This week's curation is a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Vintage toy collector Bob Kilbride grew up in Waltham, MA, surrounded by the toys that his four older brothers owned. Now, many of them belong to him in his house in Arlington, MA, along with an impressive collection he's accrued from estate sales, auctions and vintage toy shows. Bob is always on the hunt for new additions to his collection and chronicles the nostalgic, the fun, and the sometimes (very) weird toys of the past on his Instagram account, @toysinmyhouse.
What got you interested in secondhand, vintage and antique items?
I was a toy kid growing up and I especially loved playing with action figures like Star Wars, GI Joe and the Mego Super Heroes.
Being the youngest of 5 boys who were all born in the 50s and 60s, I had access to some cool toys that were passed down to me. Many of these toys are very collectable and sought after today! However, most of these hand-me-down toys were quite beat up (boys play rough!) and they were eventually thrown away.
When I was in my late teens and early twenties and had some disposable income, I started attending vintage toy shows and my favorite things to purchase were the classic toys that my brothers had growing up. Johnny West, Major Matt Mason and Monster toys etc. I have an old photograph of three of my brothers at Christmas taken before I was born and there are several toys in that photograph that I have acquired over the years.
What are the one or two things that you always find yourself bidding on/looking for
when shopping secondhand?
Vintage toys of all kinds from the 70s and prior will always get my attention, monster toys especially. Vintage Halloween is also an area of interest.
Bob’s AuctionNinja Picks:
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Holtemp Davy Crockett Lunchbox (Simple Sale Auctions)
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Antique Merry Go Round Tin Lithograph Carousel Toy (Clearing House Estate Sales)
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Marx Wind Up US Tank (Waterbury Auction Gallery)
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Vintage Red Toy K-Gun by Kusan Ping Pong Ball Popper (Carolina Antique)
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Vintage Melted Plastic Popcorn Halloween Pumpkin Decoration (Primetime Auctions)
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Vintage Batman Toy and Others (Waterbury Auction Gallery)
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James Bond 007 Thunderball Game (Primetime Auctions)
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1977 Topps Baseball Wax Pack Factory Sealed (44&MORE)
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Vintage Hot Wheels Rrrumblers Straight Away Rumbler (Waterbury Auction Gallery)
What's your favorite AuctionNinja purchase?
I love old tin toys and noisemakers and I also have an extensive collection of clown items. For that reason, I was quite excited when I saw an item that combined all three in an AuctionNinja auction from Waterbury Liquidators out of Connecticut!
It’s a “Hercules Jazz Band” tin drum kit from J Chein & Co. and it’s incredible. It’s likely from the 1950s and it is in very nice condition. It even came with the original drum sticks (insert rim shot sound here).
What's your absolute favorite item ever purchased at an estate sale or online auction?
My favorite item from an on-line auction is a vintage, still-in-box, Rock-em, Sock-em Robots from Marx toys. This is one of the toys from the 1960s that my brothers had that I remember fondly from my childhood.
Of course, it was well-played with and eventually got tossed. It was always on my grail list and I was thrilled to see it pop up in an on-line estate sale auction with some other toys. It was a great deal and I even ended up re-selling some of the other toys for much more than I paid for the entire lot!
Your Instagram account features a lot of interesting Halloween items from your collection. How do you plan to decorate this year?
I love Halloween and over the past few years I have expanded my collection of vintage Halloween decorations a tremendous amount. I search for Halloween year ‘round and there are always new things to display each year.
Over this past year I picked up a lot of classic old vac-u-form masks, so I’m displaying a bunch of them together on a wall. I also picked up a great vintage tin haunted house bank that fit in nicely with my haunted house collection. I have so many decorations now that I start putting them up in early September.
Your Instagram Highlight featuring weird toys is very interesting. In your time collecting, what is the strangest toy you’ve ever encountered?
The strangest toy I have ever encountered is something called “Magic Monster '' and is featured in that Instagram Highlight you saw.
This is a battery operated toy from the 80s and the action on the thing is quite bizarre. It sways back and forth, has a rubbery face that gets disturbingly contorted and wields a light up axe. All of this happens to the tune of “When the Saints Go Marching In''! It's plain wackadoodle and I love it.
As you’ve learned, estate sales are a great place to find nostalgic toys and other cool items. What are your top estate sale shopping tips?
For in-person estate sales you want to have a plan. Try to get an idea of where the things you are interested in are in the house by looking at the photos so you know where to go as soon as you enter.
There is nothing more frustrating than heading up to the bedrooms only to come down to see someone coming up from the basement with the item you wanted! Also, know in advance if the estate sale company allows lists to be made prior to the sale opening.
Most of the estate sales in my area allow this and it means you can put your name on a list and come back at the sale time and be let in based on where you are on the list. Often times the list will be started in the wee hours of the morning!
Finally – be courteous! To the estate sale people and to the other shoppers, estate sales can be chaotic and anxiety inducing but try to be nice to everyone. It’s just “stuff”.
For on-line estate auctions I have two tips. First, if there is something you really want to be on-line when the auction is ending to monitor the sale.
Second – pay attention to the pick-up rules! Many on-line auctions don’t offer shipping so you’ll want to ensure you are able to go and pick your items up!
And last and most important– have fun!
More about our curator:
Bob has two daughters, 25 and 23, who reside in New York City and he gets down to the city to visit them often. When he’s not out hitting flea markets and estate sales, Bob likes to run and almost always trains for his next marathon or half-marathon. He also enjoys live music and mainly prefers the small club shows to the big arena acts. His job in tech sales helps him afford his addiction to vintage toys and other collectibles.
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Written by:
September 30, 2022 Updated 02:06 PM
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