Morphy's auction house is well known for its sales of antique toys advertising and their first auction of 2012 looks to be a humdinger with more than 2,000 lots of toys, trains, rare comics and advertising are all lined up for a February 9-11 appearance.
The auctioneer will be continuing what was started with a flourish in December as the second part of an amazing advertising figures collection goes under the hammer with around 100 lots of figures produced from the 1920s to 1950s on the march.
"There's a tremendous variety," said Morphy Auctions associate Mike Karberg. "Any product you can imagine is included, from alcoholic beverages and sporting goods to clothing, food and consumer goods."
Figural cast iron lots are always popular, and the Saturday session is offering dozens of them from doorknockers and paperweights to bottle openers.
 Leap, swing or crawl to Morphy's to get your hands on Amazing Spider-man #1 |
It's the cast-iron mechanical banks which are most coveted, however and in this case the section is led by a Perfection Registering bank that has Morphy's CEO Dan Morphy quite excited:
"One of the nicest examples I've ever seen." he enthused. The piece is estimated at $25,000-$35,000. Another charming mechanical is a Santa at the Chimney which is in great condition.
However, what many collectors will be looking forward to is the much trailed debut of Morphy's new Comic Books division (overseen by Brian Schutzer and Pittsburgh's legendary Sparkle City Comics).
It's unlikely to be a damp squib: A whole original-owner collection of 250 desirable comics will be offered, including a 1963 X-Men No. 1 and a 1963 Tales of Suspense No. 39 featuring the first appearance of Iron Man.
Then there's the wallcrawler himself… a 1963 The Amazing Spider-Man No. 1, CGC-graded in 8.5 condition, is expected to realise $25,000-$30,000.
The auction takes place in Pennsylvania.
