Huge collection of rare robots, superheroes leads Milestone’s May 27 auction

Yone/Yonezawa (Japan) 12in battery-operated 8 Man remote-control Thunderbird car. All original and complete with retractable roof and steerable remote control. Sensational graphics on toy and original box (some restoration). Estimate $3,000-$5,000
Fantastic Nomura (Japan) battery-operated Walking Batman. All original, complete, and appears never to have been played with. All functions in working order when tested. Clean original box with great graphics of Batman, Robin and Batmobile. Estimate $6,000-$8,000
Fantastic Nomura (Japan) battery-operated Walking Batman. All original, complete, and appears never to have been played with. All functions in working order when tested. Clean original box with great graphics of Batman, Robin and Batmobile. Estimate $6,000-$8,000

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – Today, many nations and private companies are engaged in the Space Race, but there’s no contest as to who the winner is when it comes to space toys. Japan has been the clear and unchallenged leader in the manufacture of robots and space toys since the end of World War II. The imaginative designs of Masudaya, Yonezawa, Nomura and scores of other Japanese firms of the 1950s-1970s are revered by collectors who love the toys’ fanciful looks and quirky actions, not to mention the wild artwork on their boxes. Milestone Auctions, the home of great toy collections, will offer a treasure trove of sought-after robots, space toys and dozens of other types of vintage playthings at their big May 27th Spring Premier Toy Sale. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Converse offers Dudley Masonic pocket watch from one of its designers, May 19

Willis R. Michael’s own personal presentation 14K Dudley Masonic 19-jewel pocket watch, which he also helped design during his time as a Freemason, estimated at $4,000-$6,000
Willis R. Michael’s own personal presentation 14K Dudley Masonic 19-jewel pocket watch, which he also helped design during his time as a Freemason, estimated at $4,000-$6,000
Willis R. Michael’s own personal presentation 14K Dudley Masonic 19-jewel pocket watch, which he also helped design during his time as a Freemason, estimated at $4,000-$6,000

PAOLI, Pa. – The fine antique clock collection of Willis R. Michael (1894-1969), one of the founders of the NAWCC (National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, Inc.), who also served as the group’s second president from 1949-1951, will headline Converse Auctions’ online-only May Antique Auction on Friday, May 19, beginning at noon Eastern time. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Trove of Ellsworth Kelly works given to Philadelphia Museum of Art

Ellsworth Kelly, ‘Study for Curve I,’ 1968, found crushed wax paper cup. © Ellsworth Kelly Foundation. Photo courtesy of the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, in honor of the Ellsworth Kelly Centennial.
Ellsworth Kelly, ‘Study for Curve I,’ 1968, found crushed wax paper cup. © Ellsworth Kelly Foundation. Photo courtesy of the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, in honor of the Ellsworth Kelly Centennial.
Ellsworth Kelly, ‘Study for Curve I,’ 1968, found crushed wax paper cup. © Ellsworth Kelly Foundation. Photo courtesy of the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, in honor of the Ellsworth Kelly Centennial.

PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Museum of Art is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Ellsworth Kelly’s birth with a new exhibition highlighting an extraordinary group of drawings that Jack Shear, the artist’s longtime partner and husband, has generously offered along with a related painting and sculpture as gifts to the museum. They come just as the museum has dedicated Gallery 275 as the newly endowed Jennifer Rice and Michael Forman Gallery, which has long showcased the early work of Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015) and will be devoted to artist’s work and legacy.

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Hindman offers European art from Linden House, May 18

Detail of Charles Amable Lenoir’s ‘Pandora,’ estimated at $60,000-$80,000. Image courtesy of Hindman
Charles Amable Lenoir, ‘Pandora,’ estimated at $60,000-$80,000. Image courtesy of Hindman
Charles Amable Lenoir, ‘Pandora,’ estimated at $60,000-$80,000. Image courtesy of Hindman

CHICAGO – Masterworks of European art from the impressive Indianapolis estate, Linden House, will anchor Hindman’s European Art auction on Thursday, May 18. Highlighting the offering will be exquisite paintings by Charles Amable Lenoir, Gustave Loiseau and Louis Valtat. Overall, the auction will feature work by a wide range of artists, from Dutch Old Masters to 19th-century Academic painters, to Impressionists, post-Impressionists and European Modernists. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Place your bids in Potter & Potter’s gambling memorabilia sale, May 18

Circa-1930 gaffed, or rigged, roulette wheel by A. Ball & Bro Makers, estimated at $4,000-$5,000
Circa-1930 gaffed, or rigged, roulette wheel by A. Ball & Bro Makers, estimated at $4,000-$5,000
Circa-1930 gaffed, or rigged, roulette wheel by A. Ball & Bro Makers, estimated at $4,000-$5,000

CHICAGO – On Thursday, May 18, Potter & Potter Auctions will hold its signature Spring Gambling Memorabilia sale, starting at 10 am Central time. More than 540 lots of gambling- and cheating-related books, materials and apparatus will be offered, as well as exceptional examples of antique to modern playing cards and gambling chips. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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