Gary Sohmers to appear at American Antique Toy & Coin-op Show

HERSHEY, Pa. - Organizers of the American Antique Toy & Coin-Op Show have announced a new addition to the event: toy appraisals.

Gary Sohmers, an expert in pop culture, collectibles, toys and memorabilia, will appear at the show to do verbal appraisal values for antiques and collectibles, while occupying a booth to display and sell merchandise, according to the show's promoter, USA Theatres.

"Gary Sohmers has appeared as an appraiser in collectibles, memorabilia and toys for 13 seasons on the PBS television program 'Antiques Roadshow,'" said Ronald M. Vastola, Outreach Coordinator of USA Theatres. "Mr. Sohmers' appearance is an extraordinary addition to the show."

The American Antique Toy & Coin-Op Show is set to debut on Saturday, March 3, at the Eastern Civic Center, located within walking distance from the Metro-North Train Station in Old Greenwich, Conn.

DENVER, Pa. – More than 2,000 lots of antique toys, trains, advertising and rare comics are primed and ready to make their appearance Feb. 9-11 in Morphy Auctions’ first sale of 2012. Start times are set for 10 a.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. for the Saturday session. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding for all three days.

The fun begins with 350+ lots of Coca-Cola and other soda pop advertising. Highlights include a 1929 Orange Crush calendar with full pad, est. $700-$1,200; a 1900 Coca-Cola serving tray, $3,000-$4,000; and a complete set of 10 original Coca-Cola advertising pocket mirrors from the years 1906-1916. The set is expected to fetch $1,800-$2,500.

Following the soda pop section, there will be 150 general advertising lots, including an Ingraham Hills Liver Ticker reverse-on-glass clock with the image of a pretty girl, $3,000-$4,000; and a small grouping of dye cabinets, including examples promoting Peerless Dyes and Diamond Dyes.

After a very successful initial outing in December at Morphy’s, part two of an advanced collection of advertising figures will cross the auction block, together with additional consignments of comparable quality. In all, there are approximately 100 lots of figures produced from the 1920s to 1950s.

HERSHEY, Pa. - USA Theatres, promoters of the upcoming American Antique Toy & Coin-Op Show, recently revealed some of the quality dealers who will be exhibiting at the inaugural show.

 

Tom Miano, owner of Serious Toyz, will be occupying 24 feet of exhibit space, offering a fine variety of vintage toys and collectibles; while Fred Franklin, owner of Rec Room Specialties, will be showing off a great selection of antique slot machines, game machines and other coin-operated related items.

 

The American Antique Toy & Coin-Op Show will feature quality exhibitors buying, selling and trading an array of antique and collectible toys, such as character toys, tin toys, mechanical toys, banks, advertising items and coin-ops, according to the promoters.

 

The show is set to debut on Saturday, March 3, at the Eastern Civic Center, located at 90 Harding Road in Old Greenwich, Conn.

 

"The location at the Greenwich Civic Center is a highly strategic choice," said Ronald M. Vastola, Outreach Coordinator of USA Theatres. The site is conveniently located to most major metropolitan areas in the Northeast, and can easily attract collectors from Maryland, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and of course, the New England states.

 

"It's only a 40 minute, $8 ride from Grand Central Terminal in New York City," Vastola said. "The Eastern Civic Center in Old Greenwich is situated within walking distance from the Metro-North Train Station."

 

Other exhibitors include Mike and Lauren Czajkowski, co-owners of Milo Toys & Collectibles; and Ken Laurence, owner of Heroes Unlimited and show promoter of the Super Megashow held in New Jersey and the Boston Super Megafest.

SAUGUS, Mass. – Tonya A. Cameron Auctioneers will present selections from the estate of theater critic, university professor and African-American history scholar Dr. Caldwell Titcomb in a Thursday, Jan. 12 evening auction at the company’s suburban Boston gallery. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.

The 350-lot sale starts off with 11 lots of cast-iron mechanical and still banks from the Titcomb collection. There are additional banks cataloged later in the sale, bringing the total number of banks to 20.

NEW HOPE, Pa. – Antique toy expert and Antiques Roadshow senior appraiser Noel Barrett hosted a Nov. 18-19 auction featuring clockwork toys and automata from the Frank Mohr collection. The sale also included early advertising signs and toys from the personal collection of Bill Powell, a Tennessee-based dealer known for his well-cultivated taste in antiques of many types.

The auction realized $1,187,000 (all prices quoted inclusive of 15 percent buyer’s premium), with Saturday’s sales exceeding the session’s total high estimate by a whopping 40 percent. LiveAuctioneers.com provided the Internet live bidding.

“It was like an old-fashioned sale in terms of turnout. It drew about the same size crowd we had in the very same hall 23 years ago, at our first auction in New Hope. You don’t see that sort of turnout nowadays, with so many people opting for the convenience of phone and Internet bidding. It was one heck of a crowd,” said Noel Barrett.

“In fact, I was able to point to a poster in the auction and say, ‘I sold this 23 years ago, and now it’s come back to us,’” Barrett continued. “That’s what the Bill Powell collection represented—antique toys and signs that had been off the market for decades. It was very exciting to see such a full house. All of the major buyers turned out.”

NORTHBROOK, Ill. – Animation art—the second half of a dealer’s large collection—will comprise Universal Live’s entire auction Tuesday, Dec. 27, which will begin at 6 p.m. Central. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

Universal Live President Martin Sharp said that of the 338 lots to be sold “at least 50 percent of them are new characters” since the suburban Chicago auction company sold the first half of the collection on Dec. 11.

Many of the lots are original production animation cels, some dating as early as the 1940s. Others are serigraph cels produced in limited editions. There are also original paintings of comic characters by Dick Duerrstein, who was creative director of Disney’s Consumer Product Division before devoting his career totally to creating artwork.

VINELAND, N.J. – Bertoia Auctions, the New Jersey company that made international headlines with its $12.1 million five-part auction of the Donald Kaufman antique toy collection, is gearing up for yet another high-profile event. The company’s owner, Jeanne Bertoia, announced today that Bertoia’s has been chosen to auction the renowned Richard T. “Dick” Claus collection of nautical toys and boats.

The collection will be divided into two parts, with part I to be auctioned on May 12. Part II will be offered in the fall.

“We’re thrilled to be handling Dick Claus’ collection. It’s widely acknowledged as the best toy boat collection in America and rivals the finest of known antique boat collections in Europe,” said Jeanne Bertoia.

VINELAND, N.J. – Collectors in a quest to find rare antique toys in superior condition struck gold at Bertoia’s Nov. 11-12 Toys on World Tour auction, which realized $1,550,000 (inclusive of 15% buyer’s premium). The 1,502-lot sale was very well attended, with phone bidders keeping Bertoia’s staff members constantly engaged. Internet bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com played a major role in the auction’s success, as well. The daily average of purchases attributable to online buyers was 27.4%.

Cast-iron toys proved to be a category with resiliency, as evidenced by the setting of several world auction records. “I would say that at this auction cast iron was not only back, but back to the future. That’s how strong it was,” said Bertoia Auctions associate Rich Bertoia. “The Donald Kaufman auction series, which grossed over twelve million dollars, seems to have reignited the fever of collecting cast iron. We even saw a few new players at the sale.”

DENVER, Pa. – With the widely publicized $2.1 million auction price achieved recently by a rare copy of Action Comics No. 1, some investors are contemplating a shift of focus from gold and silver to paper. Vintage comic books – once considered a niche collectable for nostalgic boomers – have become a potent alternative to stocks and bonds. In recognizing this trend, Morphy Auctions recently forged an alliance with the specialist company Sparkle City Comics, of North Bergen, New Jersey.

Morphy’s, with the expert oversight of Sparkle City, will launch its new Comic Book division during a Feb. 9-11 Toys & Advertising sale that features 200 prized comics from an original-owner collection. The top lot, a 1963 The Amazing Spider-Man No. 1 in 8.5 condition, is expected to realize $25,000-$30,000. Other anticipated top lots include a 1963 X-Men No. 1 and a 1963 Tales of Suspense No. 39 featuring the first appearance of Iron Man.

The association between Morphy’s and Sparkle City came about when the latter company’s principal, Brian Schutzer, purchased $40,000 worth of comics in a previous Morphy’s sale.