Huge interest in Hugar models at Special Auction Services sale

According to Special Auction Services’ Hugo Marsh, its recent auction was a great success. Toys, it would appear, are not only still amazingly popular but they are clearly being considered a viable alternative to money in the bank. Hugo adds that it was interesting to note that a couple of the best prices were not for locomotives: lot 579 comprised an attractive Bing road-going Steam Locomobile whilst lot 583 was a Maxwell-Hemmens marine steam plant. Is the Industrial Revolution making a comeback, one wonders… 

The star lots at the event were from the Dinky stable, which, he feels, is always good news - and reassuring! These items fell into the pre-war section, and as such, they represented the last items from a top-flight collector with whom SAS has been dealing since 1988. Of note was the fact there were some great colour variations. This, declares Hugo “seemed to give a lift to the whole diecast section and it was pleasing in the modern collectable area to see CMC doing really well. These are breathtakingly fine models, especially when compared to the regular Dinky and Corgi models that are many auction houses’ bread and butter”.

A good number of model figurines went under the hammer, including several lots of Britains Swoppet Wars of the Roses knights (some of which were lacking details); there were also Airfix products, Britains lead figures and a selection by Mignot. Waterline models, Scalextric track accessories and cars (a desirable 1936 Auto Union in primrose closed on £200) were also a feature.

Perhaps most interesting of all was the quantity of tinplate toys, some early, some from the 1960s and 1970s. There was a huge choice for those who love this medium and £750 was the winning bid for a rarely sighted pre-war Moko tinplate limousine. Clockwork-powered and finished in dark green and black, and with three gears, it dated from the 1920s and was a product of Georg Adam Mangold (GAMA). Amazingly, the box was also present.

And bargains? How about the Harold Flory (a company perhaps best known for its tinplate submarines), made for Marks and Spencer self-steering electric car in cream? Still boxed, this rarity really was a steal at just £42.

There was also a rare find. In Hugo’s words: “I was really thrilled that lot 1060 did well. I took it in with various farm toys and recognised the thatched roof as being the same profile as the Hugar for Britains Snow White Cottage; and then I saw the red cross painted on the roof. These Hugar for Britains military buildings were made around the outbreak of World War II and are incredibly rare. This example was in lovely condition and represented a RAMC casualty clearing post from 1869: it sold for £780.”