YouTube

Flickr

Grandpa's
Toys
"vintage battery toys and more"

Collectors Guide

Specialty Items

Vintage Battery Toy
Collectors Guide

Several years ago, I became fascinated with vintage battery operated toys, particularly the ones made in Japan after World War II, and continuing throughout the 1950's and 1960's. Although the actions were fascinating to the youth of that generation, they were rather simplistic in nature, when compared to the modern electronic toys of today. It was not until I looked inside and examined the mechanics of these toys, that my appreciation grew to an entirely different level. The ingenuity and creativity that was required to achieve these complex and various actions is truly amazing. This golden era of battery toys has passed, and will never be repeated. Thus, as these toys become more and more rare, the collectible nature of them is steadily increasing.

I have bought, repaired, and sold hundreds of them. I do not consider myself an expert, but rather, a devoted enthusiast. As I have always taken pictures and videos of my toys, I have amassed a fairly large collection of them. That collection, combined with frequent requests about toy values, gave me the idea to assemble the information in the form of a collectors guide. As there are other collector guides on the market, why am I putting this one together? Mainly, it will be presented in digital form on a DVD disc, and not published in book or magazine form. This will make the guide highly interactive. Not only will there be pictures of every toy listed, but many will have videos that can be played directly in the guide. It will be dedicated entirely to vintage battery toys.

It is a work in progress, and is not completed yet. There is a tremendous amount of work involved in compiling the data. I am estimating that it will be ready for publication sometime this year. To see the list of the toys that I have compiled for the first edition of the guide, the link is "Toy List".

Want to contribute? I have all the pictures I need for this first edition, but I could use more videos. If you have any that you would like to contribute, please contact me. I cannot pay for them, but I will be glad to give you credit within the guide, and a link to your website if you have one. Please consider helping out with this project. It would be sincerely appreciated!

Keep watching this page for updates!

Front Cover (Draft)

Vintage Battery Toy
Collectors Guide

Identification and evaluation
of battery operated toys
manufactured from the late 1940's
thoughout the 50's and 60's

Second Edition
Copyright © 2011 by Grandpa's Toys
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied,
altered, reproduced, or sold without the permission of the author.

Sample Page (Draft)


Maxwell - Coffee Loving Bear TN Company - 1960's $125 - $265 Click image to play video!	Burger Chef Y Company - 1950's $120 - $240 Video Not Available


Drinking Captain S&E Company - 1960's $115 - $260 Click image to play video!	Hot Rod Custom T Ford Alps Company - 1960's $135 - $320 Click image to play video!


Military Command Car TN Company - 1950's $175 - $300 Video Not Available	Bimbo the Drumming Clown Alps Company - 1950's $250 - $600 Click image to play video!