Crikey I love this thread ! where else would you see such marvellous stuff!
Loving the Bing and Schuco "trackside accessories" and Mr JKE what can I say about that Boucher ripped from the grave .. such awesome work!
Today I have but a weird one to share which also probably fits in the "Trackside Accessory" category...
For weeks I stalked this wee fellow on the evilbay, even letting it slip by unbidden once in the hope the start price might drop a little ( although for what it was it was a fair start point ), but I had a few clockwork locos I was chasing and the dip in the budget was worrying lol ... as it turns out those other auctions were too rich for me in the end anyway ... So when this fellow was relisted at a lower price it immediately went on the "must see" list ... 2 days in seller dropped the price ... and again 2 days later ... final day dropped it yet again ... and I was for sure a fellow collector would spot it ... but thankfully not a one did ... Undoubtedly because seller did not know it was a Tipp & Co piece and indeed an early one from the late teens to 20s . I firmly believe if he had done his dilligence and put that name in the title I never would have ended up with it .
Anyway enough of the "Tell" and now to the "Show" part of the post
Any idea yet ?
OK Heres the money shot !
Its a 19?? to 1925 Tipp & Co Blechspielzeugkran ( Tin Toy Crane ) and the reason I have thrown in the XX in the date is I am unsure as to its original dating ... I have only found 2 other references to this on the web . One at Historytoy has a much nicer one with a full crane platform and cabin rather than the wood block on mine .That Crane is attributed to 1925 and I am basing the earlier dating on the fact that in Phillip Ullmann's day Tipp & Co often put out a new idea in a "lesser" variant to judge orders and sales , and then when they showed promise he would invest in the more expensive things like castings and more lithography , such as in the 1925 model which has a fully lithographed cab, and cast alloy crank fittings , as opposed to the bent wire and sleeve on this one ...
Additional history ... Phillip Ullmann Owned Tipp & Co which he founded with the backing of Miss Tipp and Mr Carstens ( Hence Tipp & Co ) in 1912 and the firm quickly grew to join Marklin, Hess, Lehmann, Carette and Bing at the very pinnacle of the tin toy tree in the Golden Years of Nurnburg ( now known as Nuremburg) toy production ... In 1933 Ullmann was one of the first Jewish Toymakers in Germany to realise the writing was on the wall for Jews in Germany , and after the Reichstag Fire cemented Hitlers position and he began undoing all the checks and balances that were in place to hold the Chancellor's power that was all the proof needed for Ullmann of what was to come and he and Henry Ullmann fled to England, helped by Wenman Bassett Lowke who offered him space in his workshops , where Ullmann produced toys to raise funds for other Jewish refugees ! Arthur Katz his friend and manager from Tipp & Co also took up residence with B-L
In time that business started by Ullmann and Katz was METTOY A brand very well known to many kids and that firm eventually became Corgi! Meanwhile back in Germany Tipp & co was taken over by Ernst Horn .. the ex-director of Bing ( again whose German Jewish founders the Bing's fled the Nazi's)
Ernst Horn went on to show the world what a good Nazi he was and Tipp & Co started producing amazing quality tin toys of various German vehicles right thru the early war years until 1942 ... These pieces attract UBER money now and are most prized by many collectors ...
However in an ending straight out of the Movies .... Phillip Ullman returned to Germany during the Nuremburg trials and regained his company and with his son and Katz in the UK ran both companies after the war
I find it quite cathartic and just, that for Tinplate Collectors, a man who did such evil ( Hitler) had SUCH an important part in the diversification and growth of the great European tin toy manufacturers ... So many toy companies were born out of Hitlers ambitions and grew again from the aftermath, where manufacturers fled and re-birthed their business's which went on to provide so much joy ... seemingly born out of hatred and persecution .... a legacy that defied the oppression that created them ....