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.

TIN TOYS POST-WAR

US Zone Germany Tin Wind-up Toy

Before World War I most home-made toys were very primitive and mostly made from either wood, cloth or even pebbles. The most popular purchased toys were toy soilders. The very rich could afford some toys made out of metal – although these toys were very scarce. Most children had to be content with the more common wooden toys.

The beginning of ‘toys’ as we call them today started in Nuremberg (Bavaria, Germany) which is considered the ‘historic center’ of the toy industry. The use of the word ‘toy’ was used here many years before the rest of the world adopted its use. It is believed that Nuremburg’s pewter trade started the tin-plated toy industry for which the town was to become famous for.

These old tin toys were hand-made from sheet iron plated with a thin, protective coat of tin to help prevent rusting. Later – after the industrial revolution – powered machinery was used for mass production of tin and molded toys. Germany dominated the commercial market until the 1920′s and 1930′s when Japan as well as the United States began production of tin toys.

Fast forward to after World War II – Germany and Japan tin toy manufacturing had just about run its course due to a lack of supplies. After the war the Allies noting that both countries needed to rebuild, aided them in re-starting their toy manufacturing. Most of the toys produced during this time spanned the gammut from very simple to very intricate – some almost ‘clockwork’ in their detail. These toys have become highly collectible today.

Special marking on these toys are:

Germany, US Zone toys are from the period late 1945 – early 1950′s

Occupied Japan toys are from the period late 1945 – 1948

It is possible that you could find some toys that would not fall into these time frames. For more toys and pictures visit my Texas Toy Man page in Texas Antique Mall