Holy smoke, Batman!

Astons’ recent toy sale certainly included a number of interesting lots, some of which were part of actual collections. Large scale railways shone through, according to Chris Aston, with a privately owned O gauge collection from Stourbridge making just over £11,000. Chris’ pick from this collection was lot 180, a Hornby E220 electric 4-4-0 with tender, numbered 1185 and finished in LMS maroon and gold livery. The pair chuffed off merrily to make £400 against a paltry £120-150 guideline, despite this pair having non-matching boxes - and the loco had been repainted, to boot!

A privately owned diecast collection hailing from Cannock also did well, and this selection made just over £8,000 for the collector. Amongst the many lots were a number of Corgi Batmobile examples, some single, some with the Batboat. The most interesting of the selection had to be the scarce matt black Batmobile by Corgi: this was fitted with red Bat hubs, and came with an opened Batman Instructions envelope containing instruction sheet, five yellow rockets still attached to sprue with a further three detached, as well as a cloth badge. A small slip listing the Batmobile's features and a 'Corgi Model Club' slip were also included, together with an inner packing piece and protector ring. The box was equally good, exhibiting only a small tear along the seam of one end flap. Enough caped crusader aficionados wanted this rare example, which was duly propelled to £600.

And if you thought that you’d read all there was to read about Star Wars, then think again. Someone from Edinburgh offered their collection to Astons – and the net, result, that of £7,500, simply goes to prove once again how evergreen this genre still is. A highlight had to be the Kenner carded Stormtrooper action figure – it seems the collecting fraternity simply can’t get enough of these smaller models. Much odder, though, was the 1:1 scale model of Han Solo trapped (or rather frozen) in Carbonite:  a limited edition casting, rectangular in format, with most of the intrepid traveller’s details pressed through from the back, this would have made a stunning table top. Number 257 out of 2,000, this unusual item finally sold for £380 plus premium.