Buying Antique Toys Online

If you are new to buying antique or vintage toys online its a good idea to spend some time deciding on your budget and the area of interest that appeals to you, and then to spend some time watching online auctions without bidding, mainly to get an idea of the closing prices for the antique or vintage toys you like best. Demand for certain categories of antique or vintage toys fluctuates and like any vintage or antique item, it is the market that determines the value. Rarity and condition are major factors also. The wise collector will go for the best quality item that fits their budget.
Recently there are lots of well priced discount offers available when investing in Antique and Vintage Toys as usual we display to you the very best deals. Please browse the the antique and vintage toys listed below and then click any items through to for more info, pics and also particulars. If you are unable to find what you’re shopping for from this site, work with the internet search facility above. eBay regularly shows the very best and least costly Antique Toys collectibles as well as being the number one and definitely one of the most popular on-line buying internet sites. We make an effort to provide the finest listings of items so you’re able to supplement your collection, get started shopping for vintage collectibles or simply to get the most for the money.

What people are watching on eBay

10 - Windup Toy Keys "For Windup Toys" - L@@K!!

eBay Watchers: 125
Price: $16.49

ONE Wind Up Toy Android Robot,Kids,Party Favours,WUT149

eBay Watchers: 122
Price: $2.2

L152 ANTIQUE RARE ALABAMA COON JIGGER TOMBO FERDINAND STRAUSS CHROMOLITHOGRAPHED

eBay Watchers: 89
Price: $400.0

VINTAGE MARX WALKING POPEYE WITH PARROT CAGES, EXCELLENT IN ORIGINAL BOX, NICE!!

eBay Watchers: 74
Price: $208.53

1900s FERDINAND MARTIN PIANIST PIANO P[LAYER TIN TOY VERY RARE LEHMANN BING

eBay Watchers: 66
Price: $1025.0

Tin

	Vintage green plastic Buddy L Camper 5"x3" $29.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 30m
	Vintage Motorcycle With Side Car And Original Box $40.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 30m
	Unique Art Finnegan with Original Box-Working Wind-Up $375.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 30m
	Prewar Japan 1920 1930 Beautiful Lithographed Tin Toy Tram Trolley Large $699.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 31m
	Unique Art Jazzbo Jim w Banjo-Dancer on the Roof w Original Box-Tin Litho WindUp $725.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 34m
	VINTAGE FRICTION SPACE ROCKET TINPLATE SPACE TOY MODERN TOYS JAPAN C1970s RARE $499.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 36m
	Vintage yellow die cast metal truck- Albion Chieftain 2.5"x.5" $30.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 36m
	About 60 + Years Old...Vintage Tin Wind Up Pig Toy..US Zone Germany..Works.. $20.00 (1 Bids) Time Left: 36m
	Vintage red diecast metal Tootsie Toys 1950 Ford Flat Bed 7.5"x3.5" $71.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 39m
	Replica Collectable Tin Toy Table Tennis players $22.12 (0 Bids) Time Left: 40m
	Prewar Japan 1920 1930 Beautiful Lithographed Tin Toy Tram Trolley Smaller $399.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 40m
	Blondie( comic strip character) vintage metal doll stroller, 1949 $15.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 41m
	Vintage Ballon Cordatic Friction Toy $55.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 42m
	ANT 19TH CENTURY "SUNBONNET BABY" TIN LITHO TEA SET -TRAY, 3 PLATES BOWL WONDERFU $119.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 43m
	Early 1900s Penny Toy Sedan by Georg FISHER Germany - Tin Litho Limousine $104.00 (2 Bids) Time Left: 45m
	Antique Schuco 1750 Wind-Up Tin Car $75.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 53m
	Vintage 1930's Tin Marx Tractor Toy Works Has Winder Key NO RESERVE $24.00 (6 Bids) Time Left: 54m
	VINTAGE LEVER ACTION MODERN TOYS JAPAN TIN LITHO CAR REAL NICE WORKS $19.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 55m
	SON OF GARLOO Wind Up Toy by MARX $195.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 57m
	Clock Work Tin Toys Jumping Rabbit Frog Duck Training Plane Spring Airship NIB $9.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 57m
	Vintage Ohio Art Tin Lithograph Large Spinning Top Circus Animals Works $6.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 57m
	Schuco 5340 electro Alarm Car W.GERMANY police elektro battery operated toy $33.99 (6 Bids) Time Left: 59m
	Vintage Tin Litho Soldier Horse Wind Up Toy TPS Japan $360.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 1m
	Vintage Military Transport Vehicle Lumar $24.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 1m
	RARE FARM TRACTOR W PLOW WIND UP TIN TOY ORIGINAL BY ANIMATE $38.00 (1 Bids) Time Left: 1h 2m
	Vintage Tin Metal Japan Military Sailors Noisemaker Toy $26.24 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 3m
	Vintage Tin US Metal Party Clown Noisemaker Toy $26.24 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 3m
	1950's Marx Tin FIRE CHIEF Friction Car - Wood Wheels with key $24.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 3m
	VINTAGE 3 TIN TRUCKS, 1 CHERRYDALE FARMS IS A TIN BANK, 2 TIN TRUCKS $7.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 4m
	J. Chein & Co. 1940s No. 155 Bear Walk Vintage Litho Tin Wind Up Toy - Works!!! $65.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 5m
	Vintage Tin Litho Beetle Lady Bug Wind Up Toy - Foreign $145.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 6m
	VINTAGE ENGLISH TIN PARTY NOISEMAKER $12.99 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 7m
	Vintage Tin Litho Grasshopper Insect Wind Up Toy Japan $175.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 11m
	VINTAGE TOY CAR HAND MADE!!! $30.00 (0 Bids) Time Left: 1h 11m
	Sss international tin truck playset $150.00 $180.00 Time Left: 1h 13m
	Parts for an Early Tin Litho MOTORCYCLE by FISHER Germany ? $1,286.00 (36 Bids) Time Left: 1h 13m

A tin toy, or tin lithograph toy, is a mechanical toy made out of tinplate and colorfully painted by chromolithography to resemble primarily a character or vehicle.

Tinplate was used in the manufacture of toys beginning in the mid 1800's. The toys were made from thin sheets of steel plated with tin, hence the name tinplate. They were a cheap and durable substitute for wooden toys. The toys were originally assembled and painted by hand. Spring activated tin toys originated in Germany in the 1850s. In the late 1880s offset lithography was used to print designs on tinplate. After the colorful designs were printed on the metal, they were formed by dies and assembled with small tabs. The lightweight of the toys allowed them to be shipped less expensively and easier than the heavier cast iron toys.

Germany was the major producer of tin toys in the world in the early 1900s. The most famous German manufacturer of tin toys was Ernst Paul Lehmann who is said to have exported 90% of his toys. France and England joined the fray and it wasn't long before hundreds of thousands of these tin toys were being manufactured.

Production of tin toys in the United States started earlier, but began in earnest when tin ore mines were opened in Illinois providing easily available and cheap raw materials. A number of manufactures scrambled to catch up in the beginning of the 20th century, but it wasn't until after World War I, with anti-German sentiment high, that they began to make real gains. There was a growing demand for American produced products and by the 1920s American firms had overtaken the competition. The largest and most successful firm from the 1920s to the 1960s was Louis Marx and Company. Marx produced a huge number of designs and depended on large sales volumes to keep prices down.

The production of tin toys was discontinued during World War II because of the need for raw materials in the war effort. After the war, tin toys were produced in large numbers in Japan. Under occupation and the Marshall Plan, manufacturers in Japan were granted the right to resume production. The idea was to give Japan all of the low profit; high labor manufacturing and the US companies could sell the imported product. It worked better than they had expected and Japan became a tin toy manufacturing force until the end of the 1950s. In the 1960s cheaper plastic and new government safety regulations ended the reign of tin toys. Presently, China has taken over the role of the leading tin toy manufacturing country