Robby Bosch, Boasts Massive Construction Equipment Model Collection

Robby Bosch, Senior Field Product Trainer at the Waterloo, Belgium, location, has a collection of more than 5,000 miniature construction equipment models of various brands, including an extensive collection of Bobcat models.

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According to a blog entry he wrote for Toycollector.com, his passion for construction equipment started when he was very young. He used to go to construction sites to watch draglines, scrapers, dozers, loaders and dump trucks. “I could spend hours just to watch them,” he wrote. He got his first model in 1971, and his collection has grown ever since then.

In 1975, he was trained in as a service engineer for a Dutch Bobcat dealer and from that point forward, Bobcat has been his favorite brand of equipment.

Bosch travels all year to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Russia, which means he meets many people who also have a passion for collecting construction equipment models. He has visited many collectors throughout the world to see their collections and to get ideas for how to display the pieces.

He keeps his models in an 80-square-meter room behind glass. He collects all different sizes and types of models. He prefers to collect models that are already assembled with their original box. While Bosch doesn’t build the models, he sometimes does restoration work on them.

As his collection has grown, Bosch started organizing the equipment models by brand. Some of the brands don’t exist anymore and others have been taken over by other companies. Since Bosch has been a longtime employee of Bobcat, he especially likes collecting merchandise from Bobcat Company, Clark, Melroe, Ingersoll Rand and Doosan.

Bosch has one of the most complete collections of Bobcat equipment models known to exist. His collection was featured in the 2008 book Bobcat: 50 Years. He has also been interviewed by numerous publications.
He says he is still missing some Doosan equipment models in his collection and that he would love to come in contact with other collectors from around the world, especially Asia.