SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. – On Sunday, July 17, Stephenson’s Auctioneers will conduct the 2022 edition of its popular Summer Trains & Toys Auction, featuring antique and vintage items from collections and estates through the Mid-Atlantic region. The sale will take place at the company’s spacious Bucks County gallery, with bidding available live online through LiveAuctioneers.
Made for rough-touch play, Buddy L vehicles were favorites in their day and remain high on the list of must-haves with today’s collectors of pressed-steel toys. Measuring more than two feet in length, a Buddy L #201 open-cab ratchet dump truck made between 1923 and 1929 is hard to beat for size and heft. It comes to auction with a $200-$400 estimate.
1920s Buddy L #201 ratchet dump truck, 25in long, manufactured between 1923-29. Est. $200-$400. Image courtesy of Stephenson’s Auction
In the late 1920s, the Moline, Illinois company also produced a 21in-long steam shovel. The example in Stephenson’s sale is in VG to Excellent condition and is estimated at $200-$400. Also from the 1920s, a Buddy L aerial fire truck will be offered with a $300-$600 estimate.
The name Lionel is synonymous with American toy trains. For many decades, children have been entertained by Lionel trains in shop windows, hoping Santa would leave a set for them beneath the Christmas tree. Among the Lionel sets in the July 17 auction are a 1920s Lionel maroon standard-gauge passenger set consisting of a #380 0-4-0 electric locomotive, a #319 Pullman car and a #322 observation car. The engine paint appears original, and the set is in overall VG condition. It is estimated at $400-$800. Dating to the 1930s is a Lionel standard-gauge steam engine #385 paired with a #384-T tender in Good to VG condition. Its estimate is $250-$500.
A novel item from Lionel is its 1930s Peter Rabbit wind-up handcar in pastel colors, with the popular storybook character at one end and an Easter basket as cargo. All original and in working order with a wind-up key, this charming holiday crossover toy is estimated at $300-$600.
A 1950s unpainted 0-gauge brass steam engine and tender was most likely made as a kit, possibly by the brand All Nation. Its wheel alignment is 4-8-2 and the total length is 22in. The tender appears to have a whistle or sound system built into its design. In VG to Excellent condition, it is estimated at $500-$800.
Manufactured in the 1990s, a motorized T-Reproduction of a Buddy L steam engine and tender have a combined length of 44in. Both are of black-painted steel, with the engine numbered 963 and having a 4-6-2 alignment, and the tender labeled “Buddy L Outdoor Railway.” Each is complete, in like-new condition and accompanied by its own original box. Together they carry an estimate of $500-$1,000.
If imagining what it would be like to be the driver of a toy vehicle wasn’t enough, children of pre- and postwar America had another option: pedal cars. But pedal vehicles came in other forms, as well. Stephenson’s will offer as one of its sale highlights a 1960s or 1970s Murray Airflow Air Pursuit pedal airplane. Finished in a spiffy silver and red motif with blue US Army Air Corps-style decals, it measures 47in long and has a 36in wingspan, tip to tip. Complete and in working order, it’s in VG condition with a few small exceptions and will roll across the auction block with a $250-$500 estimate. Also, a Blue Diamond Classics pedal car replicating a pink and white 1955 Chevy convertible presents in Excellent condition and is expected to achieve a $200-$400 winning bid.
The charm of early European toys is seen in a lot containing 24 French-made Napoleonic War lead figures. The grouping consists of a commander and 20 marching riflemen with bayonets on their weapons, a flag bearer and a drummer. The lot is graded VG to Excellent, and the estimate is $120-$250.
For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Cindy Stephenson at 215-322-6182 or e-mail info@stephensonsauction.com. Visit Stephenson’s Auctioneers online at www.stephensonsauction.com.
[av_button label=’Click to view the auction catalog and sign up to bid’ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ link=’manually,https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/254313_summer-toys-and-trains/?keyword=&page=1′ link_target=’_blank’ size=’small’ position=’center’ label_display=” title_attr=” color_options=” color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ btn_color_bg=’theme-color’ btn_custom_bg=’#444444′ btn_color_bg_hover=’theme-color-highlight’ btn_custom_bg_hover=’#444444′ btn_color_font=’theme-color’ btn_custom_font=’#ffffff’ id=” custom_class=” av_uid=’av-38sb92′ admin_preview_bg=”]
View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/
