Elmer’s Auto & Toy Museum Fabled Toy Collection Heads to Auction

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio—The legendary collection of toys from Elmer’s Auto & Toy Museum, Fountain City, Wis., heads to auction Saturday, Oct. 28, at Milestone Auctions. The event is the first in a multi-year series of quarterly sales of thousands of toys that enchanted museum visitors for nearly 30 years.

Elmer and Bernadette Duellman were married for 56 years and amassed one of the
greatest auto and toy collections in the world. Elmer passed away in 2019.
Image courtesy of the Duellman family

Elmer and Bernadette Duellman started Elmer’s Auto & Toy Museum in 1994. It quickly grew into one of the most impressive and sprawling collections of cars, motorcycles, pedal cars, bicycles, signs, and toys in the world. In the fall of 2022, Mecum Auctions handled the sale of the museum’s vast collection of prized cars, a sale that realized $8.5 million.

“We feel honored to be chosen by the Duellman family to represent Elmer’s incomparable collection,” Miles King, co-founder of Milestone Auctions, said. “We know the toy community is going to love what’s coming in each successive sale.”

Rare Tonka #210 Road Builders Set. Estimate: $6,000-$10,000.
Photo courtesy of Milestone Auctions

“It’s impossible to describe how comprehensive Elmer’s collection is. He had a head start on all of us,” King said. “As far back as the 1980s, Elmer was buying and selling at a rapid pace and had a small army of pickers from coast to coast who were always on the lookout for items of interest.”

Duellman was also known for his encyclopedic knowledge of toys. He authored two volumes of the now-classic Elmer’s Price Guide to Toys and contributed significantly to Volumes 1 through 5 of the Evolution of the Pedal Car and Other Riding Toys.

I.Y. Japan tin friction Condor Motor Cycle, 12in long, all original
and complete with rare original pictorial box. Estimate: $2,000-$4,000
Photo courtesy of Milestone Auctions

“Dad collected a lot of pressed steel toys and a lot of tin—Japanese, German, and American—and car-racing memorabilia and board games,” plus tether racers, Dinky Toys, TootsieToys, and ride-on toys,” said Les Duellman, the oldest of Elmer and Bernadette Duellman’s six children. “He always sought out original condition and original boxes because he knew that’s what really made the piece. He also liked boxed sets that were complete with all of their parts present, as well as ships, airplanes, and car and car-racing memorabilia and board games.”

Alps Japan tin friction Lincoln Futura, with original box. Estimate: $2,500-$3,500.
Photo courtesy of Milestone Auctions

The initial 818-lot auction begins at 10 a.m. EST, Saturday, Oct. 28. You can preview the sale at the auction gallery, 38198 Willoughby Parkway, Willoughby, Ohio, during the week prior to the auction, and from 8-10 a.m. the day of the event. Bidding is live at the gallery, absentee, or live online through HiBid (via Milestone’s website), LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, or AuctionZip.

For more information or to preview the auction catalog, go to Milestoneauctions.com or call 440-527-8060.

Other highlights from the auction include:

Original Buddy ‘L’ International Harvester ‘Red Baby’ express truck, pressed steel, 24 in. long.
Excellent condition. Originally available only through International Harvester dealers, in
very limited numbers. Estimate: $3,000-$5,000.
Photo courtesy of Milestone Auctions

American National Packard Roadster pedal car, 29 in. long, beautifully restored
with the dash in original condition. Estimate: $2,000-$4,000.
Photo courtesy of Milestone Auctions

Bremer Whirlwind tether gas-powered race car. All original as-raced condition.
Complete with motor, ignition, gas tank, and drive system. Estimate: $1,000-$1,500
Photo courtesy of Milestone Auctions

Metalcraft Airmail Toy Airplane with an electric motor that spins the propeller, with rare original box.
Nicest example Milestone’s toy experts have seen. Estimate: $2,000-$3,000.
Photo courtesy of Milestone Auctions

Rare I.Y. Japan tin friction Romance motorcycle, known to collectors as the ‘large blue version.’
Twelve inches long. Excellent condition. Estimate: $2,000-$3,000.
Photo courtesy of Milestone Auctions

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Elmer’s Auto and Toy Museum Closing in September

The Story Behind the Fabulous Elmer’s Auto & Toy Museum

Top Five Toy / Children’s Collectibles That Bring Big Bucks (Hint: One Comic Book is $375,000)

Toys are all fun and games … and can be pricey, especially when it comes to collecting. Nostalgia buying is always big as collectors try to recreate (or enjoy!) their childhood with adult money. Certain toys are more valuable than others. Higher prices often relate to several factors: rarity, condition, popularity and movies. We’ve seen toys and books that relate to movies, including Marvel comic books and the Harry Potter series; others toys are popular completely on their own. Those include Barbie dolls and tin robots. Here are some recent examples.

Vintage Barbies.  A 1959 blonde Barbie, wearing a black and white swimsuit and high heels, sold for $27,450. You can tell if yours is a first edition model by checking for holes in the bottom of her feet — the second edition had solid feet.

First Edition of children’s books.  When movies-meet-literature-meets pop culture: A 1997 first edition of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” with some errors and signed by author J.K. Rowling, was sold in a private sale at Christie’s in London, on June 6. Starting price was $250,000. Another first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” sold for $471,000 in the United States in December 2021. It was a world record price for a 20th-century work of fiction. Only 500 hard copies of the book were printed initially.

Metal robots. Battery-operated mechanical robots made in Japan, Germany and the United States became popular after World War II. Almost all were made of plastic and metal. A Japanese-made Machine Man Robot (pictured), one of the rare “Gang of Five” robot series by Masudaya, sold in 2022 for $72,000. In 2021, a tin Bandai Flying Spaceman sold for $55,200.

Marvel Comics. If you managed to save your comic book collection from being thrown away by your mother, look at it very carefully. See if you have The Incredible Hulk #1. If you do, it could be worth about $375,000. The comic isn’t that rare, but ones in good condition are few and far between. If you have The Incredible Hulk #1 without faded colors, you have a very rare comic from 1962.

Star Wars toys. Star Wars movies and its related toys and books have been popular since the 1970s. Some items are more valuable and collectible than others. Check your collection for a Boba Fett L-slot rocket-firing prototype. It sold in June 2022 for a record-setting $236,000. The 3.75-inch figure prototype was pulled from Kenner’s 1979 Star Wars toy line when the rocket-firing aspect was revealed as a choking hazard.