Having Fun with Fantastic Toys - An Introduction

Wednesday, December 18, 2013
               (Very cold in Montreal!)

Having Fun with Fantastic Toys and the Seller

(An Introduction)

   Today's post is somewhat different from my normal post.  I had seen this ebay merchant's toys for a long time. However, what first got my attention is his signature presentation of his toy photographs. He always has a toy book in the background with examples of antique toys. Of course, his merchandise is great and his photography equally matched. I contacted the merchant and Mr. Frederick Pals wrote back. He gave me his permission, and was very interested in how I would work with his photos in Photoshop. I wrote back thanking Frederick, and said that if he wanted, I'd send him a step-by-step series of photos from Photoshop screen-captures to illustrate how I adjust the images. I started out isolating the first toy image of the Carette Limousine, and then decided to "play around" and go one step further. I'd keep Frederick's "trademark" book in the photos,but would remove the colour! When I saw the first result, I was hooked, and decided to continue with more images. However, for today's post, I'm just giving you a "taste", and later in the week, I'll give you the main entree.

Please click here to visit Frederik's Fine ebay Store

The above photo is a typical example of how Frederik presents his merchandise.

                                     

The above photo is the straightforward photo screen-captured from  ebay.  

This is what I usually do - remove the background and the foundation (what the item is resting on).

Here's what I decided to do for today.

I still like a toy presented against a totally white background and foundation.

I find that this best illustrates the toy and its features.

An underside photo of the wind-up (key) mechanism.

The outstanding hand-painted face of the chauffeur.

This is even more "playing around". I still like Frederick's trademark book,

but without the colour. In this photo of the left oblique angle of the car, and the lower camera angle, the true majestic quality of this toy stands out best!

Don't forget that this is just the introductory post, 

and I will add a full post with many toys later in the week.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Superb Condition Chinese Toys Circa 1950's-1960's

Friday, December 6, 2013

Superb Condition Chinese Toys

(Circa 1950's-1960's)

  A few days ago, I added a post about Pieterjan Van Den Berg.a fine Dutch seller.  I had started to ask European and British people if I might use their photos, since they of course, had more European toys than could be found here in North America.  Pieterjan's post was on December 3, 2013. He had a fine collection of items for sale, but what also caught my attention was a fabulous more-recnet collection of Chinese toys from the 1950's-1960's. I don't know  if the USA was allowing Chinese merchandise into their country, and I don't know about Canada,,who is of course, more was more liberal at the time with its international relations under our Prime Minister at the time - Mr Pierre Elliot Trudeau. 

   Anyway, I'm very please to present to you today a fine collection of 1950's-1960's Chinese toys. I changed the blue background to white, but you may see some occasional tints of blue in some of the photos. Nevertheless, these photos were excellently photographed and lit by  Pieterjan and he saved me lots of time in having to improve the images in Photoshop.

Please click here to see what Pieterjan has for sale on ebay

I like all of the lithography that has been added to these Chinese toys.

What's also interesting is the many pieces of shiny metal. This certainly requires lots of labour to attach the parts to the car body.

Once again, look at all of that lithographed tin!

Not all of the toys are lithographed, but they are certainly in superb condition! 

This toy waas not identified as a Volkswagen bus,but if you were around in the early 1960's, you'd have certainly seen a VW bus!

Now here's a nice toy that you can actually play with.

And the pièce de résistance (masterpiece) - a Cadillac fire chief's car.

Did any city in the USA or Canada ever have a Cadillac for a fire chief's car?

As you can see, Pieterjan's toys are quite interesting, and in this condition I would guess rarer.

He's selling off some of his collection, and he certainly kept them if great shape.

Thanks for visiting,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

A Fine Dutch Toy Seller

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

A Fine Dutch Toy Seller 

 Last Friday was my birthday, and my younger brother, sister and brother-in-law were coming in from out of town. I had decided in advance to write to many people so that I would be able to have permission to prepare and write my week's worth of posts in advance. The idea worked well, and I was able to post in great time, so that I could spend more time with my bother, sister and her husband.  I also heard from several other people, and was thus able to move into this week with my first written post.

  Mr. Pieterjan van den Berg is a Dutch seller who has been collecting for the last 30 years. He's now decided to sell many of his items in his collection. I've been contacting European  people on ebay because I haven't been able to get permission from auctioneers, except from the fine auctioneer - Bonham's and then mostly for their auctions great auctions of toy soldiers.  It's interesting that one sees many more European toys being sold in North America, but the reverse does not hold true for American toys in Europe. When I say that, I specifically refer to Europeans sellers selling American toys and vice-versa. Also, by contacting Europeans, I 'm able to see and use toys that I haven't seen or yet to see in North America.

Pieterjan wrote back to me and wrote the following:

Hello Stacey, 

Thanks for your interest in my toys on ebay, 

My name is Pieterjan van den Berg and I'm collecting a different kind 

of vintage and antique tin toys, 

from tin wood paper or plastic. 

My collection has tintoy boats mostly Fleischmann, wooden boats of prewar Germany , slotcars prewar Marklin , lionell, and others, tin toy cars from Japan, Germany, China, France and others. Wooden Dutch toys like bridges , carriages and Amsterdam storehouses.

I'm selling a lot of toys to concentrate more on the highlite's in my different collection area.

Regards, 

Pieterjan van den Berg

Please click here to visit Pieterjan's ebay webpage

The  above German carousel  is certainly beautiful in colour and the characters (human and animal) were very nicely drawn before they went to be lithographed. The toy is an early 20th century German windup.

 Pieter likes to use a blue background for his foundation (what he places his toys on).

I decided to "extract" the toys and position them against white. His photography is excellent, and I especially like his selection of camera angles, and the use of"exaggeration" through a wider andgle of view (wide-angle lens).

Pieterjan wrote for this ebay item that this is a rarer toy.He had only seen  one other one in all of the years that he had been collecting toys. The toys had wonderful colours and lithography for the body and the blades.

Pieterjan has a nice selection of Communist Chinese toys circa 1950's-1960's.  I wondered if the USA allowed such items into their country before the thaw in their relations before President Nixon and Henry Kissinger's huge effort to create better relations with China.

For sure, I will be writing another post about Pieterjan's Chinese toys that are currently for sale on ebay. For myself, it's rare that I see pre-Nixon era toys for sale on ebay. Nowadays, as we all know, almost everything is "Made in China" ( I sometimes exaggerate, of course!).

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always, 

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

yoysearcher@gmail.com