About the Curator

Curator Rodney Ross has been with DFW Elite Toy Museum for over a decade.  He has always had a passion for antique toys and he collects, buys, sells and trades them on his own time when he’s not here at the museum.  Rodney has an extensive knowledge of most of our toys and models but it’s impossible to know everything About all of them. Ross says his job as curator is an ongoing learning experience.

 

“The key to a perfect model car,” Ross says, “is how accurate they are in the details.  If I show a model Bugatti Royale Model 41 to a car lover, they’ll instantly know what it is just by looking at the body style.

“However, it’s when the craftsmanship is so detailed and perfect that the model invites you in for a closer look, and you stay there for a while to take in the beauty of a well-preserved tin lithograph, or the intricacy of wind-up mechanisms, that’s what makes a great model.”

 

When asked About his favorite car, Rodney’s short answer was that it’s impossible to choose. This is the mark of a true antique car toy enthusiast.  He just loves toy cars. He doesn’t prefer one over another. If it’s an antique car toy, Rodney will give it the same attention and care as all the rest. 

“Winning a new model at an auction is like Christmas,” says Ross. “Bringing it to the museum and putting it in its place on the shelf is, a very ceremonious experience. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

 

It All Starts with a Love of Toys.

The toy museum was started by Ron Sturgeon, who is known in business circles as Mr. Mission Possible.  Rodney has worked with Ron for over 10 years, and is now his right-hand man for just about everything work-related. When Ron had the idea to open a toy museum, Rodney took to the thought like white on rice, and the museum instantly became his project.

 

Most curators have extravagant stories detailing the things they had to go through to become the curator of a museum – years of education to become an expert and a climb up the ladder to the top.  In Rodney’s case, his curatorship of our museum is based on one thing and one thing alone: his love of car toys and models. Sure, the showroom also houses real Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Maseratis as part of the DFW Drive Your Dream 2000 Horsepower Tours, but when Rodney walks into the museum, his eyes go to the toys nonetheless. That’s devotion.

 

For more information about Rodney and his job as the curator of the DFW Elite Toy Museum, call the museum at (817)834-3625 and ask to speak with him.  For more information on the antique toy cars or the museum itself, visit http://www.dfwelitetoymuseum.com/.  Send us an e-mail with your comments and questions.