Bear essentials at Vectis
Vectis held no fewer than seven sales last month, begging the question of whether the entire world is selling up its toy collections...
For furry ursine fanciers (that’s bears to you), one star of the show was a Steiff Karl Lagerfeld teddy bear in white alpaca, complete with a gold coated button within his ear, and designed to be a likeness of the famous fashion designer. Unusual, I think you’ll agree – and the hammer price of £3,360 bears (ouch) out that assertion. He was eclipsed, though, by a bear with WW2 history, having been with its owner, Ileene Rita Smith, who worked in the War Ministry in a team organising the North Atlantic Convoys. Evocative photographs accompanied this Steiff bear (who dated from around 1908) and he was rehomed for £3,840.
A rare JR 21 Toy Captain Scarlet Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle with plastic friction drive, including an acceptable box, settled on £960; but this was small beer compared with the Dinky 141 Vauxhall Victor Estate Car in dark maroon, a rare promotional issue featuring the "Lightning Fasteners Ltd Technical Service" rubric. That hit just over £5,000 – not bad for a decal. Meanwhile, £840 was the winning bid for a selection of Raleigh Chopper spares and accessories, which included tyres and a bicycle frame. Clearly demand for this iconic transport remains unabated. Several lots of Meccano went through the auctions, some selling remarkably cheaply although a 1950s era red and green No.10 Outfit, believed complete and housed in an original cabinet, stood out: its contents were substantially original but the box did contain a quantity of very well restored red and green parts. This raised a creditable £1,200.
Finally, big boys’ toys: an ACE O gauge E/9 4-6-2 Streamline Battle of Britain Class "Spitfire" loco, BR and lined in green, was fitted out for threerail electric running: a mint example, it sold for £744. ■