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Maine Antique Digest, March 2017 3-B
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AUCTION -
3-B
Bertoia Auctions, Vineland, New Jersey
“Fall Start” Toy Auction
Makes a $1.9 Million Landslide
by Dick Friz
Photos courtesy Bertoia Auctions
B
ertoia Auctions’ three-day “Fall
Start” outing
November 11-13,
2016, in Vineland, New Jersey,
included highly diverse entries with
pedigree. Continuing on an unabated hot
streak, Bertoia Auctions saw estimates
dissolve like snowflakes. This perennially
popular fall classic happened to fall two
days after the exhausting national election;
Thanksgiving and black Friday, more
hustle and bustle, loomed the following
weekend.
Auction owner Jeanne Bertoia admitted
that the presidential race had its distractions,
but early on in Friday’s opening session
came the game-changer. Consignor Tony
Lasala’s 260-strong cast-iron motor toy
stash, part one, saw an Arcade Bekins
van, circa 1929, ex-Don Kaufman, 13"
long,
rumble to $16,520 (includes buyer’s
premium). Lasala’s Pickwick double-
decker Nite Coach by Kenton, 11" long,
took off at $10,620. Bidders certainly gave
a rousing rejoinder to “What’s in your
wallet?” The deluge had begun; the bidding
had found its mojo.
Jeanne Bertoia related that some 700
toys had achieved winning bids via
LiveAuctioneers, which was the auction
house’s most extravagant online response
to date. Bertoia was still pleased with the
gallery turnout, particularly on Sunday.
Bertoia’s catalog, nearly the heft of a large
city telephone directory, brimmed with
2194 lots of motor toys, banks, trains,
doorstops, penny toys, plus a host of Santas
and other holiday fare.
Not surprisingly, majestic European
ocean liners and battle wagons by Märklin,
Bing, Fleischmann, and Carette again took
the limelight as they’ve dominated the
scene the past few record-shattering years.
Creating a nautical pull as strong as
a riptide, an
Amerika
ocean liner by
Märklin, series II, 1920-30, steamed
to
$59,000. A head-turning
Märklin Central Station from the
Warren Heid railroad collection
reaffirmed the drawing power of
realistic, intricately detailed rail
side accessories. At $32,450, it far
surpassed even the most elusive
train sets from a 160-lot hoard from
the esteemed U.S. and European train
lineups by noted authorities Warren Heid
and Jim Ferguson.
A Märklin
Rheingold
paddleboat, circa
1925, 30" long, with a full deck cabin
churned to $35,400, which completed a
top-three sweep by the Gottingen, Germany
dynasty.
In covering a Bertoia auction several
years ago, we recall getting on our
soapbox inveighing against certain
upper-tier collectors so obsessed over
a toy’s condition that they passed off
or paid little heed to avowed rarities.
These so-called flawed antiques fit
the profile of what George Bulanda
Continuing on an unabated
hot streak, Bertoia
Auctions saw estimates
dissolve like snowflakes.
Märklin’s steam-powered
Amerika
ocean liner, series II, 1920-30, with three
funnels, finely detailed overall, was the sale’s top achiever at $59,000.
Rheingold
paddleboat, Märklin, Germany, circa 1925, enameled
tin, full deck cabin, paddlewheel, 30" long, $35,400.
German belsnickel candy con-
tainer, bright blue eyes, icicles
in beard and tree, gold beading
on hood, brown robe flecked
with mica, lichen moss tree
sprig, 16" high, $26,550.
This Märklin Central Station with superbly detailed hand enameling and
realistic façade with ticket windows, café, and awning, 16½" wide, was the
top-ticket item in the rail side segment of the auction at $32,450.
Bekins Omaha Van & Storage, by
Arcade, circa 1929, opening rear doors, spare
wheels on sides, ex-Don Kaufman, 13" long,
$16,520.
City Telephone truck, Kenton, 1930s,
ex-Don Kaufman, 9½" long, $6490.
Borden’s Milk Cream van, No. 110,
Hubley, 1920s, cast iron, 7½" long, $4720.
Pickwick Nite Coach, No. 2, Kenton, large-size
cast-iron double decker, 11" long, $10,620.