NEW YORK – Smart-phone auction bidding is no longer confined to just the iPhone and Blackberry. LiveAuctioneers.com, the Manhattan-based company that provides real-time Internet bidding capability to more than 900 auction houses worldwide, has released a custom-designed live-bidding app for use with Google’s revolutionary Android platform. The app, which is available free of charge, was created by LiveAuctioneers App Tehnologies to enable users to bid in auctions through mobile devices other than Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry.

All of these great toy auctions scheduled for later this year will feature Internet live bidding from anywhere in the world through www.LiveAuctioneers.com:

Feb. 26-27 – Dan Morphy Auctions, Denver, Pa. (Antique Toys, Tobacco Tins, Firearms – featuring the Pat and Lowell Wagner Steam Engine & Steam Toy Collection)

March 16 - Dan Morphy Auctions, Denver, Pa. (Discovery Sale)

PITTSBURGH – Collectors of antique toy soldiers and figures have long known that good things come in small packages, and that ever-growing legion of enthusiasts helped push the total for Old Toy Soldier’s Nov. 21 auction to $193,000 – the company’s highest sale total to date. Leading the charge in the 644-lot sale was an army of figures from the German manufacturer Heyde (pronounced “High-dee”).  

“The Heyde lots really got the momentum going,” said Old Toy Soldier Auction USA’s owner, Ray Haradin. “There was a tremendous amount of interest in them, and in all the German-made figures, for that matter.”  

Haradin explained that collectors are attracted to Heyde figures because they are highly realistic and do not look mass produced. “Their sets are very fanciful. They tend to have 20 pieces in them, with all 20 being different, so they display very nicely. Also, Heyde made their figures in a larger scale than Britains did, so they tend to cross over more with toy and train collectors.” 

SHELTON, Conn. - Lloyd Ralson Gallery's next auction, the sale of the Robert Willey train collection on Jan. 16, is taking on the buzz of a Broadway premiere. Willey, who died last year at age 88, was a director, actor and theatrical producer. He was married 54 years to actress Helen Wagner, who has played the role of matriarch Nancy Hughes on the daytime TV drama As the World Turns since it debuted in 1956.

Live Auctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.

Over 40 years Willey assembled an outstanding collection of mostly European trains with an emphasis on Marklin and Bing in HO, O and 1 gauges. The collection also features terrific Bassett-Lowke, Hornby, Elettren and Lionel in O gauge along with Aster and Fine Arts Models.

YORK, Pa. - On Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010, Dan Morphy will host the 19th edition of the York Antique Toy, Doll & Advertising Show at the Memorial Hall, York Fairgrounds, in York, Pa. The semiannual show has developed into a must-do event on collectors’ calendars. Top-notch dealers from throughout North America are expected to participate in the upcoming show, which will feature around 150 tables of select antique and vintage toy-related merchandise.

The popular specialty event features wide aisles, excellent food service and ample, close-in parking. Some exhibitors drive long distances to sell at Morphy’s show because it’s not a long, drawn-out affair – it’s a one-day event with a seven-hour early buying session the day before.

Toy Collector Magazine's staff is mourning the loss of one of the toy hobby's best-liked and most knowledgeable dealers, Jerry Turner of Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Jerry, who turned 70 on June 18, passed away on Dec. 30, 2009. To our knowledge, his death was unexpected, although the cause has not yet been made public.

Auctioneer and toy show promoter Dan Morphy commented that Jerry was "a super guy...He will be missed."

 VINELAND, N.J. – To many, the holiday season officially launches on Thanksgiving Day with the legion of colorful parades held in major American cities. But ask antique toy collectors where and when the party started this season and they’re likely to say Nov. 13-15 at Bertoia’s auction gallery in southern New Jersey. Over that weekend, Bertoia’s held its $1.5 million Holiday Toy Trimmings sale, which featured, alongside several other showcased collections, the final installment of Christmas antiques from boththe Fred Cannon and Mary Lou Holt collections. Bidders from around the world took part online through LiveAuctioneers.com. 

“We were inspired by the two holiday collections to create an atmosphere reflecting an old-fashioned Christmas,” said Bertoia Auctions’owner, Jeanne Bertoia. “We knew many members of the Golden Glow of Christmas Past collector club would be attending, so we put up a 10-foot-tall tree decorated with antique ornaments, played Christmas music and served cookies,eggnog, hot apple cider and coffee. Jim Morrison, a Golden Glow member who operates a Christmas museum in Pennsylvania, came dressed as Father Christmas, and with his own long beard, was very convincing. Even Tim Luke, one of our two auctioneers, showed his Christmas spirit by wearing a Santa hat at the podium.Everyone had a good time.”  

Toys go hand-in-hand with Christmas, and the three-day auction featured a bountiful array that included the Dick Ford Airflow toy auto collection and part II of the Dick Sheppard still bank collection.  

FAIRFIELD, Maine - James D. Julia ended the 2009 auction season with a bang. As part of a three-three-day auction event, Julia's combined the efforts of Julia's advertising, toy and doll division head Andrew Truman and glass and lamp department head Dudley Browne in an outstanding array of quality antiques. Rare heirlooms and treasures were offered from some of the finest collections and private homes in the country.

Bidder confidence seemed to be on the rise again, suggesting an upturn in the economy, said Julia. Collectors were treated to a marvelous selection of fine French dolls including some exquisite examples from a Midwest collector. Seldom seeing the market was an outstanding 20-inch 200-series Crying Jumeau. This lifelike character with mouth agape and eyes wrung with ill humor went to a bidder in attendance for $37,375. From the same collection came two considerable 35-inch Jumeau 16's with blue paperweight eyes. They sold for $3,737 and $3,450 against estimates of $2,000-$3,000 apiece. A slightly larger 41-inch Handwerck 79 brought $4,312 versus the same expectations of $2,000-3,000.

Other examples included a gorgeous 19-inch French Schmitt bebe with pale bisque, deep blue paperweight eyes, and sublime expression. Wearing an antique burgundy dress, she changed hands at the upper end of the estimate for $12,075. Also included were several lovely examples by Leon Casimir Bru such as a 14-inch fully articulated wood body fashion. Having been tucked away in a private collection for many years and including a number of original outfits, she sold within expectations for $6,612.