Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: I brought a toy that actually belonged to my father.

He was born in 1927.

And so it was a toy that he had in his childhood.

We didn't know he had these toys until after he passed away.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: And then my mother distributed the, the four toys.

This happened to be the one that I was able to get.

So...

I got to choose first, before my two sister siblings.

But I am the oldest daughter, so it's okay.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: (chuckles) APPRAISER: So, on the gas tank here, we have what is a "T-C-O," and that stands for Tipp & Company.

Tipp & Co. or just Tippco.

And they were a German tin toy maker.

This toy would have been made in the mid-'30s.

And Germany-- we went to war shortly thereafter.

So this toy in particular would not have had a very long production run.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: That most likely is contributing to how rare this toy is.

GUEST: Sure.

APPRAISER: Um, in addition...

GUEST: Hmm.

APPRAISER: ...a lot of the Tippco motorcycles are... much smaller.

Um, this is about 12 inches or so.

The more common size we see for a large Tippco motorcycle is about nine inches.

And then they make an even smaller one at seven inches.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: The large size of it really makes this a show... a show stopper.

This is a nice motorcycle.

It has a wind-up motor on the side here, which would propel it.

So winding this would drive the rear wheel.

You could set your front wheel to go in a circle or a straight motion.

And it was just a s... a little wind-up floor toy that could kind of scoot along.

Do you have any idea of what a toy like this could be worth today?

GUEST: No, other than my neighbor, who was a toy collector, looked at it and I don't, I don't remember how much he...

It seemed like a lot of money that he thought it was worth at that moment.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: (chuckles) APPRAISER: Um, how much did he think it was worth at that time?

GUESET: I want to say, like, $1,000, maybe.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: You know, maybe a little more.

APPRAISER: Well, I'm happy to report that, uh, this toy is worth much more than that.

So, it's good that you kept it.

GUEST: Good.

APPRAISER: It is all original.

All the tinplate is correct.

All of the lithography is correct.

I've actually only ever seen one other example of this toy.

APPRAISER: The estimate I would conservatively place on this piece would be $15,000 to $25,000.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

Make me cry.

(laughs) Oh, my goodness.

My dad would flip over, wouldn't he?

(laughs) That's wonderful.

Thank you.

APPRAISER: A couple years ago, one had gone to auction.

Uh, it had an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000, and it finished at just over $40,000.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

I think of my sweet dad, what he would think.

This toy, he... you know, held back for so many years.

So... APPRAISER: Sure.

GUEST: Thank you.

APPRAISER: And now, looking back, it was good that you didn't get to play with it.

With your brothers and sisters because...

GUEST: Yes, yes.

We'd have wrecked it.

(laughs) APPRAISER: Here it is, preserved.