Christchurch Academy Antiques

10/04/2026

Classic example of what can be found in an estate or old forgotten item :)

Travel list found inside the lid of an old suitcase..

Owen was PREPARED!

If I remember to pack a toothbrush and spare pair of un**es I am all pleased with myself…

23/12/2025

LIQUIDATION SALE: almost 500 items! Our entire inventory.
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/search?member_listing=198984&bof=2UNaU1C2

Here it is, the same you have all been waiting for and many said would never happen. All stock is going to go - no ifs, buts or maybes - it's going to go. All these auctions end on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. All available for pick up from Jan 5. If you buy multiple items and need them posted we will coming when possible, depends on shape, size and wait (just did that to see if you were concentrating). I get asked, why does this HAVE to go? Because I do NOT want to sit on any stock from now on. I will keep buying but it's going to be in and out in the same cycle. Good luck and has description you can rely on. :)

15/12/2025

SALE: In the next few days we will be listing all our stock as it's lowest ever prices. All can be collected from Neill St, Hornby or of course wrapped well and sent around NZ.

So keep an eye out for that, I'll post on here when I unleash them all. Everything must go.

Send a message to learn more

13/12/2025

What a sad way to lose part of your collection. A few years ago I sold a Matchbox toy to a collector in Christchurch. He offered to show me his entire collection. I actually don’t like being shown collections because if anything happens I might be the last person to see it. Anyway, his Matchbox collection was stored in the attic and he’d split the toy from its box. No idea how accessible his attic was but the theory was that if anyone broke in they likely only get the boxes or the cars not both. Made sense to him obviously.

PS. Why did he hide his collection in the attic? Maybe the same reason this guy hid gis in a storage unit ‘I just need to know I own them’. It’s an interesting psychology this collecting caper.

Phillip Taylor has spent two decades hunting down rare Matchbox cars.