Revisiting Mr. Frederick Pals on Ebay

Monday, June 24, 2024

Overcast with drizzle 

66° F / 18.9° C

Revisiting Mr. Frederick Pals on ebay

I've been slow to add blogs this season. However, what I've been doing is to bring back people and companies who have helped me out in the past. Today's post is about Mr. Frederick Pals. In the past, he allowed me to use his photos and write about him, and use his excellent photos. You can do a search on my blog to find the previous blog posts that I've written about him.

His ebay address is:

Please click on this to visit Frederick's Excellent ebay store

What's great about Frederick's store is the fact that he has lots of toys from Europe. That's where he live, and specifically in Holland. You don't see lots of toys from Europe in North America in one place or seller, so visiting Frederick's sight lets you see lots of toys that you might not be familiar with, or normally see in North America.

Below:

Antique Tin Toy

Gunthermann Clockwork Double Decker Bus

Pre-War (WWII) Germany

Below:

Ichiko Circus Volkswagen Samba Transporter

1962

Japan

Below:

Gunthermann 1951 Ford Fodor Limousine

US ZONE Germany 

Frederick is very knowledgeable about toys, and has reference

books that help him add the specific description details of his

merchandise.

So that's it for today,

As always, have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

I can always be reached at:

toysearcher@gmail.com

Mr. Frederick Pals "Trademark"

Tuesday, December  13, 2016
Overcast with snow
-4 C  24 F

Mr. Frederick Pals 

"Trademark"

Please click here too visit this outstanding ebay merchant

The first time I visited Mr. Frederick Pals, I was awed with the number of old toys that he was selling. The next thing was his "moniker" on ebay - Historical_cars_and_toys_byfreek2012, and the third was the way he presented his toys, and the reference books that he used to match up with the toys that he was selling. Most of his toys would be photographed with the page where the toy appeared in a reference book, and Frederick has plenty of them!

Antique Tin Toy # CKO Volkswagen VW Beetle 

Kellermann US Zone Germany TCO

Length: 6.25"  160 mm

Circa: 1940

Antique Tin Toy Rare Japanese ATC 

VW Karman Ghia Volkswagen

Length: 6.25"  160 mm

Circa: 1960

Antique Tin Toy Zim Gaz M12 USSR  Manufactured by Robotat

Army General Military Important Limousine

with crank operated remote control

Length:  11"  280 mm

Circa 1950's

Frederick is located in Europe, hence the many 

European and Japanese toys that he has up for sale.

 Also, the condition of these toys is usually quite good.

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 New ebay Seller from Portugal

Sunday, November 13, 2016
Cloudy with sunny breaks
9 Celsius  48 Fahrenheit

A New ebay seller

from Portugal

Please click here to visit this fine ebay seller

I was very surprised when I found the Odiabogosta store on ebay. Here was a store that had very fine, very old and rare European manufacturers of pressed steel toys. Many of the toys had battery-operated headlights, and one bus had headlights, and an inner ceiling light as well.

Naturrally, I wrote to the Odiabogosta storeowners, and in a few days received a ver nice reply.

The stores are worldwide, and are owned by 

Mr. Jorge Santos and his grandson Mr. Gonçalo Rueda.

In Their Own Words:

Hello Mr. Bindman, good day,

Congratulations on your very nice blog. Always happy to confirm the passion for these little treasures is alive and well.Feel free to use our pictures for your project. I only ask that you let me know whenever you post an article with any of them.We are a small family business and work in several areas of the collectibles world. This part focused on quality antique toys is run by me and my godson (Jorge Santos & Gonçalo Rueda). Always on the lookout for antique toys, we get them from wherever we can, whether it be from private estates, flea-markets, toy fairs, and even collectors themselves by trading.

All my best, and warm greetings from sunny Portugal,
Jorge Santos

If you've a regular reader to my blog, you know that lately,I like to take a toy photo and present it against a white background and foundation (what the toy rests on). When I first saw Mr. Santos' photographs, I was so excited that I was ready to work on them immediately. However, it wasn't going to be easy. It's a lot of work to remove a toy from its' foundation and background.  Also, I found the background and foundation a bit distracting from the fine and rare toys. I  decided to experiment with how the toy would best be presented.First I left the photo alone, then I did some colour-balance exposure corrections, and better shadow detail. I then tried removing all the colour in the photo, except for the toys. Lastly, I decided to remove everything, and leave the toy against white.

Details, details!

In the end, I liked the velvet-looking red curtains in the back, and the fine leather and gold embossed table mat that the toy rested on. This projected the toys with a  majestic quality. The toys presented themselves regally, and the background and foundation complimented the fine toys, but didn't detract from the toys themselves. So I worked out a solution. I would remove the colour from the surrounding, but leave the toy intact, except for some photoshop correction, and present some toys in their entirety but with some Photoshop correction.

Up for sale, an exceedingly scarce example of a beautiful GAMA #43/5 tin wind-up Fireman with wheeled extendable ladder, rarest variation with the lithographed wheeled ladder instead of the plain red one. Near impossible to find in any condition. An incredible piece with striking colors and amusing mechanics. In a luscious near mint condition, has minimal wear and performs flawlessly.

Length:  8 5/8" ladder 21 1/4" fully extended

22 cm / ladder 54 cm when fully extended

When the fireman is secured to the ladder, and the wind-up is wound, he will start to climb up the ladder.

An exceedingly rare example of an amazing 1908 Hess tin flywheel Avanti Peking-Paris race car. Celebrating the crazed race of 10th June 1907 from Peking to Paris, this is an incredible historical piece with striking artwork and details. 

Length: 5 1/8" 130 mm

1920's Distler JDN 3704 Tin Wind-up Large Bus Coach w/ Opening Roof Doors Lights

 Up for sale, an exceedingly rare example of a most spectacular 1920's Distler 3704 tin wind-up large deluxe bus. Has steerable front wheels, opening side doors, electrical headlights, electrical interior lighting, and opening roof to decorate the interior with additional figures. Only two known examples in private collections. 

Length:  15 3/4" 400 mm

Extr Rare 50cm Original 1930s PAYA Tin Wind-up Horch Gran Sedan Oldtimer with Light

Up for sale, an exceedingly rare example of an incredible original Paya Gran Sedan, in its most elusive and desired color scheme cream/chocolate brown/orange, deep blue interior. Huge and heavy high quality construction, measuring 50cm long. Has steerable wheels, electrical lighting system, opening doors/trunk and folding seats. In a stunning condition, has minimal wear and performs flawlessly, especially considering its age, and state of disarray in which they usually show up, when they show up.  Small touch-ups to body. 

Length:  19 5/8"  500 mm

Extr Rare 1930s Tippco (Tipp & Co) TCO Tin Wind-up Pullman Horch Closed Sport Coupe

Up for sale, an extremely rare example of a most elegant 1930's Tipp & Co. tin wind-up sport closed cabriolet coupe with driver, electrical lighting system and opening trunk. In excellent condition, has minimal wear and performs flawlessly. See pictures for details. Roughly 31cm long. A scarce high grade collectors piece that will display magnificently in any tin toy anthology.

Length: 12 1/4" 31 cm approximately

Extr. Rare 1930's Tippco Tipp&Co TCO Salmon Tin Wind-up Horch Coupe Oldtimer

An extremely rare example of a most elegant 1930's Tipp & Co. tin wind-up sport coupe with driver and electrical lighting system, rarest of this series with the salmon colored variation. In excellent condition, has little wear and performs flawlessly. See pictures for details. Small rust spots underneath. 

Length:  Approximately 11 3/8"  29cm  

What I find most interesting is that not only are the toys very old,  but they are in very good condition considering how old they are. Also, they still work with regards to their battery-operated headlights, and wind-up mechanisms. Of course, these exemplary toys also come with their high prices. When the toys are at this level of collecting, there are people who will gladly bid on them!

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

The Need for Speed

Wednesday, September 29, 2016
Cloudy with Sun
18 Celsius / 65 Fahrenheit

The Need for Speed

Please click here to visit this Bertoia auction

  Ever since man invented a machine or means of travel, he/she was fascinated by speed. This phenomena was evermore increased with the invention of the automobile. Right from the start, man and machine had to go faster than anyone else, and hence the race car evolved from the more common everyday car.

The "Sunbeam Car" below is modelled after the famous Sunbeam 1000 car. It was the first car to travel over 200 MPH (332 KPH). The reason that it was called the "Sunbeam was the fact that it has 2 Sunbeam  "Matabele"  22.4 litre aircraft engines. These engines were first used in Speedboats*

Please click here to read more about this fascinating racer

In the early years of racing on land (rather than a racetrack), there were 2 men or racers in the car. One drove the car, while the other one,called a navigator, would instruct the driver where to go to continue the race.  

Some early race cars were very big proportionally to other regular cars and the driver. 

The toy above exemplifies this.

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 New-Found Auction Site and A New Auctioneer

Friday, January 30, 2015
Cloud with snow, and milder 

A New-Found Auction Site 

and a New Auctioneer

   There are lots and lots of toys in Europe, but it's hard for me to be able to communicate in different languages, even though there are now  web translation sites to use. Moreover, not everyone  writes back to you. However, when I found  some fine toys on Catawaki Auctions together with of course an auctioneer, I had to write. I completely forgot about my sending an e-mail , when Mr. Rob Boot, an auctioneer on Catawaki Auctions wrote back. He gave me permission to use his nice photos of toys and their descriptions, and he mentioned that I should use the web address of Catawaki Auctions when you want to communicate with him.

Please click here to vista Rob Boot's location on Catawaki Auctions

What's refreshing about connecting with a European auctioneer is that the language and words used may be different when it comes to the parts of a toy. I think Rob Hoot is Dutch, and I assume that they use similar terms to the British. So tires (North American spelling) is written tyres in Europe, and windshield is windscreen.

Of course, what I liked about Rob's listings is his nice photography, and plenty of photos!

Most of the toys presented today are from the 1950's- 1960's. However, I wanted to connect with Rob  and see if I could get his permission. Now that I have, I will trey and figure out how to access past auctions, to search for my "usual" (pre-1940 and true antique toys).

What I like about this listing is the artwork on the box. Of course, if I was a "kid" 

(an expression for a young child here in North America, and not a baby goat!),

 I'd certainly have fin with this toy. It not only moves, but it has a dumpster that tilts to unload!

There are a lot of Schuco toys for sale on ebay and they always  have lots of bidders. One time, I purchased a modern-era (2000's) Schuco to see just what "all the fuss" (attention) was about. Even today, these toys are made to last. They're heavy, strong, and the wind-up mechanism certainly gives these toys a very fast send-off when you let then run!

If you've ever seen a period French move circa 1950's or early 1960's you'll have seen this truck. The "real" Citroen truck must have been very popuar at the time, since every movie (especially the crime and police movies) always use these trucks for escapes.

Here's  a nice Russian motorcycle toy. I like how the driver is "masked", but the best of all is the excellent photography that Rob has taken of this toy. What's also interesting is the excellent condition that this toy is in.

I rarely venture into the 1950's, but  there are  nice toys from that time. The world was recovering from WWII, and the defeated countries (Germany and Japan) were helped by the victors to get them back on their feet. I like the yellow/red combination of this Tippco truck.

Below is the "piece-de-resistance" - a fine Tipp & Co. toy from the US-Western Zone (Germany) after WWII. At the time, the USA had a "protectorate" as did Russia. Tippco or in this case Tipp & Co. made excellent toys since the beginning of the 20th century, and here is still a fine toy circa the 1950's. This particular toy received the highest value at the end of bidding of all the toys presented today. What noteworthy is to still see that this toy had its original windscreens (windshields) both on the rider's motorcycle and the passenger's side.

 I already mentioned the fine photography of Rob, but here is an interesting and successful use of a plate or dish as a foundation (underneath an object). This framing of the dish created four rounded corners that literally frame the toy.  It's a compositional term in photography, and here the plate is a great idea. Not only that, but the  shadow on the plate and some reflections enhances the photo and the toy even more. I also like the high camera angle taken to illustrate a direct top view of the toy. You don't see this done much on ebay or elsewhere, but it's a great camera angle to show the features of the toy from a very different bangle and point-of-view.

Thanks for visiting and as always

have a great part of the day or nigh,t

wherever you may be, 

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Some Nice Samples from Matuska's Upcoming Auction

Saturday, December 14, 2014
Partly sunny and colder

Some Nice Samples from

Matuska's

Upcoming Auction

   I'm on several auctioneers email lists, so periodically I feet notifications of incoming auctions.I should create a working agenda and forecast what posts I'll create in the near future, but I don't.  I wake up each day and go to the computer, search my e-ma accounts, visit Liveauctioneers, ebay, James D. Julia, and a few other websites.I then go to Tim Horton's, an iconic Coffee chain here in North America, and when I return home,I have an idea what to write about.

  When I checked my email 2 days ago, I saw that Mr. Mike Matuska from Sweden had sent me a notice, but I didn't check the date.  Yesterday, I again checked my email, took a closer look at Mike's email and oh, oh! The date of the auction is  today. Actually, I'm writing this post on december 13, 2014,and posting it - talon about meeting a deadline!

    What I like with Mike's website and the permission that I have to use the photos is that I get to see European toys that I don't  always see in North America.  I even get to see American toys there also. 

Mike's website also has a database of sold items, so when I have Europe on my mind, I venture over to Mike's website and search the database.

Please click here to visit this interesting Swedish website

Mike Matuska's website has both Swedish and English on the site. However, either there was less translation to English than usual or the English pages were not showing up well or at all. So what I did was go to Google Translate,  copy and paste Mikes Swedish descriptions and then translate. The translator is not accurate, and that is why I added an brief explanation and an asterisk (*) to the Skoglund & Olson photos and description.

I had never seen a non-Amercain cast iron toy until Liveauctioneers, and then when I visited Mike's website for the first time.

Meccano made lots of toy kits to assemble.I had one when I was a "kid",because Meccano,being a British company could be found in Canada. American toys rarely came up here, with A.C. Gilbert's kits being from the USA.

Meccano made some "super" automobile and airplane kits, and if you do a search on the Internet you'll find them. Of course, I've also written about them/

What's great about Mike's site is that he has a magnification feature to enlarge his images.

If you change from this blogger view to the Blogger side show view, you can see these images in their large sizes.

If you've ever watched those British period movies or those TV series on PBS (AMerican Public Broadcasting System),you will have seen people dressed up like this from the 1920's and 1930's.

The clothing certainly is from the first 1/3 of the both century. 

The only question I might ave is why some of the figures are "portly" 

( a polite word for being overweight)?

And of course, one of my class of favourites - the cast iron toy. 

It's quite nice, and it's Swedish!

So if you want to see many different European toys that actually go to auction, 

you can visit Mike Matuska's website.

Reading Swedish  is optional!

Thanks for dropping by, and as always,

have a  great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

I Never Stop Being Amazed at This Exceptional E-Bay Seller

Friday, September 25, 2014
         Exceptional autumn weather
          Sunny, warmer than usual 

I Never Stop Being Amazed

at This Exceptional ebay Seller

   If you haven't been to my blog before, what I like to do is visit Liveauctioneers and ebay regularly in order to find old and antique toys. However, try as I may, I haven't been able to get permission from several European auctioneers to be able to write about them and of course their toys.

   However, better than that, I have been able to make friends with an exceptional ebay seller by the name of Mr. Frederick Pals. Mr. Pals goes by the name of Freek on ebay. If you do an ebay search for wind-up toys, European toys, antique European toys, or simply wind-up toys, you will definitely find Frederick and his exceptional collection of toys that he always has for sale. 

   What is more exceptional about Frederick is the fact that he takes great photographs of all his items, and lots of them as well!  And, he know his toys. Whenever he photographs his toys, he places the, against a book backdrop that will show you similar or even the identical toy in the book. And he has lots ands lots of books that he uses both as backgrounds to the toys, and to provide great descriptions and data about the toys. 

    I've written several times about Frederick and his exceptional toys, and have received permission to modify his photos, but never the toys. If you search for Frederick Pals on my blog, you will find at least 4 more posts. 

Please click here to visit this exceptional ebay seller

For a toy that is almost 85 years old, it is in exceptional and unbelievable condition. What I like about  some of the Maërkin toys of this period, like the one below is that a child got to not onoybuild it from a kit, but to play with it also. But even better is that these toys were engineered tough, and they were meant to be played with-rough!

I left the photo-edified photos and the description for the last part of the post.

This is an exceptional toy in excellent condition, and I had to save the best for last!

I never alter the toy itself,but I like to place in against white in order to show it best (my personal opinion). I will though, try and adjust exposure, shadow and highlight details, and colour.

This certainly is a fine toy. I like the Maerklin toys because

 they were and still are made very well and strong.

It's too bad Frederick lives across the ocean and not across my street or even across town.

I would be at his house every day, asking if I could play with, I meant "look" at his toys!

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