Seth Buckley, who houses thousands of items in a building on his estate, has spent 30 years amassing a museum-like collection.
The home of Long Island resident Seth Buckley has a large collection of toys. In fact, thousands of individual works are kept in a separate building on his estate, which he calls “Toyland.”
The series will be a film titled “The collector’s phone Hosted by actress Lisa Whelchel (who played Blair on the ’70s sitcom “The Facts of Life”), MeTV explores the rare private collection of America’s largest collector of pop culture memorabilia.
Watch a preview of the show below:
Video: MeTV
Buckley was plagued by this error in the early 1990s. His parents kept his most cherished childhood toys and started his collecting career.
“My parents had the foresight to preserve what was most important to me,” he said in an interview with Long Island Net. “So I carry them with me my whole life.”
After high school, Buckley began, like most early collectors, visiting dealer rooms at local fairs, where most of the trade in the rare and vintage toy market took place before the Internet.
“Eventually it took over and got out of control,” Barkley said with a laugh.
The surviving toy collection has grown into a collection of thousands of individual items, 90 percent of which are interspersed with toys of other types (Buckley’s best estimate is 7,000), which he stores in a in a separate building.
“My starting point is from the 1970s and 1980s,” he said. “I ultimately want to collect all that I didn’t have and lost as a kid.”
In addition to conventions, Buckley is adding to his collection at yard sales and anywhere else he can find. All those other venues still exist today, but Buckley said the online market has taken over.
“Since 2000, eBay has been the primary way to add to your collection,” he said.
Barkley can’t even tell you how much he added each year.
“It’s such a hard question to answer, but it took me 30 years to get that number to 7,000,” he said.
Do the math, more than 230 every year.
“Honestly, I don’t know what’s in there anymore,” he said. “I have a rough idea, and it’s all stored in my brain. As far as I know, they’re all unique.”
It’s not just retro characters. Barkley typically buys anything that excites him, even modern versions of his favorite characters.
“[Vintage] Still, it’s my favorite thing,” he admitted.
Barkley is surrounded by his beloved collection – he also has hundreds of special collections in his home, elegantly displayed behind glass. But most of them are in Toy Town.
Toyland itself dates back to before Seth played with his first Star Wars characters as a kid.
“This house was built by my grandfather in the 1950s,” Buckley said. “He was a competitive weightlifter—he built this shed as a gym. I turned it into a toy playground.”
Toyland is basically a museum in his backyard, displaying the dolls that Generation X grew up playing with. It comes in a variety of models and brands.
“It looked like a store with nothing for sale,” he said. “Fewer than 50 people have actually seen it.”
It took some work to organize the collection, and they were all very tightly packed.
“It’s actually like dominoes,” Barkley said. “If there’s an earthquake on Long Island, I’m screwed.”
Buckley submitted his extensive toy collection to the show after viewing it. Collector’s Call on MeTV. Show producer Mike Schmiedeler said when they saw Toyland, they couldn’t leave.
“His collection is first class in size and condition,” Schmidler said. “The architecture in which he displays all of these pieces makes this a memorable collection for Lisa [Whelchel] and our crew. “
At each exhibition, Whitcher enlists the help of professional appraisers and experts to assess the value of different collections. Experts will try to lure collectors through trades, offering coveted items that might be the perfect addition to their collection. Collectors then have to make painful choices and decide how much they’re willing to give up for a new addition to their collection.
Did Barkley complete the deal proposed to him on the show? You have to listen to find out.
This isn’t the first time Barkley has shown off his collection on television.
2015, Kevin Smith’s fifth season comic book manBarkley appeared and sold one of his items on the show.
“It is premised on pawn star,” he explained.
During that show, Barkley sold a rare Mego werewolf figurine.
“I sold it for $1,100,” he said. “I’ve owned it for 20 years.”
He originally bought it for ninety dollars.
Buckley said that while his collection is impressive and expensive, what may be most valuable to his collectors is mostly for nostalgia.
Instead of working part-time, he plans to keep adding to his collection until retirement, at which point he will sell piece by piece.
“But first I have to stop buying and find a place to let it go,” he muses. “Once the person interested in it dies, it becomes worthless. This is golden 30 years. “
He said he doesn’t think anyone will care about a 1970s puppet 50 years from now. He is dedicated to expanding and maintaining these collections, which have taken on a life of their own.
“I own this massive collection, but it also owns me in a way,” he said.
The “Collector’s Call” episode titled “Meet Seth Buckley – Toys” airs Sunday, July 9 at 6:30pm on MeTV. Want to see? Click here Or tune to Optimum channel 687.
