A recent BBC article has the toy market in the UK buoyant in the current economic climate. While people don't have the expendable income to buy new cars going to fairs and picking up pieces for a few dollars is a good alternative. Most collectors, who seem to be male and older than 30, seem to be buying collectable pieces from the 1960s-80s.
The Holy Grails of the Toy Market:
Dinky Toy Weetabix van (1952) £3,000
Star Wars Jawa with plastic cape (1978) £500
Hornby Dublo rail cleaning wagon (1964) £500
Rare non-soldier Action Man footballer (1968) £300
Corgi Yellow Sub with hatch opening to reveal The Beatles (1969) £300 (Values by expert Barry Potter based on mint toys in package)
Star Wars Jawa with plastic cape (1978) £500
Hornby Dublo rail cleaning wagon (1964) £500
Rare non-soldier Action Man footballer (1968) £300
Corgi Yellow Sub with hatch opening to reveal The Beatles (1969) £300 (Values by expert Barry Potter based on mint toys in package)
This may bode well for two upcoming toy auctions in Auckland. This Saturday A+O have the Ross Sutton Toy Collection. "Ross Sutton will be well known to toy collectors in New Zealand as the owner of Carousel Antiques which operated in Hamilton in the 1980s and 1990s" (A+O website blurb). View the catalogue here.
Webb's have "One of New Zealand’s finest and most comprehensive private collections of Hornby trains" featuring a 1930s New York Subway Train. This is on October 22nd and entries are still welcome.
