It’s V for victory – and Victory Industries – as a cavalcade of toy vehicles made by this highly-regarded manufacturer have rolled into our July Toy Auction.
Toy sales are going from strength to strength, so much so Hansons is launching new Toy Nostalgia Auctions at our Staffordshire saleroom, Bishton Hall. These will run alongside our successful Derbyshire toy sales.
Right now, my toy team at Etwall Auction Centre, David Wilson-Turner and Steve Fulford, couldn’t be busier. They’re cataloguing everything from a lifetime collection of 100 Victory Industries vehicles to a Victorian carousel horse and Pokémon cards worth tens of thousands of pounds.
That sums up how diverse this collectors’ market is – and why it will thrive forever. Just like the music memorabilia market, it changes with each generation and is heavily fuelled by nostalgia. People reach an age when they look back and like to invest in things that delivered joy in their youth.
And that first nostalgia-packed purchase is often the first of many. Consequently, we occasionally see large single-owner toy collections or inherited collections, as is the case with the Victory Industries feast of toys.
The seller of this huge collection – valued at £5,000-£7,000 – is a descendant of a founding member of the Victory Industries Ltd company. Already more than 80 lots have been catalogued and there’s more to do. In fact, this collection is so large it’s being split between our July 22 and September 30 toy sales.It features battery-operated and slot cars as well as remote-control vehicles. Star items include two Victors Vigor Tractors.
Victory Industries Ltd was started by William Warren and Gerald Burgoyne in Guildford in 1949. They were one of the few early British plastic toy companies whose models won respect for their accuracy.
In 1950 Victory were commissioned to manufacture a large-scale model of a Morris Minor for car dealers to display as a promotional model. This project sparked a new path for Victory which went on to produce similar models of the Vauxhall Velox and Austin A40 Somerset.
When it came to toys, Victory forged a middle ground between expensive, one-off promotional models produced by companies such as Bassett-Lowke and small, mass-produced diecast models manufactured by the likes of Dinky.
Victory made models of the MG TF, the Leyland Comet truck, Hillman Minx, Standard Ten, Triumph TR2 and MG MGA, Hillman Minx and Fast 7 mobile cranes. In 1957 they produced a slot-car system similar to Scalextric and in 1958 they entered a distribution arrangement with Trix, which made 00-gauge model railways and metal construction sets. Sadly, Victory Industries closed in 1969 but their toys live on in our saleroom.
Another item in our July 22 Toy Auction which illustrates the UK’s rich toy and leisure heritage is a stunning carousel horse, possibly Victorian.Named Jock, it features original paintwork and horse-hair tail with a later twist-and-pull pole, estimate £1,500-£2,000. Work is ongoing to discover its maker but the item is believed to be late 19th century.
Fast forward 100 years and a find in our July sale could potentially net its owner more than £30,000.The seller came across some rare sealed Pokémon card sets bought for £30 each 20 years ago. The collection, which has an overall top estimate of £36,000, was discovered in a box under the stairs during a house move.
The owner had completely forgotten about the items, which included a sealed Pokémon Fossil first edition Booster Box released in 2000 containing 36 unopened packs, estimate £11,000-£12,000. He also uncovered a 2001 sealed Pokémon Neo Discovery Unlimited Booster Box filled with 36 unopened packs, estimate £10,000-£12,000. Both sealed boxes, imported from America, are extremely rare, particularly in their original sealed state.
As if that wasn’t enough, he also had a sealed 1999 Pokémon Fossil Unlimited Booster Box with 36 unopened card packs, estimate £8,500-£9,500, and a complete set of 1998 Japanese Pokémon CD promotion cards including holographic Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, Snorlax and Porygon, £2,000-£2,500.
The older generation may be astonished by these prices but Pokémon has been on a high in the collectables market for at least five years and prices have been steadily increasing. Wealthy 20- or 30-somethings like to collect these cards and hammer prices have been jaw-dropping.
The tremendous growth in the toy collectables market, which encompasses everything from dolls, teddies and trains to gaming consoles, has led me to expand our specialist toy auctions at our Staffordshire saleroom, Bishton Hall.
Its first Country House Toy Nostalgia Auction will take place on July 10 with more to follow. These sales will be led by new recruit, toy expert Mark Holder.
Meanwhile, a full schedule of toy sales will continue at Hansons’ Auction Centre in Heage Lane, Etwall. The next one is on July 22 and entries are invited until July 9.
To arrange a free valuation email: [email protected]
