Spring Toy Auction for Pook & Pook, Inc. with Noel Barrett

On Saturday, March 24^th 2018, Pook & Pook, Inc., Auctioneers and Appraisers with Noel Barrett Antiques and Auctions, Ltd. host their fourth joint-auction. Beginning at 10am, the session includes an array of military figures, clockwork toys, cast iron vehicles, advertising signs, and a few other surprises.

Years of hunting and dealing helped Noel Barrett build both a superior knowledge of his field and a loyal client base, things that made his eventual auction business a hot spot for collectors. Like Barrett, Ronald and Debra Pook started off as antique dealers and graduated to become a record setting auction firm, offering some of the finest antique furniture, fine art, and decorative accessories on the market.

Ron Pook is excited to continue to expand Pook & Pook, Inc.’s scope to include more auctions of toys and related material. A collaboration with Noel Barrett, whose decades of experience and reputation in the toy world are largely unmatched, provides the backbone for this partnership. Similarly, Barrett’s smaller auction house benefits from Pook & Pook, Inc.’s infrastructure and strong online and media presence. Continuing their proud traditions in tandem, this year’s spring toy sale is certainly one that both companies can be proud of and is a great continuation of this collaboration.

Lot 144, Painted tin clockwork military motorcycle; Estimate $150-$250

Saturday morning’s sale begins with a significant group of military figures from the collection of Jose Chase, a collector from Portland. Over one hundred and fifty lots of painted composition wartime soldiers will cross the block including Lineol and Elastolin/Hausser brand items.  These lots include soldiers representing the Revolutionary War, WWI and WWII.  The impressive variety of military figures will include in-action soldiers, seated soldiers, those with gasmasks, rifles, binoculars, as well as wounded men. Additional pieces include other essential wartime characters such as nurses, dogs, musicians, and horses. Personality figures including many “bad guys” from WWII are also represented and include Hitler, Mussolini, Goebbels, and Goering, among others. Other important wartime minutia on sale includes trenches, bomb blasts, warships, fighter planes, tanks, flamethrowers, howitzers and battery-operated search lights.  A considerable number of lots also include the original boxes.

Lot 312, Hubley cast iron & tin Ferris Wheel clockwork bank; Estimate $2,000-$3,000

To follow in the sale is a diverse selection of other toys, both European and American, including a number of Märklin toys in exceptional condition – an Electric Tramway trolley, a train station and a double-globe street lamp from the Owl’s Tale Shop Christmas Window Collection of Haddonfield, NJ. Also from the Owl’s Tale Collection is a one of a kind cast iron and tin Ferris Wheel clockwork bank ($2000-3000). An exciting last-minute addition to the sale is a scarce Märklin painted tin clockwork musical carousel, ca. 1910, with clockwork movement and retaining the original cloth canopy with fringed tassel border. (est. $30000-40000).

Lot 210, Child's painted wood sled; Estimate $200-$400

Saturday’s sale continues with other whimsical toys to delight bidders, including a collection of sleighs, toboggans, wagons, pull toys, tricycles and hand-painted sleds. Highlights include a hand-propelled, carved and painted horse velocipede, ca. 1870 (est. $2000-3000) as well as a large hobby horse selection.  Additional exciting and nostalgic playtime essentials include a variety of painted figures from the Philadelphia-based Schoenhut toy company. These lots will include a dollhouse with accessories, and various animal figures featuring a kangaroo, elephant and a zebra, among others. Worthy of mention too is the Schoenhut  Jolly Jiggers dancing toy, ca. 1903, in excellent condition (est. $1200-1600).  A French Tete Jumeau bisque head doll is also up for sale on Saturday, complete with her original beaded outfit and leather shoes (est. $1500-2500).

Lot 224, Dandy Dobbin painted articulated horse tricycle; Estimate $300-$400

Forty- five lots from the Bill & Stevie Weart collection are featured next in the sale, most of which are pictured in their book Cast Iron Automotive Toys (Schiffer publishing). Bidders can look forward to rare items such as a Niederst Co. cast iron steam shovel (est. $5000-8000), a near-mint cast iron police motorcycle (est. $1000-1500), and a cast iron Buick formerly of the Perelman Toy Museum in Philadelphia ($600-800). Additional cast iron items in the Weart collection include buses, cabs, motorcycles, trucks, tractors and even a hearse.

The sale will conclude with over eighty lots from the collection of David P. Merkel, a prominent local collector who ran a booth at Renniger’s antique market in Adamstown, PA for twenty five years before his death in 2015. A variety of cast iron and pressed steel vehicles are the bulk of Mr. Merkel’s collection, including Hubley and Buddy L brand items. Items from the Lancaster-based Hubley Manufacturing Company include a number of cast iron motorcycles, among them a couple Indian four cylinder examples, as well as an assortment of Hubley tractors, trucks and steam rollers.