Day trading toy army vehicles
I am an avowed day trader of toy soldiers, as can be seen in previous posts about stuff I've traded recently (here and, oh my, here) as well as my past history of day trading. I have to crow about another great find, this time about toy army vehicles Not sure which I like more, subsidizing my hobby, or discovering new stuff out there by accident.
A week or so ago, I was cruising the ads of toys on ebay, looking for stuff the seller doesn't realize can sell with a little bit of research. I found one called "Military Toy Lot." A lot of stuff for an opening bid of five bucks plus shipping.
Much of the time, the used toys for sale on ebay is crap, cheap soldiers or tanks recently manufactured in China. Reviewing the picture I saw a couple things I recognized, Roco Minitanks as well as a Tootsie Toy vehicle and a Marx soldier. I wanted one small item among the hodgepodge, so I bid for the lot and won, paying $16.50, including shipping. I figured some stuff would sell, so I'd at least break even with a little extra. I didn't realize what a goldmine it would be.
One of the favorite military toys on ebay is Roco Minitanks. Made in Austria and sold in hobby shops in great numbers in 60s and 70s to geeky boys playing battles on the living room floor, now the 1/87 scale plastic tanks are prized by middle aged collectors, sometimes for wargaming. There were four in the lot, I kept one and sold the rest for 10.00. What sold is below, sorta interesting German armored vehicles from the Second World War. I've seen (and sometimes profited by) insane bidding wars for these little vehicles, particularly German ones. Military toys modeling German WWII vehicles are usually the most popular. The collectors are not Nazis, it's just that the design and style of their vehicles was and remains fascinating compared to more utilitarian US and Russian equipment and haphazard efforts by the stressed British.
People will pay lots of money for some of these that sold 40 years ago for a dollar. I kept an US armored car because I had one as a kid. I've accumulated a collection, about enough to fill two cigar boxes, of models I had as a kid and/or wish I had as a kid.
Toy stores still carry Matchbox cars and vehicles. I ran across my old matchbox cars several years ago and found a print type drawer to display them in and have them on the wall. One could create an amazing world with the little cars, with assorted boxes or blocks as buildings, that is, before they had "Fast Wheels" to run your cement mixer on a Hot Wheels track. One item in the Lot was a Centurion tank, complete with rubber treads that move as well as the turret. It sold for $6.50 (the presence of the treads doubled the typical price, as the rubber usually had deteriorated over the years).
Toys back then were for play. Tootsie toy made lots of metal and plastic toys going back decades for kids to play with. One was the half track below, a little bit bigger than those above, with a crude machine gun coming out of the window. It was die caste in the 1960s according to some websites I found, with rubber wheels attached. It sold for 8.00.
Many toys now are made for collectors, not for kids. A couple are below. A company called 21st Century Toys made expensive plastic 1/18 scale reproductions of vehicles, with fine details for collectors, the type of people that save packaging. The US Army Jeep with a machine gun below was nicely made. The hood opens with a detailed engine inside. The ammunition box for the machine gun opens up. The steering wheel turns. This was missing the windshield, a spare tire and a spare gas can, as well as the box, but there was still a bit of a bidding war for it, as it sold for $23.00.
There was also a plastic half-track, a bit more detailed than the metal one above, in 1/32 scale, produced by New Ray Toys. Some of their models actually have engines to make them move (like this one of a M3 medium tank, the precursor of the famous Sherman tank, that I have and won't sell. It was a bit of a hybrid of the time (1941-1942), stick a cannon here, oh another on top and how about a machine gun on top of that.
The guy that sold it to me sold it as a package deal, accompanied by a VHS tape of a Humphrey Bogart movie from 1942 called Sahara, about the crew of a M3 medium tank and some allied soldiers looking for water in the Sahara Desert. For its time, it had a diverse cast--one of the soldiers was a colonial soldier from Senegal. A propaganda picture, it showed that people of all races fight the Nazis.). Anyway, the half-track below one is for display and perhaps play. It sold for $7.50.
One of the premiere manufacturers of toys when I was a kid was Marx. No, not Karl or Groucho, but Louie Marx. Using the then new technology of plastics, he made everything: vehicles, spaceships, soldiers, cowboys, indians, firemen, even little nude girls for friends touring his factory (photo borrowed from www.toysoldierhq.com).
Though most of his toy army figures were either one inch (HO scale, about 1/72 scale) or two inches high (about 1/32 scale), he made some that were six inches tall. I had some German, American, and Japanese soldiers as a kid. One item was a German soldier firing a rifle. Way back when it probably sold for 50 cents. This one sold for $3.50 to a buyer in France.
So the stuff that sold went for almost 59 dollars, plus shipping and handling charges (another 27 dollars, most of which will go to USPS, ebay, and paypal). Made about $40 on the deal, not bad. There were some items in the lot that I hadn't noticed on sale before and, as of yet have not sold. A plane on a stand which, if you pull the string at the back of the stand, would make the propeller spin. It hasn't sold yet (it's a Japanese Zero fighter plane. If it were a US plane, it probably would have sold) as there aren't whole websites deduced to such items (I gotta wait until the kids playing with them NOW reach their 50s to sell it, I suppose).
UPDATE: It finally sold for 9 bucks including shipping, so net about $4.50. Wow.
There was another unusual item, a little replica of a rifle, about 1/4 scale. The subject is a M1 Carbine, one of the most produced rifles in the US, over 7 million built during the war and after. Used in WWII, it also equipped assorted allies and puppet governments from the 40s to today. Abundantly detailed, even the bolt of the replica can be pulled back to set the trigger to shoot. Made in Korea, similar items have sold for $50 on ebay, though not often. There is a quarter in the picture for you to see the scale of the toy. Still hash't sold yet. Want it?
UPDATE: It sold for $20 including shipping (about $2). Grand total of everything: about $80. Not bad.
Finally figured out what one thing was. A replica of the little noisemakers paratroopers jumped into Normandy with on D-Day (there's are scenes in The Longest Day featuring them). It makes cricket like sounds when you squeeze the sides together. It's on ebay now, not sure if it will go, though others have.
UPDATE: It finally sold for $10.00
A couple things haven't sold and will go in my own "Military Toy Lot" as I accumulate other little orphan misfit toys. The tank below to the left is made in China and is sometimes in the cheap toy racks in toy stores, partially because it resembles the M1 Abrams tank the US and its allies use today. Below to the right is another half-track, produced by Corgi, but is missing some parts. Missing parts are usually death on ebay, unless the item is rare or the buyer is buying parts to rebuild his own toys.
UPDATE: These finally sold in a lot of odds and ends for the cost of shipping and fees. Out of the basement at least.
Though I collect some of these little toys, I tend to keep them on the small side. All the stuff I've collected over the last 4-5 years can fit in two copier paper boxes. The plastic jeep and half-track above are about 7 inches long. The plane is about the same size. I doubt someone buying one of these just has one vehicle (ok, I have just one battery powered tank, shown above, but I think I'm unusual. Collectors usually are compelled to be COMPLETE, with every piece in the set). Where do guys (and the people that collect this stuff are GUYS) store all the crap they buy? Mom's basement? I'm amazed by what sells, by how much it sells for, and the number of people interested in this kind of stuff.
I've bought most of the little vehicles and soldiers like this that I'm interested in, either on ebay or a interesting website called www.toysoldierhq.com, run by a retired medical transplant professional in Florida. Sometime I'll do a couple cataloging blogs on here about some of the toys (though I have already written one about MPC vehicles).
A week or so ago, I was cruising the ads of toys on ebay, looking for stuff the seller doesn't realize can sell with a little bit of research. I found one called "Military Toy Lot." A lot of stuff for an opening bid of five bucks plus shipping.
Much of the time, the used toys for sale on ebay is crap, cheap soldiers or tanks recently manufactured in China. Reviewing the picture I saw a couple things I recognized, Roco Minitanks as well as a Tootsie Toy vehicle and a Marx soldier. I wanted one small item among the hodgepodge, so I bid for the lot and won, paying $16.50, including shipping. I figured some stuff would sell, so I'd at least break even with a little extra. I didn't realize what a goldmine it would be.
One of the favorite military toys on ebay is Roco Minitanks. Made in Austria and sold in hobby shops in great numbers in 60s and 70s to geeky boys playing battles on the living room floor, now the 1/87 scale plastic tanks are prized by middle aged collectors, sometimes for wargaming. There were four in the lot, I kept one and sold the rest for 10.00. What sold is below, sorta interesting German armored vehicles from the Second World War. I've seen (and sometimes profited by) insane bidding wars for these little vehicles, particularly German ones. Military toys modeling German WWII vehicles are usually the most popular. The collectors are not Nazis, it's just that the design and style of their vehicles was and remains fascinating compared to more utilitarian US and Russian equipment and haphazard efforts by the stressed British.
People will pay lots of money for some of these that sold 40 years ago for a dollar. I kept an US armored car because I had one as a kid. I've accumulated a collection, about enough to fill two cigar boxes, of models I had as a kid and/or wish I had as a kid.
Toy stores still carry Matchbox cars and vehicles. I ran across my old matchbox cars several years ago and found a print type drawer to display them in and have them on the wall. One could create an amazing world with the little cars, with assorted boxes or blocks as buildings, that is, before they had "Fast Wheels" to run your cement mixer on a Hot Wheels track. One item in the Lot was a Centurion tank, complete with rubber treads that move as well as the turret. It sold for $6.50 (the presence of the treads doubled the typical price, as the rubber usually had deteriorated over the years).
Toys back then were for play. Tootsie toy made lots of metal and plastic toys going back decades for kids to play with. One was the half track below, a little bit bigger than those above, with a crude machine gun coming out of the window. It was die caste in the 1960s according to some websites I found, with rubber wheels attached. It sold for 8.00.
Many toys now are made for collectors, not for kids. A couple are below. A company called 21st Century Toys made expensive plastic 1/18 scale reproductions of vehicles, with fine details for collectors, the type of people that save packaging. The US Army Jeep with a machine gun below was nicely made. The hood opens with a detailed engine inside. The ammunition box for the machine gun opens up. The steering wheel turns. This was missing the windshield, a spare tire and a spare gas can, as well as the box, but there was still a bit of a bidding war for it, as it sold for $23.00.
There was also a plastic half-track, a bit more detailed than the metal one above, in 1/32 scale, produced by New Ray Toys. Some of their models actually have engines to make them move (like this one of a M3 medium tank, the precursor of the famous Sherman tank, that I have and won't sell. It was a bit of a hybrid of the time (1941-1942), stick a cannon here, oh another on top and how about a machine gun on top of that.
The guy that sold it to me sold it as a package deal, accompanied by a VHS tape of a Humphrey Bogart movie from 1942 called Sahara, about the crew of a M3 medium tank and some allied soldiers looking for water in the Sahara Desert. For its time, it had a diverse cast--one of the soldiers was a colonial soldier from Senegal. A propaganda picture, it showed that people of all races fight the Nazis.). Anyway, the half-track below one is for display and perhaps play. It sold for $7.50.
One of the premiere manufacturers of toys when I was a kid was Marx. No, not Karl or Groucho, but Louie Marx. Using the then new technology of plastics, he made everything: vehicles, spaceships, soldiers, cowboys, indians, firemen, even little nude girls for friends touring his factory (photo borrowed from www.toysoldierhq.com).
Though most of his toy army figures were either one inch (HO scale, about 1/72 scale) or two inches high (about 1/32 scale), he made some that were six inches tall. I had some German, American, and Japanese soldiers as a kid. One item was a German soldier firing a rifle. Way back when it probably sold for 50 cents. This one sold for $3.50 to a buyer in France.
So the stuff that sold went for almost 59 dollars, plus shipping and handling charges (another 27 dollars, most of which will go to USPS, ebay, and paypal). Made about $40 on the deal, not bad. There were some items in the lot that I hadn't noticed on sale before and, as of yet have not sold. A plane on a stand which, if you pull the string at the back of the stand, would make the propeller spin. It hasn't sold yet (it's a Japanese Zero fighter plane. If it were a US plane, it probably would have sold) as there aren't whole websites deduced to such items (I gotta wait until the kids playing with them NOW reach their 50s to sell it, I suppose).
UPDATE: It finally sold for 9 bucks including shipping, so net about $4.50. Wow.
There was another unusual item, a little replica of a rifle, about 1/4 scale. The subject is a M1 Carbine, one of the most produced rifles in the US, over 7 million built during the war and after. Used in WWII, it also equipped assorted allies and puppet governments from the 40s to today. Abundantly detailed, even the bolt of the replica can be pulled back to set the trigger to shoot. Made in Korea, similar items have sold for $50 on ebay, though not often. There is a quarter in the picture for you to see the scale of the toy. Still hash't sold yet. Want it?
Finally figured out what one thing was. A replica of the little noisemakers paratroopers jumped into Normandy with on D-Day (there's are scenes in The Longest Day featuring them). It makes cricket like sounds when you squeeze the sides together. It's on ebay now, not sure if it will go, though others have.
UPDATE: It finally sold for $10.00
A couple things haven't sold and will go in my own "Military Toy Lot" as I accumulate other little orphan misfit toys. The tank below to the left is made in China and is sometimes in the cheap toy racks in toy stores, partially because it resembles the M1 Abrams tank the US and its allies use today. Below to the right is another half-track, produced by Corgi, but is missing some parts. Missing parts are usually death on ebay, unless the item is rare or the buyer is buying parts to rebuild his own toys.
UPDATE: These finally sold in a lot of odds and ends for the cost of shipping and fees. Out of the basement at least.
Though I collect some of these little toys, I tend to keep them on the small side. All the stuff I've collected over the last 4-5 years can fit in two copier paper boxes. The plastic jeep and half-track above are about 7 inches long. The plane is about the same size. I doubt someone buying one of these just has one vehicle (ok, I have just one battery powered tank, shown above, but I think I'm unusual. Collectors usually are compelled to be COMPLETE, with every piece in the set). Where do guys (and the people that collect this stuff are GUYS) store all the crap they buy? Mom's basement? I'm amazed by what sells, by how much it sells for, and the number of people interested in this kind of stuff.
I've bought most of the little vehicles and soldiers like this that I'm interested in, either on ebay or a interesting website called www.toysoldierhq.com, run by a retired medical transplant professional in Florida. Sometime I'll do a couple cataloging blogs on here about some of the toys (though I have already written one about MPC vehicles).
Comments
Post a Comment