For Sale the the Highest Bidder: The History of Space

For anyone interested in our various, early sojourns up into the deep, dark sky, check out the online auction catalogue for Bonham's Space History Sale. It features letters and autographs from astronauts and other luminaries; models of early space craft (!); blueprints and technical drawings; and tons of promotional artwork and photographs. There are even -- hold on to your hats -- pieces of equipment from the various ships and missions that were part of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. Yes, you can own really cool, historic stuff that went into space.

All artwork via Bonham's

You know, I love space toys, but I also love memorabilia from the days of the actual space race. It was a time when fantasy was transformed into reality, when people moved from ray guns and flying saucers to approach vectors and landing procedures for visiting the moon.

The moon!

An amazing auction. Now, I'm sorry, I'm getting a little choked up...

Interview: Smith House Toys' Craig Thompson

With the Smith House Toys auction of Alan "Mr. Mint" Rosen's robot collection ending tomorrow night, I thought now would be a good time to present an interview I recently conducted with Smith House owner Craig Thompson. It's an intriguing, behind-the-scenes look at how a rather unique auction company operates. It also demonstrates how it's possible to turn a love for the hobby of toy collecting into a thriving family business, one that's survived multiple owners, a changing market, and cutthroat competition.

DOC ATOMIC So, right now, are you surrounded by Alan Rosen's toys?

CRAIG THOMPSON No, I've got the toys in a storage unit.

You're not sitting in a fantasy room surrounded by the greatest robots ever?

[Laughs] Nope, sorry!

Before we talk about the nuts and bolts of running an auction, how about some history? Smith House was originally started by Herb and Barbara Smith in 1986, and I know they were one of the first couple mail-order auction catalog companies. How did you get involved, and when did you end up buying the company?

I'd been involved with the hobby since the early Eighties, as a collector and a dealer. I met Herb in the mid Nineties, and had bought a few things from him. Then, when I was doing some toy shows, he'd come up to me and be like, "Craig, you should consider consigning. I do way better than other guys." He finally talked me into it, and I sent him a few things for three or four auctions in a row -- and they all did fabulously! From then on, I started consigning pretty regularly.

We kept the relationship going, and other friends of mine, including my former business partner Dave Hendrickson, did very well, too. A year or so later, in 2003, Herb approached me and Dave and asked if we wanted to buy the company because he wanted to retire.

Did this take you by surprise?

It's funny, Dave and I had contemplated any number of times opening a similar auction. So it was a weird coincidence when the opportunity came up. We said, "Why not? Let's try it!"

And then eventually I bought out Dave, and now I run the company.

So how did the Alan Rosen collection come together?

I've known Alan for, oh God, I guess I met him the year I bought the business from Herb. Alan and I struck up a friendship and maintained contact since then. He's been a regular consigner since I've been involved in the business, selling off duplicates and extra toys.

Last year, when the economic... "swoon," shall we say, settled in, he decided it was finally time to sell. It was obviously a great opportunity for Smith House. At its height, before he started to sell off bits and pieces, Alan's collection was probably one of the top 10 collections in the world. Robots -- there just weren't a lot of holes. He started buying space toys because he couldn't find robots he didn't already have!

What's involved in a sale like this? Can you walk us through the preparation process?

Well, I bring stuff here to my home, I unpack everything, organize it, figure out a rough order for it to appear in the catalog, and then write the descriptions and take the photos. Getting through all that -- we're talking 435 lots, and maybe 450 or 460 toys total -- takes me about 90 days. Three months of 60, 70 hour weeks.

Three months of getting to mess around with toys.

Yep! [Laughs]

Part of this stage involves setting starting prices and, in the case of some auctions, establishing estimates. Can you talk a little about how that all works?

Well, one area where I differ from other auction companies is that I don't put estimates anywhere. There's a starting bid and that's it. To establish that price, I do research on the toy to see how much I've sold it for in the past, or how much it's sold for elsewhere.

Unless it's something ultra rare, I'll take an average of what I think it'll sell for and then set it back 30-60 percent. I base that on rarity, condition, the condition of the box if it's there, and how much interest I think there's going to be in it. This, then, establishes that opening bid.

Now, if a toy is worth $1000, why not just start it at $800 or something?

Obviously, you want as much activity as possible. Taking a robot that's worth $1000 and starting it at $800 or $900, you'll take away 80-90 percent of the activity the item might get. If that toy's worth $1000 and I open the bidding at $400, yeah, it might sell for $400 or $600. But it might also sell for $1000 or $1200 dollars if it's a pristine example and two people want it.

It's about going for that emotional attachment, right?

Yeah, and we've all done it. If there's something you want, you've spent five years searching for it, and now you've spent two weeks following it, you're not going to let it go for $50 or $100. Five years from now, are you going to remember you spent an extra $100 for it, or are you going to look at it and admire it as it sits on a shelf in your collection?

Now, you mentioned that you don't use estimates.

No, I don't. So many places put ridiculously low estimates on their toys, and then they advertise afterwards that the toy brought three times the estimate. Well, anyone who's got any brains in their head at all will look at the original estimate and see that it's ridiculous to start with.

It's a marketing tool?

Absolutely. I can't tell you how many times I've seen an estimate for, I don't know, $1200 and I know the toy is going to bring $4000. Later, they'll say it sold for three times the estimate, and that looks impressive to the people who aren't in the industry. It's false advertising, as far as I'm concerned.

That's not the only difference between Smith House and other auction companies. For one thing, you allow bidding via the internet and phone, but there's no live auction component. Why's it set up this way?

It's been like this since the beginning when the auction company's original owner, Herb Smith, was running things. And actually, he did very little with the internet, he was pretty much just phone bids.

My feeling is, if it's not broken, don't fix it. The auction company's working well this way. It also keeps the price down to not have a live component, of course. I mean, if a consigner wanted to do it and it was the right consigner, I guess I'd do the auction live. It would have to justify all the extra time and expense. Frankly, I don't know if the results would be any better, and they might even be worse!

Another interesting component of the Smith House auctions has to do with its ending time. Starting at 11 p.m., the entire auction remains open for 15 minutes until no lots receive any bids within that time. Can you tell me how this came about?

It was in place when I bought the business, and it worked really well. As far as the structure, and the way I end the auction, there are any number of benefits, depending on your point of view.

Let's say you have 10 items you're interested in as a bidder. You have X amount of dollars to spend in the auction. If you let the first four or five pieces go by because the ones you're most interested in are at the end of the auction, you risk getting to those items and then losing the actual auction. Now, in this situation, can you look at the items that have already ended and then go rebid on them? No, you can't.

Well, in a Smith House auction, you can do just that.

I know I've been in situations where there were a dozen things I wanted, but the priorities were at the end of the sale. I let the others go, and then ended up losing the two items I really wanted. In that case, I would have gladly gone back to bid on those earlier items if I'd been able, and that would have made them close at substantially higher prices.

And that's how it benefits the consigner, right?

Yes, it maximizes the results. If I'm a bidder, I go back and bid on those earlier items, and it's going to raise those individual results. The consigner stands to make much more money.

Is there any dark side to this process?

[Laughs] Yes, that I have to stay awake until the whole thing ends!

You had a preview of the toys in the Lesser auction, but haven't done so with the Rosen sale. Given how many top-notch toys are available this time around, I'd have thought you might do one. Why not?

That was an experiment, and when combined with the Botstock event of that year, I figured it was worth giving it a try. Alan and I talked about it this time around and with the extra expense involved, he was kind of luke warm about it.

Also, this auction wasn't supposed to be until the end of November, and my plan was to perhaps showcase some of the toys at the Allentown Toy Show. But with the recent addition to the market of the Morphy auction, I was forced to move this sale up. So that preview idea became impossible.

Do you think the preview at the Lesser sale affected the final prices?

I don't want to say it was a failure, but I don't think it added anything to the results. It was a nice event, and it was great seeing everything displayed in one place, but I was disappointed at the interest level. I had a couple guys come in from overseas, but for the most part, it was just the collectors from Botstock.

Your online catalog features a lot of photos, anyway. I've found it to be a pretty good gauge of the toy's condition.

I take multiple photos of everything, yeah. And most of the people who deal with Smith House know how tough I try to be with my condition ratings. My consigners complain all the time that I rate stuff too difficultly!

One of the big complaints that people have about bidding on toys is the buyer's premium -- the fee imposed upon sellers by an auction company once a toy has sold. The argument is that, if a toy sells for $1000, why is there an additional cost attached to it simply because it's being bought at auction, and not at a store. Can you explain a bit about how premiums work, and the logic behind them?

There are several different ways to look at it. When you buy something from a store, the profit margin is already factored into it. Auctioneers, we charge the consigners a certain percentage, and that's what pays for the expenses of running the auction. And honestly, that doesn't leave much room for profit. Our costs include the ads, print mailers, and the catalogs -- it's not an inexpensive venture.

So adding the additional fee to the final sale price... I don't want to say it's "the industry norm," but that's kind of what it is. Every auction house operates very similarly. The percentages can be very different, depending on who you're dealing with, but it's generally how it works. There's a tremendous expense and time put into this. I often joke with my friends -- they'll ask, given how much time is involved, do I make any money? I say that, by the time I've added up all the printing costs and I've figured out the amount of hours I put in, I make about 23 cents an hour!

While I love the hobby, I'm not here to do this for free -- which a lot of people sometimes think I should do!

That said, buyer's premiums have risen a lot in the last 10 years, but I'm still probably the lowest in the business. If you pay with cash or check, my premiums are 13 percent.

You're a small company, as you said. How much of the work is done yourself, how much do you farm out?

I don't farm out anything. I do all the photography and descriptions for the catalogs, the layouts, everything. I once asked a local printer for an estimate for the layout, and it was $20,000. Add the printing costs and it was $40,000! So I'd rather do it myself. I also do all the shipping myself. I once tried hiring some people to help out, but it just didn't work well, it wasn't worth the headache.

Speaking of catalogues and cost... and I'm probably the only one to say this publicly... There are a whole lot of people out there who have the mentality that they deserve a free catalog. Honestly, if I looked at the amount of catalogs I sell compared the cost for how many I have to print, I don't think I'd be printing a catalog. It's a huge loss. Huge.

So why do you continue to do it?

Believe me, I've come close to stopping. But again, it's the industry norm. The day is coming sooner rather than later when I don't do it, except for really big, interesting auctions like Lesser's or Rosen's.

You only do two or three auctions a year, compared to some companies that do many more. Why is that?

I'm definitely pretty particular about what I'll accept and what I won't. I could do six auctions a year if I took everything that presented itself, but it'd be 20 percent nice stuff and 80 percent not nice stuff. I'd have to expand the business, rent office space, hire more staff -- I'm a small business, and I like the niche that I've got.

How would you describe that niche?

I do very well with certain toys, particularly the tin toys, whether they're robots or automotive or character toys or Japanese or American tin, there are very few guys who do as well with them as we do.

I'm not interested in being a Morphy of the world, handling guns and marbles and artwork and pottery and toys and furniture. I got into this business because I love the hobby and that's where I want to stay. Does that mean I pigeon-hole myself a bit? Yeah, probably.

Oh well! [Laughs]

You said that when you bought the company from Herb Smith, you were already buying and selling toys. Can you tell me a little bit about how you became involved in the hobby?

My dad got me involved when I was real young. He was a general antique dealer, and always handled toys whenever he could. One of his friends owned a hobby shop and got me a job there when I was 13, and it just grew from there.

I started going to different markets with my dad. Neither of us had three nickels to rub together, but at that point, you could go out to flea markets and many different areas and buy stuff and then be able to resell it in order to get more money to buy the toys you actually wanted to keep in your own collection.

It must have been nice to be able to connect with your dad in this way.

You know, it was. I was always a sports fanatic and I played a lot of sports in school. My dad didn't really have a lot of interest in that, but we shared an interest in the toy hobby. He wasn't a collector per se, it was more of a money making vehicle for him. But still, it was something we both enjoyed doing.

So what do you collect personally?

My tastes vary widely. My core is pre-war Japanese stuff. If I had the deep pockets to really collect,t hat's where my first love is and always has been. You know, I keep my display space limited on purpose -- if I buy something to put in the case, I have to take something out of the case!

Do you ever find yourself consigning stuff that you'd want to bid on?

Yeah, absolutely.

Is that something you're allowed to do? Or is there a rule saying that you can't bid on the things you sell?

No, I'm allowed to do it -- I bid just like everyone else. There's no advantage, especially because it's a computer-based bid system. But I still try not to do it, generally, because it's expensive! Also, unfortunately, I don't get a whole lot of pre-war Japanese toys.

Maybe that's for the best.

[Laughs] Yeah, maybe!

Over the years as an auctioneer, have you had any particular highlights?

You know, just doing this for a living, compared to working a "real job," is pretty cool. I still to this day see stuff that I've never seen before, and that's absolutely cool! It's part of the fun of doing this job in the first place.

Smith House Toy Auction Catalogue Posted Online

The online catalogue for Part 2 of the Smith House Toy & Auction Company sale of Alan "Mr. Mint" Rosen's collection of robots and space toys is now posted at www.smithhousetoys.com.

Image via Smith House Toy & Auction Company

Even if you don't plan on bidding, it's worth taking the time to page through the collection. These are some of the best toy robots ever produced, all in mint condition, and most with their original boxes. Smith House does an excellent job of the presenting the toys, using many large photos illustrating multiple angles and details.

The online auction runs until the 30th. It flips into overtime at 11 p.m., until everyone stops bidding for a full 15 minutes. To give you an idea of how long this can take, the auction of Robert Lesser's robots technically went into overtime at 11 p.m. but didn't actually end until about 11 a.m. the next morning. This is toy buying as an extreme sport!

STAY TUNED: Next week I'll be posting a special interview with the owner and proprietor of Smith House. You don't want to miss it!

Space Toys on eBay: A (Second) Round Up of Ended Auctions

Another look at some of the space toy auctions that caught my eye over the last few months. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and doesn't even touch on every great toy to pass through my watching page. These are just pieces worth taking a second glance at, surprising appearances that made me pause for a moment and utter a quiet, "Whoa."

As before, I'm intentionally leaving out information about the auctions themselves -- who was selling the toy, what it went for, etc. While it's public information, I still feel like I'd be stepping on other collectors' toes by including such details.

So... What was on eBay recently? Some juicy stuff indeed!

1. Diamond Planet Robot (Yonezawa, Early 1960s)

This is definitely one of the rarest robots to appear on eBay in a while -- hell, it's one of the rarest robots period. I know of maybe four or five others floating around out there (which isn't to say there aren't more, just that I don't know who owns them). Even in this rusty condition, it's still an amazing treasure. This large, wind-up tin robot was also available in red, and a there's a battery-operated prototype living somewhere in Japan. Seeing it pop up on eBay was a real thrill.

2. Domed Easel Back Robot (Linemar, Late 1950s)

An uncommon, battery operated robot with loads of litho and a great, funky, fish bowl helmet, the Domed Easel Back is one of my favorite toys. (One I'm proud to say I own, by the way -- look for a longer entry on it sometime soon.) It's most often missing that helmet, which is made of a thin, vacuum-formed plastic. This one's not only complete and minty, it comes with it's original box (not pictured because I'm a bit lazy). There are three other Easel Back Robots -- one other remote-controlled one, and two wind ups. This is definitely the rarest and most desirable of the lot.

3. Lilliput Robot (Unknown, 1938)

This is the first toy robot ever made. Boxy, primitive -- it's a beautiful piece that tops many collectors' wish lists (including my own). Needless to say, they're rare toys, though not as rare as one might think; they built 'em to last back then, I guess. There are actually two versions of the Lilliput Robot: One features a dial that's actually made from a separate piece of tin that's set inside the robot's chest, while the other has a dial that's simply stamped into the chest itself. This is an example of the former; I can't say which is rarer, but I know I like the two-piece version a bit more. That said... I'll take either one!

4. Martian Triple Shot Sky-Gun (Mercury Plastics, 1950s)

This is an uncommon gun that fires up to three propellors at once. Normally, it's found in red, and it's also been seen in black. Until now, I've never seen a blue one. (I'm an idiot for not bidding on it, and that's all I'll say on the matter...) The gun was also available with a design variation that includes fewer fin details. I've got both versions in red, one of which is mint-in-bag with a header card. Still, I should have snagged the blue one! Oh well, I'm sure it went to someone who appreciates it.

5. Robbie The Roving Robot (S.N.K., 1950s)

This is by far the rarest of a trio of robots made by S.N.K. that includes the wind up Sparkling Mike (seen here) and the battery operated Flashy Jim. While those other two pop up on eBay all the time, Robbie remains elusive. It differs from its brothers in a couple significant ways. Besides having different litho, it also uses a simple pin-walking mechanism similar to Atomic Robot Man (see here for more details).

Let's Make a Deal: Mighty Robot

Here's a story, kids. It's about the impossible becoming possible, the fantasy coming true, the stars aligning, and the deal of a century landing smack at your feet. Or someone's feet. Certainly not my feet, but that's okay.

Let's do this up right: Once upon a time, there was a toy robot. Its name was Mighty Robot, but its friends called it Racoon Robot on account of the markings around its eyes.

Recently, Might Robot made an appearance at an obscure auction house, where it sold for a measly $4,500. Jaws dropped, eyes bugged, and... Wait. What was that?

Yes, you heard me right. I said "measly."

Mighty Robot is one of those toys that lives in myth and legend. Only a handful are known to exist and they rarely come up for sale. Most conservative estimates price the toy at a whopping $12,000-$15,000. That's loose, by the way. When a box is include in the sale, as in the above auction... Well, the rule of thumb is that boxes double the price. However, rare boxes can drive the price up so much more. And this is definitely a rare box.

$4,500 is nothing to laugh at, especially in today's rotten economy, but it's still an absolute bargain for a toy that, even in today's rotten economy, can sell for as much as a car. And I'm talking about a real car, not a toy one. So I'll say it again: "It sold for a measly $4,500."

All of which makes me very happy. No, not because I'm the lucky owner of this particular Mighty robot. Let's face it, this isn't a toy I'm ever going to own, whether or not it's "on sale." (While reproductions exist, they're just not the same for me.) But we've all got dreams, we all hope that one day we'll score an incredible deal on a toy. It's a tough dream to keep alive, though, as we scour auctions and flea markets and yard sales and antique malls to no avail, and the bright light of optimism slowly dims to a mere flicker.

But don't despair! A collector out there (admittedly, with deeper pockets than I've got) said to himself, "Geez, imagine finding a Mighty Robot for under five grand. Wouldn't that be keen?"

Guess what? His tin toy dreams came true, why can't the rest of ours do the same?

So sweet dreams, kids, and happy collecting!

Space Toys on eBay: A Roundup of Ended Auctions

Ebay is a fantastic place to window shop, and you never know what sort of interesting toys will pop up. Even if I'm not looking to spend any money, I like to keep track of what's coming and going. Since I'm following these toys anyway, I figured I'd start posting some of the more interesting ones that pop up every few weeks. 

I'm intentionally leaving out information about the auctions themselves -- who was selling the toy, what it went for, etc. While it's public information, I still feel like I'd be stepping on other collectors' toes by including those details. So consider this just a heads up on some cool toys you might have missed. 

So... What was on eBay during the last few weeks? Lots of juicy stuff!

1. Pistola Spaziale (Samco, 1960s)

A rare toy released by an Italian company, the Pistola Spaziale is clearly based on the Dan Dare Cosmic Ray Gun. The company replaced the flashlight and reflector dish with a dart mechanism, and then included two darts based on the ones included with the Space Patrol (and Dan Dare) Rocket Dart Gun. While other companies -- all Italian -- have copied the Cosmic Ray Gun, Samco is the only one to use the actual gun. If you were to look closely at the toy, you'd see that it has all the same markings as the original -- including the words "Made in England!" How do you say "ballsy" in Italian?

2. Mechanical Robot (Unknown, 1960s)

This simple Japanese robot features a wind up mechanism that causes it to sort of shuffle/hop around. It's surprisingly uncommon, and is often missing the decal on its chest. Kind of goofy looking, yeah, but I really like it. 

3. Space Patrol Cosmic Smoke Gun (U.S. Plastics, 1952)

This large sized, red Space Patrol gun is really, really rare. Normally, this version of the toy is metallic green; red was used for a version that has a smaller barrel. Every once in a while, a small green one will appear, but in all my years of collecting, I've never seen a large red version of the gun. Fascinating. (Note: By large I mean about six inches... the small one is about four inches long. Just so we're all on the same page.)

4. Planet Robot (Yoshiya, 1958)

Generally, the metallic blue paint job was only used on the battery operated Planet Robots. This is an extremely rare wind up, metallic blue Planet Robot. To see it is to love it, which is unfortunate since this is only the fourth example I've ever seen, and the only one that actually appeared on eBay. Unrequited love is a painful, painful thing.

5. Water Pistol (Reliable, 1950s)

A rare water gun made by the Canadian company Reliable. I don't actually know much about this toy, except that whoever put it on eBay included a very affordable buy-it-now, and I stupidly took my time debating whether I wanted to shell out the money. The decision was made for me when someone else bought it. Someone smarter than me. (A friend of mine likes to say that buy-it-nows always seem much more reasonable after someone else has bought the toy. So it goes.)

6. Dan Dare Rocket Pistol (Merit, 1950s)

The British company Merit based their Dan Dare Rocket Pistol on U.S. Plastics' Space Patrol Rocket Dart Gun. Same basic mold, but using metallic colors. It's much less common than it's American counterpart, too, especially here in the States. I've got the rarer copper version (hah!), but I don't have the great box (grr!). Note the darts -- they're the ones that Samco -- in this article's first entry -- used for their Pistola Spaziale.

7. Thunder Robot (Asakusa, 1967)

This strange looking tin robot is also mighty rare. The toy's got a great action: It walks forward with spinning propeller, then stops, raises his arms, and fires his light up hand cannons with a rat-tat-tat sound. Kinda makes you wonder where Tony Stark got his idea for Iron Man's repulser cannons... If you like this toy but can't afford an original, you'll be happy to know that a number of inexpensive reproductions have been released over the years. A quick search on eBay will turn up a bunch of them. Definitely a fun one to have sitting on the shelf.

8. Mr. Atomic (Cragstan, 1962)

One of my all-time favorites. Unfortunately, it's rare and expensive, so I don't think I'll be adding it to my shelves any time soon. The toy rolls around with bump-and-go action while its dome lights change color and it makes a plinking noise. It was also available in a slightly -- slightly -- more common silver version. I love 'em both. The toy was reproduced by two companies, Mike's Toy House and Osaka Tin Toy Institute; both have minor variations but are, for the most part, true to the original. These repros aren't cheap, though, and usually pull in a few hundred bucks. Still, that's a fraction of what an original costs.

9. Atomic Jet Gun (Crescent, 1950s)

A very cool British water gun, clearly based -- at least roughly -- on the Hiller Atom Jet water pistol here in the states. Slightly more stylized, though, with a few extra swoops thrown in for good measure. A tough toy to find, especially in this condition. 

Space Toys Online: Smith House Robot Auction #75

Smith House Toy and Auction Company has posted the first batch of preview pictures for their October sale (#75) of robots and space toys.

Images © Smith House Toys.

The preview represents only a small portion of the collection of Alan Rosen, a top-tier collector who, in a short amount of time, managed to acquire nearly every golden-age toy robot produced. What's more, Rosen obsessed over quality, and each toy is in impeccable condition, often with its original box. (He's actually nicknamed "Mr. Mint.") 

Smith House has yet to finalize a date for the auction, which is actually Part 2 of the Rosen sale. Part 1 (auction #74), featuring his amazing collection of space ships, rockets, futuristic vehicles, and other related toys -- as well as a few extra robots -- was held in May of this year. 

For more information and photos, or to order an auction catalog -- which is practically guaranteed to become one of the top robot reference books -- visit the Smith House web site at www.smithhousetoys.com. 

I tell ya, it's a good time to be a robot collector. Or a bad one, if you also happen to care about paying rent, eating, and generally getting by with more than goose eggs in your savings account. But why obsess over unimportant details? It's all about the toys, right? Right.

Adventures Into The Land of Robots! Toy Robot Museum & Morphy Auction House

Art lovers have the Louvre. Dinosaur buffs have the American Museum of Natural History. And space toy collectors have the Toy Robot Museum. Guess where I was on Saturday? 

The Toy Robot Museum in all its glory!

I'd planned this trip months ago, and was joined by two other local collectors -- Steve Jaspen (who was interviewed for the Attic's first "Top-Shelf Titan" article, here) and Karl Tate (who wrote the article on Apollo-inspired space toys, here). Chatter about it on Alphadrome brought other collectors from the area out of the woodwork, and soon the Geek-O-Meter levels were rising fast as about eight of us descended on the museum. It was going to be a good day.

Located in Adamstown, PA, the Toy Robot Museum features well over 2500 pieces, from the very old to the very new. Cases line the aisles, stuffed with every color, shape, style, and model of toy robots. The overflow, which includes posters and related ephemera, climb the walls and cling from the ceiling. Robot-themed video games and pinball machines beep, chime, and clatter, competing with the click-click-thwok-buzzzz of a vintage Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots game. 

A case full of classics: two variations of Electric Robot and Son (Marx, 1955), and (bottom) the great Robert the Robot (Ideal, 1954) 

Joe's museum has every version of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. He's even set one up so kids (of all ages) can play with it.

Overseeing it all is the museum's curator, a boisterously cheerful collector named Joe Knedlhans. Catch him in the right mood -- and by that I mean "awake" -- and he'll gladly spend an hour talking about his favorite toys. Joe is an endless font of knowledge, whether he's answering questions about a vintage Robert the Robot or a brand new Wall-E movie tie-in toy. 

The man, the myth, the legend: Joe Knedlhans!

Joe's favorites: Robert the Robot. Seen here are all three variations. Over time, Ideal simplified the toy's design. 

The rare Robert the Robot flashlight.

The equally rare Robert the Robot record. This example has never been played.

Ideal also produced a Robert the Robot tractor. An uncommon, beautiful toy.

Between the toys and their owner, it's absolutely impossible to visit the museum and not have a great time. I love seeing all the robots I'd never necessarily collect, but still think are cool. And in many instances, visiting Joe's has prompted a new appreciation for certain toys. I can think of four robots in my collection that I only own because I had a chance to see them at the museum. Of course, the downside is that every visit to the museum ends up costing me way more than the $2.00 admission price! 

For more on Joe and his Toy Robot Museum, you can watch a video piece I produced, here.

There were other reasons to be in Adamstown on Saturday; besides hitting the museum, we decided to visit Morphy Auctions, which is located just down the road to the south. They were holding their preview for a huge -- huge! -- auction of over 700 vintage space toys, and it was a unique opportunity to check out some of the rarest toys, many with their original boxes. (The auction also includes thousands -- yes, thousands -- of new and vintage Japanese vinyl and die cast character toys.)

Morphy's didn't disappoint, and we were suitably flabbergasted by the cases of toys stretching out in front of us. Robots, rockets, flying saucers, space tanks, futuristic cars -- they were all jumbled together, often without much rhyme or reason, fighting for space and our attention. A riot of shapes and color, I found myself picking over the same shelves again and again, discovering new toys each time. Fun, yes. Exciting, surely. But seriously overwhelming. 

Amazingly, Morphy's wasn't displaying all the toys -- they were still cataloguing everything, and don't expect to wrap up for another few weeks! 

The auction is scheduled for some time in November. As it continues to come together, I'll post more information. Also, look for news -- and a behind-the-scenes article -- about yet another massive auction, this time from Smith House Toys, in the near future. I tell ya, it's a great time to be a vintage space toy collector!

After seeing all those toys at Joe's and Morphy's, I was itching to bring home something for myself. Luckily, the road running through Adamstown is littered with antique stores and I've had some luck in the past, snagging a couple beautiful -- and rare -- space guns for amazing prices. I crossed my fingers, and my friends and I began our hunt.

Sadly, though, our antiquing went nowhere. We'd found some nice toys, but the prices weren't great and none of us felt compelled to buy anything. It looked like I'd be driving home without a addition to my collection after all. (Cue chorus of Awwwwwww. Thank you for that heartfelt show of sympathy...)

My fellow collectors and all went back to the Toy Robot Museum to hang out before dinner, and I decided to poke through Joe's gift shop. It's a small section towards the front of the shop, filled with all sorts of robot- and science-fiction related toys, games, videos, mugs, books, knick knacks, and whatever else you can think of. Joe's also got one special case built into his front counter, and that's where he stores some of the better toys: Vintage stuff as well as higher-end modern pieces. 

And that's where I saw them: A pair of rare Strato Scout Space Phones! Score!

I collect vintage space walkie-talkies (they'll eventually appear in the Attic, I promise) and even though I already own the Strato Scout model, Joe's was a variation I'd never seen before. The price was right -- and, frankly, I like supporting my friends -- so I grabbed them up quick. 

And then I did the smartest thing I've done in a while: I asked Joe if he had anything else lurking in his storage room. See, the last time I visited the museum, I happened to mention that I was looking for an original, first-generation Robert the Robot, and if it wasn't too much trouble, I hoped Joe could keep an eye out for me. Before I'd even finished the sentence, Joe had jumped up and dashed out of the room. He was back a moment later with a beautiful example of the toy, which I bought on the spot.

So I decided to try again. And, like last time, Joe dashed out of the room only to return with another great robot: Mr. Zerox (Horikawa, early 1970s). It's a later version robot, appearing towards the end of the great space toy era, but still one that I wanted pretty badly. I'll write more extensively about it in the future, but for now, here's a shot of the robot and the Strato Scout Space Phones:

The day ended with dinner -- all the visiting collectors plus Joe -- and then one more trip back to the museum (because it's hard to get enough). And then it was time to drive home. 

I'd call it a perfect day all around, and it reminded me that, as much as I love the toys, most of the hobby's fun comes from hanging out with all my friends.

...

Okay, you got me. I'm in it for the toys... But the friends are great, too!