Lancaster New Era from Lancaster, Pennsylvania • 18

LANCASTER, NEW ERA Antiques and Collectibles B6 FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2007 Toys Lancaster readers Buddy train set worth up to $850 QWhen I was about 5 years old, I acquired a Buddy industrial train. It is in excellent shape, original, all decals, and period paint. I also have the complete track. According to a source I found, a book issued by Greenburg Publishing, there are three intact original Harry Rinker On Collectibles The Generation One toys are from the original line introduced in 1984 by the Takara toy company in Japan and Hasbro in the United States. The slogan Robots in Disguise was used to promote Transformers, along with the tagline More than Meets the Eye.

The good Transformers were the Autobots, who were fighting to protect their planet, Cybertron, from the rotten De-cepticons. Instead of wearing white and black, like typical good and bad guys, Transformers were decked out in warm and cool colors. The good guys came in warm tans, browns, yellows and golds, while the bad guys were usually in black, gray and deep blues. There were a few warm-hued baddies and a few cool-toned good guys, just to make things more interesting. Each year, a new batch of Transformers was introduced, becoming progressively more complicated.

Some of the earliest Autobots were Brawn, Bumblebee, Camshaft, Gears, Hound, Huffer, Wheeljack and Windcharger. The first De-cepticons included Buzzsaw, Frenzy, Megatron, Ravage and Thundercracker. The cast of characters steadily increased with Beachcomber, Blaster, Inferno and other Autobots in 1985, and Barrage, Blitzwing, Ramjet and other Decepticons. In 1986, there were some 32 new Autobots and 27 new Decepticons. Each year the numbers increased, so that by 1990, there were nearly 70 new TVans-formers.

Amazingly, Transformers are still being manufactured for both Japanese and U.S. markets, although the newest toys are sometimes remakes of previous models, possibly updated and repainted in new colors. The 2007 movie showed that the Transformer craze had not died away. Men and their sons were lured right back into Transformer-mania, attending the highly promoted film and heading to toy stores to find Beast Machines, Armada, Megatron and other Transformer figures. Through the years, the Transformer spin-offs have included comic books, animated TV shows, movies, T-shirts and other products, in addition to the toys.

These items also promise to be highly collectible as the Transformer furor continues. I didnt save my Transformers toys when I was a kid, but I might start now, says Herr. They are still pretty cool. Continued from B5 The value of Transformers toys varies, depending on when they were introduced. Prices have not risen significantly, yet.

Rinker thinks they may become more valuable when the 30-year rule takes effect, sometime around 2014, when those boys turn 40 or older. Theres no denying that boys loved them. They were obsessed with them, Rinker says. A typical small Transformer figure in good condition from the mid-1980s sells for about $20 on eBay these days. A California woman who recently put her late husbands 275-piece Generation One Transformer collection up for auction on eBay thought she hit the jackpot when it sold for $1 million.

Tlims out a 5-year-old boy in Canada accidentally hit the Buy It Now for $1 million button while playing on his uncles computer. The woman tried to sell the collection a second time, but the auction ended with a high bid of $92,000, shy of the $100,000 reserve. fact, its small locomotive modeled a gasoline-engine unit, which could never have been used in an underground mine but which found wide use by large industries and on big construction projects. The Moline Pressed Steel Co. evidently regarded the Industrial Train as its 1929 blockbuster, for it was announced with much fanfare, a major advertising campaign, and a unique promotional Built to a smaller scale than the Outdoor Railroad, the Industrial TVain ran on 2-inch gauge pressed-steel track that could be played with indoors as well as The Industrial TVain and its accessories made a complete rail system a compact, four-wheel green locomotive; five different all-red cars including two styles of dump cars; a wide assortment of track sections, including switches and crossings; and a three-stall roundhouse complete with a The book value of your Buddy 1929-32 Industrial TVain set in the early 1990s was $1,000 in good condition and $1,500 in excellent condition.

While you believe your set to be in excellent condition, toy train collectors, like all collectors, grade harshly. I suspect they would grade your set at fine or very fine at best. The value of your industri al train set peaked in the mid-1990s. Today, its desirability is on the wane. As you no doubt suspect, condition is everything.

The period box in which the set came also is critical to value. If you are missing it, you do not have the complete unit. James D. Julia (jamesdjulia. com) sold a Buddy industrial train (six different cars, period paint) as Lot No.

259 in its Spring 2002 Advertising, Toy, Doll Auction. Andrew P. TVuman, sales coordinator in the Antique Advertising, Toy Doll Division, informed me via e-mail that the lot sold for $480, which included the buyers premium. He added: As I recall, its condition was only As I generally do, I recommend that you think conservatively when it comes to valuing your set, somewhere in the $750 to $850 range. While you have a wide variety of sales options, such as eBay, I recommend selling via an auction company that specializes in either antique toy trains or antique toys.

Obtain a copy of Antique Toy World (antiquetoyworld.com). All the major antique toy train and antique toys aucton companies advertise in this publication. Harry L. Rinker is a freelance columnist based in Emmaus. Send questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049.

Or e-mail harrylrinker aol.com. sets reported." What is its value? If I decide to sell it, how would I do it? C.D.D., Lancaster, Pa. A. Normally when one hears Buddy one thinks of pressed steel, four-wheel construction vehicles and fire equipment. Yet, Buddy a product of the Moline Pressed Steel also made toy trains, both for outdoor and indoor use.

Butch Buss, a partner in Buddy Toys (20 Durham Hellertown, PA 18055; sent me photocopies of pages from Albert W. McColloughs The Complete Book of Buddy Toys, Volume 2 (Greenburg Publishing 1991). McCollough provides this information: Although the Outdoor Railroad had reached its peak in 1929, other delights were in store for rail-minded youngsters, and ultimately collectors, in a new set of railroad toys, the Industrial TVain. Sometimes erroneously referred to by toy collectors as the mining train, it was not a mining train at all, and the term never was used in Buddy advertising literature. In Museums Junque Mount Horeb, features, in addition to a collection of almost 5,000 prepared mustard jars, bottles and tubes from all 50 states and more than 60 countries, a selection of antique mustard pots and vintage mustard advertising.

Pez Located just south of San Francisco is the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia, which has an example of every Pez candy dispenser ever made 550 of them have been produced since 1950, from Bullwinkle to Bob the Builder, Mickey Mouse to Miss Piggy, plus the worlds largest Pez dispenser, standing 7 feet 10 inches and weighing 85 pounds. Yo-Yos Yes, yo-yos. The National Yo-Yo Museum in Chico, displays the collection formed by the family who ran the Duncan Yo-Yo Co. from 1928 to 1965. It was Donald F.

Duncan who bought the right to market the toy in America from Pedro Flores, a Filipino who had introduced it here a few years earlier. The museum displays advertising and marketing material used to popularize the yo-yo, as well as many unusual examples. Linda Rosenkrantz is a Copley News Service columnist. and vintage buttons on a rotating basis. Some of the featured categories are mosaic buttons, art nouveau buttons, opera and storybook buttons, military and political buttons, pottery, black and iridized glass, Kate Greenaway and Beatrix Potter buttons, and advertising examples.

Combs The Miller Comb Museum in Homer, Alaska, (a little off the beaten track), has one of the largest collections of ornamental hair combs and other related accessories, at least 3,800 items dating from 300 B.C. to 1940. The fascinatingly eclectic assemblage was formed by Ralph and Betty Miller. Funerabilia The National Museum of Funeral History in Houston makes an appeal to our more morbid instincts. Here you will find such funereal vehicles as horse-drawn carriages and sleighs and an ornate Japanese hearse, dioramas of mourning apparel and an early embalming room complete with instruments.

Oddities include a casket built for three (must be an interesting story there), a glass coffin and a fantasy coffin in the shape of a KLM jumbo jet. Mustard memorabilia The Mustard Museum of Continued from B5 and artistic significance of beads and related artifacts. Its permanent exhibition presents a timeline of original examples from the prehistoric to the contemporary, the oldest of which are the ostrich eggshells, found in the Rift Valley of Kenya, dating back almost 40,000 years. Beer and soda cans The Museum of Beverage Containers and Advertising in Millersville, holds a vast collection of more than 3,600 cans and 9,000 bottles, as well as promotional items from trays to match covers, bringing the total to about 250,000 objects. Started by the father-son team of Paul and Tom Bates, it includes such rarities as camouflaged beer cans sent to U.S.

troops during World War II. Buttons The Keep Homestead Museum in Monson, displays its large collection of antique RIVERSIDE CLUB 730 Strawberry Lancaster Friday, August 10 Dizzy Lyzards Bands Play 8-12pm Friday Night Specials Salmon Cakes Chicken Pot Pie www.riversideassn.org matching bowls from my grandmother. They are decorated with pale pink peonies and green leaves. Marked on the bottom of each dish are a star and the letters RIS" in a wreath above the words Germany" and Hand Painted. What can you tell me about my dishes and especially their use? A.

You have a berry set, the large bowl is for serving and the smaller ones are individual bowls. Look again at the mark. What appears to be an I is actually a branch that is part of the wreath. The letters represent Reinhold Schlegelmilch. His porcelain factory was located in Tillow-itz, Germany, from 1914 to 1945.

The value of your berry set would probably be $800 to $900. Book review The Official Price Guide to Continued from B5 of porcelain from Japan. Nippon porcelain pieces are very desirable antiques. Your set would probably be worth $400 to $700. Q.

I have a sterling silver coffee service that was given to me approximately 60 years ago. The set consists of a coffeepot, cream pitcher, sugar bowl and tray. It was made by Reed and Barton. I would appreciate anything you can tell me about my set. A.

Reed and Barton has made silver hollowware in Taunton, since 1840. Similar coffee services are in the range of $1,000 to $1,500. Q. I inherited a porcelainfooted bowl with 10 smaller Football Cards 2007 by James Beckett is the most comprehensive, accurate and current price guide on the market. Becketts 26th edition is teeming with valuable information on the history of football cards, how to buy, sell and care for them.

This trusted guide covers more than 125,000 full sets and individual cards, information on more than 40 card companies, and hundreds of photos for easy identification. This guide will help collectors kick off the fall football season with a great game plan for building and maintaining their winning collection. Published by House of Collectibles, it is available at bookstores for $8. Anne McCollam is a Copley News Service columnist. Send questions to: P.O.

Box 247, Notre Dame, IN 46556. Items of a general interest will be answered in this column. Letters cannot be answered personally. bkklliiliiljiluky King Buffet Chinese Buffet jh 1 TIL! -Music From 70s to Todays Hits Saturdays 9-2 tADIESSPEOIAL NIGHT CLUB COME FEEL THE ENERGY mm $1 OFF Per Adult i 5(K Off per child; (under 1 2 yrs. old) i With this coupon.

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