Bulldog hangs on

There was no let-up in  enthusiasm at the last Cottees sale of 2017, and the auctioneers pronounced themselves pleased with results.

Railway items certainly brought out the enthusiasts and the ever-popular Wrenn locos did well: a collection of mint examples made good prices, with a City of Nottingham 4-6-2 locomotive selling for a creditable £470.

However, it wasn’t all about the smaller beer. The star lot of the day was a rather tired looking assortment of tinplate offered for restoration – but what tinplate! The assortment comprised a Carette for Bassett Lowke Gauge 1 Water Tower and Animal Dock along with a Bing buffer stop. This is tinplate at its best and the lot was finally snapped up for £2,000. On a completely different note, a Steiff “Tige” Bulldog (described as having plenty of character!) sold for £280. This was definitely a change from the more usual teddy bears form this legendary manufacturer.

Coming up in the next sale on 23 February, Cottees will have a large collection of comics, ranging from early Golden Age examples to later Bronze Age: there should be something for everyone, especially if your appetite has been whetted by the recent articles in the Collectors Gazette. The collection, which Cottees has been selling for the last two years, in fact, features 1960s Konga comics based on the King Kong film, a selection of early Batman comics, and some of the more obscure examples such as Career Girl Romances and Herbie The Fat Fury. Aside from the fact that the collection will be of interest to comic fanatics, the artwork featured here is truly fantastic. This collection also includes two pieces of original artwork by the infamous Frank Bellamy for the Daily Mirror’s long-running comic strip, Garth.

In addition to the aforementioned paper ephemera, the forthcoming sale will also include a collection of two rail Hornby Dublo, with desirable pieces such as the No4654 Rail Cleaning Wagon, the No2245 BR Blue HP Electric Locomotive E3002 and No2050, the BR Suburban Electric Train Set: all are said to be in excellent condition.