Wednesday, May 29, 2013

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









   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



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