Antiques PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Antiques PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

Target Robot Makes Record Price at Morphy Sale

Masudaya’s multi-action Target Robot smashed a world auction record for an example of its type when it hit the bull’s-eye at $52,900. The boxy tinplate alien invader – complete with original box and shooting accessories – took top-lot honors in Dan Morphy’s Feb. 26-27 sale, which grossed $1,070,000 (all prices quoted inclusive of 15% buyer’s premium).

“The robot result shows what the market will pay for a classic-era robot whose condition is complete and this close to being brand new,” said Morphy’s chief operating officer, Tom Sage Jr. The Target Robot, which is one of Masudaya’s ‘Gang of Five’ robots made in the late 1950s and early 1960s, was designed for use with a tin shooting pistol and two rubber-tipped darts. “This is the first instance we know of in which the robot still has not only its rare original box but also its shooting accessories still intact in the original sealed bag,” Sage said. The 15-inch robot with a carnival-style target on its chest came from the factory in Japan in a multicolor box that instructs: “Shoot him…He roars, flashes, and goes away…soon comes back to you!”

The 2,114-lot auction featured a colorful array of antique advertising, toys, dolls, historical and political memorabilia and part II of the Pat and Lowell Wagner steam toy collection. Toy highlights included a circa-1900, 20½-inch Radiguet (French) Rodney steam-powered ship, $6,325; an 1870s George Brown “Broadway & 42nd Street” horse-drawn tin trolley, $6,325; and a Marx prototype Jiminy Cricket hand-painted tin windup toy with a 1939 Walt Disney Production mark, $3,162.

Dan Morphy Auctions is moving forward into 2010 with a greatly expanded events calendar that features frequent Discovery Auctions, rotating monthly specialty sales of firearms, trains or dolls; and its usual lineup of major cataloged sales. Morphy’s will conduct its big Spring Auction over the weekend of May 13-15, 2010. Details for all upcoming Morphy’s sales may be viewed online at www.morphyauctions.com. For additional information, call 717-335-3435 or e-mail [email protected]