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ElysToys, aka "Old" Dave Old Dave visits the Mud Caves in far east SD Co. First item sold on eBay, December 1998 Wheeling & Dealing in Des Moines Altho raised in NE we spent most of my career living in a southern suburb of Chicago.  In 1993 we retired to the northern San Diego County community of Rancho Santa Fe. We ran an ad in local newspapers: "Old Dave buys old toys & trains". Usually I purchase collections of boys toys like trains, trucks, and cars. Brand names have included: American Flyer, Arcade, Aurora, Erector, Hot Wheels, Hubley, Johnny Lightning, Lionel, Marklin, Mattel, Schuco, Smith Miller, Structo, Tonka, Tootsietoy. Sometimes the collections include Barbie, GI Joe and lead soldiers.  In late 2008 we re-located to the Deerfield Life Care Community in Urbandale, IA.  Hopefully we can purchase product there and resume selling in 2009. History of a Collecting Addict Dad bought our first Lionel set in 1945 when he was with the Treason Division of the Justice Dept. After the War we returned to Ainsworth, Nebraska. He built a big layout in our home. I think it broke his heart when I insisted on giving it to an orphanage when I went to college. After finishing at Carleton College in 1960 I returned to Nebraska where I attended the University, learned to be a school administrator and eventually graduated again. Most of my career was at Thornton Twp High Schools in Illinois. We started collecting Lionel in 1973 when living in South Holland, IL, south of Chicago. After amassing a nice postwar collection, we got into prewar tin and collected both O and Standard. I contributed lots of information to the early Greenberg books...during my scholarly years. During our time on the west coast we enjoyed buying and selling all kinds of boys toys as a retirement preoccupation. San Diego has a super train club called the All Gauge Toy Train Association. It meets monthly in La Jolla.  Now we live in the Des Moines area and hope to get involved here.

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