60-year-old Allan Daniel Olson, who prefers to go by Dan, is hoping that the 5,398 Hot Wheels cars, which are all still in their original packaging, unopened, that he has collected over the past years can now be donated to charity. Of course, he didn't plan on parting ways with the cars this way, but all the same, he is hoping, somewhere, a child will have a smile on their face because of the scale model car.   

His decision to part ways with a collection that has been a labour of love was almost realized last year as he thought that he might try and donate to any variety of organizations that organize toy mountain-type drives.  

"I very nearly did it last year; but with dealing with my wife in the hospital, she passed away at the beginning of this year on January 2," he said. "I wound up figuring [that] I can try and do something big in her name and this seemed appropriate."  

Marie Lefont, Olson's wife, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and though she would undergo a full hysterectomy, the cancer would come back. She passed away at the age of 60.  

"It [our marriage and life together] was wonderful. Unfortunately, she's gone. She now resides in Queens Park Cemetery. It's a nice site, but I really wish she was still here."  

The couple met at work and the chemistry was obvious. Though Lefont had a difficult past before she met Olson, he said their love affair was like a romance story out of a book.   

"I don't know how to say but it was just like a dream coming true. We had one fight [when we were together]," he said. "What we had was magical."  

Olson was a doting husband who rather than buy gifts on only the big anniversaries or celebrations, would come home on the mundane days, bearing small gifts for his wife to show her just how much he loved her. Of course, Marie would reciprocate and one day presented him with a Hot Wheels car, but just before Marie gifted Olson the toy car, he distinctly remembered that when he was six or seven years old, his father would also come home with one of the original 16 Hot Wheel models.  

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The green colour was so distinctive that it stuck in his mind for years and years. That same colour would pop up at his work when he noticed a piece of machinery had a remarkably similar green hue to the toy car from his childhood. The two almost cosmically coincidental events would fuel and spur him to dive into the world of collecting iconic toy cars.   

Olson went into great detail about the collecting process, explaining that it's about more than just buying what is in front of one's face.  

"Every now and then, though very rarely, there will be a car that looks a little different. It's got a different paint job, different wheels, rubber wheels instead of plastic wheels, and a better paint job. They call these a treasure hunt because there's [perhaps] only 10,000 of them produced each year, as opposed to the millions of regular cars." 

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When asked if his late wife would have been surprised by his gesture of wanting to donate the cars, he said that it wouldn't have surprised her in the least bit. Since both of them were avid collectors, there are still many things in his home that are a keepsake of his beloved wife. She was enamoured with the movie How to Train Your Dragon and had an impressive collection of toys from the film, as well as dream catchers, and of course, as many women do, a collection of jewellery.    

"This is also part of the reason why I figured maybe I should let go of some [the Hot Wheels] of it," Olson said. "[Right now] it's all just collecting dust. Kids will have bigger smiles if they're actually able to play with them."  

When asked what memory he holds most dear of his wife, Olson's soft voice trembles. 

"In the last three days [before she died], we tried letting each other know just how much we loved each other. That's something I treasure - as painful as it is," he said. "Her stuff is just stuff. My collections are just things. I can't have her back, but I would give everything to have her back." 

Currently, Olson's collection of Hot Wheels has been boxed up and moved to his employer's office in Airdrie. There it lies in the hopes that a charity organization will be willing to take Olson's offer and give the cars a new home, especially with the Christmas season approaching. 

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