Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2024 i Collectors Gazette

Vectis hosted two very successful, focussed sales recently. Its Spot-On auction was notable for the No.2a Presentation Pack, which contained an FX4 Taxi, a Meadows Frisky, Land-Rover LWB, an Austin-Healey, a Rover 3-litre and a Vauxhall Cresta, together with a Bedford Petrol Tanker and an ERF Lorry. The box was good and the set realised £1,592. A Spot-On Sailing set, with Vauxhall, boat and figure, wasn’t far behind at £1,102. In its LEGO sale, the Star Wars Cloud City set attracted much interest. Still sealed, it contained the Lando Calrissian and Princess Leia in Bespin garb, plus a unique Boba Fett: this sold for an astonishing £4,655. Elsewhere, the Republic Dropship with AT-OT set made £1,102, while an Ultimate Collectors Series Millennium Falcon was taken home for £1,041.…

Hot off the heels of its appearance on Richard Hammond’s Workshop, Corgi has announced a new partnership with Hammond’s renowned classic car restoration business, ‘The Smallest Cog.’ Together, they will release an officially licensed selection of 1/43 scale diecast vehicles in Corgi’s Vanguards range. The inaugural model to emerge from this partnership will be a 1/43 scale replica of the iconic Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000 in Midnight Blue. This particular vehicle holds special significance as it was the first car restored by ‘The Smallest Cog’ and now serves as the business’s flagship show car. The model will be presented in exclusive dual-branded packaging featuring both ‘The Smallest Cog’ and Vanguards logos, making it a must-have for collectors and fans alike. In addition to producing the scale model, Corgi provided vital…

Yet another Vectis sale included a French Dinky Toys South African issue, the 552 Chevrolet Corvair. A rare example in silver-grey with an ivory interior and chromed concave hubs with white tyres, it was billed as Excellent Plus in a correct issue "Arthur E Harris" South African yellow and red carded picture box. A winning bid of £3,920 secured it. How about trading cards? Two lots of Decipher, one a collection of The Lord of the Rings Trading Cards, the other Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game starter packs, were described as complete and each realised £3,430 (their estimate was under £100!). As for Star Wars, £1,041 took home a Jawa with a vinyl cape but lacking his weapon - and without a bubble. On the railways front, a…

For generations youngsters have enjoyed the challenge of building scale models from plastic construction kits. From the magic of the picture on the box to the sight of the frames, or ‘sprues’, holding the plastic components, there’s a promise of hours of enjoyable activity for the model builder. Of course, some toy collectors never build the construction kit. For some, it’s the pleasure of owning the kit – having it as part of a treasured toy collection. The first plastic model constructions kits were manufactured in the 1930s, however, the story of this new-fangled invention of plastic injection moulding began in 1868. US inventor John Wesley Hyatt (1837-1920) patented the process of creating celluloid – originally made to replace ivory used in billiard balls. He and his brother Isiah patented…

The arrival of the first Matchbox Superfast toys just about signalled the end of my personal interest in collecting Matchbox toys as a youngster. This was largely because I had reached an age where I was growing too old for diecast toys other than the odd Corgi gift sets that I considered to be more collectors’ items than toys to keep in their boxes. Superfast were like Marmite – you either loved them or hated them. Older kids like me had been brought up on very real looking toys made as near to the real vehicles as possible. But all of a sudden wheels no longer looked real, and the emphasis slowly changed from everyday vehicles you saw on the street to Hot Rods, Roadsters and a myriad of American…

Imagine for a moment, if you will, that you have set up in manufacturing and established a line of toys. Those initial products have been well received, which has led to further investment in the company and a growing range of artefacts. However, there comes a time, inevitably, when you need to make the world more aware of what you are manufacturing. Easy, I hear you say – social media, the Internet and all the rest. But no. This is a time before the technological revolution. No mobile phones, no wi-fi and no online platforms. So how do you tackle the problem? Faced with the need to publicise a range of toys (as well as hint at what might lie in the pipeline), toy manufacturers initially had recourse to the…

Bertoia’s recent one day sale featured a host of pressed steel and tinplate models and the bidding was keen. Cars and motorcycles dominated, although there were plenty of other vehicle types. A bid of US$900 secured the Japanese Alps-manufactured Lincoln Futura, a wild-looking futuristic car with forward-hinging cockpit. Finished in black, there was a definite air of the Batmobile about it – and as the cognoscenti know, the real car became the basis for the Caped Crusader’s wheels. Tinplate motorcycles, combinations and scooters all sold well, with prices starting at US$90. Top of the tree was the Arnold Mac 700 series motorbike: this found a new home for US$325. A beautifully printed 9 inch Lehmann Double Decker bus, again in tinplate, realised a healthy US$950 but there were the odd…

BBURAGO FERRARI SF-23 CHARLES LECLERC, 2023 Scale: 1/24 Price: £39.99 Ref: B18-26808L We’ve seen a lot of F1 cars from One For Fun recently, and this replica is just as impressive. Showing the intricate detail that you would expect at this scale! www.oneforfun.co.uk BRITAINS JOHN DEERE 4440 TRACTOR WITH DUALS Scale: 1/32 Price: £58.99 Ref: 43380 Special release, limited to 2,250 models, of its standard 4440 tractor. The largely metal, steerable model has dual rear wheels and working two-point linkage. www.bevro.nl WSI MODELS IVECO S-WAY 6X2 TWIN STEER TRUCK Scale: 1/50 Price: €129 Ref: 01-4348 Painted in an eye-catching decoration for the W. Neidhofer Transport company, featuring working steering, pivoting fifth-wheel plate and coiled service lines. www.wsi-models.com LEGO TECHNIC MCLAREN P1™ Price: £389.99 Ref: 42172 The showcase of the LEGO…

LEGO has just announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Formula 1®, which should open the doors for a raft of sets coming through in 2025. LEGO has courted F1 in the past through their Racers theme of the early noughties, scaling F1 cars down to Minifigure proportions as well as creating larger versions as flagship Technic sets. It would be sensible if the F1 cars are represented at 8-stud wide Minifigure scale to complement existing themes. With an intriguing number of vehicle licenses from the likes of Aston Martin, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, one could well expect Minifigure replicas of Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton or even Charles Leclerc to appear which would give the theme authenticity and credibility. Will there also be further Technic sets and classics from the past…

Let’s kick off with pop music this time around: this issue’s year saw the Beatles’ album Magical Mystery Tour go to Number 1 in the charts, where it would stay for eight weeks. Meanwhile, Otis Redding was sitting on the dock of the bay; and Simon & Garfunkel released Mrs Robinson as a single. Finally, this year’s Eurovision Song Contest was won by Spain’s “La, la, la”, performed in Spanish by Massiel. Cliff Richard was the runner-up. Still not sure? Well, on the world map, there was much unrest. This year saw the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese launch the Tet Offensive against South Vietnamese and US forces in Vietnam. Behind the Iron Curtain, Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops also invaded Czechoslovakia, in response to the so-called Prague Spring:…

By 1962 most magazine covers relied on photographs, they still do in fact. However, an artist still had a place – the view can be ‘arranged’ to suit the purpose and the customer. Here is the Airfix Magazine from August 1962, but were they indeed the customer? They had started their Skyking series of 1/144 scale larger airliners the previous year and the Comet 4 and Garavelle had been two of the first three available. Both the location and line-up look nicely contrived – three aircraft types, three airlines (B.E.A., Air France, and B.O.A.C. on a Boeing 707 behind), and some fairly typical buildings (location please somebody). It is well known that Airfix spent large amounts on box artwork, but this is exceptional for their magazine. It has been suggested…

As I’ve been writing and photographing this series over the last couple of months, I’ve had quite a few ideas of my own along the way. Plus, there have been extra things that occurred to me after the relevant piece had been published and then Oxford Diecast added a whole new range of accessories so here we have a bit of a round up to finish the series off. We begin this final part of our journey with a trip down to London, N8 to be precise. Something I’ve wanted to build for a long time, as an almost lifelong Lotus enthusiast (since the age of 5 thanks initially to the Matchbox Superfast Lotus Europa released in 1969), is a model of the original Lotus car showroom at the old…

I’ve realised over the years that I’m very Fords with only just enough parts to repair three of them… Hmm. There are also three much a creature of habit in many ways. My favourite time of year is autumn as I’ve always found it’s mood and colours very atmospheric. With the evenings closing in and maybe the log burner going, autumn slowly turns into winter. Some people may well reach for a book, do a jigsaw or settle down for an evening in front of the TV. Barring domestic interludes, I find myself tinkering and restoring with old toys. It’s true in the run up to autumn I make sure I have a stash of restoration projects. There’s a tray I store them on and which I gradually fill up.…

Yes, in amongst all the assorted lead Britains lots at the last Wallis and Wallis toy auction was the famous 'Village Idiot'. This cross-eyed fellow might not be very PC today but was dressed in a light pink top with a blue scarf, brown trousers and yellow socks. Collectors will know that various colours were used on this model: this chap had some wear to his paint and his stick was bent. Nonetheless, he was bid to £65. Other figurines to feature in the sale included assorted lots of six King and Country models: these seem to fare well, and prices realised ranged from £90-150, depending on subject. Several Skybirds lots failed to attract any bids but one interesting lot did sell: a pair of 6-wheeled Army Trucks, in green,…

Alot comprising 15 Original Omnibuses in 1/76 scale that included a No.43903 Leyland Utility Bus, No. OM46619B New Routemaster London and No. OM41205 Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini were all classified as mint or excellent at the last British Toy Auctions sale. Some items were, in fact, still factory sealed and they realised £130 plus premium. A trio of Britains boxed tractor models in 1/32 scale included a Ford 8730 with flotation tyres, No.9442, a Valtra Valmet 115 forest tractor (No. 09447) and a New Holland (No.6635) tractor with front loader system. The models were mint and such was the farming interest that they sold for £130. A boxed OO gauge Bachmann 21DCC No 32-523NRM DP1 Deltic Prototype in West Coast Mainline livery was an interesting model: produced exclusively for The National…

Do you remember the 1970s, when graffiti was confined to a few crude slogans daubed in black paint? ‘Tories Out’. ‘Millwall scum’. Or just some obscure nicknames. There was nothing clever about it. Often unintelligible or spelt wrong, graffiti was just a minor annoyance. We used to see pictures of the New York subway and wonder how they managed to have so much graffiti. It had become increasingly prevalent, even on whole trains, from around 1969. The 1974 film The Taking of Pelham One Two Three about the hijacking of a subway train was made with the reluctant co-operation of the New York City Transport Authority, who insisted that no graffiti should appear in the film. Testament to the film’s impact, dispatchers still generally avoid scheduling Pelham trains to depart…

Most of the time, buying a new toy is as simple as walking into a shop and handing over your money. But what if it was more than a simple financial transaction? What if you had to sign papers and even take an oath of adoption for your new acquisition? It’s decidedly out of the ordinary, but then so are they: these are the Cabbage Patch Kids and, for a few years in the ‘80s, these baby dolls beat every Goliath of the toy industry hands down. The Cabbage Patch Kids were a juggernaut from their launch in 1983, rapidly garnering multitudes of fans worldwide with their squishy bodies and large rounded plastic heads. According to the official history, they’re the invention of art student Xavier Roberts, who, in the…

The TK cab was designed to replace the existing ‘ S’ Type cab on a number of articulated vehicles in the Corgi Major series. It was also modified and used as the chassis to individual models such as the Bedford Tipper. This new cab now came with suspension, an interior including a steering wheel, and a pair of rather impressive cab wing mirrors. It was first used in October 1962, when Corgi released the Chipperfields Circus Horse Transporter as model No 1130. The cab was issued in red as part of the circus colour scheme of red and light blue. The model was manufactured in a 1/47 scale and was available until 1971. It achieved 627,000 sales. The following month, in November 1962, Corgi released the TK Car Transporter as…

TINPLATE RESULTS RAILWAY RESULTS ON SALE NOW… Ramsay's British Diecast Catalogue 18th Edition! To order your copy call 01778 392006 or visit www.ccofgb.uk/ramsays18 Toy Collectors Price Guide - Digital Railway Special Download your copy today at bit.ly/4gGcNDe…

Hi folks! Well, here we are nearing the end of another year of collecting, and although trends and tastes change through the years and through each generation, the appetite for all types of collectibles never seems to wane. I’m definitely what you would call an old school collector, still interested in toys and collectibles from the 1950s through to the 1970s. But I’m so often amazed and encouraged by how many young collectors there are in this wonderful hobby of ours. Some character toys really do stand the test of time though and seem to have been around forever. One such character is Sooty who came along just after World War Two. The story goes that Harry Corbett bought a bear glove puppet for his baby son in Blackpool. Later…