Milestone Auctions – New Years Antique Toys Extravaganza
Saturday January 13th at 10:00 am
www.milestoneauctions.com
38198 Willoughby Parkway Willoughby, Ohio 44094
WILLOUGHBY, OHIO — Toys, toys and more toys! That’s what’s in store for collectors at Milestone’s January 13 New Year’s Antique Toy Extravaganza, starting at 10 am ET. The 732-lot sale includes some of the most sought-after of all European, American and Japanese playthings from the golden era through postwar-production years. Many have their rare factory boxes and present in original condition. Marquee highlights include a super-rare boxed Linemar Mechanical Popeye & Olive Oyl Tank, a Diamond Planet Robot and a Marx Big Loo robot prototype with documentation and provenance from its original designer.
The toy hobby is still buzzing about the boxed Popeye & Olive Oyl Tank that set a world auction record on April 9, 2022, when Milestone auctioned it for $105,000. One of perhaps a half-dozen examples known to exist, the toy had emerged from Australia, a fact that became widely known after the sale. But, contrary to the old adage, lightning did strike twice in the same spot.
Worldwide postsale coverage led to the discovery of yet another boxed Popeye tank in Australia, from a different, completely unrelated source.
The elusive character toy’s consignor, John Elsbury of Western Australia, received the tank in 1957 as a 7th-birthday gift from his parents. He clearly remembers being instructed by his mother to sit outside Randall & Edwards jewelry store in downtown Kalgoorlie while the secretive purchase was being made. Sixty-five years later, after stumbling across an online article about the $105,000 price paid for a similar-looking tank, Elsbury started digging though old boxes and eventually located his birthday toy. It was still in its colorful pictorial box and even retained its original 2-shilling price tag. Elsbury got in touch with Milestone’s co-owner Miles King, and arrangements were made for the tank’s shipment to Ohio. Now a top entry in the January 13 event, it will be offered with an estimate of $40/60,000.
In case Popeye and Olive would like some field fortification on auction day, they won’t have to look far. The sale also features a Yonezawa Batman Tank, all-original and complete with its vinyl Batman driver. One of the rarest of all Batman toys, the bright red tin friction vehicle is emblazoned with Japanese writing, bat logos and cartoon images of both Batman and Robin. The scarce toy is in working order and carries a $15/25,000 estimate.
Japanese robots and space toys from the same production period as the comic-character tanks will be jockeying for the auction spotlight as well. A Yonezawa 10-inch windup Diamond Planet Robot ($20/30,000) is an especially rare variation with a silvery-blue body and red arms and ears. “Any Diamond Planet Robot is like a Faberge egg to robot collectors. It was made in two color variations — red body with blue arms and ears, and the even rarer blue body with red arms and ears, like the one in our auction. They simply do not turn up for sale anywhere,” said Miles King. The auction example is complete and all-original, with its distinctive googly eyes, “oxygen meter” [on chest] and large windup key. “It’s a great example of what is arguably the most sought-after of all robots,” King continued. “Only a few have ever come to market, so it’s sure to attract strong competition.”
The word “prototype” is music to any toy collector’s ears, and that certainly applies to robot fans, who will have a real treat in store at this auction: The prototype for Marx’s Big Loo Giant Moon Robot. Standing 38 inches tall and of a form that is identical to the production robot that followed, the unpainted silver Big Loo was acquired directly from the toy’s designer, Harry Evanoff, in 1963. It has production numbers on its back and retains a Marx sample tag that says “7650, Big Loo, Erie, Return to Harry E.” The auction lot also includes archival letters from Louis Marx about production issues and returns, and other unique documents such as a test-sample letter and a timesheet showing hours spent in development ($15/25,000).
It has been quite some time since a selection of early European tin windups has come to market that was as exciting, or as large, as the selection being offered by Milestone. There are hundreds of rare examples from the premier German and French manufacturers of a century ago, including Lehmann, Fernand Martin, Gunthermann, Victor Bonnet, Saalheimer & Strauss, Distler and so many more.
Lehmann favorites include a boxed Snick Snack (gentleman walking dogs), $8/10,000; Boxer Rebellion, $6/8,000; Walking Down Broadway (aka Mr & Mrs Lehmann with Dog), $6/8,000; and an early, boxed flywheel toy called Going to the Fair, $3/5,000. More than three dozen French windup toys by Fernand Martin include a rare Soldat Bulgarian Soldier, boxed, $4/6,000; Roller Skater, $4/5,000; Diablo Sticks Player with box, $3,5/4,500; and a boxed Field Worker, $3/4,000.
Milestone’s gallery is at 38198 Willoughby Parkway. For more information, 440-527-8060 or www.milestoneauctions.com.
Preview available week of auction and 8AM auction day
This special auction includes a life-long private collection that includes many rare and wonderful toys!! Pressed steel trucks, pedal cars, automotive toys, motorcycles, German windups, German hand paint, tin windups, character toys, Japanese tin, batteiy ops, robots, space toys, & more!!
LIVE BIDDING AVAILABLE THRU: www.milestoneauctions.com | Liveauctioneers | Invaluable
MILESTONE AUCTIONS GALLERY 38198 Willoughby Parkway Willoughby, Ohio 44094 (440) 527-8060 | milestoneauctions@yahoo.com | Auctioneer: Miles King
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