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