Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i Collectors Gazette

The diecast market is alive and well, if Vectis’ recent auction results are anything to go by. Top of the heap had to be the Dinky 455 Trojan "Brooke Bond Tea" Van. This was a rare promotional issue, the model with a red body and an attached sticker reading "Since 1924 more than 5700 Trojan Little Red Vans supplied. Replaced on a long life basis." Fitted with red ridged hubs, the model was generally excellent and it easily outshone the expected £1,500 estimate, making £5,040. In fact, many of the high achieving lots far exceeded prediction: two 1950s Dinky Toys show window retailer cards realised £900 and £576; a Dinky 232 Alfa Romeo Racing Car in red tripled its estimate to hit £240; and even five Spoton catalogues were fiercely…

Larger scale military figures did well at the last British Toy Auctions events, with a Dragon 21st Century Toys Schwimmwagen model, complete with two German infantry figures in camouflage smocks, hitting £180, plus premium. The 1/16 scale ensemble was helped by the extras: included in the sale were ammunition boxes, helmets, a machine gun, a First Aid bag, canteens and grenade canisters. Another item in the Dragon series, a WW2 Kettenkrad with trailer plus three customised and unboxed Dragon Afrika Korps soldiers, together with accessories, raised £140. A third Dragon model centred upon a motorcycle combination and German crew of four, returning after a period of rest and relaxation, as witnessed y the included food items. This sold for £190. Elsewhere, a CMC Mercedes Benz 300 SLR diecast in impressive…

Trains, Planes and Automobiles’ last sale was, to quote the auction house, not too spectacular, but nonetheless a wide array of collectables were sold. In particular, railway items did well. The Hornby 3½ inch gauge live steam Stephenson’s Rocket locomotive and tender was a typical example. Although untested, it was in very good condition and came with part of the original packaging. It steamed past its estimate to realise $600. Elsewhere, two Hornby G104 3½ inch gauge four-wheel coaches, suitable for use with the above-mentioned Stephenson’s Rocket, were fiercely contested to $800; they exhibited some roof staining but that didn’t deter the bidders. Other railway items included the Genesis G97226 HO gauge twin-rail UP Challenger 4-6-6-4 locomotive and tender numbered 3982 and finished in black. It came fitted with DCC…

After first appearing on radio in 1933, the Lone Ranger’s cry of “hi-ho, Silver! Away!” has become one of the iconic catchphrases on the 20th century. While the theme music, from the William Tell Overture, has been hummed by children throughout the world, having their own imaginary Wild West adventures. So, we’re going to have a brief look at the history of the mysterious masked man before choosing some of the best Lone Ranger collectables, old and new. Incredibly there were 2,956 radio episodes of the Lone Ranger and originally each began in the same way, with an announcer saying: “In the early day of the western United States, a masked man and an Indian rode the plains, searching for truth and justice. Return with us now to those thrilling…

Taking a table at a toy fair is one of life’s lessons …please no sniggering at the back. If your everyday job doesn’t bring you into contact with the general public, a toy fair can come as a bit of a shock. Over the years as a stallholder I’ve had some informative, sometimes funny and occasionally testing conversations with the toy perusing public. Being a collector too, I’ve also spent a fair amount of time on the other side of the table so I can empathise with both. There are many facets to the general discourse at a toy fair, haggling being one of the most enjoyable and contentious ones. Most haggling is just goodnatured banter, a little dance between punter and vendor, with both knowing the outcome. Some of…

Hi folks! A nice little discovery I made last month sent my mind racing back to the 1970s. It was in October 1978 that I bought my first Jam single Down in the Tube Station at Midnight with a great picture cover of the band standing on an underground station platform. I became a Jam fan and collected most of their records and badges. I kept all the records but sadly lost the badges which is why I was over the moon to find one of them again for the princely sum of 50 pence… its now pinned it on my trusty old Levi trucker jacket which must be a collectors’ item itself by now. Still on the subject of button badges another recent find will be a memory jerker…

CORGI MODEL CLUB BUICK RIVIERA Price: £31.99 Scale: 1/48 Release: out now The latest vintage Corgi Toys reproduction from the Corgi Model Club is another truly excellent replica and features the fabulous Trans-O-Lite system. ›› www.corgimodelclub.com IXO MODELS ŠKODA 130 RS - RALLY ACROPOLIS 1979 #41 KVAIZAR/KOTEK Price: £49.96 Scale: 1/24 Release: out now Great value, larger-scale model of the classic 130 RS in rallying guise. Wonderful replication of the body shape and the evocative graphics are superb. ›› www.ayrey.co.uk More new releases reviewed at ccofgb.co.uk OXFORD DIECAST AEC 690 MIXER Price: £23.95 Scale: 1/76 Release: out now The second release of Oxford’s delightful new tooling, this time in a rather striking combination of yellow and black. Another wonderful model from Oxford. ›› www.oxforddiecast.co.uk DID YOU KNOW WE ARE MORE…

Following on from the popularity of Toy Collectors Price Guide 2023, the team have been looking back over the past ten years and have produced Toy Collectors Price Guide - The Full Collection. Six digital special editions cover the most popular toy collecting subjects and include trains, diecast, TV and film related toys plus a large selection of other childhood favourites. The guides are produced and published in association with monthly magazines Collectors Gazette and Diecast Collector and contain thousands of items listed with corresponding colour pictures and descriptions. Editor, Cathy Herron says “We’ve trawled thousands of auction results and catalogues from the past ten years to bring you unrivalled price guides of vintage toys. With detailed descriptions and clear colour photographs of every item, the Toy Collectors Price Guide –…

"This is the night mail crossing the Border, Bringing the cheque and the postal order, Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, Parcels off Ebay for the boy next door…” With apologies and no royalties to WH Auden, it’s pertinent to note that, as parcels overtake letters in volume, and postal services desperately try to shed their legal obligation to service every remote household in the kingdom, and private businesses cherry pick the more lucrative segments, our Royal Mail is not looking so royal any more. You could say the rot set in when the railways stopped carrying mail, newspapers and perishable goods. Most of these were transferred to road in the early ‘80s, removing the need for slow overnight parcels trains which were so useful to backpackers and…

The Victorian era left a lasting impression on Britain that can still be felt more than 100 years after the period ended. Just look at the lines of vintage railway tracks crisscrossinging the countryside, rows of aging terraced houses or numerous Victorian inventions still in use today (cast your mind back to 1852 every time you flush the toilet). Indeed, it was certainly a time for industry and innovationn with many inventors like Isaac Singer, Louis Pasteur, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Alexanderer Bell earning their place in the history books. However for collectors there’s one Victorian inventor that stands head and shoulders above the rest: Frank Hornby. Of course the Hornby name is now well established within the world of model railways but his reach extends far beyond this to…

Item: Star Wars Jawa with vinyl cape Condition: mint at UKG/AFA 85 (paint graded 90%) Sold for: £2,323 (18 bids) Item: Jun Planning Corpse Bride Coffin Piano Box Condition: excellent, had been in storage since its 2006 release Sold for: £1,200 (13 bids) Item: LEGO Kings Mountain Fortress, set 6081 Condition: bricks all correct age and excellent, original instructions and catalogue included Sold for: £850 (28 bids) Item: Meccano No.2 Motorcar Constructor Condition: excellent with all pieces present, along with original leaflets and box Sold for: £1,081.99 (3 bids) Item: Corgi Major Gift Set No.1B Carrimore Car Transporter with 4 cars Condition: excellent, cars like new but one box missing, outer original box mint Sold for: £1125 (27 bids) Item: Metal House Japan Tin Dino Robot Condition: near mint, full…

The auction house’s last sale witnessed some very competitive bidding, particularly in connection with the diecast section. The 1/18 scale models all sold well, with the premium CMC models taking the laurels. A 1961 GTO short wheelbase Ferrari in yellow, having an estimate of £100, doubled that and sold for £264, while a 1924 Mercedes Targa Florio sold for £156, against an estimate of £100. The CMC 1/18 Scale 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (W196S) Mille Miglia Sieger No. M-066, with silver body albeit with the windscreen detached, still made £216. For railway buffs, a lovely Bassett-Lowke, O gauge 2-6-0 Mogul 42981 BR ex-LMS Stanier and tender was billed as excellent, with an equally good box: this settled on £230. Another Bassett-Lowke combination, an electric O gauge "Flying Fox" 4-6-2T LNER…

PART 3 If I could go back to the 1960s, with the benefit of knowledge accrued during the last 20 years and, hopefully, a few quid in the bank, I’d buy shares in Lone*Star. WHY? I HEAR YOU ASK. No big secret really – Lone*Star majored in diecast manufacture but of all its product lines, it was that of guns and pistols that brought in the money. Children (well, boys) all played with toy guns - essential elements in any pretend wargame. See a model gun at a swapmeet today, and the chances are that it’ll be from Lone*Star… the word monopoly comes to mind! Aside from helping cowpokes tame the Wild West, the company had film and TV tie-ins: weapons for the Man from UNCLE, James Bond and The…

Hornby Dublo model railways were launched in 1937, one year after the death of Frank Hornby who passed away on 21st September 1936. The Chief designer of the range was Donald Smith, although the catchy name of ‘DUBLO’ was the brainchild of Meccano’s Commercial Director George Jones. Hornby Dublo was an amazing success right from the beginning although children who enjoyed this exciting new gauge of model railways had a bit of a dilemma when it came to accuracy of scenery and in particular road vehicles. One of the most frequent questions being asked was which motor vehicles correctly fitted the 00 scale? Enquiries by boys to Meccano Magazine were frequent both in the pre-war and immediate post-war years. The editor published replies to readers advising them that there were…

One of the most iconic collectable figures that toy enthusiasts spend their time and money on has to be Action Man – the first action figure for boys which Leicester company Palitoy brought out in 1966. It followed in the footsteps of US action soldier G.I. Joe – launched in 1964 as Americas movable fighting man – a 12 inch tall posable figure that was hugely successful until support for the Vietnam War waned and sales of military toys began to drop off. In 1966, Leicester company Palitoy licensed G.I. Joe from Hasbro and re-branded it as Action Man. The figure went from strength to strength, with regiments requesting their uniforms be included in Action Man’s range of outfits. That same year Hasbro launched their Soldiers of the World series,…