Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The Tippco #5 Racer

Thursday, June 27, 2013


The Tippco #5 Racer

   A few days ago, I was searching for motorcycles on E-Bay when I came across a more-modern older toy. It was a Tippco # 5 Silver Racer. What first caught my attention was the excellent photography with of course large file sizes and plenty of photos to help explain exactly the unique quality of this particular toy. What was even more interesting, was the fact that this person lives in Canada, and  in Toronto, where coincidently, I had just returned from after having visited my sister and brother-in-law.

  So I e-mailed the person, and I got a friendly reply with a "Yes" - go ahead!  The E-Bay store's owner is Mr. Thomas Liger-Belair , and his E-Bay name is legacymemorabiliacanada and his store name is "The Toy Guy"

Thomas has been selling on E-Bay since 1998, and he's a respectable E-Bay seller. I always like to look at the feedback for a seller and his is excellent. Currently, he's selling a nice collection of toys for a collector. Thomas also has a website that he uses to advertise that he is always looking to buy toys. He's also on Facebook. I just joined Facebook, but I don't have a lot of contacts, so I was also interested in Thomas's Facebook page. It's quite interesting, and I'll have to ask him a few questions about that!  My interest in Facebook is to try and get more readers to visit my blog.


That's  Matthew's Logo, and below are 3 of his links
 (addresses/websites) that he sells and publicizes.



Please click this to visit Matthew's website



   The toy that I'm presenting today is a fabulous wind-up lithographed tin toy from Germany. It was made circa 1948-50 in Germany by the Tippco toy company.  It measures  7 1/2" or 19cm. What's interesting about the toy is that the side passenger  moves off from his seat as the motorcycle unwinds and moves around to the left and right. It's similar to what you'd see if you ever watched motorcycle races with the passenger.

   Motorcycle racing has always been popular in Europe, more so that in North America. However North America eventually caught up. I remember when I went to photography school, there was a younger classmate who had taken up the sport. He raced on a closed circuit with hills and mud, and he told us (other students and myself) that he had to wear a protective suit, kidney pads, a helmet, with a visor to protect from the mud, and special boots.



   Thomas did a great job in presenting lots of photos to illustrate how much the passenger moves.




I really like the photo above. It's as if these 2 motorcylists appear to be in front of a gate ready to rise for the race!

What's interesting here is that the original box is also listed on E-Bay. For some collectors, the original box is always in demand, and having one in good to very good condition as a seller will usually garner a higher price at either an auction or on E-Bay.







I can see the allure (attraction) for this type of "real" racing, but you'd never catch me in this sport. I prefer to watch this on TV. As for the toy, this is fantastic! I can see why Europeans, especially motorcycle fans would have been enthusiastic to but such a toy!

And I can't tell you what a great job Thomas did on capturing the"essence" of just how much fun this toy would have been for anyone who received it as a gift!


"Thank you for visiting ToyGuy.ca! I’m The Toy Guy & I pay cash for old and used toys. I buy single items & entire collections consisting mainly of vintage toys & diecast cars from the 1900’s to the 1970’s & 80’s.I specialize in Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Dinky Toys, Corgi, Majorette, Tonka, Structo, Marx & Buddy L. I also buy action figures, dolls and stuffed animals, tin toys, board games, train sets and much, much more.

Don’t let your childhood toys gather dust or rot away in the basement. Turn them into extra income and help them find a good home that will ensure they remain preserved for generations to come. Please note that I do not buy new or recent toys unless they are rare or desirable. Also keep in mind that worn and broken toys aren’t worth nearly as much as items in good to mint condition." **

** From Thomas Liger-Belair's website: ToyGuy.ca


Thanks for dropping by,

and as always, have a great day, 
wherever you may be.
Stacey




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