Collectables

A c.1960 Barbie doll and related items by Mattel is estimated at £300-500 in the Specialist Collectable Toys Auction on April 10 at Sheffield Auction Gallery.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of a major milestone in the railway age: the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR).

Highlights from the extensive David Finn German toy collection sold at Special Auction Services

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper sales

Late 18th century Order of the Garter soars way over estimate as part of an Austrian sale

Blacking ink was widely used in the 19th century for the cleaning and polishing of boots and shoes, floors and doorsteps.

A single-owner private collection of pre-Second World War Bassett-Lowke maritime electric, motor, clockwork and live steam model boats is for sale on April 11-12.

The second tranche of material from a German autograph collector, the late Franz-Peter Bach, was offered by Anderson & Garland (30% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Newcastle upon Tyne on March 5.

Second edition copy of Adam Smith classic work sells at £8000 in Cumbrian saleroom

One of the rarest and most colourful Lehmann toys put in a bright performance at Special Auction Services.

The Disney character was one of the first examples of using merchandise for promotion and early items are sought after by collectors

When it comes to collectables, the 007 films are on a level of their own. So much so in fact, that a Surrey auction house stages a dedicated sale.

The YZ-branded range of novelties – a whimsical selection of ashtrays, match holders, pipe holders, pipe racks etc fashioned in tropical hardwoods and cherry amber bakelite – was produced by walking stick and cane maker Henry Howell and Company in the 1920s-30s.

Written by the English naturalist and apiarist Rev Charles Butler and printed by the Oxford bookseller Joseph Barnes in 1609, 'The Feminine Monarchie or A Treatise Concerning Bees' is considered the first book on the science of beekeeping in the English language.

This tinplate, clockwork Triang Minic post-war LMS railway van 80M hammered at 10 times the low estimate in the Vectis auction on March 4.