Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
'Particularly tough to find': Rare first copy of the notorious Oz magazine is up for sale
18 February 2025'Oz' magazine became the leading underground publication of its day after it came out in 1967.
German toys collection comes full of character
17 February 2025A gentleman (Dukatenscheißer) with his trousers pulled down excreting a gilt metal coin from his bottom or a composition nodder of a grotesque women beating a child might not be for everyone.
Vendor probably over the moon with Vichy price
17 February 2025The top lot in Potter & Potter’s (25% buyer’s premium) latest Wunderkammer Sale was Gustave Vichy’s (1839-1904) 'Aubade a la lune' (Serenade to the Moon) mechanical automaton. It is considered a signature model of the firm.
Tech college gigs tempted big names such as Pink Floyd as poster shows
10 February 2025Farnborough Technical College hosted many memorable bands for gigs it seems, judging from a six-lot selection of posters that appeared at Special Auction Services (20% buyer’s premium).
Auctioneer rates previously unseen Winnie the Pooh collection as a career highlight
10 February 2025“I’ve been an auctioneer for 30 years now and it took me two hours to sell 34 lots – so you get the idea of the interest and levels of bidders.”
Bidders figure out rarity of Palitoy Action Force group with provenance to designer
10 February 2025Palitoy was a major player in the British toys scene.
HMS Bounty fragment was found on Pitcairn
10 February 2025A fragment from HMS Bounty is coming to auction in Derby on February 26.
What a result: West Ham v Luton football programme for postponed match takes 440 times top estimate
06 February 2025When bad weather made the Upton Park pitch unfit for play on Saturday, January 17, 1959, it must have seemed fairly unremarkable.
Pick of the Week: Tow truck pulls in a £11,000 bid
03 February 2025Mass-produced toys need to have something special to rise above the norm when it comes to auction value. A Matchbox vehicle offered at Teesside saleroom Vectis certainly fitted that bill.
The sage of salmon fishing produced a still popular classic
03 February 2025When a copy of 'The Ristigouche and Its Salmon Fishing' by Dean Sage came up for auction at Bonhams New York in 2011 it was described “the rarest and most beautiful book on salmon fishing and with an important chapter on the collecting of angling literature”.
Pioneering female author Burney makes her entrance
03 February 2025A copy of pioneering female author’s novel Evelina appeared at auction for first time in a decade
Elgar shows his admiration for Kingdom performers
03 February 2025A signed copy of Novello’s original octavo edition of Edward Elgar’s The Kingdom appeared in Plymouth Auction Rooms’ (20% buyer’s premium) New Year’s Day Collectors timed online sale.
Matchbox wreck truck towed away by determined bidder for hefty £11,000 hammer price
29 January 2025Mass-produced toys need to have something special to rise above the norm when it comes to auction value. A Matchbox vehicle offered at Teesside saleroom Vectis certainly fitted that bill.
Great Bible ignores condition issues to bring a £7200 hammer price
27 January 2025The estimate of £1000-1500 reflected the condition of an Elizabethan ‘Great Bible’ offered at Cotswold firm Wotton Auction Rooms (20% buyer’s premium).
Museum takes on an Irish First World War recruitment poster
27 January 2025A scarce First World War recruiting poster proclaiming Irishmen Avenge the Lusitania has sold to a London museum as part of a large collection offered at Dorset saleroom Onslows (29% buyer’s premium inc VAT).
