A Fine Grouping of Toy Motorcycles

Saturday, December 10, 2016
Overcast
-3 C 26 F

A Fine Grouping of Motorcycles

Please click here visit this exceptional American Auctioneer

 When I visited Wikipedia to find out about the history of  motorcycles, I was very surprised to find out that the first motorcycle was invented in the 1860's by Mr. Pierre Michaux in Paris, France.  His invention was simple in that he took a velocipede (bicycle with pedals) and attached a  steam engine to it.  By the 1880's there were dozens of motorized machine, and eventually, the designs migrated to the United States. By the early 1900's there were many "motorcycles". The famous Harley-Davidson company  started to produce motorcycles in 1903. When WWI started, the motorcycles built many motorcycles for the War Effort, booth in Germany, and in England and France.*

* Please click here to read the fascinating story of motorcycles at Wikipedia

I didn't add any information about the toy motorcycles.  I thought that I'd just present them for your enjoyment. I would be hard pressed to figure out which manufacturer made which toy, but suffice to say that many of the companies of the time made toy motorcycles.  You have to realize that even with the invention of the automobile, there were not many paved or developed roads both in Europe and in North America. This was especially true in the countryside. As such, it was much easier to get around the country and countryside by using a motorcycle. The motorcycle could go to places and through landscapes coverers with trees much easier than the automobile. Also, it was easier for the rider to get the vehicle out of being stuck in mud than it was the automobile.

If you want an excellent book about motorcycles, there is one having been written by Rick Bertoia titled Antique Motorcycle Toys.

Most of the toys below are lithographed tin toys. Some of the toys had identical "mirror image" sides so that the  left and right sides could be assembled together. Most of the toys move with a push, but some of them were wind-ups.

Thanks for dropping by,
and as always,
Have a great part of the day, 
wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman
Toysearcher@gmail.com

Vroom, Vroom……..

Thursday, October 12, 2016
Overcast and Raining
12 Celsius / 54 Fahrenheit

Vroom, Vroom

Please click here to visit this fine American auctioneer

I was browsing the Internet (as usual),when I came across a newly-discovered auctioneer - Milestone Auctions. I went to their website and immediately found lots of motorcycle toys for their upcoming October 29, 2016 Auction. There were 36 toys be be sold at this auction. The photography was excellent, as were the toys.

I e-mailed the company, and Mr. Miles King gave me permission to use his photographs and descriptions, and to write about his company. I didn't find any background information on the website, so I did a search and found some information on liveauctioneers. The company is located in Willoughby, Ohio (USA) and is "fast becoming one of the most trusted and well recognized names in the antique and collectibles auction industry. We work hard to bring Buyers and Sellers together from across the country and globe"

FISHER Tin Windup MOTORCYCLE w/ RIDER

Great early motorcycle toy. All original except riders arms are correct replacements. Windup works. Toy looks like it was cleared at one time to preserve the strong colors. Missing head lamp. A great lookig rare toy motorcycle. 8"

Tipp Tin Friction Motorcycle with Passenger and Driver

Nice original tin friction Motorcycle made in Germany. Bike looks to be a Harley Davidson. Unusual version with driver and passenger. Friction works. Plastic wind screen replaced.

 Length 9" 228.6 mm  

Ingap Tin Windup Motorcycle

Length: 8" 203 mm

US Zone Germany Arnold Tin Windup Civilian Motorcycle

Length: 7 1/2" 190 mm

Tipp Tin Windup Motorcycle with Sidecar

Dirvers arms are replacements and the motorcycle is missing its' headlight

Length:  8" 203 mm

JML France Tin Windup Civilian Motorcycle

Arms replaced.

Length: 12" 304 mm

 I don't think I have posted about tin windup motorcycles before. There seems to be lots and lots that were manufactured in the 1930's-1950's, and to my untrained eye, I don't really know one company from another. If you are interested in these type of toys, you'd be best to go to antique toy stores or antique malls to familiarize yourself with the toy motorcycles. ANother option is to visit on-line auction companies and check out several to get a "ballpark figure" as to the value of a particular toy. Also, you can always e-mail the auctioneer for further information.

As for Milestone Auctions collection of these toys - they certainly are "beauties".

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

A Very Rare Gely Windup Motorcycle

   Sunday, March 30, 2014
(Strong winds and blowing snow for the whole day!)

A Very Rare Gely (Georg Levy)

Windup Motorcycle

   I'm very fortunate to have many fine people who help me out, and one of them is Mr. Frederick Pals from Holland. He's very easygoing, and has allowed me to photo-edit his images. He was even so pleased with the effect, that he asked me (and I readily agreed) to make a slide show for his brother who is studying photography, to show how the editing was done.  What's great about having European friends is that they sell European toys, and usually have many more since the toys are more readily available there.

   I wrote Frederick if I could go one step further with my photo-editing, and he agreed. I'll send him another mini slide show, as this effect is very easy to do.  The reason I asked Frederick if I could go further with the photo edit was because this particular toy is very, very rare. I felt it deserved to catch the reader's attention even more.  Frederick's listings on ebay are easily recognized because he always places his toys against a background of a book or two. I'd certainly like to see his book collection, because books are great resources when you find toys without enough description to them.

Please click here to visit Frederick Pals' fine ebay store

It's always interesting to see which toys are the rarest. Georg Levy (Gely) manufacture red many beautiful lithographed tin toys at that time,yet this particular model is very rare. For the image above, I simply removed the colour of the books photo, and the colour of the foundation (what the toy was resting on). I then did a "motion blur' to give the illusion that the toy was moving. This particular motorcycle came in 2 variations. One is the above with the spoked wheels, and the other was with plane wheels with only the cream colour.

The photo above and below are Frederick's style when presenting his merchandise.  The book that he's using in this case is one from Rich Bertoia of the highly-renowned Bertoia Auctions  in New Jersey, USA. Not only is he part of the successful American auction house, but he's an author of antique toy motorcycles. 

I always wonder why so many  American toy manufacturers in the 1920's-1930's were producing such less sophisticated toys (cast iron) compared with the European manufactures of the time. The reason has to be more than simply cost, and one day, I'll have to research my own question to find the answer. However, by the early 1890's ,Germans and Europeans had successfully developed colour lithography on tin, and the process readily transferred to toy production.

You can see Rich Bertoia's name (blurred) on the right side above the lady passenger.

I cropped the top (cut off part of the photo) so the entire foundation (why the toy is resting on) occupied the whole picture frame. With less distraction, the toy shadow adds a nice balance to the actual toy. 

In this photo, Rich Bertoia's book happens to be opened on a page that has the same model of toy as Frederick happens to be selling on ebay.

Here is the actual book photo of the toy from Rich's book.

If you go to Google Blogger's slide mode, you'll be able to see today's photos larger and much better against a dark background.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

Please feel free to write to me anytime at

toysearcher@gmail.com

Some Very Interesting Arnold Toy Motorcycles

Friday, June 28, 2013

Some Very Interesting Arnold Toy Motorcycles

Introduction

   Yesterday, I posted about a Tippco and Co. motorcycle racer, and that's what led me to post today.

German toy manufacturers always excelled in new designs and mechanical creativity. Most of the ealry 20th century toys were from Europe and much more sophisticated than North American (mostly USA) toys. THat's not to say that American toys were not popular, but they were certainlt different (cast iron, paper on wood, pull toys).

    Prior to WWII and later, lithographed tin mechanical toys were very interestingly designed, and some of the exceptional creativity in the mechanics transferred to toy motorcycles. Europe had always been a popular place for motorcycle racing, so the transfer from "real" to toy, came naturally and easily to the toy industry.

   As you'll see with today's presentation, the toys certainly are very "mechanical" anf have interesting features and movement. I've added a link to one toy that connects to a short video on YouTube. I'm sure you'll find the videos very interesting, and better to demonstrate the outstanding movements of  such a fine Arnold toy motorcycle.

History

   The history of the Arnold Toy company is very interesting.  It was founded in Nurnberg, Germany by  Mr. Karl Arnold in 1906. Known as K. Arnold & Co., it began produced tin toys. such as model ships,doll houses and other toys. Mr. Arnold hired Mr. Max Ernest as the managing director of the company.

 The company was heavily damaged during WWII, but continued operation in what is called the Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz). A "Palinate" is an administration of Bavaria. The son of Karl Arnold, Ernst, and a Mr. Max Ernst helped with the rebuilding of the company, along with KArl Arnold, and eventually the company moved back to Nurnberg. The company had initially manufactured window hardware just after WWII, but later manufactured model railroad toys that became less costly and would become available to most consumers.

The Arnold Toy Company continued  until 1995. It went bankrupt , was purchased by the Italian toy manufacturer Rivarossi, which sadly also went bankrupt. The assets were sold to the British company Hornby, and production moved to China.*

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_(models)

Notice the elaborate detail of the lithography

Here's a more-complicated toy. 

The unit turns around as and the rider rotates along with the man inside the blue wheel.

This toy has been described as "the most complicated design" in a motorcycle toy.

As the toy is wound and released, the rider dismounts from the motorcycle as the toy moves and meanders left and right. The movements from afar look quite realistic!

PLease click here to see a YouTube video as to how the toy works

If you use the words "YouTube Arnold toy motorcycle" .you will see many videos of this toy!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day, 

wherever you may be.

Stacey

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 here to visit what Matthew has currently on Sale on E-Bay

Please Click this to visit Matthew's Facebook page

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