Old Antique Toys

This blog discusses old toys from the early 1920's to the end of the 1950's. All kinds of topics are discussed. The time span was the greatest period for "hands-on" toys, where a young child could actually go outside and play for hours at a time. You can see the elegance but simple design of these toys. It was a time when huge machines, and people made and finished toys by hand. The era has long passed, but many of the toys are still around, and that is what I would like to share.

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Selkirk Auctions

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Overcast

7° C / 44 ° F

Selkirk Auctions

(St. Louis, Missouri, USA)

I allot about 1 hour a day to search for interesting auctioneers and their nice toys.

Last week, I came across a beautiful grouping of old dolls. They were European Dolls mostly from France. What caught my attention was that they were is such great condition, considering they were fairly old. Moreover, being a photographer, their photography was excellent for the subjects being photographed. The dolls were propped up by a hidden stand,

and were photographed with soft lighting (the photographic unit is called a "softbox".

As part of the hour, I was able to send an e-mail to Selkirk Auctions, and then waited later in the week or more, for a reply. I received a reply a few day later, and the writer gave me

permission to write about this beautiful set of dolls.

Description:

FRENCH SFBJ BISQUE HEAD DOLL

"Head marked from top to bottom "23 - France-SJ BJ-14".

"Set eyes, mouth is open below the teeth with pierced ears,

jointed at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrist, hips, and knees.

30.5" (77.5 cm) height."

* I was curious what the initials SFBJ stood for, so I did a quick search in Wikipedia.

If you click on the sentence below, you will be redirected to a short but well-written article

about the SFBJ company.

Please click on this sentence to be redirected to Wikipedia

What I also found interesting and informative is the amount of detail for any small "issue" with the condition of the toy, such as a small crack, a missing earring, and so forth.

Not all buyers will look scrupulously at a photo to look at the details.

Bravo to Selkirk for letting on-line buyers know

this information with what they are buying!

Description:

BISQUE HEAD DOLL

"Possibly German. Head marked "13".With sleep eyes, mouth open below the teeth and pierced ears. Jointed neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees.

29" (73.66 cm) Height"

I'm still in awe at the condition of these old dolls, as well as the shoes the dress

and the earrings!

Description:

FRENCH BISQUE HEAD DOLL

" Head marked with a script "13". Sleep eyes, open mouth with teeth, pierced ears,

jointed neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees.

29" (73.66 cm) Height

So that's it for today. I hoped you liked this post today. It was something different from what I usually write about. Seeing these fine-looking and excellent condition dolls, photographed beautifully, was inspiring enough to write this post.

I hoped that you enjoyed it.

Thanks for visiting, and as always,

Have a great part of the day, or night wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman

and I can always be reached at my email address:

toysearcher@gmail.com

Sunday, April 28, 2024

Upcoming Matchbox Auction by Toys Trains and Other Old Stuff Auction

Sunday, April 28, 2024

Overcast

10° C /50° F

Upcoming Matchbox Auction by

Toys Trains and Other Old Stuff

Auction

The last auction of a sequence of 4 auctions will start on June 8, 2024.

However, you can visit the website to look at the Matchbox toys up for sale.

This auction consists exclusively of a broad range of Matchbox toys.

Toys Trains And Other Old Stuff is

a well-regarded online company that sells lots of toys.

In this case, the auction will be online.

Please click on this line to visit the auction

History of Matchbox brand of toys

(Courtesy of Wikipedia and notes from the Internet)

Matchbox is the specific name of a toy brand in which the toy comes in a small box, hence the name "Matchbox". The Lesney Products Company was created by 2 British die casters by trade, and a partner in 1947. Their names were Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith. Their partner's name was Jack Odell. Interestingly (and I never ever knew this) the small-sized toys were created because of restrictions and shortages of metal use during WWII. In 1952, Mr.Odell, inspired by a rule at his daughter's school that limited the size of toys that students could bring to school. You most-likely guessed it to be a matchbox size!

I haven't added the descriptions, because they don't appear on the website.

I searched but I couldn't find the descriptions. It might be that since the opening auction day starts on May 24, 2024 and finishes on June 8, 2024, the company doesn't present future auctions too early in the calendar year.

So what I'll do is wait and keep a lookout as to when the auction starts.

So that's it for today and

thank you for dropping by.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman, and I can always be reached at:

toysearcher@gmail.com

Have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Upcoming S-Gauge Toy Train Auction

Sunday, April 28, 2024

Rain and more rain

10° C / 50° F

Please click on this sentence to redirect to the train auction

This post is the 3rd of 4 about upcoming auctions.

The title of the auction is:

ONLINE ONLY S GAUGE POSTWAR AND MODERN ERA TRAINS

AMERICAN FLYER, S HELPER AND AMERICAN MODELS

MAY 25, 2024 10 AM EDT

The auction title refers to the "Only S Gauge". I had to research what "S" gauge meant

in terms of the size of the trains. The sizes are described in numbers with different letter representing the actual size.

The distance between the rails (track sides) is called the "gauge". Standard size (in North America) is 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches. The distance is measured from the inside of the rail track.

Gauge Letter Ratio Expressed in inches

Z 1:220 .25"

N 1:160 .375"

HO 1:87 .625"

S 1:64 .875"

O 1:48 1.25"

G 1:25 1.75"

I visited Wikipedia in order to find a nice diagram to help

explain the "Gauge"system for toy trains.

Please click on this sentence to redirect to Wikipedia

For those who might not know, if you click on any

image a(photo), the image will show up as a large size.

I had trouble trying to find the descriptions of the individual items

up for auction. Hopefully, as the time comes for the actual auction, the

descriptions will have been activated.

So that's it for today.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman

Thanks for dropping by and I can always be reached at:

toysearcher@gmail.com

Friday, April 26, 2024

Another Large Auction of Silver and Bronze Age Comics

Friday, April 26, 2024

Sunny with Clear Skies

13° C / 55.4 ° F

Another Large Auction of Silver

and Bronze Age Comics

When I wrote to Mr.Wylie Strivers about 2-3 weeks ago, I asked for his

permission to write several posts about his Internet auctions. I first was

interested in his company website, because he sold lots of trains. He gave me permission, and for today, I'm writing about comic books.

I like the first sentence of his introduction to this auction:

"Toytrainsandotheroldstuff presents another large auction of silver and bronze

age comics from the long island hoard that we have been selling from the past 3 years, plus a few additions.There are many key issues, CGC graded books, minor keys, small and medium sized groups for the collector and dealer alike.

We always have something for everyone on these auctions".

Of course, having been a comic book reader in my pre-teens, a sentence like that

automatically brings you back in time, and lets your imagine go rampant!

I can just sea mountains of comic books neatly arranged by the pallet, 5 pallets high, and as far as the eye can see, carefully packaged in boxes with plastic wrap to keep dust out!

OK, sorry, that's what comic books do - let your imagine run amok!

So back to comics.

I had to check up on Wylie's terms "Silver and Bronze Age Comics"

(With help from Wikipedia)

"The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archtype. Following the

Golden Age of Comic Books, the Silver Age is considered to cover the period

from 1956 to 1970, and was succeeded by the Bronze Age."

Please click on this sentence to redirect to the well-written Wikipedia article

In easier to see terms:

Victorian Age: 1828-1882*

Platinum Age: 1882-1938*

Golden Age of Comic Books: 1938-1956

Silver Age of Comic Books: 1956-1970

Bronze Age of Comic Books: 1970-1985

* " In A Complete History of American Comic Books, Shirrel Rhoades

cites Steve Geppi (the publisher of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide)

who, taking into account comic strips, divides the history of comics

in ages"

Please click on this sentence to redirect to the actual information page on the auction

Below are just a "sampling" of some of the comic books

to be found on Mr. Wylie Striver's website.

As it turns out, I was born in 1948. I lived in one part of Montreal,

and we moved to another part in 1961 or 1962. My mother (bless her soul)

was very neat and organized. When we finally moved to the

newer part of Montreal (I was 15) and got organized, all my comic books and

toys were not to be found. I asked my mother what happened,

and she said that she didn't want to have all the clutter in the new house.

What could I say?

Sometimes life is strange, but you move on. Hopefully she gave the toys

to some charity like The Salvation Army.

My yoyo disappeared, my 6-shooter Lone Ranger pistol

with caps disappeared, my Meccano sets disappeared,

and my Lionel train set - gone.

Of course my comic books, and another type called "Classics"

were also "gone".

Classics were in comic book format, but the content

was based on famous books, like "The Count of Monty Cristo".

They were easier and faster to read that a 400 page book.

I was "allowed"to bring my carpentry set with us. Surprisingly,

we actually used it sometimes, before I started buying adult

carpentry tools to work with.

This could have been a great episode script for the TV show - Wonder Years!

Of course, by then I was in high school, and there were other leisure

activities to keep me busy.

Thanks for dropping by, and as always,

have a great part of the day wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman,

and I can always be reached at:

toysearcher@ gmail.com

Thursday, April 25, 2024

A Large Variety of Sports Cards and Sports Collectibles Comes to Market

Thursday, April 25 , 2024

Clear skies but Cold

6° C / 43° F

A Large Variety of Sports Cards and

Sports Collectibles Comes to the Market

Please click on this line to redirect to the Liveauctioneers Auction

Please click on this line to see the other future auctions

I've been blogging since 2011, and have enjoyed writing, and meeting all different people and their companies who buy and sell. Most of my blog posts have been about "old and antique toys". However, I've been contacting people lately to see what they would like me to write about.

Why not.

So many people have been so nice to allow me to write about their companies or their toys and trusted me with their photos,

why not try something different?

And that's how I came to write a post about an interesting sports auction from

Mr. Wylie Stivers. Wylie's specialty website is often busy with trains.

But he also sells "other stuff" as you can read from his company name.

I always wondered what the "other stuff" was, and now I know.

Below:

A screen-capture of upcoming auctions.

Please click on this line to redirect to the auction website pages

I'm not the sports fan that I was when I was younger. So when I was going to write this blog post for Wylie Stivers, I asked if I could pick some solder baseball cards from my era. Wylie didn't mind, so I chose the cards below.

When you're selling baseball cards on the Internet, you provide lots

of photos for sellers to look at the condition and quality of the cards.

And that's why, Wylie photographed many of the individual cards.

Detail and condition are very important.

Baseball Cards

There are also sets of card for sale.

The group below is made up of 38 players from the 196n set of

baseball star cards "to. include some American and National League

batting and pitching leaders cards, plus stars such as Banks, Yaz, Allen, Killebrew, Cepeda, Drysdale, Kaline, Williams, Carew, Robinson, Palmer, and more.