TEXAS TOY MAN

11 Tips on Selling Your Collection

Our website – TexasAntiqueMall.com - gets a lot of emails from people want to sell their toys – sometimes single items, sometimes collections. Most of the time information is very limited. I’ve put together the following list to help you put information together if you are planning on trying to sell something either via email or directly to an individual. Having the answers to these questions will make the process easier for both you and the potential buyer.

Tips:

1. 1. Know name of manufacturer
2. 2. Have information on any maker’s marks or numbers
3. 3. Have the dimensions (width, length, depth, diameter, etc.)
4. 4. Take some good digital picture(s), preferably not to exceed 600×450 pixels in size
5. 5. Have a brief description including condition
6. 6. Say if the box available? If so, what is the condition.
7. 7. List all parts. If the item has working parts, are they working?
8. 8. Disclose if there are any parts missing?
9. 9. Include any other information that will help the buyer make a decision to purchase (provenance)
10. 10. Include the price you want – don’t expect people to make offers
11. 11. If you’re selling a collection, have a list and price in mind that you want for the whole collection

Following these ‘tips’ should make selling your collection or item much easier. 

Ice Cream Truck, Friction Powered, c-1950′s

The ‘Golden Era’ of the Japanese tin lithographed toys began after World War ll in the early 1950′s and continued through the 1960′s and into the early 1970′s.

Even though these tin toys were very popular because of their colorful exteriors and attention to details, there was pressure to discontinue production from groups that felt toys manufactured in tin were more dangerous to children. The pressure from these groups eventually won out and resulted in companies discontinuing the manufacturing of these great toys.

During the ‘Golden Era’ there were many different models of toys, like automobiles made in the United States, as well as many robots, character toys, ferris wheels, race tracks, play sets, etc.

Many of the toys had unique modes of action, i.e.,

• Friction drive
• Wind up
• Battery-operated
• Combination of both

These brightly painted, litho toys can be found in sizes ranging from eighteen inches all the way down to a very small 1-inch in size.

In today’s market, the collecting of tin toys is still one of the largest segments of toys that you can still find and enter into at very low cost. In my opinion, I would recommend that you buy a current toy price guide so that you can be come familiar with, properly identify and purchase your toys at a good price. Not knowing the market value can really cost you in the long run if you don’t do your homework with a good price guide.

Hafner Wind up Train

The Hafner company was founded in 1900, but the first Toys produced wasn’t until 1901. The firm’s name was changed to W.F. Hafner in 1904, which later became the American Flyer. Then in 1914 Hafner started his own company Haefner manufacturing Company, and in 1918 his son joined him and from that point on they produced only wind up trains until they were bought out by Wyandotte in 1950.

The picture shown in my post is a Hafner wind up train that was produced after 1918, this train was made up of four cars and circle track.

• Engine
• Tender
• Coal car
• Caboose

If you would like to see some larger pictures of the train cars . . .  click here. 

In my opinion if you are looking to adding a quality wind up train to your collection, I believe the Hafner wind up train would the be one to chose.