Know Before You Go Buy Toys

October 31, 2005

There Are Reproductions Awaiting You

Anonymous The Greensburg Daily News Mon Oct 31, 2005, 11:46 PM EST

I was amazed at a recent “antique toy show” by the percentage of the items offered for sale that are re-productions. If you love the shows, but want to avoid buying a 2005 “antique,” then the burden of differentiating falls to you.

So . . . know before you go.

For many years the main toy reproduction was in the area is cast iron toys and banks. In the past few years this has changed, with repro abounding in virtually every area of toy production.

Exact copies of board games, prewar German tin, Victorian era lithographs, and even 1960s plastic play sets are flooding the market place.

Old cast-iron have a smooth surface as opposed to the rougher texture of reproduction. You will also want to inspect the seams. Old toys have very tight, almost invisible seams. The newer copies will often have “finning,” which are seams that do not quite match.

The decorative detailing on old iron is very distinctive. Newer pieces will have a ra-ther fuzzy appearance. Also take note of the paint. Old oil-based enamel paint was very thick. New toys will be painted with a thinner coat of color. Don’t let signs of wear fool you. Many new pieces have been intentionally distressed.

Remember, actual wear is random, not consistent.

Many of us spent our childhood playing with Marx toys. Plastic play set from the ’50s and ’60s that once sold for $5-$10 can now bring $300-$2,000. This has inspired a rash of fakes since 1995. Boxed metal play sets began to appear in 1997.

Make certain to check the “Marx” trademark if you suspect a toy is a repro. Marked original metal litho toys are pre-1970 and will always contain the words, “Made in the United States of America.”

You may also find New York N.Y. on the original toys as opposed to the fakes which are being imported from China, and will say only “Marx Toys.” Marx did not mark all of their metal toys, so the absence of a trade mark may indicate that it is authentic.

As in many areas if collecting a black light can be of a great help in determining age. The ink on new tin toys often glows, especially white and red. Ink used fore 1960 rarely will do this, and there are virtually no inks used before 1940 that glow.

Key-wind toys that originally delighted children, are just as enthusiastically re-ceived by today’s collectors.

One of the rarest is a space toy called the “Atomic Robot Man.” The original currently sells from $500-$1000 depen-ding on condition. The new version by Schylling Toys retails for $20 or less, so a toy is marked Schylling, it has been made in the past few years.

If you collect antique por-celain check out next week’s column.

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