Thursday, August 28, 2014
Overcast, windy, and cooler temperatures
Overcast, windy, and cooler temperatures
Part II of Bonham's
Mr. Yoku Tanaka's Toy Collection
I received a nice note from Joalien Johnson of Bonhams yesterday. Joalien e-mailed me to say hello, and to thank me for my initial presentation of the Yoku Tanaka Toy Collection Auction that had occurred on January 16, 2014 of this year. Wow, how time does fly! I had known about a second part of the auction that had occurred on August 25, 2014 of this year, but I was very busy writing writing post after post to try and reach my 200,000 page view milestone. The two auction are a fantastic collection of post WWII toys from the 1950's-1960's with some much earlier entries.
These will be the great collectibles in 50 years from now, just like I like the 1920's cast iron American toys, and the early 1900's French, German, and English tin toys. The Japanese toys of the 1950's and early 1`960's still are sought after and achieve good returns at auction. They usually have lots of lithographed detail, are larger in size, and have movement (windup, friction, or battery).
Bonhams is one of the oldest and long-established auction houses (companies) in the world. They were established 321 years ago, and I always wonder about all of the fine items that have come to auction in such a long and illustrious career.
Not all of the Yoku Tanaka collection was Japanese-made.
There were earlier-era (1930's) toys that appear below
Of course most of the toy collection was in fact Japanese-made. What I find personally interesting is that I do remember the actual cars and trucks of the 1950's and early 1960's because I was a "kid" then. But at that same time, I was not a car or truck fan. I was too busy playing outdoors or going to school.
Most of Bonhams listings consist of a single photo. However, they present each and every image in a large size. As such, it's quite easy to magnify the image to view the small details on any item.
I decided to enlarge a portion of the above image, as you can see below.
I particularly like the S-57 and D-196 speedboats for their detailed lithography.
I'd also be curious to know if these toys were able to float and move on water, or were they land-based with wheels?
These 1950's car look so "old" to me now, yet in the USA, collectors love to restore the original cars, as ell as to collect them.
If you ever see a modern-era movie taking place in the American South or southwest, you'' inevitably see a truck similar to the one below. Either the old trucks (and you even often see 1950's or 1940's trucks) are the "standard fixture" in these movies or these trucks actually exist and are still going strong after 300,000 miles!
What's interesting about "real" old cars and trucks is that there are so few parts under the hood (bonnet), compared with today's vehicles. One of my friends purchased a 1960's Dodge Valiant from an old lady. When he lifted the hood, you could see a lot of ground underneath the engine. THere was a fan belt and blades the radiator, the engine, the air filter and carburator, and the power steering and brake cylinders.
Today, everything seems to be enclosed with plastic coverings, and there is so much "stuff"
under the hood that I have no idea (not do I care to know) what it is!
One thing that you can definitely say for sure is that these toys have lots of colour.
It helps to cheer you up when you're writing a post on a cloudy or rainy day!
Thanks for dropping by,
and as always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
toysearcher@gmail.com
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