Though toy airplanes are less commonly collected than other transportation toys, bidders worldwide were so enthusiastic about the two dozen offered at Milestone Auction’s Premier Schuco Toy Sale & More on Aug. 24 that they helped them soar thousands above their estimates.
The pre-World War II toy planes were part of the phenomenal legacy collection of lifelong toy enthusiast Winton “Wint” Johnson (1937-2022) of Minnesota. The 639 lots offered featured rare and desirable toys from around the world and one of the most complete German Schuco collections to come to market in years. In addition to airplanes, Johnson’s collection also included boats, cars, duck decoys, plush figures, prototypes, and more.
Planes flew high at the sale, snagging five of the top 10 lots sold, including the top three, and consistently smashed pre-sale estimates. The auction star was a French tin windup Hispano-Suiza “900” seaplane that sold for $9,225 against an estimate of $400 to $600. All original, the plane is finished in red, yellow, and French blue and has lithographed windowpanes.
Early toy aircraft appeared in the 1900s and were made of frail tinplate—sheet steel laminated with tin, soldered together, and painted. Others had wire frame wings covered with cloth. Innovative toy makers eventually began attaching tinplate components with tabs and slots, and lithographed printing replaced hand painting.
Though toy makers used artistic license to make their products appealing to consumers, even fanciful toy airplanes mirrored reality. The earliest examples were based on famous prototypes, like those of American aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright and French aviator Louis Blériot.
Designs changed with the times. Some aircraft in the 1920s were clunky, but the cast iron and pressed steel replicas from that decade were elegant and simple; 1930s models were streamlined.
New pre-war tin airplanes and other toys appeared on the market from Germany and Japan. Two German planes rounded out the top three lots: a scarce, all-original tin windup pontoon seaplane by Fleischmann landed at $7,072 (against a presale estimate of $2,000-$3,000), and a tin windup flapping wing seaplane with professionally added pontoons brought $6,600 ($300-$500 estimate).
By the 1930s, toy companies produced a variety of planes in all sizes. Nearly all of them were equipped with key-wound spring motors that let them travel on a smooth surface or in a circle when suspended from the ceiling. Some examples featured battery-operated navigation lights.
Some of the companies that produced tin toy planes popular with collectors were Alps Shoji, Arnold, Bandai, Gunthermann, Joustra, Lehmann, Marklin, Marx, Masudaya, Mettoy, Momoya, Rico, Schuco, Tipp Co, and Yonezawa.
Japanese tin windup Zero seaplane, original condition, with a photocopy of original Japanese-language box art, 13 in., $3,698.
Other top sellers were an unusual Japanese tin bi-wing friction seaplane with the distinctive green and red shades typical of Japanese toys of the 1930s, which commanded $4,674 ($300-$500 estimate); an all-original cream, red, and black Gunthermann lithographed tin windup “1212” airplane with a set of added float pontoons that fetched $2,952 ($600- $800 estimate); and another Japanese rarity: a tin windup Zero seaplane in all-original condition and accompanied by a photocopy of the toy’s original Japanese-language box art that sold for $3,698—more than seven times the high estimate.
Original Gunthermann lithographed tin windup “1212” airplane, 20 in., $2,952
For more auction results, visit the Milestone Auctions website.
All photos are courtesy of Milestone Auctions.
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