VINELAND, N.J. – On March 11 and 12, Bertoia’s will auction, without reserve, the Monique Knowlton antique toy collection, a spectacular assemblage of comic character, German automotive, American toys, and out-of-this-world Japanese robots and space toys. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers.
Rare Marx prototypes claim top honors at Milestone’s $500K toy auction
WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – There’s no great mystery as to why vintage toys are so popular with collectors. They’re colorful, they’re fun, and they invariably prompt the comment so familiar to auctioneers and toy dealers: “Wow! I had one of those when I was a kid!” One of Milestone Auctions’ specialties is antique and vintage toys, and the nostalgia factor that drives today’s prices for clean, crisp vintage toys is something they witness at each of their sales, including their January 29 Winter Antique Toy Spectacular that took in just under half a million dollars.
Milestone’s big Winter Antique Toy Spectacular slated for Jan. 29
WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – Antique and vintage toys played a major role in Milestone Auctions’ success in 2021. Their October 2nd toy event rocketed to $768,000, a house record for the suburban Cleveland, Ohio, company. Milestone is on track to keep that positive momentum going in 2022 with an 867-lot Winter Antique Toy Spectacular on January 29, which offers absentee or Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.
Bertoia’s wraps stellar year with $2.32M sale of toys, banks, holiday antiques
VINELAND, N.J. – Antique toy collectors couldn’t have asked for more exciting buying opportunities than they had in 2021, thanks in no small way to the incredible roster of sales conducted throughout the year by Bertoia Auctions. One high-profile collection after another crossed the auction block at the company’s inviting New Jersey gallery, with president and principal auctioneer Michael Bertoia maintaining a lively pace at the podium during each of the events. Absentee and Internet live bidding at all of Bertoia’s 2021 auctions was facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.
Morphy’s welcomes holidays with antique toys & collectibles, Nov. 30-Dec. 2
DENVER, Pa. – Many lucky antique toy collectors will be enjoying their holiday gifts early this year, thanks to Morphy’s Nov. 30-Dec. 2 gallery auction of fine toys and popular collectibles. The 1,633-lot catalog reveals a fantastic selection that ranges from early American cast-iron, German tin toys, and a famous biscuit tin collection to a trove of rare 1952 baseball cards, boxed collectible sneakers, and one of the rarest of all Japanese robots. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers.
Bertoia’s presents fine European & American toys, holiday antiques Nov. 18-19
VINELAND, N.J. – On November 18-19, family-owned Bertoia Auctions will conclude a record-setting year with the 2021 edition of every toy collector’s favorite event: their Annual Fall Sale, with absentee and Internet live bidding available through LiveAuctioneers. Always a beautiful presentation, the Fall Sale is reserved for genuinely exceptional toys and holiday antiques sourced from many high-quality collections. In the past, the Fall Sale has been described by the media as “a rare opportunity to purchase from the top shelves of dozens of high-end collectors.”
Milestone’s highest-grossing antique toy auction to date tallies $768K
WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – Antique toy enthusiasts love nothing more than to discover the earliest iterations of whatever specialty they collect, and on October 2nd at Milestone Auctions in suburban Cleveland it was both Marx and motorcycle fans who hit the jackpot. The 704-lot auction, which was almost exclusively devoted to a single-owner collection, featured 138 super-clean bikes, including two American Marx prototypes that tied for top-lot honors at $22,800 apiece. Each had been estimated at $6,000-$8,000.
Intense competition pushed Marx prototype motorcycles to top of prices realized
A throng of determined bidders competed from both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, pushing the sale total to $768,000. It was the highest-grossing toy auction in Milestone’s history.
“There was huge interest in many categories, but most especially the motorcycles, which represented scores of manufacturers from Germany, Spain, Japan, Italy, Russia and the USA. Absentee and opening bids were insane, right off the bat,” said Milestone Auctions co-owner Chris Sammet. “The Marx prototype bikes were Speedboy 4 military-themed windups, finished in the distinctive colors of early Marx toys and with hand-painted details. One had a rear-mounted cannon and the other had a camouflage-patterned box on the back. We started getting calls about them a good month before the sale. There was no doubt they were going to fly.”
The high quality of post-WWII Japanese motorcycles was evident in the sharp-looking 12-inch-long friction-powered motorcycle known as “Romance.” Lithographed in a rainbow of pleasing colors with an image of the planet Saturn on the gas tank, the bike is operated by a helmeted and goggled male driver, with a female passenger also along for the ride. In working order and all original, it sold for $5,640 against an estimate of $2,000-$3,000.
Perhaps the “sleeper” of the section was a much smaller Japanese tin friction production identified on its box label as “Hunter-Motor Cycle.” Although only 4½ inches long, the bike is amazingly well detailed and was complete, down to its attached rifle and the fowl enclosed in a net at the back. In like-new condition with its excellent factory box, the diminutive bike zipped off to a new owner for $3,840, more than six times the high estimate.
Following closely behind the Marx prototype motorcycles at the top of prices realized was a good-looking Marx (USA) Blondie and Dagwood Family Car that never made it into production. Finished in a rich blue with red, yellow and gold accents, the windup open car included figures of Dagwood at the wheel with Blondie and their son Alexander sharing the passenger seat. This coveted prototype commanded $16,200 against an estimate of $4,000-$6,000.
Transportation toys held their own throughout the sale, no matter what type of transportation they happened to depict. A terrific example of a Japanese tin friction Atom-Car #153, 15½ inches long, retained its original driver figure and rare box. It easily swept pasts its estimate range to settle at $5,400.
On the other hand, there was a Strauss (USA) tin windup “Santee Claus,” with the holiday gift-giver looking jaunty in his decorative sleigh pulled by a pair of belled, leaping reindeer. Measuring 11 inches long and offered with its excellent Christmas-themed box, it dashed away for $6,000 – four times the high estimate.
A visual extravaganza, a Distler (Germany) tin windup set known as “Pinched!” re-enacts a police chase in the countryside. When activated, a motorcycle cop pursues a speeding automobile around a platform amid scenery that includes mountains, farmland, railroad trestles and more. The setting is also illustrated on the box that accompanied the toy, which sold above estimate for $6,900.
An extensive 86-lot array of Lehmann (Germany) windup and flywheel toys crossed the auction block, many of them retaining their original boxes. A fine example of the tin windup “Boxer Rebellion” toy – inspired by the Boxer secret society that was active during the Chinese rebellion of 1899-1901 – was offered with an estimate of $10,000-$15,000.
All original, complete and in excellent working order, it rose to $17,400. Also selling above estimate was a handsome Lehmann tin windup Halloh motorcycle that appeared seldom, if ever, to have been taken out of its original pictorial box. It crossed the finish line at $6,900.
Of unknown German manufacture, a 17-inch-long hand-painted composition cat skittles set consisted of a large striped-cat vessel in which seven smaller cat skittles were housed. Rolling along on cast-iron wheels, the fabulous feline pounced on a winning bid of $16,200 against an estimate of $1,000-$1,500.
The 713-lot auction attracted so many absentee, phone and Internet bids that it ran nearly 12 hours from start to finish. The great success it achieved was not without its challenges, however. The day before the auction, the hosting company Milestone uses for its own online bidding platform was hit by a ransomware attack that affected many industries, from aerospace to transportation, agriculture to publishing.
“The timing was bad, but in our business, you learn to have a contingency plan in place, which we always do,” said Milestone co-owner and auctioneer Miles King. “Fortunately, we always use two other bidding platforms — including LiveAuctioneers — in addition to our own, so Internet bidders were not left out. The biggest challenge was in notifying bidders about the situation, on short notice. Just about everyone who wanted to bid was able to do so, and we were grateful for that. The bottom line is, collectors were not going to sit back and miss out on a collection as great as the one we were selling just because of a technology problem. They wanted those toys.”
To discuss consigning to a collection or individual items to a future Milestone toy auction, call 440-527-8060 or email info@milestoneauctions.com. Online: www.milestoneauctions.com
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Bertoia’s to auction Part II of Schroeder antique toy collection, Sept. 10-11
VINELAND, N.J. – On September 10 and 11, Bertoia’s will add yet another chapter to the legacy of one of America’s greatest antique toy and bank collections as they auction Part II of the Aaron and Abby Schroeder Collection. In total, 896 lots will be offered, with absentee and Internet live bidding available through LiveAuctioneers.
Morphy’s adds sneakers, baseball cards to June 16-17 Toys & Collectibles Auction
DENVER, Pa. – Whether they’re European antiques, American tin vehicles or postwar favorites from Japan’s golden era of robot production, toys are on a roll. Seasoned collectors are doubling down on their acquisitions while also being joined by a whole new group of international collectors who’ve caught the toy bug. With Internet live bidding available to virtually everyone, Morphy’s toy auctions have become the vibrant epicenter for the global toy hobby. Their June 16-17 auction, with absentee and Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers, includes not only a fantastic selection of toys and trains, but also holiday antiques, baseball cards and approximately 100 pairs of collectible sneakers.