On November 6 and 7, I attended the Allentown Toy Show. The show emphasis older toys some going back to 1890’s. There were toys ranging from trucks to cast iron toys. For collectors of plastic figures it ranged from individual figures to full playsets. There was something for just about everyone.
Normally I do not go on the Friday of the show as it is dealer set up. If you want get in on dealer set up day, if you are not a dealer or helper, you would have to pay early rights. The early rights are $70.00! This year a very good friend needed help with his tables. His brothers who are normally with him were not at the show due to minor medical situations. My friend’s wife was on vacation and he was not sure that she would be back in time. I volunteered to help my friend out.
Got to the show on Friday around 9:00 AM and helped my friend get some of his items in. His wife had got home in time to help my friend, but she would not be back on Saturday as she was going to 24 hour race that her son was in. She was part of the pit crew. I told my friend I would be there on Saturday to help him close the stand. After helping them to get their stock in, I decided to walk around.
The first stand I wanted to check out was a couple who last year had people excited about because they had an interesting selection of Marx figures. They were selling the figures by the tray. People got some interesting figures, I had purchased on the second day Marx trees. This year the selection of figures was disappointing. One tray had nothing but butterscotch Indians. Also they wanted $80.00 a tray so I passed on them. They did have several tin litho buildings including three Western two story western towns. The only difference on the three sets was the city sign. Chuck Eccles got that one with the Dodge City on it. The people had jungle hut and a partial Zorro playset pieces, but the balcony was damaged.
I walked around and saw several playsets and tin litho buildings. At least two different dealers had freight terminal buildings. I saw a Tom Corbett Playset and was told that a Marx Miniature Custer Playset was being offered for $750.00. There were several partial Marx playsets. I saw MPC werewolf, but I forgot to ask the price. I saw an very good friend Mike Russo who was setting up. I only made two minor purchases before heading out for the day.
On Saturday I arrived early about 8:00 AM to help my friend at his booth. After helping him open up I went around to see if anything new showed up. I really did not see anything new so I headed back to my friend’s booth. I sat there help out my friend watching his booth. I saw a number of people I knew. The first one I saw was my very good friend Andy Levinson. Andy collects many different items, he had gotten a Snow White puzzle as a gag gift for his daughter. I saw Pat and he said he had found a few items yesterday. I also saw Tom Stein who had bought another Marx civil War playset. He bought the set for the box as he needed an upgrade. Mike Curry had found a Marx Fort Apache with red 54mm Indians. He also found that the set had some Marx Alamo figures including cream Mexicans and the Davy Crockett character figure with Fess Parker marking on the bottom. After a few hours, I left the show to take care of some other obligations, but I returned at 2:00 PM to help my friend pack.
The show’s crowd was decent. It is not like the old days where the line would go around the building. The crowd was steady and the dealers I talked to where happy with their results. The show is having the problem most shows are having today a decline in dealers attending the show for various reasons. The aisles are getting wider and it was noticeable in the aisles away from the show. I will go back as the show is so close to the house, it would be silly not to go.
Sounds like a Good Time !