Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2025 i Collectors Gazette

Whilst American pulp comics are not to everyone’s taste, doubtless many older readers will have encountered them at some point in their youth. Last month, Vectis sold a Marvel Comics example, featuring the Fantastic Four, dating from 1962; notable because of the first appearance of Doctor Doom, this Silver Age issue was bagged and boarded. Described as Fair to Good, it realised £1,715. Also sold was a Silver Age DC Comics Detective Comics (No. 359) that had been printed in 1967. It contained the first appearance of Batgirl, and so attracted more than a few bids: in good condition, it sold for £440, some way above estimate. Lego fans with deep pockets pursued the 10123 Star Wars Cloud City set. Although the box had been opened, instruction booklets and minifigures…

MBC are pleased to announce our latest Model Bus Range Collaboration with Hornby Hobbies: The Corgi Original Omnibus Range. As MBC celebrates their 5th Year, Corgi Original Omnibus Celebrates its 30th Anniversary, and Corgi celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2026, MBC will be releasing a selection of Model Buses from across the UK. MBC’s production team have been working with the Corgi product team to select and develop a range of releases. In partnership with their operators and licensing partners, they are continuing to ensure that the models and products remain officially licensed and reflect the vehicles they release. This includes making some changes to get as much detail as possible in this exciting and innovative range of 1:76 scale diecast model buses. MBC have introduced collectors’ cards and the…

In Georgia, you’ll find the town of Kennesaw. What makes this place unusual is that its inhabitants are required by law to own a firearm and ammunition. It’s all rather bewildering to us Brits, this American predilection for guns, which makes it all the more ironic that the subject of this article, that of Langson Manufacturing, should have specialised in the manufacture of toy guns that were discreet in the extreme. Puzzled? Let me explain… OUT OF HUNGARY The Langson Manufacturing Company (or LMCO, as it would become known in time) was founded by Otto Albert Langos, who was Hungarian by birth. A music teacher in that country, he emigrated in 1902, along with his wife. Something of an inventor, and rather at odds with his background, it wasn’t long…

Back in April 2013, Barney Brown took a leap of faith. Having worked for barristers as their accountant for over 23 years, he asked himself, “Can I leave my safe and secure 9-5 job and create a business which I am in control of and look forward to every day?” Encouraged by his father, Rod, whom Barney calls “his biggest supporter,” he took a deep breath, left his well-salaried job, accepted an early pension, and launched a website in September 2013, specialising in vintage collectable toys. Yet, it didn’t quite work out that way. The initial aim of selling an eclectic mix of diecast models and trains to Scalextric and Hot Wheels quickly changed to one very specialist and highly niche field: early plastic figures, primarily produced by Herald and…

Two metres. That was the gap we all had to keep during the COVID pandemic in 2020, a small distance that made a big impact. Aside from the tragic loss of life, it changed our society in ways we’re still yet to fully comprehend. Remote working, once rare, became commonplace during the pandemic. Personally, I’ve had customers I’ve never met in person since, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. It may seem frivolous to talk about our hobby in relation to COVID, but like all things, it was affected. Toy fairs, like all public events, were abruptly curtailed. Already in decline since their 1990s heyday, it seems COVID simply sped up an existing trend. After COVID, things were slow to pick up. Shopping online was very much the…

Almost 1,450 lots went under the hammer at Wessex Auctions in August. Outside of a veritable host (field?) of tractors, diecast gems included a DinkyWay boxed road layout set, a building on fire and a forklift truck: just £30 secured the trio. Rather more serious money went on the Dinky pre-War 28C Type 1 “The Manchester Guardian” delivery van with black cab and chassis, a red body and green washed tin wheels. It was contested to £650. A bid of £150 took home the uncommon boxed Tri-ang Spot-On 111A/OG Ford Thames Trader with articulated flat float and a garage kit. Finished in orange with grey trims and with nine accessory parts, the model exhibited some paint chipping, and was classified as fair to good. Retro gaming anyone? A Nintendo Game…

It was not unusual for the team at Corgi Toys to use a casting as many as five or six times, creating a different vehicle on each occasion. Changes were made to colour schemes, and models were transformed with the addition of transfers, stickers and plastic figures. This months guests have a sprinkling of all these potential additions. FORD MUSTANG The first casting of the Mustang – the Ford Mustang Fast Back Coupe, was released as model No 320, in April 1965. It was manufactured in a 1/46 scale and was available in a variety of colours. This well-proportioned car was withdrawn in 1966, just one year after release. It must have been a popular toy as it achieved 553,000 sales, despite the short availability period. While all the Mustang…

In today’s marketplace, there is one field that towers above all else in financial terms: comic book collecting, and specifically American comics. There have been multiple sales of early US comic books for over £1 million, mainly the Golden Age standards such as Action Comics #1 and Detective Comics #27, the first Superman and Batman, respectively. In more recent times, the earliest Silver Age Marvel comics, such as Fantastic Four #1, Spider-Man #1, and Amazing Fantasy #15 (the very first Spider-Man comic) have all reached dizzying heights, too. There is another side to these comics that has remained less well-known but is now emerging from the shadows of their US versions, and that is the contemporary UK reprints of some of these comics. After World War II, Britain did not…

Item: 1996 Bluebird Donald Duck Polly Pocket Compact Condition: good condition, front of compact has a few marks on it and the bottom is very scratched, comes with everything inside Sold for: Sold for £127 (8 bids) Item: Tinplate McGregor the Smoking Scotsman Condition: excellent working condition with minor playwear, clothes and tinplate are clean with minor age wear Sold for: £230 (12 bids) Item: Kit built LNER Class B8 locomotive Condition: very good condition, no visible bodywork damage, not with original box Sold for: £295 (10 bids) Item: Mickey Mickev Mouse Tin Wind-Up 1950s Condition: good condition, still working, small wear and tear due to age Sold for: £252.64 (24 bids) Item: Clockwork tinplate Hesmobil 1022 Saloon Car 1920s Condition: very good working condition with some minor wear to…

Hi folks. I made a great of little find earlier this month at a local weekly market, where I bagged what thought was a real bargain in the shape of a Modern Products RT 51 Shell petrol tanker with a Bedford cab. It came in a lovely, clean and complete original box with a great ticket price of £18. It was one of five different tankers in the Modern Road Transport Vehicle Tanker Series, which were all marked BUDGIE underneath. Modern Products was founded by Jim and Len Burkett who also made toys for Morestone, which was owned by Sam and Henry Morris. The Modern toy miniatures were made to rival Matchbox toys, but they seemed to lack a bit of the realism and detail that the Lesney Matchbox models…

British Toy Auctions had something of a Corgi moment recently. A boxed Lions Of Longleat Gift Set 8 (with a scarce shop display header card insert), comprised the Land Rover with cage and water tank, a hunter figure with rifle and a lions’ den, with a pride of lions (and the necessary meat). Vehicle and accessories were mint, while the box was very good. It made £280 plus premium. A boxed Riviera Gift Set 31 with a light blue Buick Riviera, boat and trailer and water skier figure was also described as near mint, with just the sticker on top of the boat showing some signs of age. The instruction sheet was present, but there was no inner packing piece. It sold for £240. Finally, the Corgi boxed Rambler Marlin…

I’m sure that I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: the US and the UK are two countries separated by a common language. On that basis, collecting habits differ enormously; there cannot be much enthusiasm for old political party memorabilia or early baseball cards on these shores, I suspect. But one strand that does link the UK to the US is that of Star Wars… Hake’s auctioned off some extremely choice Star Wars memorabilia a few weeks ago, with a 1978 Star Wars Early Bird Special Early Bird Certificate Package store display a key focus. In great condition, the structure was designed to hold stiff illustrated cardboard envelopes, each containing a sealed, limited-time kit for mail ordering the first set of four Star Wars action figures (namely the…

Alright, I’ll admit it. I used to be obsessed with full size railways. Anything standard gauge was my bag, and I’d go to extremes to travel on old trains or unfamiliar routes. Those odd narrow gauge trains were just too quirky for me. The same prudishness applied to my collecting. Regardless of the scale, I only had eyes for ‘normal’ trains. But all this changed after I spent a day helping on a miniature railway. It was while moving some rideon bogie wagons by hand that the penny dropped. It doesn’t matter what size they are; steel wheels on steel rails defy friction in the same exhilarating way that planes defy gravity, motorbikes defy curves, and boats defy, err, sinking. SLATE QUARRIES Railways have never been a one-size-fits-all solution. While…

HELLO! CAN YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO OUR READERS? My name is Claire, and I enjoy playing board games. WHAT GAME HAVE YOU FOUND IN YOUR ATTIC? The game I have found in my attic is Coppit. It used to belong to my grandparents, and we used to play it a lot when we were very young. We used to go on holiday to Kessingland, which is near Lowestoft, where my grandparents had a caravan and we’d play it there. WHOSE WAS IT? WHO BOUGHT IT FOR YOU? I think my grandparents owned this when they were a lot younger, or potentially they found it in a charity shop, as it’s older than me, my siblings, and even my mum. She doesn’t remember playing it when she was younger, so we’re…

Matchbox Superfast 3c Porsche 911/930 Turbo factory colour trial model, dark olive green body with clear windows, tan interior, graphite grey base, 5-arch wheels - overall Excellent unboxed but does have paint loss to edge of left hand rear wheel arch. Sold for £280, Oberon Auctions, July. Matchbox Superfast 3c Porsche 911/930 Turbo, metallic silver body, clear windows, tan interior, metallic brown base, 5-arch wheels - Near Mint (factory paint flaws to hood), in Excellent Plus “New” Type K Box. Sold for £80, Oberon Auctions, July. Matchbox Superfast 4d ‘57 Chevy Factory Pre-Production Colour Trial, metallic silver-blue body with factory hand punched base rivets, white hood, dark green windows, chrome interior, bare metal base which has not been zinc plated. Good Unboxed. Sold for £160, Oberon Auctions, July. DIECAST RESULTS Matchbox Superfast…