The Micros and the Tinies

Going through a plastic shoebox of little toys, I ran across some very tiny toys, some so tiny they fit on my thumbnail.  Not having raised boys (we have 2 girls), they had only a slightly familiar feeling to me, and I don't really know where they came from. Some were probably in 50 cent bags of Hot Wheels we picked up at garage sales.

Hovering over the undersides of these, they are nearly all marked as "Micro Machines", which I have actually heard of (TV commercials!) but these aren't really things he collects, so I was surprised at the things that were tossed into this small "keep" box. There is an even "tinier than micro" red car (bottom row, left) that isn't a Micro Machine, but has no markings and is hollow but, it is a metal car. Super micro, but I have no idea what it is.

Marx and Lumar: More Mystery

Having a husband that has collected a multitude of toy brands over the years, many of the brand names are things I'm familiar with ... at least I thought so.  Up until the last couple of years I basically looked at the toys and said "oh, that's cool", or "gee, that's kinda cute" and stuck them back on the shelf.

In the last few years though ... that's changed, quite a bit in fact. Now I study the shape, such as the cab styles, the box styles, the doors on the trailers, the underside, the tires/wheels, lights and grills ... and who knew all of this mattered?  I suppose an aficionado would, but that's not me. Not really.

Marx Contractors truck with tires marked Lumar

The Odds and Sods 2

 

 A Japanese tin lithographed truck, circa 1950s.  The trailer part is not in terrible shape, nor the cab, but the cab is not original to this particular toy, though it does seem to match one fairly close that I believe is original. The original has a "tool box" on the cab, between the cab and the trailer portion.

That particular one is a friction toy, and has a box and appears to be in new condition. The price is rather out of line for the size of the toy ($695 US), but it's condition and box would be the drawing card for serious collectors of Japanese tin toys (a whole other genre).

To Restore or Not

Several of the toys the Toyman acquired have been restored - basically stripped down and repainted, with new logos applied.

In some cases, doing this could be a good choice, if you aren't ruining an original toy to do it.  Original Otaco toys bring far higher prices that restored/refurbished toys do, but whether you choose to restore or not will depend on your purpose in collecting.

If you are collecting for the joy of having and displaying your finds and are less concerned with the dollar value of the purchase, spending the money (or learning to do it yourself) to restore old toys might be worth it, but that's really an individual's choice.

Me, personally, I would prefer toys to be left in the original condition ... while I don't "hate" that we have these as a collection, if I were left alone with them, some would be handed to our grandson's, but a lot of the collection would be sold off.  I like them, just not enough to keep them for myself, and given the cost of some of these purchases, resale value is something to consider.