MORE INFORMATION

Many of the original Watch with Mother puppets are now in the BBC Collection and stored in the Science & Media Museum, London. But over the years there have been lots of Watch with Mother replicas in the form of glove puppets, Pelham Puppets, Wade fine porcelain figurines, Sacul lead figures, decorative plates, books, videos and merchandising.

Some items such as the videos of the original black and white classics can be found on eBay with an asking price of around £10.00. Likewise, picture books can be picked up very reasonably.

Danbury Mint produced a series of porcelain wall plates on The Golden Age of Children’s TV in 1999 which featured children’s programmes that used animation or stringed puppets. Bill and Ben and The Woodentops are amongst the programmes featured. These can often by picked up for under a tenner per plate. Lead figures are proving to be more valuable. Spotted recently was a set of Rag, Tag and Bobtail miniature lead characters standing at 3.5 to 4cm tall. These can fetch prices of up to £380 for the set. A Sacul lead Rag went for £120 at auction and Looby Loo and Teddy from Andy Pandy fetched £75 each. Another set of Rag, Tag and Bobtail figures on eBay was asking £140.

Ewbank Auctions sold Sacul Bill and Ben cast lead painted toys with two terracotta pots, boxed but minus the Little Weed, for £130. So, lots to keep an eye out for, when browsing the auction houses and internet – so if are you sitting comfortably…