FOR NOW, POLICE PARK HOT WHEELS

Des Moines police have disappointing news for toy collectors. For now,
21,000 miniature Hot Wheels cars seized from a drug dealer will just sit.

Calls have been pouring in from people wanting to buy or help appraise the
toy cars since a Des Moines Register article Thursday, said Officer Vince
Valdez. The popular collectibles were seized during two raids on a cleaning
service and a home owned by Stephen Allen, who pleaded guilty of
methamphetamine trafficking in December. Police originally seized 35,000
Hot Wheels, but a judge ruled that 6,000 should be returned to Allen.

Valdez said the collection, which appraisers estimate is worth $35,000,
eventually will be sold at a public auction or will be given to
schoolchildren during crime prevention visits.

"We'll do one or both of those things," Valdez said. "It hasn't been
determined.

"Until someone who has knowledge of those things gets in there to take a
look at them, we don't know what they're worth," Valdez said.

Chief William Moulder will eventually decide what to do with the cars, and
collectors should stop calling with offers, Valdez said.

Marie Patel, the chief executive officer of Gruvo.com, a New York- based
Internet auction site, said the police department is throwing away $35,000
to $37,000 if it gives the cars away.

"They should really sell them first," Patel said. "They could do a lot more
with the money than they could with just giving them away. It would just be
better for them in the long run."

Tom Barkhaus, manager of Brass Armadillo antique store in Saylor Township,
said a few models of Hot Wheels, if in pristine condition, could be worth
up to $500. He said some collectors will snap up new Hot Wheels models as
soon as they hit stores.