Liveauctioneers and Skinner Inc.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Liveauctioneers and Skinner Inc.

   During the past weekend, I noticed that Liveauctioneers had updated their fine website. For those who don't know, Liveauctioneers is a Host site for live auctions around the world. What they do is to present the auctions from many different auctioneers on their site, and of course, the photographs and information pertaining to each item.

   I've used Liveauctioneers as a valuable "stepping stone" from which to search out toy photos from the fine auction houses and auctioneers who have most graciously allowed me the permission to use their fine photos. 

  As I mentioned, on the weekend, Liveauctioneers had updated their website. It's brighter and cleaner than before, and of course still has the millions of photos of past, present, and future auctions. It will take myself some getting used to, but I'm sure, in time I will familiarize myself with this fine site. 

  I had written to Kathryn Gargolinski of Liveauctioneers to ask for permission to use photos from their site. Kathryn helped me out by suggesting that it would be easier to focus on 1 auction house, rather than the 4 whom I had mentioned. And of course, I received her permission.  Kathryn Gargolinski's title is Web Marketing Specialist. That sounds quite awesome, and must require lots of hard work to maintain their site. As well, she most likely has to be able to speak several langauges for the international auction houses located around the world.

Please click this sentence to be redirected to Liveauctioneer's fine website

Please click to be redirected to Skinner Inc.'s fine website

The "Home Page" for Skinner Inc. on Live Auctioneers

There is a description of the auction hose, the location, past auctions, and a contact address

  The above screen capture is a sample from Liveauctioneers.

1. Location

This allows the viewer to select from which country he/she would like to go to. 

As well, the many different companies will be listed.

2. Search for Item

This is where you enter what you are looking for.

3. Auctioneer

All of the auction houses and auctioneers are here. You can select just one, or do your search let's say for France,and then see which French auction houses are listed.

4. The Date

This is where the present and future auction dates are listed.

Some auctions have already been prepared months in advance, and you can actually see listied auctions for the month of June.

The screen  capture above illustrate the following:

1. Live

This is for the current listed auctions, as well as future upcoming auctions

2. Sold

This area allows you to venture back in time. Depending upon the auction house, and how long they've been with Liveauctioneers, you may be able to go back a few years or as far as 10 years!

3. The Search Entry

I entered only the single word "Zeppelin". However, that single word may have not been descriptive enough. In other words, I might get photos, paintings, parts, ticket stubs, and all other items aside from "toys".

The above search was unrestrictive for any specific auctioneer. A a result, 3,833 entries were located. However, as I only have 4 fine auctions houses that so far have allowed me to use their photos, I normally would limit the search to one of the 4 auction houses at a time.

However, it's a good idea of you're interested in a specific item, or are wishing to bid on an item, to allow the search to be non-specific. In this way, you will get to see lots and lots of the same item and be abetter able to judge such criteria as:

1. Past final winning bid prices

2. What parts the actual item should come with -e.g. pull rope, flags, spare tires etc. (for toys)

3. Original colour or repainted  

By narrowing my search just for Skinner Inc., I can now see that Skinner Inc. had sold 18 "zeppelin" items in their past auctions.

A screen capture of the 18 listed "Zeppelin" items that were sold by Skinner Inc.

Although the photos may not present an actual Zeppelin, the written description would.

However, as you can see, my search was too broad - having used only the single word "Zeppelin".

I made a decision to select the first image in the upper left corner
Coincidentally, this selection is similar to what I wrote about yesterday - the A.C.Williams cast iron banks.These banks on the Skinner Inc. website are not identified as to their manufacturer, but they might be A.C. Williams.

Please click to be redirected to Skinner Inc.'s fine website

The enlargement of the particular image

How I have been presenting the images that I find on auction house sites

What I do is:

1.Adjust the exposure, colour-balance, and shadow detail

2.Enhance the focus because I'm presenting small-sized photos

3. Add an "inner glow" in Photoshop to both enhance the image and to remove any background that I didn't isolate through the selection process in Photoshop

4. Add the text:

i. Description

ii. Copyright notification

iii. Watermark of the Auction Houses's name

    I have presented a brief explanation of  these 2 excellent websites. Liverauctioneesr allows the viewer to have an entire library, figuratively speaking of course, at the touch of a computer key. Skinner Inc. then allows the reader to focus in on his or her particular toy. Skinner Auctioneers has an outstanding staff of specialists - all experts in their respective fields. When you read about their auction listings, you can get a well-written and researched short narrative about any particular item. 

   The combination of such marvelous resources as Liveauctioneers and Skinner Inc.have certainly made writing my work of writing this blog much easier. At the same time, I have learned a lot about a topic that until several years ago, I knew very little about. 

   What else could you ask for?

Thanks for dropping by to read,

and as always,

have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey 

Ferdinand Strauss

Thursday, January 3, 2012

Ferdinand Strauss

    Yesterday, I wrote about the Louis Marx Toy Company. As it turned out, Louis Marx had started out working for the Ferdinand Strauss Company. However,  Mr. Marx was let go after his sales  and business policies were not liked by the board of directors of the company.

A Written Article by Ferdinand Strauss

(Please click on the above link to find an interesting article written by Mr. Strauss)

   Ferdinand Strauss came to the US at the age of 18 years old. He was a university graduate, and as soon as he was in the U.S. began work selling winder clothing. However, he was always fascinated with mechanical things, and was quite a hands-on person. Eventually, he sold of all things, the harmonica, and did a great job popularizing and selling this instrument. He was able to get financing to develop his love of mechanical things, ad created several different types of mechanical toys. However, the company met on hard times, and by 1922, Louis Marx had purchased the company.

    Many of Mr. Struauss' toys still survive , which are a good indication of their durability and collectibility. They were mostly made of sheet metal that was printed in beautiful colours by lithography. What's also interesting is that many of the toys had unique names speficic to the Strauss line of toys.

    I took all of the images below from Bertoia Auctions at the Live Auctioneers site. Clicking onthe address below will get you there.

Please  go to the Bertoia Auctions page at Live Auctioneers

(please click above to be redirected)

The Strauss Toy Company  actually manufactured 3 different variations of mule, driver, and cart. I've just presented 2 of them.

This was a mhimsical and entertaining toy for young children. When wound up, the chicks would move and peck at "food" in the painted metal bowl. I don't know if the train moved or not. 

Of course, like all other companies of the time, the "usual" line of toy cars and trucks were also manufactured, to bolster the complete line of fine toys.

 Notice how Mr.Strauss varied the spelling of Santa Claus to "Santee". What's also always given me a sense of nostalgia and times gone by is the address of many of the manufacturers on their toys.

The Ferdinand Strauss Corp.

New York, U.S.A.

Just New York,  U.S.A.

That address reminded me of the  movie with Natalie Wood, made in 1947, and also the story about the young girl who wrote to Sanata Claus in the USA. She simply address the envelope to:

Santa Claus,

The North Pole

And 1 final entertaining toy. As the porter moves, a small dog jumps up from inside the trunk.

I'm sure lots of children were entertained for long periods of time with such a funny toy.

As always, thanks for dropping by,

and have a  wonderful day, wherever you may be.

Stacey

The Kansas Toy and Novelty Company - Revisited

Thursday, December 20, 2012

The Kansas Toy and Novelty Company

(Revisited)

     When I started to buy old toys on E-Bay, the "slush" toys caught my attention. The reason that these toys are called "slush" is the way that they were made. A mould or casting was made that was hollow and had 2 holes (usually oval) at the bottom. Molten (melted) alloys of metal would be poured into the casting, and "swished" around to adhere to the inner surface, and the rest of the alloy would be poured off. The word "swish" or synonymous with "slush. Once the casting and alloy cooled and hardened, the mould would be opened (usually 2 halves) and the toy removed. Later, the toy would be painted.

     What I liked about these small toys, usually 3"- 6" in length or 78mm - 152mm) was that they were "crude". If you can find larger-sized images, you'll notice that the workers did not file down the roughened window or other parts.  So windows to cars are not always smooth, but may have a rough-edged surface. Also, these toys break easily, especially if the original alloy had impurities in it.

I know because I had one arrive partly broken to my house, and I decided to see just how brittle the metal was. It broke off easier than a piece of chocolate. I wrote about that toy,way back! 

     I also like them because there were several companies that manufactured these toys,and relatively-speaking they're not as expensive as the larger and more popular toys. Of course, they were painted with lead paint, and they are brittle, and some of the alloys might contain lead!

    I often go to Live Auctioneers to screen-capture toy photos because sometimes the companies that allow me to use their fine photos don't keep archives form older auctions. Also, it's easier to do a fast search with the words "Live Auctioneers Slush" on Google. That seems to get me what I want much faster!  

   I was fortunate to have found a good variety of nice slush toys form the Kansas Toy and Novelty Company through Lloyd ralston Gallery, however many nice other toys were in groups and the photo sizes were too small for nice viewing. However, by all means go to Live Auctioneers to have a view.

http://www.liveauctioneers.com

(Please click on the address above to be redirected to their great site)

http://www.lloydralstontoys.com

(Please click on the address above to be redirected to their great site)

Thanks for dropping by, 

and as always,

have a great part of the day or noght,

wherever you may be.

Stacey