Gallery veiwing at our Kensinton, London showroom

Bidding continues through May 26th

Wouldn’t it be great if you were surrounded by toys every day when you arrived at work?  Toys bring out the kid in everyone.   We can walk through an antique shop and see a toy from our childhood and immediately we respond to it.

Donald Kaufman was certainly a kid at heart.  His passion for toys could be seen in his business, K-B Toys.  Not only did Kaufman love new toys, but he had a soft spot for vintage toys as well.  Unfortunately, Kaufman passed away in October 2009.  His personal collection of vintage toys has been consigned to Bertoia Auctions.  There were so many, they have been broken down into 4 sessions.

The first three sales exceeded their pre-sale estimates and achieved a cumulative total of $9.3 million dollars.

How serious are toy collectors?  Well, let’s just say that ash from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland couldn’t keep collectors from bidding.  It certainly posed a problem for those hoping to attend the sale, but it didn’t snub their excitement about the items up for bid.  Bertoia’s accepts Internet bidding and also accommodated phone bidders.  With that said the 3,700 lot sale brought strong prices and closed with $2.38 million in total sales.

Many of the toys in the sale were produced by Distler, Gunthermann, Eberl and Tippco.  These names might not hit home with you, but their toys certainly should.

Tippco produced the circa 1932 Mickey & Minnie Mouse motorcycle that was the highlight of the sale.  This single toy managed to bring $65,550 (including buyer’s premium).  That’s more than the cost of a new Harley!

Another great Mickey & Minnie Mouse piece in the sale was an organ grinder from 1932 made by Distler.  It was estimated to sell for $10-12,000 but the hammer fell at $19,550.

I’m sure you remember pedal cars right?!  This sale offered a 1924 American National Packard version that sold over the phone $38,000.

If you missed this sale, don’t fret!  There is one more sale from this great collection coming this fall.  Get on the mailing list at Bertoia’s to be notified when the next catalog is available.

Bertoia’s – http://www.bertoiaauctions.com/

On a final note, not only do toys bring out the kid in you, they apparently attract young collectors too.  The youngest collector on the floor was a 14 year old boy, who dug deep in his pockets to purchase one lot from the sale which contained two Hubley toys.   You’re never too young to start collecting!

Neal Auctions Major Estates Auction on May 22nd & 23rd includes over 1100 lots of 18th & 19th century American, French and English antiques, southern paintings, historical material, and decorative arts especially consigned by discerning collectors, estates and institutions.

Design

Auction June 9th, 2010  New York

View catalog online now

Auction May 22nd, 2010

Features 600 lots of fine art and antiques from fine old Southern estates and private collections.

Auction June 8th, 2010

San Francisco & Los Angeles

Catalogue Now Online

Millea Bros. Ltd is a boutiques New Jersey auction company specializing in fresh to the market estate property culle4d from the New York metropolitan area. The Millea Brothers and their staff conduct two major auction events a year.

Auction May 21st, 22nd & 23rd, 2010   10:00am

Preview May 20th  11am – 8pm and one hour before the start of each auction

Fine Chinese Works of Art & Paintings

Catalogue Now Online

Auction May 28th 2010  JW Marriott Hotel – Hong Kong

I’ve been a vintage and exotic car fan ever since I was a little girl. My parents had Corvettes and used to show and race them. I spent time around the track looking at polished beauties and I’ve been hooked ever since.

As I got older, I was asked to manage a few car collections. I’ve bought and sold privately for clients, a few of their cars ended up in my garage, and others sent to major auctions.

This morning a red beauty caught my attention and I had to blog about it.

RM Auctions was conducting a private treaty sale of a rare 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO. As you can see, these are beautiful cars.

The 250 GTO was made for racing. There were only 36 of this model made from 1962-1963.

It’s been dubbed “Greatest Ferrari of All Time” by Motor Trend Classic and was also ranked 8th on the list of Top Sports Cars by Sports Car International.

This past week, RM Auctions sold said car for $18 million USD. Yes, you heard right, 18 million.

They were mum about the buyer, however leave it to The Sun to report the buyer as British radio host, Chris Evans.

Since when did radio hosts make this kind of money? Outside of Howard Stern – I had no idea the gift of gab could command such a salary.

The Sun reported Evans had to sell three other Ferraris in his collection to acquire this one. I suppose at the end of the day, less is more!

Featured will be large collections of modern art prints and etchings, cabinet bronzes, decorative bindings, Flora Danica Porcelain, silver and two luxury automobiles.

Auction May 21st, 22nd & 23rd, 2010