist gold models".

"As time went on, the collection grew and I fitted glass-fronted cabinets into my house to keep them in.

"I also bought from dealers based in the UK and also off of eBay and other websites."

The majority of the 1:16 scale models were built by farm toy manufacturer ERTL.

Ted Shepherd, an associate at Cheffins auctioneers, said: "This has to be one of the most expansive John Deere toy collections we have seen in the UK.

"Collections of this quality and scale rarely come to the market.

"What makes Peter's collection particularly interesting is the level of research and attention to detail behind it."

The proceeds will be reinvested into Green's 1:32 scale John Deere collection, as well as helping him expand his collection of Caterpillar earthmoving models.

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