An Excellent E-Bayer Revisited

Monday, February 22, 2016

An Excellent E-Bayer Revisited

   A while back, I was perusing ebay when I was attracted to some nice photography. As I expanded my search, I came across excellent photography, even for low-priced items. Naturally, this had to be a post, and so I wrote Malinda Trollinger for permission.  As it turned out, Malinda was helping sell her father's toy collection and other collectibles that he had amassed over a wide span of time.

   If you've been following me recently, I've been doing a "retrospective", and have been researching old posts to revisit old friends and to write about them. And so for today, I present to you Malinda Trollinger.

Please click here to visit Malinda Trollinger's ebay page

Below:

1934 Tootsietoy Ford Sedan.

Length:  3"  ( 76 mm)

Tootsietoy was a company that rivalled the British Dinky toy company. It was an American company that produced small-sized die cast toys for the market. Cars were especially popular, and with a low price, children could collect many cars to play with. The company existed from the 1920's - 1960's and eventually succumbed to the times, higher labour costs in the USA, and to the Aisian marketplace.

What I like about Malinda's photography jus that even for a lower-priced item, she takes the time and makes the effort to present the toy in its best manner, and to illustrate the features of the toy. 

That's dedication, and  "setting the bar high" 

(an American expression meaning high standards are set).

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Exceptional Photography from a Seller

Monday, January 26, 2015
Sunny, and very, very, very cold!

Exceptional Photography 

From a Seller

   Some of the people that I get to help me out, communicate more than others with me, and weof become friends. Malinda Trollinger is one of them. I got to know Malinda when I saw some exceptional well-done photography on ebay.  She's selling a fine collection of toys that here father collected over 55+ years. Recently, Malinda write to say how nice my blog is, but in all honesty, I just write, and photo-edit the photos. The real platitudes should be directed to all of my guests,, Malinda included.

  The last time that Malinda wrote, I decided to see what she was selling,and it turned out to be my favourites  of the small-sized toys - Tootsietoys and some fine Hubley small-sized diecasts.  Not everyone takes advantage of  ebay's offer to upload 12 photographs for free, but Malinda does. Also, she's very honest in her descriptions of her items.  I had to look at some of her descriptions to see what small faults there were with some of the toy descriptions. As the old expression goes - "Honesty is the best policy", but  Malinda is angelic compared with some sellers that I have purchased from!

Please click here to visit Malinda Trollinger's homepage on ebay

I like how Malinda has a sharp eye for noticing things. One of the nuances (small subtlety) of die cast toys is their small faults, which aren't really faults at all. Malissa noticed that 3 of the 4 cockpit windows are sealed from the diecast process. This is the "beauty" of these small toys,.However, I'm 1000% sure that if I had such a toy in the 1950's, for sure I would have filed away this characteristic of these toys,and lost the true value if I sold it on ebay.

In my last reply to Malinda, I wrote to her saying that she should see if there is a market for her talents  hear where she lives. Even I have learned from her photography. I admire how she photographs from different camera angles, uses some distortion to her photographs, and presents nice details of the features of toys that merit being shown to viewers.

When I first started selling on ebay, I had the blue Coupe, that Malinda is selling. As well, I had many other die cast toys. However, they never looked so good as the photos Malinda took of these "little guys". At the time, I wanted to be sure to show the toys well on ebay. 

Malinda had shown me that you can be creative and sell toys at the same time. As an aside, our dog Buddy can learn new tricks and he does and he's 14.  I think there's even hope for me yet - I'm 66, but it dog years, I'm younger than him - I'm 7 1/3 years - that definitely sounds better!

Thanks for visiting and as always

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever yo umay be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Hubley Cast Iron Cab

Friday, November 28, 2014
Cloudy with light snow, seasonally mild

The Hubley Yellow Cast Iron Cab

  Yesterday, I presented a fine Thomas reproduction Hubley Checker Cab (Thomas Toys,Inc). The cab or the more proper name - "taxi" was not produced by Hubley ( I will have to "check"). The real "Checker Cab " was in fact an American-made taxi manufactured by  the Checkers Motor Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan that the taxi company, Checker Taxi used. The story of the Checker Cab is quite interesting and you might want to go to the Wikipedia link below to read up on it.

Please click here to visit read the Wikipedia article on the Checker Cab Company

  Hubley's actual cast iron taxi looks exactly like the Thomas reproduction . However it was painted only in yellow or orange, and never had that checkered pattern of black and white squares alone both sides of the car body.

Please click here to visit the Bertoia Auctions excellent website

Hubley's cast iron taxi,for dome reasons I know not of, came in different variations.

If you compare the two diptychs (a larger photo of 2 smaller ones) you can see the following differences:

1. The driver varies from nickel-plated to hand -painted black and skin-toned.

2. The luggage rack at the back of the car varies from silver to black

3. The actual colours vary from yellow to orange.

The Thomas Checker Cab is an excellent reproduction of the original Hubley. Mr. Julian Thomas started his company in 1969. He had worked for GM (General Motors),and during a downturn in the economy, decided to form his own company manufacturing antique toy replacement parts. His fine series of cast iron toys were produced in the early 1990's and can be found in the resale market of older toys.

Please click here to visit Malinda Trollinger's ebay home page

Thanks for visiting, and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

A Beautiful Thomas Cab

Thursday, November 27, 2014
Variating sun and cloud, cool

A Beautiful Thomas Cab

   I met a fine guest by the name of Malinda Trollinger. She's been helping her father sell his toy collection that he's assembled over a long period.  Her ebay identification is mpt331. Her father is quite knowledgeable about toys.I posted a recent Marv Silverstein custom ambulance thank went to auction on ebay, and Malinda was asked by her father if I know of Don DeSalle.   I didn't, but now I know about him, and I will try and add post about him in he future . Malinda takes excellent photos also,which helps me save some time when creating a post. 

  Malinda's next ebay listing will be a 1939 Lincoln cast iron reproduction of a green Checker Cab. It was made by Mr. Julian Thomas as is # 82 of the production. I've seen these fine reproductions on Liveauctioneers, on ebay, and on other websites on the Net. For those who don't know, Julian Thomas  is the owner of Thomas Toys in Fenton, Michigan, USA. He worked at GM (General Motors) in the modelling and design department before deciding to create his own company of replacement toy parts. When I way buying and selling toys on ebay, I discovered Julian Thomas and his two children who work with him. I dealt with Julie, his daughter, who helped me all the time when I would phone for a part. 

   Julian produced a fantasist group of reproduction vintage cast iron toys, and they are in demand by collectors. They look like they might have come off the "assembly line" way back in the 1930's. But Julian imprinted his surname on the inside of the toy, and also Made in U.S.A. I'm sure he wanted to let people know that this was a reproduction - but an excellent reproduction!

Please click here to redirect to Malinda's ebay home page

I wonder if Malinda's father's name is David?

I like the Thomas Logo.

The Thomas markings on the toy, letting you know that this is a Thomas toy and not a Hubley original.

I like the fold-down luggage rack at the back of the toy.

 And of course, the driver, and the taxi cab roof sign. I just noticed the 2 small domed silver projections on the roof.I'll have to find out what those were. Perhaps they were meant to be lit or unlit depending on whether or not the "cabbie" (the taxi driver) had a fare (rider) or not.

Malinda certainly knows how to take excellent photos, with what she described as a $ 200.00 camera. I can't even imagine what detail I'd see if she had one of those"fancy" cameras! I like how Malinda came close to exaggerate (distort) the front details of the car, with a wide-angle setting on the lens.

This item has not yet been listed on ebay, but I'm sure it will be. Malinda's probably working on the type (text) for the description listing for ebay.

It's nice to have friends and guest to help make my life easier when blogging. Not that I have so much heartache being retired and taking an hour or two to create another new post!

Thanks for visiting, and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

How to Photograph a Tootsietoy - Excellently

Sunday, November 23, 2014
Overcast, raining, and warmer

How to Photograph a Tootsietoy-

Excellently!

Yesterday, I presented a post titled "Par Excellence". Everything about that item for sale on ebay was done so well to sell the day, that I had to control myself to try and say much. After all, "par excellence" means that it's so great, that how could I say much! Anyway, last week, a reader by the name of Malinda Trollinger wrote to ask me about pricing a unique toy that was made by the late Marv Silverstein.  I offered Malinda a suggestion, and of course asked if I could post her fine toy. Later, I checked her other toys that she is selling for her father, and again asked if I might use them for posts , with her permission of course.

   One of the times that Malinde had sold was a Tootsietoy Autogyro.I've written about this fascinating toy and "real life" airplane. The real airplane eventually helped lead the way to the creation of the helicopter, although Mr Sikorsky (Russia) had made inroads towards this.  If you type a search for "autogyro" on my blog, you should come across that post. As well, if you type in "Malinda Tollinger", you will have that fine Marv Silverstein toy.

Please click here to visit Malinda Trollinger's ebay page

I didn't do much to these images as the airplane was nicely placed on a white material with

 nicely-arranged folds. All I did was remove what is called a "colourfast" in the whites.This was probably due to Malinda working with both incandescent (lightbulb) lighting, and perhaps a window letting daylight in was not covered. What happened is that some blue from the window comes in and adds blue to the white and the airplane.

As for the photography - excellent ++ !

Thanks for dropping by to visit,and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

A Seller Asks for Advise about a Marvin Silverstein Restoration & Creation

Friday, November 7, 2014
Raining and cold

A Seller Asks for Advise About a

Marvin Silverstein Restoration & Creation

   It was a good thing that I chose to do a lot of pre-winter exterior housework yesterday. Today is cold and raining, and we have (do I have to say that word!) snow forecast soon! I forgot to mention the summer to winter tire changes and the flu shot yesterday! So now my body,my car,and my house are getting prepared for winter.

  Today's post has to do with a reader by the name of Malinda Trollinger, a great name by the way! Malinda wrote me last week asking about pricing a toy that was created and restored by the late Mr. Marvin Silverstein.

For those who don't know, Marv was an exceptionally talented craftsman who would restore old American toys to their original condition. His Company's name was New Era. When you look at this post and search my bloc for "Marv Silverstein", you will easily see that I am not exaggerating when I call Marv a craftsman!

Marv (Marvin) Silverstein

Please click here to redirect to my first post about Marv

Please click here to visit Malinda's ebay webpage

  Returning to topic of today's post, Malinda wrote to ask me about what she should price today's item on ebay where she is selling it for her father.  

Malinda's Question and note:

"Hi Stacey,

I'm so glad I found your site. There is nothing on the internet about New Era toys. I have a New Era Rescue Squad that has a plate on the bottom and is No. 02 of 02. I'm selling items (via auction) for my dad on ebay, but I don't want to undersell this truck because I know it is rare.

My dad told me that the front is made from a Tonka truck and the back a NyLint horse trailer. I'm attaching a few photographs for you.

Do you have any advice?

Thanks, 

Malinda"*

* The above is courtesy of Malinda Trollinger

( I hope Malinda wonltmind that I corrected my name, by adding the letter "e")

The question is very interesting because Marv's "Rescue Squad" restoration and creation is not an old toy that was restored. If you read Malinda's note, you'll read that this toy is described by her father as a composite of 2 toy companies - Tonka and NyLint. So the answer is not so "cut and dry" (a term for an easy and limited answer). 

My Answer to Malinda

Hi Malinda,

If you go to this page at Liveauctioneers, you will see what toys the late Mr. Marv Silverstein made and restored.

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/search?q=New+Era&org=yes&hasimage=true&dtype=gallery&type=complete&rows=120&addfq=auction_house%3A%28%22Bertoia+Auctions%22%29&fq=&location=&sort=&by_date=2014-11-03T00%3A17%3A48.022Z&logout=true

These restorations do quite well on Liveauctioneers in terms of the final winning bid, but they are are usually restorations of prized old toys.

Your father's toy perhaps is a different toy, since it is not based on an old toy,but perhaps as you mentioned a "composite" of 

parts of 2 different toy company parts.

Me.. Silverstein made toys in conjunction with another person. I found 1 toy that Mr. Silverstrin made with someone else (I don't have the reference).

The reason I mention this is because under Mr. Silverstein's name on your truck, there is other writing that I can't make out, as your photo is slightly out-of-focus.

Is that another name or signature, or something else written?

Since you plan to sell this toy on ebay, I would recommend that you give some background to New Era restorations and Mr. Marv. Silverstein.

The reason that I mention this is that ebay bidders may not be as informed as people who bid on toys

at auction through the Liveauctioneers auction companies.

As for a price, try high, at say at $ 600.00 with the "Buy it now" option,

and see what happens.

You could also try to contact some of the auctioneers that I write about and see if they are taking items for consignment in the future, and what they 

might say. However, I don't know if they would charge you just for writing and asking. Also,if the toy does not sell through an auctioneers, you ail leave to pay both for the shipping to, and the return shipping charges.

One more thing:

Take a lot more photos and get the photos in focus (More professional!).

And if a door(s) opens, show the door (s) in the open and closed position.

If you send more photos, and would like me to add a post about this toy, I can do that.

I just need your permission, and more photos.

I also like to  place the toys against white (as you do) but whiten up the whites much more.

I can write the post, mention this toy by Mr. Silverstein and see if any readers might have "suggestions" vis-a-vis pricing the toy for ebay. However, most of the time, readers are "gun-shy" and do not write comments.

Thanks for writing.

Stacey

Malinda initially sent me some photos, and I then asked her for more, including a close up (magnification) of Marv's sticker with the New Era name and information as to when the toy was built and what it's renumber is in the group. Marv sometimes made several restorations of the same toy.

 I had asked Malinda for close-ups of the label. I can;t read what is written under Marvin Silverstein's signature. He sometimes worked with another person on his creations.

I suggested to Malinda that she take lots of photos to show Marv's creation in the best manner. 

ebay eliminated (at least as of last year) the cost of photos (they used to charge) and also gave the seller and buyer the opportunity to see the photos in an enlarged mode. 

This is a great feature, and all sellers on ebay should be using this feature.

Dimensions:

L x W x H:      18 1/2" x 7" x 5"      470 mm  x  178 mm x  127 mm  

Malinda wrote me that she only had a $ 200.00 camera, and that her photos weight not be so good.
With a little bit of photo-editing, her photos are excellent. If this is what she can do with a $ 200.00 camera, keep the camera! Many people think that the more expensive the camera, the better the photos.

I'll have to ask Malinda what here background is because she had a great photographic eye for composition and styling.

I mentioned to Malinda, that perhaps some readers might  write to me and offer some advise as to what Malinda might do with the price of this fine item.

She doesn't want to underprice the toy, so that's why I said top start moderately high, and see what kind of response there will be on ebay. Also, most viewers on ebay may not know who Marv Silverstein was or about his exceptional work, so I suggested that she write something about him to inform the potential bidders.

From my perspective, the unknown variable (factor) to this item is what kind of demand would there be for a unique item, limited to a production of 2 from Marv. Since it's not a restored old toy, but so rare, would Marv Silverstein collectors want this for their collection even more than the restored old toys?

So if you own or have sold any of Marv's fine work, I'd like to here from anyone who might like to comment and offer advise. If you want you can write me directly at my e-mail address below my name, when I sign off at the end of every post.

Thanks for dropping by and as always,

have  a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com