check out these,biggest pre pro sale for a while(finished)

[MOKOSEX]

Not sure on that lot as not up on Superfast. I saw the Jag with 5 decal and bulldozer in funny shade of greeny yellow and that was about it. There must have been something in it as it was the highest price of the night !

Given the price, I wonder if that might have been an RW Eccles Caravan.....

i wondered the same thing,single axle caravan,someone was very sure of its worth.

[MOKOSEX]

They have all finished now so should be ok to post,
http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/aucti ... srsta10044

Strange that such an important collection ended up with a comparatively unknown provincial auction house. Some good prices, but plenty of bargains too. (Anyone else spot the pre-production 74b Daimler Bus with the extra window behind the driver?)
I wonder how much more they would have fetched at Vectis who have both the reputation and the publicity machine?

i bid on this bus but didn,t spot the window !!!!,i just thought at best a decal trial,which could be easily faked so a bit to cautious and was well outbid,with the window and the decal a bit of new history?

[just_lesney]

I was at the auction yesterday so can reveal some what some of the items in the wooden box were.

There was a pre production single axle caravan as some of you suspected, but there was also a red 55d Mercury with fire chief labels (one of the lighter red models in the back row), the 8c/d dozer was a sort of lime green, 32c BP tanker had cripped axles, in the superfast the 57c Wildlife truck had a 'superfast', on the base, 19c Cement truck had the full length steps on the side, 21a Foden Concrete truck had the open slot at the front and a very dark green base, plus a couple of other minor things I can't remember now.

There were a few other hidden bits within some of the other lots, but room bidding meant nothing really went through cheap.

Went there with a big wish list, but only managed to pick up 4 lots, but got the model I wanted the most

IMG_3523.JPG (209.72 KiB) Viewed 1785 times

29b Racing Mini with the door lines cast. Only the second one I have seen, and really pleased to now have one.

David

[SMS88]

What an amazing lot that clearly must have come from a factory insider. Not everything was expensive - the collector case with a dozen models including an orange tractor for about £30 and 3 mint boxed Mini Dinkys for £35. I would have bid more than the selling price for the brown SF25 Cortina - baseplate clearly never chemically plated so with those black never hot foiled wheels a true pre-pro. Widcat Mustang with untinted windows and orange #44 Mustang also went cheaply.........
The single axle 57 Caravan and 29 Mini with door hinges seem to be the stars but green Marzal is the one I would most like to have in my collection but could never pay that price!!!

In any other collection I would suspect the red Cougar as being perhaps a custom because it has hollow wheels and paint so glossy it looks modern not 1969 vintage (remember this was a mid 1969 F box SF issue). The rivit was thick with red paint too yet this model if a colour trial would be tray painted with clean rivit or hung like any other Cougar which also would leave an almost bare metal rivit. Perhaps Ghostie is right, a few customs mixed in this otherwise superb collection...

[fixer]

From what I understand it was owned by Peter Smith an ex r&d employee fromthe Rochford factory
I don't know if it is part of an estate sale by family members but the auction house were out of their area of expertise with these
and were very happy to receive advice (not from me I might add) when they brought some for viewing at the last Brentwood fair

[numi]

I agree with Idris that this cache of SF prepros,prototypes & crossovers could have done better at Vectis or even Ebay for that matter. Staceys seem to have the technology & machine force to run big auctions but in this instant it clearly proves that the people in charge of toy models do not have the skills & expertise needed to identify & catalogue such rare specimens.They showed negligence & haste in preparing these lots without much research.Their lots & descriptions are simply lay with poor estimates & poor descriptions.They simply had little or no idea idea about what they were handling. To see such rare specimens bunched/crammed in a wooden box is pathetic.I can only imagine how the rest of the collection was handled.

Very rarely do such exotic specimens from collections appear in public auctions as they are mainly traded behind the scenes.This is one collection i would forever have memories of and presume that this came from a well-versed early collector who had great love & passion for collecting.Rare specimens from collections such as this takes decades to enter the open markets so again i say well done to all who feasted.Its also good to see newer unheard-of prepro/prototype specimens instead of the popular commons that we see changing hands constantly.Nevertheless SF will surely be kicking after 25yrs as it has not yet peaked and with signs of newer and younger collectors constantly entering the fraternity.
Im curious to know how come this auction preview was never mentioned on the forum like we do with Vectis,Rockertron,Marketplace etc. Ouch silly me..never mind!
Could there possibly be a Part-2 of this collection coming on soon?
numi

[numi]

Superb specimen Mr Evans,one that we could never own in our lifetime of collecting. Congrats!
Could u please tell us if this specimen have the straight-cut or curved base rivet area or post a pic of that section or complete base if u so desire.
numi

[TonyfromOZ]

I have to agree with numi - I was dismayed to find out about this auction after the fact. Unlike ebay I am not sure how I was supposed to find out about the auction on my own. I have now subscribed to the newsletter for Stacey but it appears they don't handle Matchbox very often.

[SMS88]

Very interesting to note that the Mini is in the tomato candycoat over pink primer favoured by Lesney in the Two Pack era for this casting. Just like the orange #56 BMC known from 1969 trials and the !:1, it seems that what would appear to be the 2nd favourite colour trial from when the casting was new became the main body colour at the end of the casting´s life.....

[Idris]

The fact that Stacey's failed to spot the RW Eccles Caravan proves that they were completely out of their depth with this auction, as does their failure to publicise it via fora such as this.