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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Vintage toys and Herend porcelain offered at SJ Auctioneers, June 12

Tonka car carrier with original box, est. $1,000-$2,000
Tonka car carrier with original box, est. $1,000-$2,000

Tonka car carrier with original box, est. $1,000-$2,000

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – On Sunday, June 12, starting at 4 pm Eastern time, SJ Auctioneers will conduct a 219-lot sale titled Silverware, Collectible Toys, Figurines, and Scarves. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Popeye And Olive Oyl Tank rolls to world-record $105K at Milestone toy auction

Linemar Japan battery-operated Popeye and Olive Oyl Tank, 11 inches, with extremely rare original box. Very clean and bright, by far the finest example known. Excellent/Near Mint. Sold for a world record auction price of $105,000 against its pre-sale estimate of $30,000-$40,000

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – Popeye toys haven’t seen an appreciable downturn in the collector marketplace at any point in the past 25 years. In keeping with that trend, vintage toys depicting the punchy sailor were “strong to the finich” at Milestone Auctions’ April 9 Antique Toy Spectacular, which grossed $650,000. Powering its way to the top of prices realized, a Linemar Popeye And Olive Oyl Tank with its original pictorial box sold for an astonishing $105,000, a new world auction record for a Popeye toy.

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Milestone’s April 9 auction features prized collection of rare Popeye toys

Linemar Japan battery-operated Popeye and Olive Oyl Tank, 11 inches, with extremely rare original box. Very clean and bright, by far the finest example known. Excellent/Near Mint. Estimate $30,000-$40,000

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – That swaggering, wisecracking cartoon sailor Popeye has been depicted on countless toys and memorabilia since first appearing in the Thimble Theatre comic strip in 1929. With his spinach-powered superhuman strength, he was an immediate hit with readers of all ages, gaining an even higher level of visibility in his own cartoon series that launched in 1933. Ever since his debut, Popeye – with his girlfriend Olive Oyl and their motley crew of sidekicks in tow – has been an entertaining figure in the public’s consciousness, and vintage toys designed with Popeye’s image have only continued to rise in popularity and price.

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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.”

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Milestone’s May 1 auction loaded with rare robots, early comic character toys

Masudaya (Japan) 15-inch battery-operated Target Robot from the famous ‘Gang of Five.’ All original and complete with correct dart gun and one dart. Estimate $8,000-$12,000

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – They came from the future and landed on Earth in the 1950s and ’60s, but now toy robots of that classic production era seem more like prophets whose mission is being fulfilled more than half a century later in the labs of MIT and NASA. For many collectors, the connection to robots is rooted in a childhood memory – discovering that Santa had left them a walking, flashing, noisy android under the Christmas tree. Collectors will relive that indelible memory on May 1st at Milestone’s 766-lot Spring Spectacular Toy Auction, which features a specialty grouping of more than 100 coveted vintage robots and space toys.

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