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11-Year-Old $11K Richer After Selling Happy Meals Collection

by Sandy Maple (Subscribe to Sandy Maple's posts) Mar 6th 2009 2:00PM

Categories: Teens & tweens, Money & Work

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You know all those annoying little toys that come with Happy Meals at McDonald's? If you're like me, you've probably got some rolling around under the seat of your car right now. Before you fish them out and toss them, you might want to reconsider. As one savvy 11-year-old boy proved yesterday, just because the toys are free doesn't mean they're worthless.

Luke Underwood from Notts, England, turned his own Happy Meal collection into a tidy sum of cash when he sold it at auction for an astonishing £8,130 (that's over $11,000)! The Mail Online reports his 7,000-piece collection of Mickey D's promotional items -- toys, boxes, posters and more -- was sold in 300 lots to buyers from around the world, proving the Happy Meal slogan true: Do you believe in magic?

Happy Meals, Happy Boy

    He's Lovin' It

    11-year-old Luke Underwood is over $11,000 richer after his extensive collection of Happy Meal memorabilia was sold at auction.

    RAYMONDS PRESS AGENCY

    "I didn't really want to sell it but now I'm planning on saving the money so I can buy something else like this and make some more money," Luke said.

    RAYMONDS PRESS AGENCY

    Bidders from across the globe competed for parts of the 7,000-piece coveted collection -- believed to be one of the largest of its kind.

    RAYMONDS PRESS AGENCY

    Luke's father, Philip Underwood believes his son is a shrewd businessman. "Luke's got quite a knack," he said. "I can give him £10 and he can turn it into £20 just like that. The other week he bought a pushbike for £20 and sold it for more than £100."

    RAYMONDS PRESS AGENCY

    "This was one of the most unique collections ever to go on the market and the response was phenomenal," said Terry Woodcock, owner of Unique Auctions, Lincoln, U.K., where the sale took place.

    RAYMONDS PRESS AGENCY

    "It's quite sad really to see it all split up," said the owner of the auction house where Luke's collection was sold. "I still believe this should be in some form of tourist attraction because young children would have loved to see it."

    RAYMONDS PRESS AGENCY

    The Underwood family knew it was time to sell Luke's collection when it began to take over their home. "It was all over the house -- the front room, the kitchen and the landing," said his father.

    RAYMONDS PRESS AGENCY



Not only did Luke keep his collection from gathering dust on a shelf, he did not play with or touch the toys at all. Not once. Many items were in pristine condition inside their original packaging, including the only known complete set of the 101 Dalmatians. "This was one of the most unique collections ever to go on the market and the response was phenomenal," says Terry Woodcock, owner of the auction house where the sale took place.

It is estimated that 10,000 Happy Meals would have to have been eaten in order to amass such a collection. But before you head out to the drive-through, you should know that Luke did not eat those meals himself. At the age of seven, he convinced his father to purchase another Happy Meals collection (dating from 1990 to 1999) for about $350. Four years later, after the collection began taking over the family home, he was persuaded to part with it.

"I didn't really want to sell it but now I'm planning on saving the money so I can buy something else like this and make some more money," Luke counters.

If past performance is any indication, Luke should do quite well with his future investment plans. In fact, maybe he could give some advice to the pros on Wall Street.

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