Morphy Auctions' March 30-31, April 1 Spring Sale Morphy’s 2200-lot no-reserve Spring auction features rare antique toys and banks from the Bob Brady collection and part II of the Gary Selmonsky comic character collection. Illustrated catalog online.
Rounding out the top tier of the group is a Keystone aerial ladder truck.
Next on the Friday agenda is a selection of more than 200 cast-iron toys, both horse-drawn and automotive types; followed by part II of the acclaimed Gary Selmonsky comic character collection. “The second half is even better than the first half, which we sold last September,” said Morphy Auctions co-founder and comic character expert Tommy Sage. “There are so many true rarities in Gary’s collection, and there are many boxes included in this sale that you just never see.”
Highlights come from all subcategories of the Selmonsky grouping. One of the standouts is a 13in long by 10in high Felix Frolic articulated platform toy, one of only 3 or 4 known examples in this particularly large size. Other key pieces include a prewar celluloid Mickey Mouse on rocking horse with original box, a prewar long-billed celluloid Donald Duck with original box and several Disney character whirligigs. The list continues with a Distler Mickey and Minnie Mouse Hurdy Gurdy with often-missing original Minnie figure, a boxed celluloid Henry, boxed celluloid Betty Boop and several Charlie Chaplin toys. An extremely rare celluloid crawling Mickey Mouse made for the British market by Paradise Novelty retains its original box, as does a Krazy Kat platform toy. While unboxed, the rarity factor comes into play with a beautiful celluloid Mickey and Minnie on an elephant toy.
Many coveted soft toys by Steiff are included in the Selmonsky section of the sale, including a number of Mickeys and Minnies, and a giant Knickerbocker Felix cowboy doll. “There are many rare Felix items in this sale,” Sage remarked. The Friday session concludes with 75 lots of antique and vintage marbles, including sulphides, swirls, onionskins and lutzes; and approximately 40 sets of Britains soldiers, all in their original boxes.
Saturday, April 1, 2006
An exciting Saturday session features many pieces from the personal, 30-year collection of Bob Brady. Because of the collection’s reputation, all pieces consigned by Brady will carry specially printed auction tags to be retained for future provenance.
A resident of Lancaster, Pa., Brady left no stone unturned in seeking out the finest and rarest examples of toys made by Hubley, whose factory was located in Lancaster. Brady singled out a few of the highlights: “The Hubley four-seat brake that I’ve consigned is a really early variant. This particular model was continuously produced by Hubley over a 20-year period, and in the beginning, they made the figures for it in more-generic colors. The early model was not a really big seller, so they changed to more colorfully painted figures. The majority of four-seat brakes now known to exist are of the latter type. The one I’ve put in the sale may be the only all-original example of the earlier type.”
Also from the Brady collection comes a large Hubley horse-drawn ladder truck in “brand-new” condition, formerly in the Leon Cameto collection; and a Hubley Chemical Wagon. “In 30 years I’ve only had
