More Beautiful Toys from Kraft Auction Service

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

-13°C /8°F

Clear Skies and Damp

More Beautiful Toys from

Kraft Auction Service

Earlier today, I finished the introductory post for Kraft Auction Service. I enjoyed their excellent photography and of course the fine selection of toys. I was going to write this post. tomorrow, but enjoyed the looking at the toy auction so much, that I decided to write this second post today, and not tomorrow. 

What I liked about Kraft Auction Service is their superb photography. As well,

they provide plenty of photos to accompany their photography.  

I decided to select just 3 toys to present for this post.

Description (Below)

"Arcade No. 301 Brinks Express Truck"

"Circa 1932, the truck was bought from the daughter of someone who worked at the Freeport factory and later sold to Paul. An extremely rare Arcade truck only produced for 1 year and very few in existence. From the Paul Link Collection"

Length:  11 3/4" / 29.845 cm

Description (Below)

"Arcade No. 419 Horse Drawn side Dump Wagon"

Circa 1931- Arcade No. 419 cast iron horse drawn side dump wagon.

A very seldomly seen toy and argueably on of the rarest of the Arcade toys.

The wagon had paint loss and age wear. The horses display extremely well. 

A great set and near impossible to find. Measures

approximately 14 3/4" long (37.47 cm) - From the Paul Link Collection

Description (Below)

"Arcade No. 249 White Dump Truck"

"Circa 1929, Arcade white dump truck with rubber tires and details. This

example is considered to be the finest in existence. It was purchased

in the 1994 Ford/ McAdams auction for $ 25,300 and later was featured

in the book "Cast Iron Automotive Toys" by Bill Weart.  

From the Paul Link Collection"

Measures approximately 7- 1/2" ( 19.05 cm). 

As you can see, the quality of the photography is superb. Moreover,

Kraft Auction Service always provides plenty of photographs for

each and every item presented for auction. What I also noticed is the 

time when the toy was introduced to the marketplace. You don't see this piece of information very often, which is great value if you're interested in bidding of a toy.

One final point.Most of you may know this, but if you click on a any photo on a blog (Google Blogger in this case), the photo will enlarge. This is a great asset for those wanting to see small details and the condition of the toy.

So that's it for today.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman

Thanks for dropping by, and as always, 

I an be reached at:

toysearcher@gmail.com 

Introducing Kraft Auction Service

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

-14° C / 6° F

Sunny and Cold

Introducing Kraft Auction Service

I'd seen Kraft Auction Service several times on LiveAuctioneer many times, but hadn't written to them to ask for their permission to write a blog post for them. If I had the time, I'd be writing blog posts for them about their numerous auctions. They have very interesting items that come through their auction company, but I have to stick with toys! 

Nevertheless, when I find the time, I'll have a look at their other auctions!

Their auction company is located in Northwest Indiana, USA., and so, I wrote to them to ask for permission to write a post about their auction that I saw on LiveAuctioneers. 

To quote their description from their excellent website:

"Kraft Auction Service is the premier Auction Company

based in Northwest Indiana with global reach, providing

services for equipment, estates, farm business liquidation,

collector cars, quality antiques and collectibles, benefit 

real estate, and consignment auction". 

The auction that caught my attention was on January 31, 2025.

It was titled:

"48th Anniversary Premier Toy Auction"

The auction was for their 48th Anniversary from when they first started 

in 1976. The toys were auctioned on 

"Day 6 of the Anniversary Auction"

and featured 1200+ lots of outstanding antique, vintage and collectible toys

including one of the best Cast Iron Collections in the country!"

What caught my attention even more was the excellent photography

and numerous photographs for each and every toy that was auctioned.

Kraft Auction Service uses such a diffuses soft lighting and their photography is excellent! Electronic  flash heads are attached to what are called "softboxes".

The flash head is attached to the back of a "softbox", and the front is diffused with a white diffused material. The resulting lighting is easy to use, and there are only soft shadows (if any). Sometimes several softboxes will be used.

Moreover, for each and every toy that was up for auction, there were many photographs for each toy. Since buyers are from all over the USA and even sometimes, the world, photographs of the toys going to auction have to

show the toy easily and without dark shadows, where the detail may not be seen.

For this introductory blog post, I selected a beautiful 

"Arcade Cast Iron Buick Sedan-Bank Version"

The description was as follows:

"Circa 1927- Arcade cast iron Buick sedan car. This us the very rare bank

version of this car. The car features rubber tires, Arcade Toy decal, and

nickeled driver. One of Arcades most desirable toys. Displays extremely

well with a great look and would be tough to find another. Measures 

approximately 8-1/2" long. From the Paul Link Collection."

(8 1/2" = 21.59 cm)

The reason for my having selected this toy is its' tactile feeling (sensation of touch).

If you ever handled a cast iron toy, you'll know what I meant by touching

a heavy weighted toy made of cast iron. 

Please click on this sentence to see the results of the auction on Liveauctioneers

As you can see, their photography is excellent, and the photographer takes plenty of photos to present each and every toy from all sides, and top and bottom.

So that's it for today.

The next post that I write will be about some of the many toys that 

were auctioned with the excellent Arcade toy above.

Of course, you can always visit the link that I typed above at the beginning of this post (in a lilac (light purple) colour.

Thanks for dropping by my blog, and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman

and I can always be reached at:

toysearher@gmail.com