Rockin’ It: Landry Pop Auctions’ December 2024 Space Toys Sale

The fascination with space exploration and the possibility of life outside of our solar system has captured the imagination of humans since the Greek era or earlier. It is no surprise that vintage toys representing interplanetary transport or space-related fictional characters and their stories have timeless appeal with collectors. Landry Pop Auctions of Lambertville, NJ presented its Space Toys sale featuring Star Wars and the Collection of Jane & Jack Pillar on December 3, 2024. This 316-lot sale featured a fine collection of midcentury-onward robots, tin litho vehicles, figurines, and other cosmic playthings. Here are some eye-popping highlights from this early winter event.

Japanese Tin Wind-Up Robot

The top lot in this out-of-this-world sale was #110, a Japanese TET B-17 South Pole Explorer tin wind-up robot. Estimated at USD 1,000 to $2,000, it traded hands at $4,750. This original example from around 1955 was in working condition and in the form of an arm- and leg-jointed human in winter wear including a green helmet, yellow parka, green mittens, orange pants, and black boots. He wore gray metal skis and held matching ski poles. The parka was printed with the words “South Pole Explorer” and B-17, as well as a patch with a penguin on it, a wide belt with a buckle, and a black camera suspended from a strap.  

Star Wars Millennium Falcon Toy

This auction featured many premier boxed Star Wars toys from Kenner. Lot #263, a Star Wars Millennium Falcon toy, was estimated at $2,000 to $3,000 and landed at $3,840. The toy was produced in 1983 and included a perfectly to-scale spacecraft with a battery-powered alert sound, landing gears, an entrance ramp, a cockpit, a rear hatch, a secret hiding compartment, a space chess game table, a radar dish, and a laser gun, among other vehicle apparatus. The box, as well as its contents, were in exceptional condition.

This superstar toy was the flagship vehicle of Kenner’s Star Wars production series and probably the one most associated with the movie franchise. Director and design/ special effects expert Joe Johnston created it. Johnston is best associated with movies featuring over-the-top special effects. Over time, Kenner presented this Millennium Falcon toy in four differently illustrated boxes, with this example being the final and most desirable version produced.

Space Patrol Car Rocket Toys

Midcentury tin friction space toys were a key category in this early winter sale. Lot #131, a collection of five American and Japanese tin friction space patrol car rocket toys, was estimated at $200 to $400 and realized $3,750. The quintet included a red and yellow Courtland Mfg. Co. Space Rocket Patrol car, a white and blue Masudaya Modern Toys Space Sightseeing Bus with a driver under a clear half-bubble, a green and red X-2 Rocket with three passenger windows on each side, a round red Yonezawa S-2 Satellite with its astronaut pictured waving from two windows, and a blue and red Space Patrol car with a light blue robot driver.

Friction mechanisms are relatively simple, inexpensive ways to add action or movement to a toy, especially those with wheels. Although this technology has its origins as far back as the 1850s, it was implemented on a large scale in the 1950s by toy companies around the world looking to fill their catalogs and export orders quickly and efficiently. This movement was ideal for items including rockets and exploration vehicles, which were all the rage with their ties to the launch of the Space Race in 1955.

Boba Fett Figurine

Also grabbing the spotlight with Landry Pop Auctions were bubble-packed individual characters from now-legendary science fiction movies. Lot #218, a Boba Fett figurine from the Star Wars franchise, was estimated at $1,000 to $1,500 and delivered $2,250. This 3.5-inch tall action figure was made in 1980 in Hong Kong and was one of 41 produced as part of a series based on the movie The Empire Strikes Back. Interestingly, the Millennium Falcon lot noted above was pictured on the back of this item’s packaging.

The character of Boba Fett was invented in 1978 by George Lucas and was inspired in part by Clint Eastwood’s performance of the Man With No Name from a mid-1960s series of movies by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone. Intended as a villainous bounty hunter, Boba Fett had screen time in four Star Wars films from 1978 through 2012. The character also appeared in other Star Wars-related media including The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and various television shows and video games. Like the design for the Millennium Falcon noted above, Fett’s final presentation and appearance are credited to Joe Johnston.

Space-Themed Toys

This sale rounded out with space-themed character displays, ray guns, stuffed toys, novelties, and robots. Lot #153, a Japanese S. H. Horikawa battery-operated Golden Roto-Robot, was estimated at $200 to $400 and scored $1,800. This rarity from circa 1968 was in working condition and featured jointed arms and legs and prominent, rectangular orange feet. It retained its original box in very nice condition, which most certainly increased the toy’s overall desirability, as well as its impressive auction-busting sale price.

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