Why these vintage toys are too valuable to play with

Toys are a touchstone to one’s childhood – either for toys one had or, just as often, things that were considered by parents “too top shelf” to consider purchasing for their children.

Decades later, seeing that same toy rekindles that connection and, in some instances, triggers the start of a vintage toy collection. From French and German bisque (porcelain) dolls produced from the 1860s through to Barbie dolls released a century later, the market continually changes – as do the prices.

“Failed dolls”, vintage Barbies, and push-pedal cars are all among vintage toys fetching a high price today.

Graeme Horne has been at the helm of Abbingdon Auctions Australia for the last 30 years – his focus is on dolls, bears, toys and collectables. Three auctions are held each year at his Wantirna South headquarters, an outer suburb of Melbourne.

While prices fluctuate so does the demographic. “Many of our older customers started collecting bisque dolls many years ago, while our younger clients, young women in their 20s to 30s, gravitate to Barbie dolls from the 1960s and the Monster High dolls from the early 1980s (more goth or punk with two-tone coloured hair and thick eyeliner),” says Horne, who sells these to his main markets – New Zealand, Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The Blythe doll released in 1972 by Kenner was, according to Horne, “an abject failure”. “The head of the doll was completely out of scale with the body, with her doe-like eyes switching to four different colours”.

According to Horne, its sudden return to the market, with rapid increases in prices, was initiated by a blogger who took her Blythe doll to Japan and photographed it next to a number of landmarks. Certain models now sell for approximately $3500 (including GST).

Often, what was a failure at the time is now highly desirable for collectors.

“Many of these dolls ended up in Australia as no one really wanted them,” says Horne, who also sees the My Child Doll, released in 1985 until 1988, as another failure at the time of its release but which is now finding a new audience, decades later.

“The dolls with the strawberry-blonde hair are certainly the most desirable, often realising up to $3000,” he says. Those who played with Barbie or have collected the doll as an adult would also be feeling rewarded, with Horne selling a No.2 Barbie, circa 1959, in its original package and swimsuit for $5500 (includes GST).

The older cohort, now in their 70s and 80s, often collected the bisque dolls. Unlike the Monster High or the Blythe dolls that have increased in price, the bisque dolls have experienced a significant slowdown, even a fall.

A vintage 1870s doll house up for auction for an estimated price of between $6,000 and $8000.Credit: Abbingdon Auctions Australia

Colleen, who requested her surname not be used, has been collecting bisque dolls since the 1980s. When she retired from her job, she was keen to reward herself with a French bisque bebe, circa 1880, produced by French company, Petit & Dumontier.

Purchased from an American owner for the substantial sum of $23,000, in 2011, it was recently sold by Abbingdon Auctions for approximately $12,000, almost half the amount. “Many older people aren’t collecting these dolls any more, so obviously this is reflected in the price,” says Colleen.

Dirty Janes, which has market-style stores in Bowral and Orange in NSW, and Fyshwick in Canberra, regularly sells vintage toys. They recently sold toy push-pedal cars for children, varying in price from $400 to $800 (including GST). There are also toy Vespas from the 1950s through to the 1970s, purchased by parents who have children in the three-to-six-year-old group.

“To receive the best price, they obviously need to be in perfect working order and with little or no damage,” says Jac Hockey, the manager at Dirty Janes, flipping over a price tag for a Vespa for $750 (including GST).

Whether it’s dolls, toy cars or even a doll’s house, circa 1870, that is expected to go under the hammer at Abbingdon’s for an estimated price of between $6000 and $8000, it’s often about the timing, as much as the item’s condition and presentation.

And often, what was a failure at the time, such as the Blythe doll, is now highly desirable for collectors.

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