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Show's
Dealers Are Also Buyers
By Andrew Barksdale,
Staff writer
Fayetteville Observer
Tommy Daniels stores hundreds of model trains on the walls of his garage at home in
Eastover. He said he sells the ones he no longer wants at the local Toy Hobby and
Sportscard shows so he can buy more and upgrade his collection.
Daniels, who is 57, said he became hooked on trains at age 9,
when he got his first Lionel train set.
‘‘They are large and powerful,’’ he said.
‘‘When you see 125 cars pulled by three engines, that’s a pretty good
feat.’’
Daniels was one of 33 people who set up tables on Saturday to
sell toys and collectibles at the Charlie Rose Agri-Expo Center. They paid $25 a table.
Promoters said about 500 people attended the Toy Hobby and
Sportscard Show, which is held four times a year and is due back on May 11. Organizers
delayed the show’s start by an hour because of the snow.
Popular on the tables were eclectic items such as Hot Wheels,
Barbie and GI Joe dolls, NASCAR collectibles, action figures and model kits.
Daniels spread his model trains, accessories and back issues
of ‘‘Classic Toy Trains’’ magazine over seven tables.
He was selling a metal Sunoco tanker made in 1947 for $225
and a 1968 electric engine that weighed more than five pounds for $400.
A passerby shuffled through a cardboard box and picked up a
tin motorcycle toy of the 1950s. Daniels told the man that the $10 price for the toy was
firm and then wound it up and put it on the concrete floor to let it spin around.
‘‘It came in one of the train sets I
bought,’’ Daniels told him. ‘‘That’s what makes it so intriguing
-- you never know what you’re going to get.’’
One of Daniels’ first customers was Joel Elkins, who
drove from Dublin after getting off work. He bought a four-unit Lionel train set. He is 51
and said he tries to attend every show.
‘‘I bought these because they are kind of hard to
find, and the price was reasonable,’’ he said.
A different interest
The vendors had varied interests.
Brenda Germain’s focused on
the TV series ‘‘Star Trek.’’
Germain, who is 43 and lives in Hoke County,
said she was a fan when the show first aired between 1966 and 1969. She started keeping
Star Trek novels in the late ’70s, and her collection grew from there.
She said ‘Star Trek’s’ positive
outlook for the future of humankind helped capture her interest.
‘‘A lot of the people who watched the
show in the ’60s and ’70s are today’s scientists,’’ she said.
She had Star Trek Uno cards, dolls and action
figures. For $28, someone could buy a Star Trek lunch box.
She said sales were lighter than normal Saturday
due to the weather, but that she looked forward to a Star Trek convention in Durham later
this month. She smiled and said new action figures of Capt. Kirk and the show’s
creator, Gene Roddenberry, are due out this month.
‘‘I am hoping my suppliers will get
them to me before I go to the convention,’’ she said.
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