Man leaves 30,000-strong toy car collection to Minnesota church

Lisa Lundstrom Facebook Page

When a churchgoer left all of his worldly possessions to the Celebration Church in Minnesota upon his passing, they were not prepared to find a giant car collection with it.

According to a report by MSN, 69 year old Dennis Erickson kept a collection of some 30,000 miniature automobiles and carefully catalogued each item, which lined almost every available surface of his home.

The collection, which could be counted as one of the largest in the world, includes some collectibles that could already fetch thousands of dollars with the right buyer.

His garage also housed a full sized Ford Model T, a '59 Edsel, and a '66 Rambler which will also go to the church.

His long time friend, Glenn Lindell will get a '77 Bonneville in which the duo took a road trip many years ago.

"It was breathtaking when I walked in. Literally it's floor to ceiling every single room. I'm still a bit overwhelmed. It's nuts!" said Lisa Lundstrom, the church's chief financial officer, told KSDK.

The collection is expected to fetch around six figures once its sold but it will more likely go to a single buyer.

Erickson, who had no wife or children, started his toy collection at the age of nine and continued to grow his inventory as the years passed. Its number could rival that of car racer Billy Karam, which Autoblog reported to have the biggest collection in 2014. Karam had over 30,000 models in his collection.

Lundstrom said that while Dennis had no family to take care of his funeral, the church did it for him because they considered him their family.