Troy Shannon, owner of Troy’s Toys & Collectibles in Overland Park, Kan., fondly remembers his childhood. “Dad, John R. Shannon Jr., was a career Navy man, so I lived all over the country. As a young teen, I spent four years in Honolulu, but basically we moved every two years or so. I made friends easily, but the only constant friends in my childhood were my toy trucks.”

Those childhood friends included fire trucks, cars, tanks, trucks and construction equipment. “I had lots of Matchbox and Tonka trucks to go along with my LEGOs,” Troy said. He enjoyed building miniature roads, pretending to clear brush and rushing his fire trucks to the scene of an imaginary brush fire—always in the nick of time. 

“I used to get totally ‘lost’ in playing with my toy trucks,” he added. “I can’t tell you how many fire stations and fire trucks I would build with my LEGOs and set up all over my bedroom. When we moved to Hawaii, Dad said everyone had to scale back, so many of my childhood toy trucks were sold in garage sales.” 

Today, Troy’s collection includes a few of his childhood trucks, including Matchbox Super Kings, Matchbox Battle Kings and Models of Yesteryear. Sadly, none of his childhood fire trucks made it to the present. 

“I made sure to take care of that problem, though,” he said. “I now have a burning desire for all things related to fire trucks.”

The 26th Annual Toy Truck 'N Construction Show has made history. The chrome-plated O'Hare Wrecker truck (one of six made) was auctioned off to raise funds for the Indianapolis Children's Hospital - Riley Children's Foundation.
Joseph Peters who is a "Riley Kid" who attended this year's auction and personally shared his story at the Show's Auction. Joseph is one of the 2016 Riley Champions.