AUCTION REPORT: December 2011 Toy Auction - by Chris Aston

Last auction of a very busy year for us Aston's!
Not only did we do more toy auctions with more lots than ever before, but we have also been having building and decorating work ongoing at our Grade II listed saleroom since April! Luckily we are now onto the finishing touches and we are looking forward to holding a grand re-opening party in late January to coincide with the first auction of 2012 on 28th January (this sale is already full!)
We would like to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our customers old and new - thanks for supporting us and getting us to where we are today.

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Teddy Bears & Dolls

The main chunk of the December toy auction was a huge collection of some 300 modern Steiff teddy bears and a large amount of ex-shop stock quality 1970's Sindy items all from one vendor.
The most expensive teddy from the collection was lot 177, Steiff 407239 Teddy Bear 1926 replica, grey brown tipped, growler, h.65cm. Limited edition 1134/5000. M and boxed with certificate (torn slightly where folded) and outer box - SOLD FOR £260 plus Buyer's Premium.



There were usually high levels of competition on the fashion doll lots, but a break from the norm in this month's sale was a very nice collection of Edwardian bisque dolls, miniature dolls and doll's houses/furniture.
Star pick from this collection was a large group of miniature dolls which blasted through estimate to achieve £900 - sample shown below:



G Gauge Model Trains
Probably the biggest collection of 'Garden Gauge' railways we have dealt with featured this month - a single-owner collection of American and European LGB locomotives and 500ft of track!!


G Gauge LGB Lehmann Gross Bahn: 1998 30th Anniversary Limited Edition 70642 Rhatische Bahn Set with Ge4/4III 'Maienfeld 641' pantograph locomotive and two matching passenger coaches. VG and boxed with certificate. SOLD FOR £400

Full sale results are now online and can be found on the 'Auction Results' section of our website. www.astonstoyauctions.co.uk


By Chris Aston

STAR LOTS: Original Airfix Artwork in January sale - by Nell Hilditch

We have several pieces of Sturgess and Goulding's original artwork which was used for the Airfix kit boxes, in our sale in January. Check out this watercolour by Goulding of a Panavia Tornado F3 used for Airfix kit no.04035.


By Nell Hilditch

FEATURED COLLECTION: January 2012 Toy Auction - Matchbox Collection - by Nell Hilditch

Just started cataloguing this fantastic collection of Matchbox 1-75 Series for the January 28th sale, could be here a while....!




By Nell Hilditch

Scalextric James Bond 007 Set in our December Auction - by Chris Aston

Just a quick one for all you Scalextric fans - here's a sneak preview of one of the lots for our 10th December auction....

An original Scalextric 1960's James Bond Set - the Holy Grail of Scalextric collecting for many.
This example is one owner from new!



By Chris Aston

November 2011 Toy Auction Report - by Chris Aston

This 1950's Japanese 'Target Robot' by Masudaya (Modern Toys) sold for £3200 plus Buyer's Premium.
The vendor, from Wolverhampton, had owned the toy since new - having played with it a little then consigning it to the loft, preserving it in relatively good condition.
This sought-after model was one of Masudaya's 'Gang of Five' robots made in 1950's/'60s.

 

The Harris Collection
Part 1 of a huge collection of ex-shop stock quality toys was sold in this month's auction, achieving more than £20,000 in total. Here's a sample of the lots:

Lot 769 - Two Corgi James Bond Gift Sets - SOLD FOR £700 plus Buyer's Premium



Corgi Toys 310 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray in bronze with lemon interior and wire wheels - SOLD FOR £320 plus Buyer's Premium



Ten Mattel Hot Wheels cars with red-line wheels - SOLD FOR £420 plus Buyer's Premium

Part two of the Harris Collection will be in our January auction and consists of model railway and toy soldier items.
Star Wars & Other Action Figures
Three large collections of Star Wars and other action figures completely filled our overflow warehouse this month. One collection was the contents of a shop from Watford which closed down several years ago. The large trade-size lots attracted plenty of dealers and collectors to the sale, and as a result not a single lot from this section was unsold.

Lot 501 - a large quantity of Star Wars ex-shop stock. Snapped up by a trader for £100 plus Premium

For full results of this auction please visit the Results section of our website.

www.astonstoyauctions.co.uk



By Chris Aston

October 2011 Toy Auction Report - by Nell Hilditch

October saw some fantastic results with Ron Jobson’s Watercolours and Matchbox models stealing the show.
Ron Jobson was the illustrator of the Matchbox 1-75 series boxes in 1967 and also illustrated many propaganda posters during the Second World War. The October sale featured a large Matchbox collection and attracted collectors from all over the country, many travelling down for Jobson’s Matchbox lots in particular (lots 595 – 601) which each featured a selection of boxed Superfast models, one of these boxes having been signed by Jobson himself and several including rare model variations. Despite the Matchbox collectors loud exclamations that the models were ‘not really worth anything at all’ - which coming out of the mouths of avid collectors literally translates in to ‘I really want these models and must put everyone else off’ – the bidding war that broke out told a different story, with four of the lots reaching over £1000, the top price reaching £1800 (lot 601)! Jobson’s watercolours and illustrations also fetched some high prices, with his charcoal drawing of a World War Two combat scene fetching a well-deserved £380. See our other blog entry about Ron Jobson and his watercolours.


LOT 601 - Sold for £1800 plus Buyer's Premium

Aside from the Matchbox, we had some fantastic die-casts in this month including a Corgi Toys Silverstone Gift Set 15 (lot 556) which was near complete and in very good condition, and which sold for £550. We also had a Carrimore Car Transporter Gift Set 28 (lot 555) which fetched a whopping £600, and an Ecurie Ecosse Car Transporter Gift Set (lot 16) which sold for £400. (You see there really was no need for the die-cast collector’s to get excited at all...!)
 
With only 50 models believed to be produced we were very lucky to see a Shackleton David Brown Bulldozer in our auction for the second time this year! (lot 42) The rarity of the model accounted for the awe-stricken faces of several gentlemen when they realised they had another chance to purchase one of these fantastic models. The last one we sold in March made £2000 and although the condition of the box wasn’t great this example still sold for £1,400.

LOT 42 - Sold for £1400 plus Buyer's Premium
 
From tractors to sports cars…the automobilia section saw some fantastic lots including two original framed David Brown Aston Martin posters (lots 486 and 487) which sold collectively for £300. We also had a selection of car catalogues from the 1950’s and ’60s (lot 716) featuring such classics as the Sunbeam Alpine and the Morris Mini Minor, which sold for £380.

LOT 716 - Sold for £380

By Nell Hilditch (Auctioneer)

Ron Jobson (Matchbox box artist) original Watercolours - by Chris Aston

Phil met Ron Jobson last week at his home in north west London. Ron is a well-known illustrator - he was the creator of many of the propaganda posters during the Second World War and in 1967 was responsible for the illustrations on all of the Matchbox 1-75 Series model boxes for that year.

Ron has also produced illustrations for Airfix model boxes and for many books on aircraft and spacecraft.
More details of some of Ron Jobson's pictures can be found in the following articles:

• Ron Jobson In Book And Magazine Collector
• The Airfix Box Art Phenomenon

Unfortunately Ron wasn't allowed to keep most of his commissioned illustrations as copyright usually remained with the agency he was working for in each case. However Ron has kept a small collection of his non-commissioned paintings of war scenes and aircraft over the years, and has now consigned 20 of these to our 15th October Toy & Model Auction.

By Chris Aston

Here are some of the pictures - full list of sale results can be found here:
Aston's Toy Auction Results


 

September 2011 Toy Auction Report - by Chris Aston

September is traditionally the start of ‘the auction season’ – normally the busiest period of the year for most auction houses leading up to Christmas. No surprise then that our sale on the 17th was the biggest sale of our year to date with some 900+ lots!

Tin Plate Toys & Robots
Star lot of the sale was a tin Batman robot toy owned since childhood by a local man from Quinton in Birmingham. I missed meeting my motorbike hero Guy Martin, who was signing DVDs of the critically acclaimed TT 3D movie at Streetbike in Halesowen, to go on the evening valuation call! It was definitely worth it though when I saw the Batman robot laid out on the dining room table with a collection of other toys from the same era, all neatly packed away in their original boxes.
These Batman robots were made in the late 1960′s and early 70′s by Nomura (Japan). This particular example had survived in very nice condition with a clean battery compartment. The vendor told me that this is because after receiving it as a birthday present and quickly wearing out the batteries, his parents couldn’t afford to buy new batteries for it and so it was put back in the box and consigned to the loft!
The last example of this robot sold by us fetched £700 in February 2010. This example was in much nicer condition so I estimated it at £800 – £1200 for the catalogue – it sold towards the top end of this estimate at £1100 hammer price.



A much earlier tin plate toy by Schuco also created a lot of interest -  a 1930′s clockwork Charlie Chaplin figure with it’s original box. This sold for £440 plus Buyer’s Premium.



Not in such good condition, but a still a sought-after toy, was lot 206, a Dux Astroman Robot (West Germany, 1950′s). Despite it’s poor condition and damaged box it made £220 hammer price.



Diecast modelsMost expensive diecast lot of the day was this Corgi Whizzwheels Gift Set 20 Tri-Deck Transporter – produced by Corgi from 1970 to 1973. It contained: 1146 Transporter; 210 ‘Saint’s’ Volvo; 378 MGC GT (red); Porsche Targa 911S; 372 Lancia; 377 Marcos; Rover 2000 TC. VG-E in F/G box with ‘Mr Retailer’ transit card protector. This lot saw bidding between dealers and collectors and finally sold for £500.

 
The diecast section also included a huge collection of modern American Police Car models which sold for more than £4000 in total.

Here are some of the pictures - full list of sale results can be found here:
Aston's Toy Auction Results

By Chris Aston

August 2011 Toy Auction Report - by Chris Aston

A new in-house record for Aston’s as this Bing four-seater tourer (circa 1904) sells to a telephone bidder for £6000 plus Buyer’s Premium

 

Lot 264 was an early 20th Century Bing four seater touring car in need of restoration, which had been bought into us by a small local house clearance firm. We believe it to be the same model as the pristine example sold as part of the Donald Kaufman antique toy collection, by Bertoia in 2009 for $59,000.
£6000 (£7080 including Buyers Premium) is a new record high price for us, beating the previous record set when one of a pair of Hotwheels display stands acheived £4000.

Early teddy bears
Another lot ready for the restorers also far outstripped it’s estimate of £50 – £70 and went on to be purchased by an internet bidder for £2200 hammer price. Lot 311, a mixed lot of early teddy bears and some assorted dolls included a two-tone clown bear believed to be by Strunz (Germany) - this seemed to be the item which triggered the competitive bidding, as many prospective buyer’s had requested additional close-ups of this bear. The lot also included an interesting 1920′s celluloid doll by Schildkrot in nice condition.


 
Scarce Dinky Triumph ‘staff only’ variationsHighlight of the large diecast section of the August auction was a group of Four Dinky Toys models of Triumph cars which were special colour variations made for staff at the Triumph factory in the 1960′s. They were lotted seperately, but this rare opportunity was seized by just one keen collector who outbid dealers in the saleroom and paid a combined £4000 for the models. 

   

Full list of sale results can be found here:
Aston's Toy Auction Results

By Chris Aston

July 2011 Toy Auction Report - by Chris Aston

Pedal Car Collection
Some of the biggest toys we've had to deal with stole the show this month - a selection of old child's pedal cars from a deceased estate in London, from which we have been selling thousands of items over the last few months.
Most of the pedal cars were crying out for restoration in the form of paintwork and spare parts! Even so, the collection totalled over £6000.


The highest priced lot of the sale was lot 706, one of the examples needing the least restoration - just a seat and a few minor accessories. A live internet bidder snapped it up for £1100 + Buyers Premium



A private seller who had heard about the sale thought it would be a good opportunity to sell his fully restored Austin J40 pedal car - complete with chauffer in the form of a teddy bear!
This made £1000 + Buyers Premium.

 

French Dinky Toys
A vendor from Bath who sold his childhood collection of Dinky toys with us back in 2010 came to visit us again after finding a few more models in the loft! Amongst the selection of English cars (which were generally in lovely condition) were 3 immaculate French Dinky toys, although he couldn't remember how they had come to be in his possesion! These 3 cars netted him a cool £1240 before commission - more than the hammer price of all his other 21 models put together - with the rare Auto Union model acheiving £800 + Buyers Premium.

  

 

Sale summary

90% of the lots were sold at this sale.

 

The full results list as an Adobe PDF file can be found here:

Aston's Toy Auction Results

 

By Chris Aston