Ye Olde Toy Shoppe: Toys, Games, Dolls and Teddy Bears.
The appeal of toy collecting, especially dolls and bears, traces its origins to our childhood and the nostalgia we all have for anything from our youth.
Most of us will have childhood memories of tinplate toys which appeared following the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Up until then, most toys were wooden or home-made and none were more universally popular than dolls.
Collectables range from dolls, to doll's houses and furniture, teddy bears and other soft toys, to aeroplanes, boats, submarines, trains, soldiers, puppets, tinplate, money boxes and rocking horses.
Strictly speaking, most of what collectors seek in the antique toy market, aren't antiques at all, the vast majority being made in Germany in the early to mid 1900's.
Despite being made of metal many toys were often delicately constructed and fragile. Consequently the condition of a toy is crucial to its current value and boxed or near-mint condition always commands a premium.
