Date: Fri 10-Sep-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: GWARD

Quick Words:

Slosberg-Easton

Full Text:

Pedal Car With Nostalgic Photo Tops Slosberg Auction

By Rita Easton

PHILADELPHIA, PA. - Antique toys, dolls, doorstops, Hummels, estate items, and

sample home furnishings were the subject of a gallery auction held by Barry S.

Slosberg, Inc on June 17. Auctioneer Eric Cohen of the gallery estimated the

attendance at around 800, with approximately half that number holding bidding

numbers. Cohen estimated the number of lots to be between 2,000 and 3,000,

with 300 of those in the toy category. Thirty consignors were represented.

A collector went home with the top lot, a pedal car, at $570. The 1948 model,

originally brown but now rusted and in need of restoration, was printed with

the words "station wagon" on the rear fender, and was sold with a 1948

snapshot of the consignor, who was then a little boy, with the pedal car which

he had just received as a Christmas present.

A circa 1918-1925 Boy Scout composition doll, 13« inches high, in full Scout

attire, caught the eye of a private potential buyer immediately. "I'm going

home with that doll," she told Cohen during the inspection, "I'm going to be

the winning bidder," which she was, at $300. An Ideal 14 inch high composition

"King Little" doll, a Paramount Studios cartoon character in 1939, made $225;

an 8 inch high Steiff teddy bear realized $220; and a 10 inch high plastic

Mickey Mouse was an affordable $35.

A T.M. Japan battery operated moon rocket, a friction toy with colored lights,

reached $220; a T.M. Japan battery operated "Flying Saucer X7," in the

original box, a friction toy with flashing lights, garnered $160; and a

Japanese tin key-wind astronaut with a ray gun, 4 to 5 inches high, was the

surprise of the day, according to Cohen, at an unexpected $440.

A group of West German character dolls with composition faces, from 6 to 10

inches high, led with $320 for a magician, with the rest going out in the $65

to $95 range; a group of 30 doorstops ranged from $20 to $175 each, the high

price going to an iron 18 inch-high cat on an iron base; and Hummels ranged

from $20 to $200.

Four Mattel "Tutti" dolls, the character being Barbie's little sister, each in

its original unopened box, all sold to the same buyer at $75 each; and the

same buyer purchased a small package containing two tiny "Little Kiddles"

dolls, approximately two inches high, circa 1960s, at $77.50. "I really

goofed," said Cohen, "I didn't realize until about 10 lots later when another

package of Kiddles came up and it was just marked `Japan' on it, and she paid

$160 for that lot."

Madame Alexander dolls, late vintage of about the late 1970s, 7« inches high,

ranged from $20 to $45; a Buck Rogers Atomic Pistol by the Daisy Manufacturing

Company capable of a loud "shot" noise sold at $190; and two Chein sand toys

brought $120 and $200, one being a boy and a girl on a seesaw which was

activated by sand pouring down a chute, the other a sand turned wheel.

Prices quoted above do not reflect a required 10 percent buyer's premium.