Models, Toys, Dolls & Games

In 1872 PT Barnum’s ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ became the first circus to travel by rail. It took 65 specially made wagons to haul the production from city to city.

Probably given to Private William George Loveland by his wife, this ‘Soldier Bear’ was taken to France and back during the First World War.

East Sussex auction house Wallis & Wallis has new owners after being with the same family for more than 50 years.

Müller & Kadeder is not such a recognised name of the German toy market such as Märklin, Bing or Lehmann.

Extensive themed sale brings a shock result for Star Wars posters promoting a tie-in with burger chain

This 19th century French ‘tea drinker’ automaton emerged as part of a single-owner sale at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester.

This 1949-51 Massey Ferguson demonstration model by Mills Models of Sheffield comprises Ferguson TE-20 tractor with clockwork mechanism, two different ploughs, rubber wheels and Ferguson badge to front of the grill.

Tether car racing, which began in 1930s California, sounds a strange concept to modern ears but is in fact a hobby still going strong worldwide*.

Some of the earliest dolls’ houses are also referred to as baby houses, although they were more like detailed miniature houses and it is said that the aim was not play but to reflect riches.

Phillip Segal Toys are very much rarities. He began production in Hampshire in 1938 but was halted when wartime restrictions banned the use of lead.

In the 1950s-60s, the Yamazaki Gangu company, which traded under the internationally more recognisable name IY Metal Toys, was one of the leading Japanese producers of tinplate toys.

The Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab is perhaps the most notorious of all mid-century toys.

One of the great Märklin rarities came for sale at the latest auction at antique toy specialist Lankes Auktionshaus in Krefeld in western Germany.

When Martin Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus design school, set out the prerequisites for its products, he reduced it to the formulas ‘practical, enduring, affordable, beautiful’, and ‘form follows function’.

Provenance to a noble family and market freshness generate impressive results for rarities

Robert Steele and Company was a partnership formed in 1816 in Greenock, Scotland, between shipbuilder Robert Steele (1745-1830) and his two sons, James and Robert, that became associated with the term ‘Clydebuilt’ ships.

‘By the power of Grayskull!’ was the cry in the Masters of the Universe TV cartoon series in the 1980s. Four decades on, that power has taken toy prices to an astonishing new high.

When selling football memorabilia such as programmes and match-worn shirts, items linked to renowned and well-supported clubs such as Manchester United will often be the most valuable.

You might not like him when he’s angry, but as a stretch toy The Incredible Hulk is evidently very popular with collectors.

Even unboxed, this Matchbox Superfast 3c Porsche 911/930 Turbo with BP shield on the door motored away from a £100-150 estimate to hammer at £1900.