While a child’s smile may be priceless, the toys that spark it certainly aren’t, especially when they sell for six figures. In the case of Antique Toys from the Personal Collection of the Late Tom Sage Sr, the toys are more for adults, especially if you learn of the price tags. Morphy Auctions sold a 295-lot of toys for a whopping $2.6 million. The variety, both European and American, was collected over fifty years by Sage, an Allentown, Pennsylvania native. What’s incredible was the toy that garnered the top spot as the highest-valued toy, going for $156,000.
If you look closely at the 1904 Ferris Wheel made by the revered German firm Marklin, it is less toy and more object d’art. An intricate, imaginative, and well-executed example, it is one of only three or four known to exist, perhaps the only one that still boasts the nicest details and flaunts all six original gondolas, attractive stained glass, and original figures.
“It had passed down through the family of a gentleman who worked for a Brooklyn department store and had received the toy when the business closed down sometime before World War I. Its auction ride concluded at a buoyant $156,000.”
The item features 11 tiny figures dressed formally in finery enjoying the ride aboard the 17″ x 8 1/2″ x 20 1/2″ Ferris Wheel. Detailed to perfection, the women appear in flowing pastel gowns with delicate detailing, while their companions don dapper suits and polished top hats, capturing a miniature world of elegance. Other clockwork-powered Marklin toys like a boat and a detailed Marklin limousine also did well at the auction, going for $79,950 and $72,000, respectively. Morphy’s will auction Part II of the Tom Sage Sr Collection of Antique European and American Toys on October 30 at the company’s flagship gallery in Denver, Pennsylvania.
