An Exceptional Collection of Cast Iron Banks From The RSL Auction Company - Part 2

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Overcast and Damp

-13° C / 9° F

An Exceptional Collection of Cast Iron Banks
From the RSL Auction Company

(Part II)

Please click here to see the Auction. on Liveauctioneers

Earlier today, I added a first post for the RSL Auction Company. However,

I decided to write a second post about the cast iron banks. What I like about the 

RSL Auction Company is their large numbers of photos for each and

every item going to auction. The viewer and potential bidder bidding on

an item is bidding remotely from his/her computer. As such, the bidder

cannot touch or examine the item, but has to reply on the photographs

and the written description.

Below is the written description of this wonderful cast iron bank:

"J & E Stevens Company. Cromwell, Connecticut
(USA), 

Circa 1888

When the bank is activated, a little boy emerges from behind the bulrushes,

frightening the mule, and thereby toppling the cart backwards.

In doing so, the coin has been deposited." *

 Description courtesy of the RSL Auction Company*

I can imagine a young boy or girl being given a you like this,

and of course being given a few pennies to see how the bank collected the money.

It's truly amazing to see these toys from so long ago still around for collectors.

2024 - 1888 = 136

This toy has been around, and still operable after 136 years old!

I can't even imagine all of the different children and people that have handled 

or owned this wonderful toy.

I would think that even adults who collect these toys "play" with them by 

putting coins into the depository, er toy bank.  Of course, you'd never catch an adult playing with his/her antique toy, that would be unfathomable!

Why not, being happy keeps you healthy.

Thanks for dropping by 

and visiting my blog.

Thanks for dropping by,

and enjoy your morning, afternoon, or evening,

wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman, 

and I can always be reached at

toysearcher@gmail.com 

Copake Auctions Inc.Revisited

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Overcast with Rain,

24° C / 77° F

Copake Auctions Inc. Revisited

 Good Day everyone.

My first blog post was on January 11, 2011. I'm a fan of movies, 

and what came into my mind is the 1994 movie with Tom Hanks playing Forrest Gump in the movie of the same name. 

One of his expressions was"

"Life was like a box of chocolates.

You never know what you're gonna get."

And so it is with me. I started to blog by coincidence (you'll have to go to my first post to see how I started), and just last week, I wrote my 1600 hundredth post.

I've been revisiting all of the people and companies who have helped me out 

over the last 14 years, and one of them is 

Copake Auctions Inc.

They sell all kinds of merchandise, but I've always focussed on their 

fine supply of old toys that have come to the marketplace over the years. 

Anyway, when I decided to revisit them today, I saw that they be having

an upcoming bicycle on October 12, 2024 at 9:00 A.M.(EST).

And that's their 32nd Annual Bicycle Auction.

By now, I'm sure some of you are wondering where I'm going with this blog post,so here's the answer. I'm narrating this post more than usual, so I hope

you'll like more of a "story".

I'm a cyclist and try to get out in the summertime for 2-3 times a week. Up here in Montreal,Quebec,Canada, I'm lucky if I get to start cycling in May and continue into October.

OK, I'll stop the narrative here, and come back to focus on Copake Auction.

They are located in Copake, New York, USA.

I've had the pleasure of writing about them for years now, and they always have a great selection of fine toys whenever there is a toy auction.

However, I got a wonderful surprise, when I saw their bicycle auction, their 31st bicycle auction! 

It was their 31st Cycle Auction on  October 21, 2023.

Above:

"1886 Pony Star. Serial number one. Rare green paint. 42". Good Condition.

"Pony" star high wheel safety, [atemted by George Pressey of

Hammonton NJ, produced by H.B. Smith Machine Co. Smithville NJ. 

Ed Berry Collection. Comes with custom stand. Believed to have been painted green and sold by WW Stahl. Believed to be the rarest Star known."

Above:

1876 Ariel high wheel bicycle. 54, good restored condition. Comes with custom stand. Very scarce example. Ed Berry Collection. Comes with brass Ariel medal.

Above:

"Circa 1880's Star high wheel bicycle. Manufactured by H.B. Smith Co., 

Smithville New Jersey, USA. 48" James Hetzer Collection, New Hampshire.

Good Condition"

Above:

Circa 1880's Kangaroo dwarf safety bicycle.38" front wheel.

Motion driver front wheel by lever and cranks. Original

condition.Hillman, Herbert, & Cooper of Coventry (Premier Works).

Margaret Ann Baker Collection.

Above:

Gormully & Jeffrey child's 30" two track tricycle.New rubber 

and leather, repro wheelie bar, otherwise original

unrestored original condition. Original decals and striping visible,

James Hetzer Collection New Hampshire.

Of course, by now, you're wondering why I wrote a blog post about bicycles. 

I "stretched" the category of "toys" for today, because I'm a cyclist.

I cycle in Montreal,Quebec, Canada (where I live) in the summer, 

and so you'll have to read my next blog post, to find out about my summer passion of cycling.

Thanks to the wonderful collection of old bicycles from Copake Auction,

I was invigorated to wrote this post.

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

toysearcher@gmail.com

Catawiki Revisited

Friday, May 1, 2020
Cloudy and raining
17 C 62 F

Catawiki Revisited

It's been 8 years since I've written about Catawiki. I had done a search for a toy, and Catawiki's name came up, along with a toy that I was seeking. Catawiki most certainly has successfully grown in reputation and in how many auctions they conduct. It's a European company located in The Netherlands (Holland). Catawiki has many experts in their respective field(s) of expertise to be able to identify and suggest opening bids for their clients. As well, not only do they auction toys, but there are many other categories

"Catawiki was founded by René Schoenmakers, a Dutch comic collector, and Marco Jansen, a Dutch developer. It went online on 10 September 2008 as an online wiki-based compendium of collector's catalogues. First focusing on comics, the database later covered items such as postage stamps, coins and telephone cards.^[ The name "Catawiki" is a portmanteau of the words "catalogue" and "wiki".

Since 2011 Catawiki has been hosting auctions for thousands of different objects. The site was originally in Dutch, but was made available in English in 2011, in French and German in 2012, and in Spanish, Italian and Chinese in 2015

Catawiki has been curating weekly auctions since 2011, across a number of categories such as art, books, curiosa, model trains, stamps, wine and classic cars. Catawiki's auctions are online-only. Bids are open for all to see. Winners pay what they bid via a secure payment service to receive the object from the seller. Catawiki operates a network of over 100 experts who value, authenticate and curate objects.The site makes money by charging the buyer 9% and the seller 12.5% (ex VAT) of the sale price."**

History of Catawiki courtesy of Wikipedia.

Please click here to read more about Catawiki

Copyright  2020      Catawiki

Please do not use without their written permission

Copyright  2020      Catawiki

Please do not use without their written permission

Copyright  2020      Catawiki

Please do not use without their written permission

Copyright  2020      Catawiki

Please do not use without their written permission

Copyright  2020      Catawiki

Please do not use without their written permission

Copyright  2020      Catawiki

Please do not use without their written permission

Description:

Lot details

Nr of items

1

Brand

CK-Toys (Japan) #

Object

1930's "WONDER ACROBAT" in Original box !!

Period

1930-1939

Country of Origin

Japan

Condition

Very good

Packaging

with original box

Material

Metal & Celluloid

I'm sure that I will be returning to Catawiki in order to write more about their auctions on old toys.

That's all for today,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

You can contact me anytime at:

toysearcher@gmail.com

Stacey Bindman

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

Still More Dinky Toys

Monday, November 7, 2016
Sunny and Clear Skies
9 Celsius / 48 Fahrenheit

Still More Dinky Toys

Please click here to visit the Special Auction Services Website

Please click here to visit the specific auction on the-saleroom website

I already posted about the Special Auction Services' auction on Dinky toys, and for today, decided to add many more photos and descriptions from this auction. The auction was for the Dave Robinson Collection, who is (was) a collector of assorted brands of small model toys. When you go to the specific  link immediately above (the-saleroom), you will see many other brands of toys that we don't see here in North America. The collection was auctioned off in 2015. I decided to select only the earlier diecast models from the auction.

It's interesting how the Dinky Toys resemble Tootsietoys and vice versa.  Of course, in the 1930's and 1940's there were cars that were popular in Great Britain and the USA at the time. Naturally then, the toy companies would reproduce model die cast toys based on the popularity of the "real" trucks and automobiles of the time.

I thought I'd add a "twist" to this post. The surprise is the immediate 4 photos below, 

which are Tootsietoys from the 1930's, which are my favourite small model toys. 

Of course, I think I like Dinky Toys enough to make them my second favourite small toy models!

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 Neff-Moon Truck Set

Friday, September 30, 2016
Cloudy with Sun
20 Celsius / 68 Fahrenheit

The Neff-Moon Truck Set

  One of the most pleasurable and educational toy auctioneers that I came across is .James D. Julia. The photography is excellent,and the descriptions are well-researched and well-written. THe antique toy division was sold to Dan Morphy who is a very successful and multi-facetted company. By well-facetted, I mean that he has many different divisions to his auction company. As an example, he also sells fine automobiles of all ages and rarity. THe good news is that you can still view past auctions on James D. Julia's website.

Please click here to visit this renowned auctioneer

                                                  NEFF-MOON INTERCHANGEABLE CAR SET W/O.B.

By Neff-Moon Toy Company, Sandusky, Ohio. 

During its heyday in the 1920s and 30s, it wasn’t unusual for the custom body industry to offer different styled bodies on the same chassis. This large complete set of pressed steel toys include two friction drive trucks with Packard style front grilles. The six included additional bodies could be interchanged on truck chassis. The bodies include a two door coupe, moving van, Huckster body, police patrol, emergency van and more. All are contained in well labeled original box marked $8.00. SIZE: Box measures 17″ x 23″. Truck chassis measures 14″ l. CONDITION: Although toy has been played with set remains complete and good to very good. Some rooftops of bodies show wear. Friction working on both truck bodies. 1-14581 (1,000-2,000) – Lot 1471*      

(Description James D. Julia)*

Below:

The instructions as to how to assemble the truck with its' different parts.

Below: A photo showing what was in the box
Below are several photos presenting what the contents of the box was.
There were 2 truck bodies, windshields (only 1 here), and 6 interchangeable truck bodies.
The 2 trucks have friction drives to make them go by themselves. The trucks and their respective parts are made of pressed steel.

    It's always fascinating to see the original box that the toy or toys fit into. Having the cardboard box

certainly increases the value of the item up for bidding. As well,  the box and its' cover provides information about what is in the box.

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)