Let’s Play! Milestone Auctions’ Premier Schuco Toy Sale Highlights Antique Rarities

Schuco– originally named Schreyer & Co. in 1912 by Heinrich Müller in Nuremberg, Germany– is one of the oldest and most recognized European toy manufacturers. The company originally specialized in producing clockwork tin playthings, novelties with moving or functional components, wind-up pets and birds, and miniature replicas of cars and trucks. Today, the firm is owned by the Simba Dickie Group and makes die-cast scale automobiles, planes, boats, and commercial vehicles. 

Milestone Auctions of Willoughby, OH is offering its 639-lot Premier Schuco Toy Sale & More on August 24, 2024. This event features a remarkable and complete collection of early to mid-century Schuco items, including samples and rarities. Here are some highlights that caught the eye of the Auction Daily team.

Schuco Mickey Mouse Toy 

One of the top lots in this Schuco toy sale is #0266A, a wind-up Schuco Mickey Mouse riding a scooter. It is estimated at USD 2,000 to $3,000. This all-original and working clockwork toy consists of a four-inch-tall black and white Mickey Mouse made from velvet and felt riding upon a three-wheeled metal vehicle with a green chassis. Mickey wears red felt shorts decorated with white circles and a red and white bow tie. The tricycle has gray metal wheels, a handlebar, and a wind-up mechanism on its side. This Schuco Mickey Mouse toy is branded with a Schuco mark near the key opening.

Mickey Mouse made his worldwide debut in 1928. Soon after, toy companies around the world began producing items based on this cartoon hero. Steiff, another German toymaker that competed with Schuco for ideas and market share, produced a Mickey Mouse figure from 1931 to 1936 in six sizes ranging from 11 to 48 cm. This Schuco Mickey Mouse vehicle is likely to generate impressive results at auction because it is at the intersection of several important collecting categories. These include Disney, Mickey Mouse, prewar toys, vehicles, and clockwork toys. As such, cross-collectibles often get lots of eyeballs and many bids as they have broad appeal. In 2022, Bertoia Auctions of Vineland, NJ sold a wind-up Schuco Mickey Mouse on a similar three-wheeled vehicle for $18,750.

Schuco Boxer Jack Toy

Schuco is well known for its legacy line of clockwork-activated novelties. Lot #0193, a rare Boxer Jack with a punching bag, is estimated at $2,000 to $3,000. This all-original and nearly as-new example is in the form of a six-inch tall arm-jointed felt man in front of an orange and black punching bag on a black metal stand. The man has painted hair and features and wears a red felt shirt, black felt shorts, white felt socks, black metal shoes, and a ribbon sash. The ribbon is marked Germany, imprinted with Boxer Champion and includes the company’s branding. His keyhole for activation is located under one of his arms.

Schuco prewar and mid-century era novelties were usually activated by a flat metal key that resembled a butterfly. These keys were generic in their design and could be used throughout the Schuco line. A key was inserted into the body or most robust part of the toy and gently twisted to activate the item’s movement. In the case of this boxer, the doll’s arms would shuffle back and forth to appear like he was punching the bag. This boxer was also produced with a green felt shirt; in 2024, Antico Mondo Auktionen of Bornheim, Germany sold an almost identical example for $3,476.

Schuco Jointed Clown Doll 

Like other fine European toymakers in the 19-teens, Schuco also created a line of felt play dolls. It is no surprise that Schuco’s were often differentiated with mechanical features. Lot #0222, a jointed clown doll, is estimated at $1,500 to $2,000. This happy-go-lucky fellow is in working condition and measures 10.5 inches tall. He wears a red and blue harlequin-style suit with green felt dots. His outfit also includes a matching blue felt hat, white bow tie, and shoes with wheels to enable walking. This example was part of a series of Schuco wind-up walking dolls produced around 1914.

Unlike much of Schuco’s production, items on wheeled shoes bridge the company’s pre- and postwar lines. The earliest ones included this clown doll, made as part of the company’s Automato series. Others in this line included a Black American bellhop, a German soldier, a French soldier, and a policeman, among others. When activated, these dolls walked forward or backward; if the lever on their back was flipped, they could turn and stroll left or right. Midcentury and onward, Schuco produced numerous clockwork-activated dolls and animals on roller skates; these included rabbits, bears, monkeys, clowns, and bellhops, among many others. Each of these later models held a stick in one of its hands to help with balance.

Schuco Yes-No Parrot Toy 

Toys with tail-moves-head features were another signature Schuco line. Lot #0113, a standing 12-inch yes-no parrot, is estimated at $400 to $600. His beak is red felt, his wire-lined feet are gray felt, and his body is short green, gold, red, and blue German mohair. His face comes to life with proportional brown and black glass eyes backed in a circle of white felt. When his long mohair-covered tail moves up, down, right, or left, his head moves in tandem.

Schuco’s yes-no Teddy bears, monkeys, and animals dressed as bellhops in red and black outfits are seen most often today on the secondary market as they were produced in great numbers for many decades. More unusual examples of these mechanical toys– especially those from the 1920s through the early midcentury era– always catch the eye and the pocketbook of collectors worldwide. This parrot, the first on record that we could find to come to public auction since 2005, most likely dates from the 1930s or so, given his vibrant hues, detailing, and materials. Color can be king when it comes to generating strong auction results on yes-no items like this; in 2023, Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion GmbH of Ladenburg, Germany sold a purple/blue 43 cm yes-no Schuco Teddy bear for $3,951.

Schuco Rollfix 1085 Mercedes Coupe Toy 

This Schuco toy sale rounds out with tumblers, vanity items including compacts and perfume vials, miniatures, ephemera, and miniature versions of industrial, racing, and aspirational vehicles. Lot 0040A, a Schuco Rollfix 1085 Mercedes Coupe, is estimated at $600 to $800. This working two-door car has a cream-colored exterior with silver metal trim, grill, bumpers, and headlights. The top is red with a matching dark cream steering wheel and interior. The auto glides upon four whitewall tires and measures about 10 inches long overall.

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