Antoher Auction Record

I short while ago I posted on an upcoming Sotheby's NY auction of toys some of which were owned by publisher Malcomb Forbes.  The sale was on Friday the 17th, and Bloomberg has a report.  The toy boat, Lusitania (see image) purchased by Forbes in 1983 for $28,600 sold for a record (for a toy boat) of $194,500.00.

According to the Bloomberg report, the rest of the sale (237 lots) was rather lackluster, with little interest or fierce bidding. The pre sale estimates were between $3 and $5 million, and the sale totaled only $2.38 million. The report does state there is a believe that over the next decade these toys will see a great increase in value.  Only time will tell.

Overall, the sale’s 237 lots, which included toy knights and the earliest surviving Monopoly game, handmade by its inventor, Charles Darrow, failed to stir as much excitement as expected. While the room was packed with dealers and collectors, they seemed more interested in less-expensive lots. A doll lighthouse with a pre sale range of $10,000 to $15,000 went for $17,500.

A 19th-century toy gunboat made in Germany in the 1880s fetched $134,500, failing to reach its low estimate of $150,000. The largest boat in the Forbes collection, the 47-inch-long French battleship “Andre,” was expected to go for as much as $300,000. It failed to sell.

To read the full Bloomberg article, click HERE.