Features

Lucy Peck ran The Dolls’ Home, a successful business that opened in Regent Street in London in 1893.

Such was the renown of toy collector the late Jack Tempest that when his collection came up for auction many of the bidders who flocked to the sale on November 10 recognised a lot of the items on offer.

Forget names such as Palitoy, Britains, Dinky, Sindy, Bing and Marklin for a moment – recent auctions have shown the demand that can exist for lesser-known manufacturers and brands in the toys world.

This wonderful photo taken in 1914 shows the Coghill family plus a rather hairy friend: a rare large Steiff centre-seam teddy bear c.1906.

Over the course of 35 years Andy Houldsworth amassed one of the largest collections of Action Man and similar action figures in the UK.

In 1981 the most powerful man in the universe, He-Man, began his fight against the evil Skeletor to save the planet of Eternia and protect Castle Grayskull.

Nomura was one of the biggest Japanese toy makers post-war and is now particularly renowned among collectors for mechanical toys such as robots.

Shown here is one of ‘very few known’ examples of Yonezawa’s c.1962 Diamond Planet Robot – the largest tin windup robot produced, 10in (24.5cm) high.

This Japanese ‘Super Car’ tinplate vehicle is an unlicensed model, probably based on the Supercar vehicle from Gerry Anderson’s 1960s UK television series.

Bertha Alexander Behrman – aka Madame Alexander – was probably destined to be a doll maker.

At first glance this early 18th century British-made sporting flintlock is nothing particularly out of the ordinary, despite being impressively engraved and relief carved.

Top result from the October 26 arms and armour auction at Munich saleroom Hermann Historica (25% buyer’s premium) was a 5ft 6in (1.67m) two-hand sword made by the acclaimed bladesmith Wolfgang Stantler II of Passau, c.1580.

A ‘Siege of Louisbourg’ powder horn belonging to one Ranger Abijah Smith sold for $17,500 (£15,200) at Bonhams Skinner in an auction on September 28 in Massachusetts.

This Victorian purse gun was designed by Oscar Frankenau from Nuremberg and patented in both the UK and the US in 1876.

Estimated at just £60-90, this English Civil War-era mortuary sword sold for £2300 at Unique Auctions (22.5% buyer’s premium) in Lincoln on October 22.

Chris Wynne dedicated his collecting energies to early guns by a London maker that became an international brand

Once thought to have been made in antiquity, bucklers are now understood to have been late medieval or Tudor small shields.

On account of its extraordinary appearance, the Nock seven-barrelled flintlock volley gun has become something of an icon of warfare in the Age of Sail.

The Stroud engineer Edwin Beard Budding (1796-1846) is considered the inventor of the lawnmower (1830) and the adjustable spanner (1842).

A pair of ornate presentation flintlock pistols made in London and later owned by an American patriot sold for $55,000 (£46,200) at a US saleroom.