Collectors in Orbit Over Space Toys by Doug Graves
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$1.50 AntiqueWeek T HE W EEKLY A N T IQUE A UC T ION & C OLLEC T ING N E W SP A PER VOL. 53 ISSUE NO. 2657 www.antiqueweek.com SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 Collectors in orbit over space toys By Doug Graves Space toys of yesteryear might trigger memories of battling imaginary aliens with the help of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon or even Tom Corbett Space Cadet. For those of you who may have forgotten, Tom Corbett Space Cadet was a CBS TV series from the early 1950s, and a forerunner of Star Trek. The series imagined a futuristic and golden space age in which responsible, decent-minded cadets like Tom patrolled the universe in rocketships such as the Polaris. Before you dash to the attic in hopes of finding one of these super heroes, take a deep breath. Most Star Wars items fetch a much higher price at auction than those battling toys of the 1940s and 1950s. Perhaps it’s best to start looking in your childrens’ toy chest. Above: While Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon garnered the attention For example, a Boba Fett (1979) with rocket firing mechanism, will sell for $10,000 out of the box and in the 1950s, many were fans of the popular TV show “Tom Corbett, $45,000 in mint condition. Jawa with the vinyl cape (1978) will fetch $2,000 out of his box. A double telescoping Space Cadet”. This 3.5” x 12”, “Tom Corbett Space Cadet 2 Space Luke Skywalker (1978) is worth up to $1,000. Ship” made of tin was produced by Marx & Co. This average condi- But wait. There’s more. A double telescoping Obi-Wan Kenobi (1978) can fetch $30,000 if its condition is tion toy will cost a buyer about $50. right. An Anakin Skywalker with collector’s coin (1985) is valued at $7,500 if in mint condition. Before we get too far into the future, let’s back track and see where this toy “space race” all began. Space toys encompass everything space-related such as action figures, rockets, robots and ray guns. The composition at the time was either tin or plastic. Giving them “life” were matinee movie idols like Buster Crabbe, who played Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in the 1930s. Fast forward and similar stars like William Shatner, who portrayed Captain Kirk on “Star Trek” in the 1960s, and Harrison Ford, who inhabited Han Solo in the “Star Wars” films of the 1970s and 1980s. The stars had space toys reimagined and replicated in their likeness. The craze for Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon toys in the 1930s was actually spurred by the comic strips and radio shows for these outer space adventurers, which preceded the movie serials. The first space gun was offered as a premium in 1933 by Cocomalt, a brand of powdered chocolate milk, which sponsored the Buck Rogers radio show. That early gun was made of cardboard. A year later, the Daisy Manufacturing Company created the first metal space pistol for Buck Rogers, the XZ-31. In 1934, Louis Marx & Company released the Rocket Police Patrol Ship. The windup toy was a red and green tin toy spaceship with Buck seated in the cock pit holding a ray gun rifle. A second orange and yellow Patrol Ship was released the same year by Marx with window profile portrait of both Wilma and Bud Deering on the right side and Buck and Dr. Huer on the left side. Both tin toys are in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. In 1936, a line of Buck Rogers 3-inch, painted lead metal toy soldiers were made for the British market. These were a set of six British premium figures for Cream of Wheat and included Buck, Dr. Huer, Wilma, Kane, Ardala and an uniden- tified Mekkano Man Robot. In 1937, Marx released the Flash Gordon Radio Repeater, a lithographed-tin gun that made a clicking sound when the trigger was pulled. That same year, Tootsietoys put out a six-piece die cast metal set of four 5-inch long space ships and a pair of 2-inch tall figures of Buck and Wilma. Buck Rogers toys enjoyed stardom for nearly 80 years, as there were comic strips, TV shows and movies. A Buck Rogers television series ran from 1979 to 1981 and that’s when Zica Toys cashed in, producing 8-inch figurines of the likeness of Gil Gerard, who played Buck Rogers. Buck Rogers’ appeal extended into the 21st Century. In 2009 and 2011, Zica Toys and Go Hero released the newest versions of Buck Rogers action figures. Beyond space toys tied to high-profile entertainment franchises, many collectors are quite content to get their hands on objects that live only within the universe of toys. Popular in the mid-50s were tin and plastic flying saucers and battery-op- erated robots, many produced in post-war Japan. The island nation produced Atomic Rocket, Rocket Racer, Robotank, Capsule 5 and Mr. Atomic. Mt. Atomic is a rare robot classic, introduced in the 1962 Sears Wish Book. Blue with yellow feet, Mr. Atomic moves with “Mystery Action” while wiggling his feet. Original Mr. Atomic Robots are very rare and valuable. Space toys became the rage after World War II as the public became increasingly interested in space exploration. Companies such as Buddy L., Ideal, Hubley, J.E. Stevens and Kenner made space toys out everything from lithographed tin and paper to diecast metal, molded plastic and wood. In Great Britain, space toys based on the exploits of Dan Dare and Dr. Who were manufactured by Palitoy, Chad Valley See Space Toys on Page 27 Left: Think “Star Wars” and you can’t help but think first of Darth Vader. In 1977, Kenner released original action figures for Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi with a small, telescoping lightsaber. A mint condition, in-box Vader with telescoping lightsaber sold at auction in 2013 for just under $30,000. 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Working hard to keep you safe Page 2 WWW.ANTIQUEWEEK.COM September 1, 2020 NEWS Forgotten images bring gas stations to life By Barbara Miller Beem HARRISBURG, Pa. — Multiple self-service islands; piped-in music with “word of the day” and trivia contests displayed on computerized screens at the pump; and a minimart, lottery tick- et counter, and drive-through car wash: “Fill ‘er up” wasn’t always this way. Back when America’s love affair with the automobile was new, motorists sat in their cars as windshields were washed, oil was checked, and gasoline was pumped. Cash was king, and the price per gallon was cents, not dol- lars. Air for the tires was free. Call them gas stations or garages, filling sta- tions or service stations: Gone are these mom- Above: Rosen has shared some of the images given to him and-pop businesses. But collectors continue to by a former employee of Atlantic Refining. The responses keep the romance alive, as petroliana is an undis- have been enthusiastic as people take a trip down memo- ry lane. Photos courtesy of Jimmy Rosen. puted “hot” category. And for Jimmy Rosen, a life- long resident of Harrisburg, Pa., and a longtime Below: Identifying the locations pictured in Rosen’s treasure car enthusiast, an unexpected gift has sent him on trove has proven to be challenging, but old newspaper ads an amazing journey. such as this one have cleared up at least one mystery. It all began last October, when Rosen got a phone call from Bob Shultz (Shultz gives Mod- el-T driving lessons, but that’s another story). Above: Rosen finds it ironic that horses were used to trans- port fuel for automobiles. He recently fell heir to more than The two men’s paths first crossed in 1991, when 300 large-format negatives documenting Atlantic Refining Shultz’s wife was among the first antique dealers operations in the 1920s and 1930s. at Rosen’s Old Sled Works in nearby Duncannon. Now, the Shultzes were planning to downsize, ly decided to take a look. What he discovered a and Shultz wanted Rosen to have several boxes of few layers down in the boxes were more than 300 old maps, car advertisements, and what he called large-format negatives, carefully stored in protec- “some photos of area gas stations.” tive sleeves, all of them dating from the 1920s and Rosen admitted that he “kept dragging his feet” 1930s. Rosen knew immediately that this pictori- about retrieving the offered goods, but Shultz per- sisted, and after three phone calls, Rosen final- See Gas Stations on page 4 Auctioneer selling 35 years of his accumulations By Eric C. Rodenberg trailer holds. It’s a lot like Christmas every engine, three cars and a caboose. Manufac- day, he says. tured between 1955 and 1958, the train can LONOKE, Ark.