Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2022 i Collectors Gazette

NORTHCORD MODEL COMPANY ADL ENVIRO 400 - STAGECOACH LONDON Price: £66.99 Scale: 1/76 Release: out now Looking absolutely stunning in London’s red, this simpleliveried example could be left as is or have adverts added, if desired. Excellent detail. ›› www.ayrey.co.uk CONRAD MERCEDES-BENZ AROCS MEILLER SKIP TRUCK - PRAJO’S Price: 109.00€ Scale: 1/50 Release: out now Two-axle skip with extendable rear supports and steerable front axle. Exterior mirrors and antennas included for self-assembly. Excellent detail. ›› www.conrad-modelle.de More new releases reviewed at ccofgb.co.uk BRITAINS MUDDY LAND ROVER DEFENDER 90 Price: £19.99 Scale: 1/32 Release: out now Britains’ Defender 90 gets a smart muddy finish for this ‘At Work’ edition. It has a detachable roof rack and removable winch. ›› www.britainsfarmtoys.co.uk KESS MODELS 1957 FERRARI 410 SUPERAMERICA II SERIES Price: £104.99 Scale:…

It’s a simple enough concept: a set containing a chassis with three or more interchangeable car or truck bodies, a kind of halfway house between a fullybuilt model and an assembly kit. The advantage is that it doesn’t require the skill and patience needed to build a kit from multiple parts. From the maker’s point of view, being able to advertise a set along the lines of ‘three toys in one’ gives buyers the impression that they’re getting greater value for money. No wonder, then, that most manufacturers of toy cars have offered products of this kind over the years. Over the next two issues, we’ll embark on a round the world tour and look at a selection of the most imaginative and collectable sets of cars and trucks with…

My dear sister still recalls how thrilled she was when she received her lovely Merrythought Noddy nightdress case way back on Christmas Day in 1961. It was a Merrythought Big Ears that came out of my Christmas stocking that day, as we were both kids raised on those magical Enid Blyton stories. Sadly, though my Big Ears was soon adopted by our dog as her toy and she dragged him into her basket on a daily basis! 2020 saw Merrythought celebrate its 90th birthday and although many people immediately think of teddy bears when this company is mentioned, Merrythought has made so much more than bears throughout its long illustrious history. Its first products were made during the early 1930s and included a host of endearing character toys all of…

Tri-ang Spot-on No 122 United Dairies Van, red, with spun hubs, original elastic bands are present but perished/broken. Good to good plus in fair plus box. Sold for £20, British Toy Auctions, April. Dinky Toys No 697 25-Pounder Field Gun Set, drab olive green, original unsold shop stock. Near mint in very good box. Sold for £50, British Toy Auctions, April. Corgi No 18004 Heavy Haulage ‘Siddle C.Cook’ Scammell Contractor, 2 Dyson Trailers and Crane Girder Load, appears to be in mint condition with certificate # 1246 of 4000. In mint polystyrene inner, within a good lift off lid box. Sold for £30, British Toy Auctions, April. Danbury Mint 1/24 scale ‘Dukes of Hazzard General Lee Dodge Charger, appears to be in Mint condition. In mint inner polystyrene packaging, in very tood…

Hi folks! It’s been a great start to the summer season with the warm weather bringing people out buying and selling. Boot fairs have been super busy and it seems that many sellers have spent time through the various lockdowns clearing out attics and garages. One of my best finds at a boot fair was originally given away for nothing as a free gift with issue number three of The Modern Boy comic in the 1930s. It’s a brilliant little model of a Supermarine Napier Seaplane S.5, stamped out from tinplate. It was presented as a flat sheet in the comic leaving the boys to bend the base back to allow it to stand. I’ve never seen one of these fabulous little planes before although I have seen the steam…

At SAS’s last sale, an almost mint collection of Graham Farish/Bachmann N gauge aroused great interest and kicked off the sale with some excellent prices. According to the auction house, Rod Hannah’s Hornby Dublo and Wrenn Collection was also well received, with £400 bid on a prewar clockwork Sir Nigel Gresley locomotive, with £360 the winning bid for for an electric version. A ‘Total’ rebuilt Dublo E3002 sold for £480 and many other Hornby Dublo “neverwazzas” sold for well over pre-auction estimates. As for the ever-popular Wrenn section, this also did well, with a BR blue Royal Scot Class ‘Royal Air Force’ selling for £550. Top honours for the Wrenn railway section, though, went to a Coronation Class ‘King George V1’: this was fought over all the way to £600.…

On the day HM The Queen celebrates her 96th birthday, the Severn Valley Railway announced that it is partnering with leading British model company Hornby to produce a limited edition collector’s model of a locomotive with a very special royal connection. The limited edition of 1,500 models will feature SR West Country Class 34027 ‘Taw Valley’, the locomotive that will soon appear in a unique purple and silver livery in honour of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, renamed as ‘Elizabeth II’. The leading heritage railway sparked worldwide excitement in February this year when it revealed its plans for the head-turning repaint. The name ‘Elizabeth II’ was selected by public vote, and has received royal approval via the Cabinet Office. Additionally, the loco will be renumbered as ‘70’ to reflect the seven…

Here’s a question for you, where do you think the following extract comes from: “Three fifths of the world’s population was wiped out in a single, desperate tragedy. That had been the bad enough, but worse was to follow…” Any ideas? Is it the latest apocalyptic cinematic blockbuster? What about a tragic sci-fi novel from HG Wells? Surely it couldn’t be from a 1960s comic aimed at telling stories based on the iconic output of Gerry Anderson, could it? Well, incredibly that’s exactly where it’s from! This bleak vision of the Earth in the 31st century was part of the background to Project SWORD, a futuristic space adventure from the pages of TV21 (also known as TV Century 21). The comic was a weekly British publication created by City Magazines,…

Nowadays, what with eBay and our ‘click and collect’, Amazon next day delivery, it’s easy to forget that at one time things weren’t so readily available. In many instances they weren’t available at all. I can well remember a boy bringing a HotWheels car into school and all of us wondering what it was and where we could get them. Compared with today, the media was far more limited so if you didn’t see something advertised on TV or in the press you had little idea of its existence, unless of course as above, you had a chance encounter. First-hand exposure to toys would of course be those in the nearest town or city. Our market town had all the main outlets of the time; Woolworths with its oddball imports,…

The highlight of the last Excalibur sale had to be the Dinky Dolly Varden dolls’ house from 1934, which attracted a top bid of £1,000. Two further lots comprised the house’s furniture, each of these lots settling on £180. The auctioneer noted that this was the first of these popular houses to have been sold in auction for some time (possibly over ten years?) and it was in very good condition, given its age. Another Dinky item that sold well on the day was the No61 pre-war RAF Aeroplanes Set, which was knocked down for £280. Complete with all the aircraft and with little, if any, signs of fatigue, this was a great set to own. A large part of the auction was made up of a single owner (estate)…

Bertoia Auctions’ New Jersey auction took place with the sale of the Monique Knowlton antique toy collection. Comprising mostly 20th century European, American and Japanese toys, bidding was keen, which resulted in a sales total of a staggering US$2.16m, inclusive of 20% buyer’s premium. The top lot of the sale, a circa 1932 Tippco Mickey and Minnie tin wind-up motorcycle, certainly stirred bidders. Estimated to sell at US$25,000-45,000, this iconic duo on a German motorcycle just kept on going, until the hammer finally fell on US$222,000, a world record auction price for any Disney toy.…

WIKING NORMAG FAKTOR I TRACTOR Price: £15.00 Scale: 1/87 Release: out now Newly-tooled, plastic Faktor tractor from Wiking features headlights, air cleaner, black steering column and a drawbar for pulling equipment. ›› www.wiking.de WIKING NORMAG FAKTOR I TRACTOR Price: £15.00 Scale: 1/87 Release: out now Newly-tooled, plastic Faktor tractor from Wiking features headlights, air cleaner, black steering column and a drawbar for pulling equipment. ›› www.wiking.de.…

It’s well known that the peak age for collecting is when you hit your 40s. Ideally, it’s when you've been through courting, established a family, bought a house and got a bit of a lock on your work. Nostalgia, combined with a bit of spare cash and a relatively stable lifestyle, is a heady combination. A chap starts to view his school days through rose tinted spectacles. Along with that, you review your aspirations. For some it was motorbikes and cars. For others, sport or music beckons. “If I had a top mountain bike or tennis racquet, I'd be better.” Musical instruments in particular exert an incredibly strong pull. “If I had a 1963 Fender Stratocaster I'd play and sound better.” It’s just as well there are so many aspiring…

Did they – or didn’t they? It’s a question that collectors, sooner or later, will ask themselves when it comes to certain models within their chosen field of collecting. Was it ever issued? Was it just a catalogue model? Was it ever faked? All collectors enjoy the hunt for the next acquisition and of course, all have in mind a Holy Grail that one day, just maybe, they will finally possess. But what if that Holy Grail turns out to be an enamel mug? A little knowledge can go a long way here… What follows is something of an eclectic listing, embracing the most popular of diecast manufacturers, namely Corgi, Dinky, Husky, Matchbox and Mattel. However, views and comments expressed herein must not be taken as gospel – after all,…

It was a welcome return to the Midlands Garden Rail Show after Covid put a stop to meetings and get togethers throughout most of 2020 and 2021. At last, the 2022 Show was able to go ahead, and exhibitors, traders and enthusiasts couldn’t have been happier. The show took place at the Warwickshire Event Centre over the weekend of 12th and 13th March, and was very well attended. There was, of course, lots of action to be had with layouts in a range of larger scales, including O Gauge, G Scale, Gauge 1 and 16mm gauge. There were more than 30 specialist suppliers offering everything from new and second-hand stock, track and accessories to specialists in radio control systems and repairs. There were live steam experts; makers of kits for…