World’s Largest Individual Disney Collection up for Auction with Rare Items Ranging $50 to $300K

Over 1,500 Disneyland-related items will be available for purchase later this month as one of the largest private collections goes to auction.

Joel Magee has been collecting Disney memorabilia for 30 years and has over 6,000 items in total, the Associated Press reported. His items range from costumes to rare posters and even rides from Disneyland.

“I’m one of those guys — go big or go home. And if you don’t have the biggest, then it ain’t the best,” Magee told AP. Magee does indeed have the biggest individually owned collection of Disney Park memorabilia in the world.

Magee goes by the title the “Toy Scout” in the collectible industry, and has appeared on multiple TV shows to show off his items or weigh in as an expert in the field.

He told the Associated Press that he became interested in collecting Disney memorabilia after meeting a man selling Disneyland artifacts at a toy show, despite never having been to the park himself at that point.

“At the time, I couldn’t afford too much. I bought a couple of pieces, but that’s where it all began,” Magee said. “In my travels as ‘the toy scout,’ I meet people all over the country and for the last 25 years, they’ve just been bringing me all their stuff and here it is today.”

Van Eaton Galleries is running the auction, which will run between July 17-19 (purposefully chosen to coincide with Disneyland’s 68th birthday)  in a 30,000-square-foot building in Burbank, California. 

“The collection is so large, we cannot fit it into our current location,” the auction description reads on the Van Eaton Galleries’ website. Instead, the auction will be held at the Burbank Town Center Mall, with a preview exhibition open now until July 16.

Mike Van Eaton, co-owner of the gallery, told AP that items from the park’s Haunted Mansion attraction are some of the most sought-after in the collection. They include a “doom buggy” cart that guests ride on and original paintings from the elevator of the ride. 

The lowest-priced items start at $50, but many are expected to bring in quite a bit more.

“Some of these items, such as the Dumbo ride vehicle, may go for $200,000 to $300,000. We have trash cans from the park that may go for $5,000 or $6,000, and posters that could reach $50,000 to $60,000,” Van Eaton said.