Auctioneers celebrate their own Toy Story
WITH the animated adventures of Buzz Lightyear and Woody returning to the big screen next week, it seems apt that auctioneers Moore Allen & Innocent are celebrating their own Toy Story.
Top of the toy box at next Friday's general and antiques sale are some rare Dinky cars, including special editions the 1936 Speed of the Wind 23E and the odd-looking 1946 Gardners MG Record Car, second version 23P (estimate £30 to £50), along with an Aston Martin DB3 S of similar vintage, with an estimate of £20 to £30.
Joining them on the starting grid is a set of 1963 Dinky racing cars, numbers 240 Cooper, 241 Lotus, 242 Ferrari and 243 BRM, with an estimate of £40 to £60.
The cars are just a small part of a huge collection of vintage toys. Among other notable items are highly collectable dolls from the early 1900s by Armand Marseille and Alt, Beck & Gottschalk, and a lovely plush teddy bear with hump back and long limbs in the Steiff manner, but without the trademark ear button or label.
Among the assorted boxes of Hornby train track and livery, Meccano and Lego sets and board games is a modern Deluxe Edition of Monopoly, which retailed new at around £900.
Post-dinner party capitalists will be able to march plated gold counters around the board, accumulating plated silver houses and hotels and smart-looking banknotes on thick paper, harking back to the 1935 London original. An estimate of £100 to £150 should secure the lot - less than The Angel Islington and Whitechapel would set you back.
Definitely not in the toy section, but surely a fantasy of every young boy, is a pair of scaled 17th century warships, complete with canons, rigging and sailors on deck, with a £200 to £300 estimate.
Sailing at around 80cm long, the Norske Loeve is based on the warship that patrolled Danish waters between 1765 and 1798. Around the same size, the Admiral Vernon is named after the 18th century naval officer who gave the world the term 'grog', originally used to describe the combination of rum with citrus-rich lemon or lime.
Staying on a military theme, there is a good clutch of medals, the most unusual of which was presented to a John Barnes of the 1st battalion, 2nd regiment for service in 1860, when a combined English and French force went to war with China to secure opium trade routes.
The medal is complete with its original striped ribbon and bars from both of the major battles - Taku Forts and Peking - and carries an estimate of £200 to £300.
Also present and correct are a British Medal and a Victory Medal from the Great War, and four campaign medals from the Second World War, carrying an estimate of £40 to £60 for the collection.
The auction starts at 10am on Friday, July 23. An online catalogue can be viewed at www.mooreallen.co.uk
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| Rare Dinky cars, including special editions the 1936 Speed of the Wind 23E and the odd-looking 1946 Gardners MG Record Car, second version 23P (estimate £30 to £50), along with an Aston Martin DB3 S (£20 to £30) |
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| A set of 1963 Dinky racing cars, numbers 240 Cooper, 241 Lotus, 242 Ferrari and 243 BRM, with an estimate of £40 to £60. |
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| A pair of scaled 17th century warships, estimate £20 to £300. |
An 1860 China medal, estimate £200 to £300. |