Space Toys Rocket to Record at Milestone Auctions
A Mars Explorer space car helped send a Milestone Auctions event out of this world with nearly $1.3 million in sales during the 723-lot offering of antique and vintage toys in January. The toy sale was a record for the Willoughby, Ohio, auction house.
Top lot: An all-original and complete Exelo battery-operated Mars Explorer space car complete with pictorial box depicting a Martian landscape: $42,120.
Image courtesy of Milestone Auctions
The all-original and complete Exelo (Japan) battery-operated Mars Explorer space car that had been estimated at a very respectable $12,000-$15,000, but it ended up blazing a Red Planet trail to $42,120. Looking a bit like a 1950s-1960s “car of the future” and manned by two astronaut passengers, the two-tone green tin vehicle was emblazoned with MARS on its sides and came with its complete and colorful pictorial box depicting a Martian landscape.
Both the exotically styled toy and its super-graphic box manifest a world of space travel as originally visualized by 20th-century Japanese artists. The amusing, sometimes bizarre, fantasies incorporated into the designs from that period in Japan are what make post-WWII Japanese space toys so irresistible.
Yonezawa tin friction Atom Racer #27, deluxe version of desirable Futuristic Racer, all original and complete: $9,000.
Image courtesy of Milestone Auctions
“So much imagination went into the design of mid-20th century Japanese toys,” said Miles King, co-owner of Milestone Auctions. “You can get lost studying the art. On the Mars Explorer box alone, you might ask yourself who’s inside the flying saucer that landed in the clearing, who fired the primitive rocket that’s whizzing past in the sky, who paved the road on which the space car is traveling, and how much does a gallon of gas cost on Mars? There’s a lot going on, and that’s what makes it such a great toy.”
Yonezawa windup Diamond Planet Robot, rare variation with blue body and red arms and ears: $34,440.
Image courtesy of Milestone Auctions
The top-selling robot was a fantastic 10-inch Yonezawa (Japan) windup Diamond Planet Robot, a rare variation of the largest tin robot ever made, with a silvery-blue body and red arms and ears. All original and complete with its distinctive googly eyes, an “oxygen meter” and large windup key, it sold for $34,440 against an estimate of $20,000-$30,000. “Only a few Diamond Planets in this color variation have ever come to market. We knew there would be competition,” King said.
Marx Flash Gordon Signal Pistol, rare light blue, original, in working order, original box: $8,775.
Image courtesy of Milestone Auctions
International competitors were keen on other types of space-theme pieces as well, like a Marx Flash Gordon Signal Pistol in a rare baby-blue color. All original and appearing as though it had never been played with, the early iteration of what a space explorer’s weapon might look like was also accompanied by its vibrant original box which bore the tagline “The Screaming Flashing Signal Gun.” It sold for $8,775 against an estimate of $3,000-$4,000.
All prices quoted include a 20% buyer’s premium.
Full auction results can be found HERE.
