A Very Rare Mechanical Bank Goes to an RSL Auction

Saturday, March 8, 2025

-9° C / 15.8° F

Cold, Damp and Cloud

A Very Rare Mechanical Bank

Goes to an RSL Auction

Please click on this sentence to visit the Auction on LiveAuctioneers

I've been very fortunate to have all of the nice people allow me to write about their toys and their auction companies. I've also watched as these companies have

developed and grown as time moved on.

The RSL Auction Company is made up of 3 partners. 

They are Mr. Ray Haradin, Mr. Steven Weiss,  and Mr. Leon Weiss.

The RSL Auction Company derived its' name from the given names of

Ray, Steven, and Leon. Add to that an excellent photographer 

and senior auctioneer -Mr. Julian Abernethy, and Bre Day who 

with Julian, run and facilitate the Cyber Toy Auctions Sales. 

Finally, with one more more hard-working lady by the name of Angela Weiss,

you have a great. auction company. Angela, is the Gallery manager, website designer, Antique Show, Auction Coordinator, and computer expert.

I selected this bank because of its' rarity.  The opening bid will start at 
$40,000.00 US Dollars, and the estimated final bids  will be in

the range of  $ 80,000 - $ 120,000 US Dollars

It's nice to see this fine antique being shown at an auction, 

knowing that  someone will take possession of this rare

bank. Once again, the bank will have a new owner

who will appreciate how it has moved on with time. 

Good luck to all the bidders.

Thanks for dropping by to my blog.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman,

and I can always be reached at

toysearcher@gmail.com

Have a great part of the day or night, 

wherever you may be.

The Miniature World of Old Toy Soldier Auctions (USA)

Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Overcast with Snow
-7 C  19.4 F

The Miniature World of

Old Toy Soldier Auctions (USA)

Please click here to visit Old Toy Soldier auctioneers

I recently introduced you to the RSL Auction Company, which is a multi-faceted company that has several  subsidiaries selling all kinds of fine toys. One of these divisions is the Old Toy Soldier company. This is a specialized company specializing in, as the name suggests - old toy soldiers.   The company, which was acquired by Mr. Ray Haradin  under the ownership of The RSL Auction Company also happens to own a fine old toy journal titled- The Journal for Collectors - Old Toy Soldiers.

Both the auction company and the magazine are excellent resources for collectors of these great collectibles. I haven't added any descriptive narrative to any of the photos today, but I do promise to do so in the future.  Nevertheless, if you visit Liveauctioneers, you will be able to see all of the auctions that the Old Toy Soldier company has done, along with the respective photos and descriptions. All of the fine examples today are from a famous British company called Britains.

The reason for my selecting Britains to present is that the company is world-famous, and has been in business and still is, for a very long time.

A brief history of the Britains company courtesy of Wikipedia

The W. Britain brand name of toy and collectable soldiers is derived from a company founded by William Britain Jr., a British toy manufacturer, who in 1893 invented the process of hollow casting in lead, and revolutionized the production of toy soldiers. The company quickly became the industry leader, and was imitated by many other companies, such as Hanks Bros. and John Hill and Co. (Gibbs 2009; Joplin 1996). The style and scale of Britain's figures became the industry standard for toy soldiers for many years.

In 1907 the family proprietorship, William Britain & Sons, incorporated as Britains, Ltd. The Britain family controlled the firm until 1984 when it was sold to a British conglomerate, Dobson Park Industries. They combined the operations with an existing line of toys and renamed the company Britains Petite, Ltd. (Opie 1993). During the first half of the 20th century, Britains expanded its range and market. By 1931 the firm employed 450 at its London factory. The catalogue had expanded to 435 sets and twenty million models a year were being produced. (Wallis 1981). In the early 1950s Britains was associated with W. Horton Toys and Games which made the diecast Lilliput ranges of small-scale rather generic cars and trucks and other vehicles. Later, Britains acquired Herald Miniatures, plastic figures designed by Roy Selwyn-Smith. The company was also known for its American Revolutionary War soldiers.

In the 1950s, besides soldiers, a variety of vehicles began to appear, mostly in the military field. One such detailed diecast vehicle was a Royal Artillery 4.5" Howitzer towable cannon that fired toy shells. For a toy, it was intricately designed, with a special threaded post with rotating knob to raise and lower the cannon. Also in early 1950s, one of the first Britains vehicles was a Bluebird land speed record car of famed driver Sir Malcolm Campbell. It had a removable body and the box showed a detailed cut-away illustration of the car.

Thanks for dropping by,

And as always,

Have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

Mr. Ray Haradin - Toys of Yesteryear

Saturday, January 13, 2018
Overcast with Heavy Snowfall
-11 C -12.8 F

Mr. Ray Haradin

Toys of Yesteryear

Please click here to visit Ray Haradin's website

I introduced you to the RSL Auction Company, and specifically the Cyber Toy division last week. 
However, there is much more to the company than just the RSL division. Today,
I'm introducing you to Raytoys.com and to Mr. Ray Haradin. 

The biography of Mr. Ray Haradin is quite interesting . For a younger man, his biography is one of success from a very young age.

In his own words:

My passion for early toys started when I was a kid. My earliest memory is playing with a William Tell bank in my Grandmother's house in 1970. I distinctly remember pressing William Tell's foot which caused his gun to shoot a coin and knock the apple off his son's head. With time my interests in antiques developed as I would accompany my father and mother to local flea markets and many early morning auctions in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio. I had a keen eye for banks, both mechanical and still, but my allowance dictated the pursuit of toy soldiers and coins. Dimestore figures, the miniature World War I figures sold in the Five and Dime Stores, formed my first collection. From there I branched out into Britains, American Tin, Clockwork Toys, Bell Toys and Horse Drawn Toys. After becoming comfortable with the early American Toys my pursuit turned overseas with particular interest in the early German manufacturers, especially Marklin and Heyde. I have also been known to handle Lehmann and Martin toys. I do have interests outside of the "Toy" world; the pursuit of original Tiffany lamps ranks high on my list along with the study of some local Pittsburgh artists who painted in the area at the beginning of the 20th century. By the late 1970's I was an established dealer throughout the Greater Pittsburgh area displaying at local flea markets and small regional shows. On my 15th birthday in 1979, I exhibited at my first major show, The Allentown Toy Show and have been a perennial exhibitor at that venue ever since. Antiques have always been my main pursuit. I had a brief diversion while I attended the University of Colorado, Boulder Campus where I earned a B.A. in Chemistry in 1986. 

In 1982 I joined the Still Bank Collectors Club and then the Mechanical Bank Collectors of America in 1988. I served as the MBCA's President from 1995 through 1997 and have been their current Secretary since 1997. I have also been a certified member of the American Society of Appraisers as well as a member of the Antique Toy Collectors of America since 1990. It has been a pleasure to have participated at most major shows across the globe. 

he objects I buy and sell are my core business; however, being active in the antique community brings me tremendous joy. In 2000 I was offered the trade journal Old Toy Soldier "The Journal for Collectors". The magazine had been in continuous publication since 1976. There were concerns in the soldier community that it would be bought by a foreign company and absorbed into their publications. Being a subscriber since its inception, I felt it was time to put the skills learned by producing and distributing my Toys of Yesteryear catalogs to further promote the hobby. I acquired Old Toy Soldier and recruited the renowned author and auction house expert Norman Joplin to be editor. Since then we have expanded coverage through well researched and written articles, moved to a color format and increased subscriptions. It has been a challenge that both Norman and I relish. 

By 2005 I was up for another challenge and decided it was time to enter the auction world. Having been offered the McCumber collection of mechanical and still banks, I joined forces with Leon and Steven Weiss of Gemini Antiques. These long time friends and well known Madison Avenue dealers and I formed RSL Auctions which has hosted two sales a year. Millions of dollars worth of mechanical and still banks and fine early toys have been sold at our well attended auctions since then. 

Based on the success of RSL Auctions, the fact that Christe's auction house in New York and London announced they would no longer handle toy soldiers and the lack of an American auction house dedicated to the sale of toy figures, Norman Joplin and I decided to started Old Toy Soldier Auctions USA in 2008. In our first year we hosted two successful sales, selling over 1000 lots of toy soldiers. 

What lies ahead is the force that drives me. Be assured that the basis of my business is the pursuit of great "stuff". Peruse my catalog. If there is something of interest or if you just want to talk toys please email me.

Wow, this most certainly is a success story about a very ambitious and intelligent person!

As I mentioned before, the Ray Haradin Toy of Yesteryear 
is a division of  the RSL  Auction Company. I believe the company's method of selling toys is 
through a catalogue. Toys are gathered throughout the year, catalogued, and then photographed with selling prices included. The catalogue contains large photographs with brief descriptions of the items for sale. Mr. Haradin invites you to contact him whenever you might need further information on any toy. I would recommend this for people who are unfamiliar with toys, just to get a broader and more thorough description of any toy that you  are interested in, from the catalogue.

Below are just a sampling of catalogue pages. In this particular catalogue, 
there are approximately 125 pages. You can even download the catalogue 
(in Adobe Acrobat Format) to your home computer.

The catalogue is superbly done, and the photography is great. 

It even was photographed in the manner that I like - on a white foundation and background.

Download the catalogue for your perusal. It is an excellent catalogue

to be used as a reference for old and antique toys, and for sure, you will not be disappointed.

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