Toys from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s continue to attract high prices at auction following last year's world record price of £29,900 sterling (€47,400) for Machine Man Robot. Rarity accounted for the high value of that robot, says Mr Nigel Mynheer, toy specialist at Christie's in London.
"It was rare because it was ugly. It didn't sell well at the time because it's a bit frightening. I think parents wouldn't have bought it because it's quite a menacing looking character. It wasn't very successful as a toy and that's why it's rare." A "TV Generation" auction of cult toys, dolls and associated ephemera at Christie's next Thursday gives a fair idea of approximate values for certain toys from the 1950s to the 1970s.
For instance, a battery powered Batman robot with its cape, by Nomura dating from 1967, is estimated at £1,000 to £1,500 sterling. "He's quite rare. We only see about one a year. He's probably going to fetch around £1,000. He hasn't got a box though." If he had a box, "he'd be £1,500 easily. The box can be a quarter to the third of the value, which is a lot." Three Dan Dare spaceship construction sets from the 1950s, based on the Eagle comic strip character, still tied and pinned in their original packaging are expected to fetch from £300 to £400, £250 to £300 and £300 to £500 respectively.
Four handmade string puppets from the children's television programme The Magic Roundabout representing Florence, Mr McHenry, Dougal and Brian the Snail are estimated at £100 to £150.
"They're probably the rarest thing in the auction" but rarity does not necessarily mean higher value, he says.
For instance, a Corgi Avengers gift set of Steed's Bentley and Emma Peel's Lotus Elan complete with umbrellas and figures is valued more highly, estimated at £250 to £300, even though many of these would have been produced.
"But they have to be complete and with the boxes - all the cardboard has to be nice and fresh ... sad really, because they've never been played with, but they're the ones that collectors seem to want, as fresh as they were back in the 1960s."
A radio controlled Starsky and Hutch red Ford Torino in its original box, together with Tom and Jerry's car and Noddy's Magic Action car are being sold in a group lot with an estimate of £200 to £300. Many people collect James Bond material. "It's a question of desirability and just popularity really. I think, in the world, there's thousands and thousands of James Bond collectors but only several hundred Batman collectors. That's the difference. It's just supply and demand really."
James Bond items in the auction include a James Bond Spy watch (estimate: £400-£500), a James Bond action figure which shoots from a cap firing pistol (£400-£500), an Oddjob action puppet which can karate kick (£600-£800) and a matchbox toy of Bond's Aston Martin DB7 (£150-£200).
As Mr Ian Whyte of Whyte's auctioneers in Marlborough Street, Dublin says: "A lot of this stuff is where - if you remember yourself when you were a kid - you'd look in a window of some toy shop and you'd see something you really, really wanted but you could never afford. And now you're thirty or fortysomething and you have the money and you actually buy this thing and you're reliving your youth."
The Toys of Yesterday Collectors' Association, whose motto is John Dryden's "men are but children of a larger growth", meets from 11.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sandyford Community Centre, Lamb's Cross next Sunday, July 16th July. Admission 50p.
jmarms@irish-times.ie
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