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RANDY INMAN'S "CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY" ADVERTISING & TOY AUCTION

(with photos)

By Dick Friz

HATFIELD, PA. -- Randy Inman's "Christmas Comes Early" sale at Alderfer's

Auction Center was not unlike the Christmas morn gift-opening ritual in real

life.

While the crowd responded with gusto to any number of pleasant surprises in

the two-day, 850-lot event, Santa's list also contained a few "lumps of coal"

-- entries with less-than-perfect condition or overly ambitious reserves --

which were relegated to the "returns" department.

Many of the pleasant surprises were clustered among Friday's Session I

comprising 384 lots devoted to vintage advertising musical and gaming devices.

The sale's superstar proved to be a Callie Centaur 5› and 25› double upright

slot machine, in a handsome oak case and with original castings, which enjoyed

a $29,700 payoff. Another Callie beauty, a table model 1› "Play Ball" slot,

featured a large embossed baseball on the front and two old-time baseball

players in its framed window. It went like a McGwire cannon shot to $8,800.

Two superbly embellished, late Nineteenth Century music boxes also set a mean

tempo. There were plenty of customers shopping for a Polyfoam Mechanical unit

with costumed monkey figures dancing on its glass-fronted stage. It sold to

the tune of $7,810. A double-cone Regina mahogany box, with serpentine case

and six disks, in fine working order, resonated at more than two times its

estimate to reach $15,400.

On a more contemporary note, a classic Wurlitzer Model 850 "Peacock" did

itself proud at $15,400.

Soda fountain and other related confections made a big splash at Inman's. A

large, seven-foot, colorful die-cut cardboard Coca-Cola floral advertising

display, featuring three "Gay `90s" lovelies with parasols, brought $8,800.

Hires Root Beer dispensers have proven to be a real turn-on in recent

auctions. This time, a Hires Munimaker with milk glass globe, imprinted "Drink

Hires -- It's Pure" above its chrome spigot, attached to a marble vase, topped

off at $7,700. A Coles Mfg., Philadelphia, large, late-Nineteenth Century

cast-iron, double-wheeled malted mixer, with two eagle finial-topped metal

covered glasses, set off good vibes at $6,600.

Two exemplary tin display signs were a major crowd diversion: a 1910 vintage

Allen's Red Tame Cherry die-cut display of a young boy and girl sampling the

beverage, almost two feet high, sold at $12,100. A Nobility Chocolates

die-cut, tin, stand-up display of a gentleman and lady in an open roadster,

with a large, ribboned red box of candy in foreground, sweetened the ante at

$1,980, over three times its high estimate.

Meanwhile, those pesky "Three R's" -- rust, repaint and restoration --

resulted in fitful bidding and a 16 percent buy-in ratio, primarily affecting

high-end entries in session I.

Session II's ensuing 469 lots of toys, trains and banks were off in an early

burst of overdrive with a trio of brawny Metalcraft pressed steel advertising

trucks. A "Lily of the Valley Coffee" wrecker perked up at $1,265; cruising

by, a "Rain Proof Finish" van reached $1,980; and a "Kroger Food Express"

delivered at $1,650.

Cast-iron mechanical banks were in short supply but several were choice.

Excelling at $9,020, a "Panorama" Bank by James Butler, with paper pictures on

a revolving drum popping up into a viewing window, had instant crowd appeal.

An "Indian and Bear" by J&E Stevens was bagged at $5,280, and the more common,

but ever-popular "Spise The Mule," also Stevens, kicked up $3,410.

The more doggedly pursued of the transportation toys also included a spiffy

pressed steel Keystone single-engine "Rapid-Fire Air Mail Plane," circa 1930s,

enhanced by a tiny canvas mail sack containing 15 Boston mini-postcards. It

took off to $1,760. Another winner, a sleek cobalt blue Bardahl Special #80

LaMotta Indy racer, lit the after-burners to $1,100.

The comic toy faithful had plenty to choose from, although condition again was

an inhibitor and the days of bidder "feeding frenzy" in this category are long

past. A "Popeye Acrobat" by Linemar, on rocking base, proved "near mint" and

should have gone higher than its final $2,090 for what was an elusive and

ingenuous example.

Another 1950s Linemar favorite, "Goofy on Trike," added $990, but a 1939 Louis

Marx "Porky Pig," with original box (est $750/1,000) passed. One observer

quipped that this was another sign of the volatility of pork futures.

Prices quoted include a ten percent buyers premium.