Morphy Auctions at the Adamstown Antique Gallery crowned a first year of operations for cofounders Dan Morphy and Tom Sage Jr, racking up a $1.25 million total (inclusive of ten percent buyer’s premium) in the gallery’s most recent auction.

“This was our cleanest, smoothest sale to date,” said Morphy. “We had 800 live bidders registered over the week leading up to the sale. A lot of people came in to preview the merchandise – which we had on display in our gallery showcases for months prior to the sale – then registered and left bids.”

Postsale statistics showed more than 50 percent of the auction inventory – heavily weighted with antique advertising, cowboy collectibles, banks, doorstops and toys of all types – had gone to buyers who used alternative bidding methods, especially the Internet.

Bidders jumped right into the saddle to bid on nearly 500 lots of cowboy and Western memorabilia. Towering over the category was a rare four-foot-tall Roy Rogers and Trigger store display made for Sears Roebuck & Co. In near-mint condition on its original base emblazoned “Roy Rogers Corral,” it sold for $9,900 against a $5/7,000 estimate. Morphy revealed that it is headed for a museum, to become part of an extensive permanent display of cowboy memorabilia.

Roy Rogers and Trigger store display plastic composite promotional figure used by Sears & Roebuck & Co., $9,900.

The sale’s top lot was a toy vehicle with unique provenance:a 1927 Hubley Say It With Flowers motorcycle delivery van, withrare civilian driver, that could be traced back directly to theowner of the Hubley Toy Company. The motorcycle originally wasgiven as a gift to Paul Reitz of Smoketown, Penn., who, as a boy,did odd jobs around the Hubley family’s estate. For 78 years, Reitzheld onto the precious childhood keepsake, but several months agohe decided to sell the toy. Morphy advised Reitz that he would getfar more than his four-figure asking price if he were to consign itto auction. The advice proved to be sound, and after the hammercame down at $45,100, Reitz could hardly contain his joy.

The lure of “intact and unpicked” private collections proved irresistible and set the scene for informal socializing among enthusiasts. In the saleroom, however, the convention-style camaraderie gave way to an atmosphere of friendly but determined competition, as peanut specialists battled over the contents of an advanced single-owner collection. Waiting patiently at the back of the gallery, they swung into action as all attention turned to the humble goober and its many forms of advertising and packaging.

The star lot within the category was a Planters Mr Peanut parade statue made for the Canadian market. Standing 6 feet tall and made of papier mache, it exhibited extraordinary condition, with no cracks to its surface. One of only six known examples, the statue settled near the top of its estimate range, at $14,300.

Painted cast iron doorstop featuring a gentleman on a bale of cotton, $16,500.

A single-owner grouping that Morphy had correctly predictedwould entice new collectors was an assemblage of early tin potscrapers, each lithographed with some form of advertising andimagery. An example of advertising, Dove Brand Ham and Bacon, withan image of a father pig disciplining his son, led the group at$3,300 – more than triple its high estimate.

Collectors pulled out all the stops to battle over old store stock from a Harrisburg five-and-dime store, especially unopened play sets. “Anything mint/boxed and unopened went for two to three times its estimate,” said Morphy. A 1963 Wolf Man pencil and paint set produced by Hassenfeld under license from Universal Pictures sold for $5,500 against a $2/3,000 estimate.