Milestone Auctions – Premier Spring Vintage Toy Sale
Saturday May 3rd at 10am
www.milestoneauctions.com
38198 Willoughby Parkway Willoughby, Ohio 44094

WILLOUGHBY, OHIO — Milestone Auctions’ May 3 Premier Vintage Toy Auction offers a treasure trove of classic Twentieth Century toys from the manufacturing hotspots of Japan, Europe and the United States. Led by a Gunthermann Felix the Cat tin carousel, the 814-lot sale is also highlighted by a 330-piece, fresh-to-the-market battery-op collection, Continental toys and autos; robots and space toys; motorcycles and big, super-hot postwar racers. Most of the toys entered in the auction come with their coveted original boxes.

That irrepressible cartoon feline, Felix the Cat, leads the toy lineup in his usual fun-seeking fashion, this time in the form of a rare Gunthermann (Germany) tin windup Felix the Cat Carousel marketed in 1928. The visuals on this toy show Felix driving an open roadster and also riding on top of a zeppelin, both forms of transportation that captivated the public at the time of the toy’s release. Another Felix figure on the base cranks the carousel, and graphics of the wide-eyed cat running in full stride encircle the carnival-style canopy.

“Felix was a phenomenon in the 1920s,” said Miles King, co-owner of Milestone Auctions. “His image was chosen for the first-ever balloon to appear in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927. The following year, a helium-filled Felix balloon was released at the end of the parade so it could fly high and thrill kids all over New York City. He’s been a hugely popular multimedia icon for more than a century, since his debut in a 1923 comic strip.”

The Gunthermann Felix the Cat Carousel in Milestone’s auction is one of only three examples of its type known to exist. The rarity is offered with a $20/40,000 estimate.

Right alongside Felix is the auction’s flashy pace car, a rare Yonezawa postwar-Japanese Atom Jet 58 Racer. Friction-powered and all original — including its tailfin, tires and hubcaps — this lavishly-detailed automotive favorite comes complete with its original paper-label box. At 27 inches long, it’s one of the largest and most attractively lithographed Japanese toys ever produced, combining aspects of Formula 1 racecars with imaginative design details of futuristic rocket-powered vehicles ($30/40,000).

Another oversize Japanese racer is the 19-inch tin friction #98 Champion’s Racer made by Yonezawa. All original (including the tires), it’s bright and colorful, with clean chrome accents. The car’s friction mechanism is in working order, and visually, it’s “as good as it gets,” King observed ($5/7,000).

For collectors of postwar Japanese battery-operated toys, both of the character and robot/space toy variety. Milestone will showcase a 30-year collection of 330 fresh-to-the-market Japanese battery-ops. Sourced directly from a US East Coast private collector, it is one of the finest of all known battery-op assemblages.

On every battery-op fan’s wish list, you’ll find Linemar’s colorful Smoking Popeye on a Spinach Can. The punchy, spinach-loving sailor comes with its original factory box (including inserts and instructions) emblazoned “See His Pipe Light Up As He Smokes.” When tested, the toy was in fine working order and ready to amuse ($3/4,000).

A classic of the battery-op world is Nomura’s 12-inch-tall Walking Batman. It’s all-original, super-clean and complete, including its cloth Batman cape. The Gotham City superhero toy is accompanied by its scarce original box with a “Fairylite” logo, indicating it was made for the British market ($6/8,000).

The Walking Batman enjoys crossover status, as it is viewed by some collectors as not just a battery-op but also a robot. That makes it the perfect toy to introduce the selection of 47 battery-operated and windup ’bots of every imaginable iteration, from robot construction workers driving bulldozers to UFO characters on a 1950s carnival shooting-gallery game. At the top of that list is a rare Yonezawa battery-operated Jupiter Robot with its elusive original pictorial box. All original and complete, with its correct remote-control battery box, the 13-inch-tall Jupiter worked well when tested ($15/25,000).

The European-toy category features many early Twentieth Century character toys, including seven German-made Lehmanns. Among the highlights are a boxed Li-La windup hansom cab ($2/3,000); a flywheel Walking Down Broadway ($1,5/2,000); and a windup Masuyama ($1/1,500).

Fifty-nine lots of all-American Buddy L pressed-steel automotive toys are led by a #208 Passenger Bus whose condition will not disappoint even the most particular collector. This 29-inch-long hobby favorite is graded “extremely fine” with exceptional paint and decals. A winning bid in the $5/7,000 range is anticipated.

Other toy manufacturers with a strong presence in the sale include Marx, Hubley, Bing, Chein, Kelmet, Keystone, Tonka, American National, Distler, Arnold and many more. The supreme German toy brand Märklin is represented in high style with a circa 1906 hand-painted 1-gauge Schlitz Beer railroad car ($8/12,000).

Milestone’s gallery is at 38198 Willoughby Parkway. Start time: 10 am. For additional information, 440-527-8060 or www.milestoneauctions.com.

Amazing Selection of VintageToys including: Japanese Robots, Windups, Battery Ops, Cast Iron, Pressed Steel, & More!!!!
Makers Include: Marx, Hubley, Bing, Lehmann, Chein, Gunthermann, Buddy L, Kelmet, Keystone, Tonka, American National, Yonezawa, Nomura, Asahi, Cragstan, Distler, Marklin & Many More! 111
Full catalog & live bidding available thru www.milestoneauctions.com | Live Auctioneers | Invaluable Phone bids & absentee bids call (440) 527-8060 MILESTONE AUCTIONS GALLERY 38198 Willoughby Parkway Willoughby, Ohio 44094
(440) 527-8060 | milestoneauctions@yahoo.com | Auctioneer: Miles King
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