Hi, thanks for stopping by,

My name is Dries Vangaever; I'm the son of a bobcat dealer located in Markegem, Belgium.
We are Bobcat dealer since 1977.

I was born in the same year as the M-700 scale model, the very first Bobcat scale model.
Growing up, Bobcat was al around me. I used to sit on my fathers lap when he was demonstrating a Bobcat skid steer loader; the seat belt was snagged around the both of us.

My passion for the Bobcat products started out when I was a little boy, playing in the sand with my Bobcat toys.

My first Bobcat toy was a M-700 skid steer loader, do I regret to have abused all those toys,
Not only did I play in the dirt with them they also got smashed with a hammer since I was building a scrap yard.

At the age of 10, I realized that there were lots of different models and started lining them up.
First on a book shelf, then an open display case, a glass display followed and now they're all lined up in a custom made glass display.

Next to the scale models I also collect the Bobcat merchandise, as a little boy I frequently was in the European Bobcat headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Everybody working there knew me, so I received a lot of Bobcat goodie's from them.
At the age of 16 I visited the U.S. headquarters in Fargo, the Gwinner and Bismarck plants in North Dakota for the first time, it was also my first time in the U.S.A.

In 1993 when school was finished I started working in the service department of our dealership as a technician, where I'm still working.

The whole idea for building this site came to me on a night in august 2001.
I've had been selling Bobcat scale models and merchandise on Ebay for a few years and frequently received questions from fellow collectors on different models, manufacturing dates, boxes, pictures and more back ground information.

So I asked myself why don't you post all the information on the Internet, and 2 months later the home page was a fact.

Bobcat collecting is really fun, you get to meet interesting people, sometimes make a friend,
Come in lots of different places and you learn about the history of the Bobcat products, and if you really think things thru; you realise that the Bobcat skid steer loader has evolved a lot since the M-200 self propelled loader and so did a lot of other Bobcat products.

But the skid steer loaders are most defiantly my favourites.

I really like the hunt for Bobcat models and merchandise; the feeling when you find a scale model in an old toy store or on a toy fair is great.
Even with the Internet you just can't wait until it gets delivered to your home and carefully open the box.
Sometimes trading stuff is fun to.

That's part why I have build this website, to bring fellow Bobcat collectors together and help them completing there collection.

Most of the information on my site is from my own recollection, memory and notes.
There can be differences between U.S. and European release dates.
I have some friends who gave me specific information; mailed me funny pictures, anecdotes…and I thank them for their time and help.

Hope you will enjoy your stay and HAPPY HUNTING,

Dries