Barclay Figures

Friday, May 31, 2013

Barclay Figures

(People and Animals)

1930's-1940's

    Whenever I've done searches on Liveauctioneers, inevitably I will see photos of soldiers, civilians, or animals. One particular company that stands out is Britains, another is Manoil, and the third  is Barclay, which os today's topic.

    I've written about Barclay's very interesting cars and trucks, and thought for today that I'd post about their small-sized figures. These figures are mostly 3"- 5" ( 76mm - 127mm)  in size , relatively small for toys, but "normal" for toy figures. They were made of die-cast lead, and were very popular from the 1920's-1960's. Later, as most other toys, they started to be replaced with plastic whxi was faster to produce and cheaper in cost.

   I always think British when I hear the name Barclay, but the company was in fact  located in the USA in North Bergen, New Jersey. The name Barclay came from a street in Hoboiken, New Jersey called Barclay Street. The founders of Barclay Manufacturing, which was formed in 1922, were Mr. Leon Donze and Mr. Michael Levi. At the peak of production, the ocmpany was the largest producer of toy soldiers, having produced 500,000 toys a week.

   When I started buying and selling on E-Bay to use photos for my blog,  Barclay cars and trucks caught my attention.The early models, circa 1930's were slush cast white metal. The designs were quite intriguing due to their art deco style. With the entry of the US into WWII, the company produced many military vehicles, artillery, tents, and so forth painted in the traditional brown colours.

   Interestingly, I discovered that the company is still in existence, and produces a wide array of miniature toys.

Please click this sentence to be redirected to the fine Morphy website

The red arrows are pointing to the Barclay figures

The above figures are "civilians" from all walks of life.

An array of  civilians, soldiers, native Americans, and cowboys

 The figure on the right is a Japanese soldier. 

I was surprised to see this figure.

It's interesting that the soldiers also had "accessory items.

In this case, they are the tents, presented in this photo,and the one below. 

On my post of Barclay motorcyles, I have a civilian rider on a motorcycle. That's quite a fascinating design. You can see a similar military version in the lower right hand corner.

 The lot above looks similar to the items produced today. 

I did identify the metal as "lead", but I probably am incorrect, since we all know lead would not be used today, because of its hazardous effects on people and animals!

I'll have to check on that, and correct my error at a future date.

An interesting variety of  die-cast toy lead soldiers

The soldier with the flags above his head is signalling by what is called  semaphore.

Semphore is a means of signalling from far distances for the transmission of messages using brightly coloured flags. NOt only did you have to send a message, but you had to read "backwards" from the sender to understand the incoming message.

When I was a Canadian Boy Scout in the late 1950's, I needed  to demonstrate my skills at semaphore or Morse Code to to receive my second class status.  I never was able to do either!

Thanks for dropping by,

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

Mettoy Toys

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Mettoy Toys

    Yesterday, I was looking at toys on E-Bay, when I came across a toy manufactured by Mettoy. The name sounded familiar so I searched my posts, but didn't find even 1 item on a search list. So naturally I decided to select this British manufacturer for today's post.  The Mettoy Co. Ltd. was registered as a privately-he;ld company on August 31, 1932. It was founded by 2 Jewish partners by the names of Mr. Phillip Ullmann, and Mr. Authur Katz. Phillip Ullmann had originally set up the company in Germany as Tipp. & Co. in Nurenberg, Germany. Authur Katz was related to Phillip through his mother being a cousin to Phillip, and migrated to Germany from South Africa. In 1933, with  Nazism spreading its ugly head, the pair moved to London, thanks to the assistance of Lord Marks, of Marks & Spencer.  

There's lots of interesting history adter WWII, which can be found at a great website by the name of the V & A Museum.  Some of the highlights are that the company expanded many successful lines such as the Aurora plastic model kits, and most-famously - Corgi.

Please click to be redirected to the great history story of Mettoy 

Please click ths sentence to be redirected to Bertoia's fine website

Like most toys of the time, these Mettoy toys appear similar to other manufacturers toys of the time. However, Mettoy went a bit further. Notice a separate driver and an actual steering wheel, the nickel-plated grill, and the balloon tires that are different on each toy model.

The 2 last jet toys are the same. I used the 2 just to illustrate the nice features of the Mattoy jet, a toy that was still being made by the company in the 1960's.. The company had lasted a long time, but eventually would be purchased by Mattel, and as the old saying goes - the rest is history.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

One Marklin Battleship

Wednesday May 29, 2013

One Marklin Battleship

   I was just checking my e-mail , when I got 2 letters from the James D. Julia Inc. Company.  They're one of the fine companies that allow me to use their photographs to write about on my blog.
Naturally, I decided to look to visit the source, and found a Merklin Battleship. This week, I had posted about the Marklin civilian ships, and was going to write a separate post about their Battleship toys. The e-mail certainly lead me to create an extra post for today. 

   The photos at the James D. Julia website are nice and large, for those people (myself included) who like to look at detail. Also, I'm saved some time because I don't need to add a watermark, and the quality of photography lets me do a minimal of Photoshop.

   I copied the description of this particular listing, because the narrative was so well written. As well,  I left the range or starting bidding prices in, which I normally omit.

"THE LARGEST MARKLIN SECOND SERIES BATTLESHIP "HMS RUSSELL". Massive in size, it is difficult to comprehend that a toy like this was ever created for a child, more likely an adult male who had dashed dreams of becoming a sea captain or naval commander. One can only imagine the cost of a toy like this back in the earlier part of the 20th century! Obviously a toy of this nature would not have been easy for a youth to handle as it is both heavy and elaborate. Typical of Marklin of the period (1910-1915), their craftsmen have reproduced in toy form a realistic copy of battleships of the time. This toy has been buried away for decades and has recently come to the market as a fresh find and never having been in a collector's hands prior to this. A plethora of turrets with guns in various sizes littered the deck as well as walkways above the superstructure. Two massive stacks protrude well above the deck line, and one can only imagine the impressive nature this boat would exude while in the water. Most likely the boat was powered by a clockwork mechanism (mechanism no longer present), which would have been attached to the two propellers. The upper deck lifts off to expose the interior of the hull. Not only did this boat have numerous cannons, but there are a number of lifeboats as well, which unfortunately are missing. A fair amount of original paint still remains with heavier paint loss to the tangerine deck and dark blue water line/hull. "HMS Russell" is emblazoned on the left and right side of bow. This boat has in excess of 40 clips on her deck under which one could insert sailors. Overall the boat needs some cosmetic attention and replacing missing parts, but when completed, this toy would be a spectacular showpiece central to any collection. The HMS Russell was commissioned in February 1903, having taken four years to build. She was a Duncan-class pre-Dreadnaught of the Royal Navy and saw service in the Mediterranean. She met her fate when she was sunk by two mines laid by a German U-Boat off the coast of Malta on April 27, 1916. SIZE: 46" l. CONDITION: Overall fair to good. 1-12829 (25,000-45,000)"*

* Source: http://jamesdjulia.com/auctions/view_lot_info.asp?lot=3138-343

Please click to go directly to this particular item at the fine James D. Julia Website

   I liked the way the  person wrote the narrative adding the words"  it is difficult to comprehend that a toy like this was ever created for a child, more likely an adult male who had dashed dreams of becoming a sea captain or naval commander". 

  Click on the link that I've included as usual in this post. James D. Julia Inc. has a fabulous collection of salesman samples also up for auction.  Although they're not toys,  these items fascinate me for their craftsmanship and detail.

  I'm writing this post at about 18:00 P.M. EST and it's still  raining.  My first post written this morning was about Noah's arks, and at that time it was raining!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always, have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

Noah's Arks

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Noah's Arks

  It's May 29 and another day of rain. March and April weren't the best months. MArch started off sunny, then mostly cloudy. April was cold,cloudy, and rainy. Then May arrived, and miraculously, we had 10 straight days of sun, and I thought "wow, this is going to be a great summer!". Well, May 's sunshine last those days.Most of the remaining days except yesterday were cold and rainy. It was great for my grass growing, as I didn't have to water, and the sewn seeds grew! So as you can see, it wasn't hard to come up with today's post.

Please click to be redirected to Bertoia's fine website

If you look closely on the roof,  you'll see a bird. This was typical of the German-made arks, and they could have 1 or 2 bird of the roof of an ark. 

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great day, rain or shine,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

Still More Insect Toys!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013
(A Related Second Post of the day)

Still More Insect Toys

   I decided to check out another of my fine contributors to my blogs, and found a whole "batch" of other excellent insect toys, so I couldn't pass up the idea of adding a second post on the same subject. I might even do this more often.

   As I mentioned in the previous post, I prefer to give each auctioneer a unique posting for their fine photographs. Usually I have enough images form the auctioneers from many years of auctions, so I stay exclusively with one. These 2 postings of insect toys has given me an idea. What I might do in the future is add a second different post by another auctioneer, and then "link" the 2 posts together.

   To add 2 posts daily would simply be too much work for 1 day!

Please click on this sentence to be redirected to Dan Morphy's fine website

© Copyright 2013      Morphy Auctions

Please do not copy without their written permission

© Copyright 2013      Morphy Auctions

Please do not copy without their written permission

© Copyright 2013      Morphy Auctions

Please do not copy without their written permission

      I have a funny story to tell you before I finish. Last week, I went to help my neighbour with her lawn. Anouk came over to ask for some advise, and I decided to help her. We removed all of the weeds and grass (mostly weeds),and then we added grass seeds and black earth and fertilizer. 

    Naturally, the topic of grubs came up, but she didn't find any when she had already started the seeding process. Anyway, as I was turning up the soil, I immediately came upon several white grubs (please see the previous post for their photos), and "squished them".  Anouk was surprised, and said that she though they were "good insects" and simply put them back in the soil.

    When I went home to my house across the street, I pondered her words,and then laughed at myself.  We have a swimming pool in my our back yard, and I'm always playing "lifesaver" to insects that happen to fall into the water. I think the blue paint of the swimming pool tricks them into thinking that's the sky, and they lost their sensde of sky and ground.

    What happened is that I kept saving evolve into grubs, which kill my grass - I had a good laugh at myself!

    As you can see from today's 2 posts, there certainly are a lot of nice looking beetles and a few bugs and other insects. I like them as toys, but after all these years, I still don't like insects all that much!

         Please Click Here to be redirected to my other post on insect toys from Bertoia Auctions

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey