The RSL Auction Co – The Haradin Collection
August 3, 2024
rslauctionco.com

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — On Saturday, August 3, at RSL Auction’s gallery, the Haradin family will bid farewell to a 149-piece legacy collection of American toys and banks that literally has no rival. Richly historical and boasting one magnificent rarity after another, the fabled archive spans multiple generations of a clan whose roots are deeply embedded in two communities: their native Pittsburgh and the borderless realm of antique toy and bank collecting.

As each extraordinary piece passes into the hands of its new owner and begins the next phase of its journey, it will do so with gilt-edged provenance as its traveling companion. And thanks to the Haradins’ unwavering emphasis on rarity and condition, buyers will have the assurance of knowing they have acquired the crème de la crème of toys and banks from a collection whose contents literally cannot be upgraded. That task was already taken care of during the Haradin family’s half-century of astute stewardship.

The Haradin family collection began with Dr Anthony “Tony” Haradin (1937-2016) and his wife, Roberta Haradin. A prominent oncologist and hematologist, Tony accrued many honors and distinctions during his decades of selfless service to the people of Pittsburgh. He was an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh for more than 45 years and served on the staff of several Pittsburgh hospitals, including St Clair Hospital, where he was chief of hematology/oncology until 2013. One year prior to his retirement, he received the first-ever St Clair’s Physician Recognition Award.

On weekends, Tony and Roberta could be found side by side, gleefully scavenging for art, antiques and midcentury furniture at local flea markets and auctions. It was a pastime that developed organically. In their son Ray Haradin’s words, “They were partners in life and in collecting, but neither of them came from a family that collected or had an involvement in the arts. My father’s father was a steelworker and my mother’s father was a plumber.”

Most who are reading this article would know Ray or, at the very least, know of him. He has worn many hats in the antique toy and bank world. He’s one of the co-founders of RSL Auction Company, along with Steven and Leon Weiss. Prior to RSL’s launch, Ray established several other very successful businesses, including Toys of Yesteryear and Old Toy Soldier Auctions USA. He also brought new energy and cohesion to the toy soldier marketplace with his acquisition of Old Toy Soldier – The Journal for Collectors, a popular quarterly magazine now in its 47th year of publication.

While the Haradin family collection has never been publicly exhibited, Ray and his wife, Nancy, have always taken utmost pride in welcoming friends and members of the Antique Toy Collectors of America, the Mechanical Bank Collectors of America and Still Bank Collectors Club of America to their home to view the heirloom toys. But because the Haradins were always buyers and almost never sellers, their blue-chip holdings were assumed to be “off limits” to others. No collector ever thought they would have the opportunity to buy a single piece from the fabulous Haradin assemblage, which includes such treasures as a flawless Jonah and the Whale on Pedestal mechanical bank (ex Edwin Mosler), an absolutely perfect Clown, Harlequin & Columbine bank (ex L.C. Hegarty); and the incomparable “Charles” Hose Reel Carriage (ex Bernard Barenholtz), which was once offered for sale with a world-record asking price of $1 million.

The Haradin family collection and the back stories of many of its exquisite holdings are held by current custodian Ray Haradin, whose knowledge of the 50-year archive is nothing short of encyclopedic. Both in tandem with his father and later on his own, Ray made it his mission to research and dig up the obscure details and provenance of nearly every piece they owned.

The auction of the Haradin family collection of American toys and banks will be conducted on Saturday, August 3, at RSL Auction Company’s gallery at 295 US Highway 22 East, Suite 204 West, starting at 10 am Eastern time. All forms of remote bidding will be available, including absentee, by phone, fax or live online through LiveAuctioneers or RSL’s own platform (via BidSpirit). Preview is August 2 from 8 am to 5 pm; August 3 from 8 to 10 am, or by appointment.

For additional information, www.rslauctionco.com, 908-823-4049, 412-343-8733, 212-729-0011 or 917-991-7352.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT ONE OF US:
Ray Haradin 412-343-8733 raytoys@aol.com
Steven Weiss 212-729-0011 sweiss57@icloud.com
Leon Weiss 917-991-7352 leonweiss@me.com