Lloyd Ralston Toys Revisited

Thursday, May 14, 2020
Sunny with clouds
12 C 54 F

Lloyd Ralston Gallery Toys Revisited

I've been visiting people and their stores to see how they are doing in 2020.
This fine store was founded by Mr. Lloyd Ralston, 
who sadly passed away some years ago. The company  ( Shelton, Connecticut, USA)
is now run superbly by his two sons.

Like many auctioneers, the Lloyd Ralston Gallery has signed up with Liveauctioneers.
Liveauctioneers is a unique website that signs up antique dealers of all kinds, including the special area of antique and modern toys. It has a vast linkage all over the world.

A great asset of this company is the fact that it has the resource of seeing toys from previous auctions, as well as their corresponding final prices of the toys. However they lack the capability of entering the  brand name or descriptive words of their merchandise. Nevertheless,
it still is a fantastic source of information about toys.

The auction occurred on May 2, 2020, and consisted
mostly of railroad train, cars, and accessories.

I've added the final prices of the these toys that went to auction. These are
the higher-priced toys, but there were lots of other toys that buyers selected at lower prices.


Please click here to visit their website

Please click here to arrive at their link on Liveauctioneers


Lionel 400E Locomotive and Tender
400T Tender 
Final Price: $ 750.00 US + Fees + Taxes




Bing 7116 Post Car
0 Gauge
Hand-painted tin with Interior
Both 4-wheel trucks articulate
Final Price: $ 1100.00 US + Fees + Taxes



Ives 800 Trolley
O Gauge
Lithographed Tin, Windup  Mechanism
With Trolly, Pole & Cowcatchers
Circa 1910
Final Price: $ 4200.00 US & Fees & Taxes




Lionel 1928 Store Display
Lithographed Press-boards
60" x 22" (558 mm x 154 mm)
Final Price: $ 16, 000.00 + Fees + Taxes


Lionel Train Set
0 Gauge
Twin Motor Engine and Assorted Cars
Final Price: $ 1300.00 US + Fees + Taxes



Lionel 2624M
Manhattan Pullman
0 Gauge
With Original Box
Final Price: $ 1500.00 & Fees & Taxes



Buddy L Trench Digger
Painted Pressed Steel
L x W x H  24" x 14" x 20"  610 mm x 355 mm x 509 mm
Weight:  28 pounds  /  12.72 Kilograms
Circa 1928
$ 2500.00 US + Fees + Taxes (Unless out-of-state)
© 2020
Lloyd Ralston Toys


I'd seen these Buddy L trench diggers before, but hadn't 
realized just how heavy and big they were. Also, I  thought
that they were manufactured much later in the 20th century.
This one was produced about thye 1930's!



MarklinDT800 Rail Car
HO Gauge, First Version
  Final Price:  $ 800.00 US + Fee + Taxes
Lloyd Ralston Toys



Ives 490R Universal Fast Freight Jr. Set
0 Gauge
Assorted Cars
Original Boxes
Circa: 1930
Final Price:  $ 2700.00 & Fees & Taxes


Ives 117 Suburban Station
0 Gauge
Lithographed Tin
Circa  1906
Final Price:  $ 1000.00 plus Fees & Taxes



Wow!
The time sure is moving fast.
In 5 weeks it will be summer, 
but with this pandemic it most certainly doesn't have the elation
of looking forward to  the nice weather, and having a vacation.
Nevertheless, it's what it is, and we all have to make the 
best with what we have.

Take care, and be safe.

Thanks for dropping by

Stacey Bindman
toysearcher@gmail.com

The "Buddy L" Outdoor Railroad

Saturday, February 6, 2016
Cloudy with snow

The "Buddy L" Outdoor Railroad

   It's always surprising to find new discoveries, and the Bertoia Auction for March 16, 2016 is no exception. Up to now, I did not know that the "Buddy L" company had made railway cars. But today, I found out. And these are large, such that they would be played with outdoors.

The provenance (where the train comes from) is from the Jay Schoedinger Collection. What's interesting to note is that these toys were built approximately near the time of the "Great Depression", so they must have been expensive to purchase, especially during such hard times.

The locomotive and tender below are rare  and measure 43" (1.092 M) in length, and were meant to be played with outdoors. 

Please click here to visit Bertoia Auctions

The caboose below are rare  and measure 18 1/2" (470 mm) in length,

The railroad flat car below measures 20" (508 mm) in length,

The Outdoor Railroad yellow tanker car # 1003 below, measures 19" (482mm) in length.

 The Outdoor Railroad orange box car # 1002 below, measures 20 1/2" (520mm) in length.

It was manufactured circa 1925-1931.

The black railroad car (gondola) below has decals that read "70826", 

and the length is 20 1/4" (514 mm). The manufactured time was circa 1927.

It's certainly good to find a new toy after having written over 1100 posts, and today was no exception. If you take a look at the actual listings, I'm sure you'll find some toys that you haven;t seen either.

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

Some Highlights for Nette Auctions on January 23, 2016

Saturday, January 23, 2016
Sunny and Seasonally Cold

Some Auction Highlights for

Nette Auctions

on January 23, 2016

For those who don't know, Nette Auctions is one of the premiere toy train auctions in North America. They conduct lots of auctions throughout the year, as is the case today. However what I did notice were some non-train toys, and that's what I decided to post about today.

Description:

Arcade Airport, Tootsietoy Planes

Includes a scarce Arcade airport building, which still retains its original decal, 

Tootsietoy dive bombers, missing a tire

Postwar (1945+)

12.5" x 7" x9"    317mm x 178 mm x 229 mm

What's interesting here is the rarer Arcade airport station.

Description:

Nice Schieble Fire Pumper

Clean 1915 era toy that still retains over 80% of its paint and its original cast iron driver is present.

It has its hill climber mechanism and shows moderate play wear. 

For 101 years old, this toy is fairly good condition. THese toys are called hill climbers because they came with a friction motor. As such, they were able to easily climb hills with much ease.

Description:

Scarce Buddy L Wooden Coca-Cola Truck

Tough piece, 1st for us! It is 20" (508 mm) long, painted and recalled wood.  

It has good colour and just is missing its windshield and rear door knob. Scarce toy.

During WW II (1939-1945), when the USA entered the war, the government initiated laws for limiting metal being used in non-vital manufacturing. As such, toy manufacturers used lots of wood to replace metal.

Description:

Scarce Large Converse Floor Train

Circa 1905

Largest version, painted and paper-litho on ton floor toy. It has a 30"(762 mm) locomotive & tender 

with a 23" 584 mm) coach, whose body sits on a gondola, giving storage room. It still retains 90% of the paper details, and shows moderate playwear.

Of course, I couldn't leave a post about a major American train auctioneer, without finishing with a train. This set is "somewhat rare" for its large size, considering it too is a centenarian (111 years old). Converse was a busy company at the beginning of the both century and late 19th century but didn't succeed as well as the other toy  companies of the era (Hubley, Arcade, Kenton…).

 If you visit either the Nette Auction website, or Liveauctioneers, you can view the many listing for today's auction.

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

Invaluable Contacts Me

Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Sunny and very cold

Invaluable Contacts Me

   I'm always amazed when coincidences happen. Perhaps I'm just aware more of them, but I seem to always have them. What happened about 2 weeks ago is that I was checking out  many people, and auctioneers,  who have helped me out in the past. One of the these companies is Stout Auctions.  

Stout Auctions promotes themselves as "America's premier auction house for Lionel, American Flyer, Ives, MTH, and other scale and toy trains".  The company had granted me permission to write about them a few years ago, and this week, they were on my mind, since I am returning to writing once more on my blog.

  The "coincidence" was that I received an e-mail from a very popular auction Internet company that Stout Auctions happens to use. The name of the company is Invaluable.  Mr. Sam Harding, from  Invaluable had written to ask if I might  announce the Stout Auctions and  select some noteworthy lots. I wrote back to Sam that I would for sure. Stout  Auctions had been very kind to let me use their photos, and I would be happy to help out. What I like about Stout , is that they photograph their items very well. This helps to provide viewers and potential bidders with nice images to see.

 Invaluable

Please click here to visit Invaluable's website

Please click here to visit Stout Auctions

Sam Harding, from  Invaluable wrote that the  auction would be  on May 15, 16, and 30 of 2015.  Sam write the following below for me to mention to you, my readers.

"Stout Auctions is proud to offer for auction an outstanding and diverse selection of trains, accessories, catalogs, books, parts and Railroadiana from various estates and private collections.

The first portion of this sale will feature a large selection Lionel modern era, TCA convention and Museum trains, Williams, MTH, K-Line and Right of Way Industries. Included with the modern era will be a large selection of original parts in bulk. The next section will feature Lionel prewar Standard and O gauge highlighted by 800 and 2800 freight cars and 1100 Mickey Mouse handcar.

The next portion will be Lionel Postwar showcased by F3 diesels including; 2355 Western Pacific, 2343 Santa Fe and 2356 Southern ABA, 2340 GG1, 2332 GG1, 2139W boxed freight set, large quantities of Super O track and Disney phonographs. There will be American Flyer S gauge trains and accessories highlighted by a K5210W freight set in original boxes. There will be HO scale including Tyco and Bachman.

The last 200 lots will consist of G gauge trains featuring LGB and Aristo-Craft.

This sale offers a fantastic diversity with all levels of collecting represented, from MINT in the box to bargain operator/fixer upper lots. Plan to attend in our comfortable and well-lighted auction gallery."

3. Some samples from the Postwar lots

The Coal Years of Model Trains

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The Coal Years of Model Trains

Introduction 

  I can't tell you up until when the last of the coal engines still moved along a track.  However, with oil becoming more prevalent, the diesel engine becoming more efficient and cleaner, and  pollution becoming a bigger issue, the last of the coal engines eventually went into history in North America and Europe. I think there are still coal-burning steam engines left, as the world creates those "carbon credits" for emerging nations. I believe China and India, and perhaps some  African countries still run their train engines on coal.

   When I was a kid (young child) in the 1950's  of about 7 -12, I'd see the steam driven coal-buring trains about 1/2 mile (500M) from my house. In those days there were fences of course, but it was easy to get over them, compared with today in most larger cities. I'd find small pieces of coal along the railway  tracks. Also, when we moved to Outremont, a suburb on Montreal Island, the furnace had just been changed to oil. I found a shiny pice of coal (the cleaner and more efficient coal) in the furnace room. Also, in the garage was a metal coal chute to shovel coal into the furnace room bin.

   The coal-burning  train engines  would start up slowly, and the massive wheels and giant metal rods attached to the wheels would slowly rotate. There would be a large amount of smoke, and the train would start making that choo-choo-choo-choo sound until it  moved faster, and the choo-choo became one long and fast word.

The Model Train World

   The model train world is undergoing a resurgence in the new century. In doing a bit of research, I was surprised to see at least 20 companies that still make these great model trains in all sorts of gauges (scales). Also, these particular toys and models were played with mostly inside of houses. As a result, they seem to have survived a lot better than let's say the toys that would be played with outdoors.  This  is more so in the area of retaining the paint finish. 

   Since I limit myself to about 10 images of 10 montages of images, I decided to stay with the Lionel company for today. I'll see what train engines and cars are around from other brand names, and see if I can assemble posts about another theme, but with a different manufacturer.

Please click this sentence to be redirected to the fine site of AmbroseBauer Trains

     Of course, there still are coal cars that are used to transport coal to certain factories and electrical burring power houses. However, the era of coal  has long since gone by with oil and hydro-electric power having replaced it. I'm sure one of these days, maybe they will be able to create a better furnace to burn coal, yet achieve the air pollution standards needed today.

    What's fascinating about model trains is that a hobbyist can create a miniature world of industries, and cities based on the past and present. What's more interesting is that you can see up close models of these "worlds" that you'd never really get to see in your lifetime!

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey