There were many treasures to be found at the fourth annual P.A. Antique, Collectible, and Gun Show, which took place in the Prince Albert Exhibition Centre on Saturday, Oct. 19 and Sunday, Oct. 20.
Gerry Manchuk from Moose Jaw was among the vendors and brought his collection of die cast cars, along with license plates and other car related memorabilia to the show.
He explained that he had always been into cars when he began collecting die cast cars. He found a person who had a warehouse full of them in Surrey, B.C and that was how he really started.
“I have always been a car guy,” Marchuk said. “We used to live in Lloydminster, and when we moved back to Moose Jaw … 18 years ago I had over 850 in my collection.”
Marchuk likes to collect limited production cars like the American Muscle and American Graffiti series.
“It just started from there and it kind of grew out of passion more than anything,” he said.
Because he is from Moose Jaw, Manchuk always does the Moose Jaw Museum antique show. He also does Regina, Lethbridge and Red Deer. Last year he met one of the organizers of the Prince Albert show Robin Gyoerick and decided to branch out.
“She was in Moose Jaw, and we just thought, ah, you know what, let’s give it a try,” Manchuk said.
Early on Saturday, Manchuk said that he had already received some interest.
“We had a young guy who’s looking for a specific car, so I took his phone number and If I run across something like that, I will give him a phone call and I’ve done that in the past and I’ll throw it in the mail to him,” Manchuk explained.
Manchuk has been collecting the cars for over 25 years. He said that he has stopped collecting because the main company that manufactures cars has been out of business for 20 years.
“We have two daughters who say that I should downsize,” he explained. “When I sold the very first die cast was the hardest. After that and it’s time to pass them on to someone else.
“The hardest part was selling the very first one. I still remember the guy who bought it, and he bought it from me in Red Deer. It was tough too, but now it’s time to pass them on to someone else.”
Despite selling much of his collection, he does have one special set in his basement.
“I will probably keep a few special cars. I have two in my basement in my room that I will never sell, and because they represent my car that I have, a real car,”
The car is a 1969 Dodge Dart, if you observe his collection there are several similar models but not the same colour.
“It’s an F5, which is medium green, white interior black vinyl roof and I still remember ordering it from Western Dodge in Moose Jaw. I am original owner,” he said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
