Maryland Toy Show

On the Fourth of July there are a number of things to do go to picnics and go to see fireworks as examples, Laurie and I went to a toy show in Maryland. The Maryland Toy show is held twice a year and we like to do it as we get some different dealers than we normally see.  The ride is nice though this year we had to go through rain to get to the show.  The rain was not heavy and we arrived around 10AM.

After paying our admission, we stopped off at our very good friend Gerry Watts’ tables and dropped off our umbrellas. I did a quick scan of Gerry’s tables and found a Britains Elephant that had had been converted to have Howdah for some 49mm Elastolin figures. I had Gerry put one away and we headed down the row. We said hello to another very good friend Chris Lamont and his wife and went to the next booth run by Kerry. Kerry was by himself this time as Mark Hegeman who shares the tables was in Colorado for a family reunion.  We found a number of items for resale including a MPC castle. We headed down the row; we next found two of the Troll village large pieces. I asked the dealer a price and he gave it. He said that it was not his normal items that he sells and I felt it was a good price.

We crossed to the other side of the row (this show has nice wide aisles that you have to do each side by itself.) I walked down to another dealer who had two Lido aliens that I could sell. I thought they would be expensive, but they were at a fair price.  I bought the two Lido aliens; the dealer thought I was buying an Ajax spaceman he had with them as well. I had to tell him that the Ajax figure was damaged. The dealer was surprised. It was a shame as the figure was in an unusual green.

We headed down the row when Laurie decided to go to the Ladies room.  I told her that I would head down the next row and she could catch up. As I turned back to start down the next row I saw a party at a table with a box in his hand. The box had three of the Britains Eyes Right U.S. Marine color guard.  The price was very fair, but I had to wait and see if the person was going to buy it. One of the cardinal rules I follow as collector/dealer is if someone has an item in their hands that you are interested, you let them make them the decision to buy the item or not. In other words you do not interfere in their decision.  The person decided not to purchase the item and put it down. As soon as he put it down and left I bought the item.

I headed up the row and found some Marx 54mm Robin Hood Merry men reissues in odd colors. I picked up for the collection.  One of the nice things about a show is seeing old friends such Tony Greco and his wife Jackie. I know Tony for years and he and I along with Norman Joplin had once gone to the Birmingham Toy Show and stopped at Strafford on the Avon on the way back to London. By this time Laurie had rejoined me and we talk to Tony and Jackie about the high airfares to Europe.  Another friend I saw was Ken Chapman. I have known Ken for years. He is a collectibles dealer who deals in the older items like radio premiums etc. He was giving advice to another dealer on where to go to sell some of his items. This was one of the nice things about this show; everyone was friendly with no agendas.

We went to another row and while it was heavy with action figures. I did find a Captain Gallant tin litho fort without the plastic. In the last row we saw Jim McGough from CTS. Jim had a wide range of toys including figures. Pat a collector was buying from Jim reverse color Marx Civil War figures that were color matched.  Pat also bought from Jim a MPC Beetle Baily Supply Squad, a box set version that I had not seen before.  The box notes it contains Beetle Bailey Flip Cards.

We got a chance to talk to Jim on CTS’ latest project the Korean War figures. Jim and his partner Dave Payne are very pleased with the response to this project from collectors.  Jim was very happy with help he got from one of our readers, Greg Liska in getting him color photos of the Chinese Communists uniforms.  Jim had been only able to get black and white prior to Greg’s help. Jim clarified a question on what the North Korean is holding, it is a pistol.  Jim would not give a tentative date on when the North Korean figures would be out.

Jim, Pat and I talked about the Susy Goose Supermarket playset that is on EBay for $45,000.00. We also talked about the Marx Wagon Train playset that sold for $15,000.00 plus. The playset was a mint sealed set and had been offered by Rick Koch. Rick is very well known dealer in plastic and I have a high regard for. Jim noted that the playset was the larger version that sold for $9.98.  Pat mention he had gotten a Wagon Train playset at Wheeling but for much lower price.

With all the rows done we headed back to Gerry Watts’ tables. Gerry Watts’s tables are like a Aladdin treasure of wonders. If you do not find anything there then you have very picky wants. Gerry had a wide range of items from tin litho buildings to figures to toys. I went through his tables and found a number of items collectors will be happy to have.  Gerry and I talked about the market and what we were finding. I know that Gerry has been very successful in his searches. Gerry was going to do the flea market at the same location the next day. We usually do not come back because of other commitments.

I stopped back at Chris Lamont’s tables and had him look at an action figure. He told me it was a common item.  He had some doll house pieces that I had bought from him before so I picked them up. I also got a couple of the Fisher Price Imaginext DC Villains Joker, Penguin and Mr. Freeze.  I feel you can use them with your soldiers in various ways.

One of the things I did at the Maryland show was to ask several people how the Marx show at Wheeling West Virginia was.  I was told the show was fine, there was more selling to the public over the dealers this year. Nothing major showed up and several people were missing including John Reichl. I mention to Gerry of John not being at the show which I know John likes. Gerry informed me that he had seen John and he had not gone due to health issues. As we hear more on John’s condition, we will let you know.

After saying goodbye to our friends we headed up the road.  On the way down we had seen first a sign for Primanti Brothers. Primanti Brothers is from the Pittsburgh and is known for their sandwiches which beside what meat and cheese are stuffed with French fries and Cole Slaw.  Laurie had spotted where they were and we stopped back to check it out.  The place is fast causal and has a wide variety of sandwiches and other foods.  We decided to get sandwiches to go. As we were waiting for our order that place got packed. It was the fourth of July and the place has been opened only a month.

We went to our original plan for lunch the Bird in Hand restaurant. We had been there before and enjoyed their buffet. The buffet has three different soups, salad bar, main course of different meats and vegetables. With desert and drink, it was well worth it. After we got some apple cider from Kauffman’s and headed home after full day.