Country Images Magazine North Edition July 2017 | Page 64

A Time for Nostalgia Entries invited for our Toys, Model Trains & Live Steam Auction Tuesday 22 August Closing date for entries 26 July 01283 733988 Heage Lane, Etwall, Derbyshire DE65 6LS Regulated by RICS Free Home Visits for large/multiple items, House Clearance & Downsizing advice Probate & Insurance Valuations We all love a bit of nostalgia and what could be more pleasurable than remembering the toys we once had as children. The excitement of that box in shiny wrapping paper under the Christmas tree or the eagerness to wake up on your birthday and be presented with that dream toy. Be it a Hornby Train set, Dinky Toy or that coveted doll… memories like this last a lifetime. The recent Toy and Model Train Auction held at Hansons recently brought together a nostalgic selection of hand-picked vintage and nostalgic toys and showcased them to a worldwide audience of serious collectors. From Hornby, Wrenn, Bassett-Lowke trains to Dinky, Corgi, Matchbox, tin plate toys and dolls. For these bygone toys are toys no more. Serious money can change hands for them these days. Toy and model train expert at Hansons, David Wilson-Turner looks back fondly at some of the highlights. Lot 4058, a boxed Hornby O gauge ‘E220 Special Electric Passenger TS2428 Set’ complete with ‘County of Bedford 3821’ 4-4-0 locomotive, three coaches to comprise: one Third Class/Guard coach, and two First/ Third Class coaches, instructions manuals and original worn box sold for an electrifying £1,250. From a local collection kept safe in the loft for many years, this rare 1936 Bristolean set flew home to a collector down under who was bidding online. The golden days of steam hold a particular fascination for collectors and a vibrant market ensures the finest steam engines and related fetch very respectable prices. Lot 4906, an A D.R. Mercer of Birmingham precision-engineered ‘Burrell - Black Prince’ Miniature Live Steam Road Locomotive, in black and brass finishes, with full instructions and specifications, all boxed, with accessories had been brought into a valuation day. It sold for £580. David comments. ‘This was a beautifully manufactured steam locomotive and a rare find.’ In a similar vein, Lot 4097, a fine hand-built Stuart-Turner steam engine, with a 5 ¼” flywheel mounted on stand, together with an accompanying vertical boiler had also been discovered on a valuation day and sold for £440. The same auction also included a selection of cameras by the ‘Rolls Royce’ of the camera world – Leica. Here Lot 4127 a cased Leica M2-1051613 DBP camera body marked ‘Ernst Leitz GMBH, Wetzlar, Germany, together with a Leica lens marked ‘Leitz Wetzlar, 1832922, Summicron, 1:2/50’ complete in case and boxes for each item sold for a snappy £920. The rare Leica M2 along with other fine cameras in the auction made for a white glove section including 19th Century plate cameras and other quality 20th Century cameras. Specialist auctions such as this target key buyers in the field enabling the seller to achieve maximum potential for their cherished old toys and cameras. Free valuation days for all manner of vintage to modern toys and cameras are held every Friday from 10am to 4pm at The Etwall Auction Centre. Entries are currently being invited for the next Toy, Model Train and Camera auction on 21st August until 5th August. For further information, please contact David Wilson-Turner on 01283 733988 or email [email protected] 64 | CountryImagesMagazine.co.uk