Models from land and sea appear at Wallis & Wallis

A wide variety of toys came under the hammer at the recent Wallis & Wallis sale but sadly, some of the very best didn’t quite find new homes. Amongst them were the camouflaged 1940s Lionel tinplate German 88mm flak gun with crew (estimated at £300-400, which, to be honest, is on the high side); and a complete and utterly captivating Corgi Gift Set 15, the fabled Silverstone layout. But some sales were very good indeed, with £360 staked on a complete Britains Railway set (reference 158) that contained 13 figures and 12 accessories. It was all there, from guards to a fireman and passengers, as well as a useful selection of luggage. There was even a box.

On the same theme was the Timpo Station Figures Railway Series set No. 850. This 1950s assortment comprised 15 figures but just five accessories; a mother and child, together with a soldier and sailor formed some of the personnel. The whole lot was contained in a repaired box and fetched £260.

Four Hornby Meccano speedboats passed the rostrum on the day, with the Viking, finished in red, cream and blue, being one of the more striking. Instructions and key were present, as was the box, albeit with some splitting to the lid. This made £90. Elsewhere, back on terra firma, £150 was enough to secure a Spot-On Ford Zodiac, finished in the unusual hue of bright red with white lower panels. This model featured battery-operated lights for extra realism and was virtually mint.

If we leave Star Wars out of the mix (actually, there wasn’t any!), the big hitters were, as always, to be found in the railway section. A huge £1,000 bid won the Brandbright and Roundhouse live steam narrow gauge Liberty Belle Mk 11. This impressive 0-6-2 locomotive was finished in dark blue and black and was set up for running on 45mm track, with the option to convert to 32mm. It was stunning and showed only light use. It only just pipped the £950 bid that was placed on a Kingscale gauge 3 live steam BR Class 12xx locomotive, in Brunswick green. This example appeared unfired and came with a 2015 boiler test certificate.

A trio of Tekno cars also sold rather well: the two Volvo P1800 coupes, both in cream with a deep red interior, made £100 and £120 whilst a rare, pale blue VW Beetle sold for £100. All three came with good boxes.

Finally, amongst the oddments were four railway lamps, three BR tail lamps and an unmarked railway three aspect hand lamp: they fetched £80. A 1965 Indianapolis 500 event programme that came with highly desirable Colin Chapman, Jim Clark and Graham Hill signatures was contested to £900, quadrupling its modest estimate; whilst a scratch-built wooden model of the famous Mary Rose, of some 650mm in length, sailed away to realise £120.