WILLOUGHBY, OH — Surprise performances by prewar European and Japanese seaplanes characterized Milestone Auctions‘ Premier Schuco Toy Sale, held on August 24. Complete results for the sale are available at LiveAuctioneers.
Most of the lots carried modest mid-three-figure estimates such as $300-$500, but wildly overperformed with spirited bidding from vintage aviation toy collectors. Airplane toys are highly sought-after, particularly those from the early days of aviation before World War II. Seaplanes are a more obscure and thus more desirable subcategory, and with 24 examples in the Milestone sale, they represented one of the largest opportunities in recent years for seaplane collectors.
The highest-selling lot was a French Hispano-Suiza seaplane toy from the prewar period. Measuring 19in in length, the lithographed-tin wind-up was in operating condition, scurrying about the floor with a wheeled drive mechanism. Estimated at just $400-$600, it hammered for $7,500, or $9,000 with buyer’s premium, selling to a LiveAuctioneers bidder. Interestingly, the Hispano-Suiza (Spanish-Swiss) firm still exists as a builder of exotic supercars such as other resurrected brands including Bugatti.
Next up was a detailed prewar seaplane by Fleischmann of Germany. Its mechanism was in operating condition and it measured an impressive 17.5in in length. Estimated at a healthy $2,000-$3,000, it sold to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $5,750 ($6,900 with buyer’s premium).
A highly unusual lot also attracted heavy bidding. This tin-litho Japanese seaplane came accompanied with a reproduction of its box art showing a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero seaplane in action. The artwork and lithography are clearly from the postwar period, but the use of Imperial Japanese Navy markings on a child’s toy during that period was highly frowned upon, particularly by the American military occupation.
The box contains only one word in English (“mechanical”), with the remainder in stylized Japanese typography, indicating the toy was for domestic distribution only. In non-operating condition and missing its original propeller, the seaplane toy zoomed past its $300-$500 estimate to land at $3,000, or $3,600 with buyer’s premium.
