Officer of the 9th Queen's

Royal Lancers.

Seated on a howdah,
children enjoy al
elephant ride.
IS

One of his rarest finds was a pug dog
priced at $2 in a Toronto flea market
which he estimates could be resold
for close to $1,000.
Retiring from his cutting tool com-
pany, J & L Industrial Supply, five
years ago has allowed Irwin to devote
more travel time to add to his collec-
tions. London is a frequent destina-
tion for antique toy meets, but a
recent toy soldier show in Livonia
also found Irwin hovering around the
wares. "Ebay, however, has changed
the way collectors operate," says
Irwin. He checks his favorite sites
regularly to both buy for himself and
to look for figures to add to Judy's
collection.

Two years ago Judy, an accom-
plished photographer, caught the toy
collectors bug. She has been rapidly
acquiring space station figures. Judy
favors metal instead of plastic for her
space ships, stations, and astronauts,
but does fill out planetary essentials
with correctly scaled plastic pieces.
Visitors to the Elsons' home can
spend hours browsing among their
hobbies, but perhaps no one enjoys
romping through Elson toy land
more than Benjie and Isabella, their
3-year-old twin grandchildren. Irwin
has already started them on their
own collection of toy soldiers.
Who knows at what age the col-
lecting bug will bite again?

he coronation coach.

04

STYLE AT "111 F. IN • NI Al

3 •

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