Weiss Auctions' two-day, online-only Toy & Train auction grosses $400,000; trains do especially well

LYNBROOK, N.Y. - Aug. 20, 2021 - PRLog -- A rare American Flyer G. Fox & Co. S gauge toy boxcar train, from a limited production set made in 1946, chugged off for $18,975 in Day 2 of a two-day, online-only Toy & Train auction held August 11-12 by Weiss Auctions, based in Lynbrook. The boxcar was the top lot in an auction that grossed $400,000 and set record prices.

"What is normally an off-month for us turned into a two-day gangbuster sale, with record prices realized in all areas of toy trains," said Philip Weiss, the owner of Weiss Auctions. "There were 498 lots of trains in total, and all 498 sold, most for above estimate and some even multiple times the estimate. Toys did well, too, but trains right now are so hot we have more auctions planned."

The American Flyer G. Fox & Co. boxcar is one of the most desired trains a collector can own. The price realized for the one sold was a new record. "It's the Holy Grail for American Flyer collectors for sure, and the winning bidder had been trying to get one for the last thirty years," Weiss said. "It was a respectable example, Tuscan painted on white mold with nice lettering."

The toy train auction featured Part 2 of Frank Pisani's wonderful American Flyer S gauge collection (including the G. Fox boxcar), a six-foot dealer poster, three- and five-digit NP passenger sets, later being boxed, nice five-digit boxcars and reefers and many diesel and steam sets. Also sold were many nice S gauge accessories from the Neil Padron estate.

What is believed to be the rare, handmade factory production of Lionel's 1805 Land, Sea and Air Attack set, used as cover art for the 1959 advanced catalog, made $8,700. Also, a Lionel 6557 reverse number train car, dark chocolate brown with a white smoking stack, just the second one Weiss Auctions has ever seen, the chassis unrun, finished at $4,680.

A scarce, boxed Lionel 9U electric boxcar, standard gauge, second issue kit version, fully assembled and with the original steam-type wheels, plus the remaining pieces to a Bild-A-Loco motor, realized $4,440; and a nicely boxed 1939 Lionel 763E semi-scale Hudson, clean and shiny with strong lettering and a 2263W Vanderbilt oil tender, rose to $3,480.

For more information about Weiss Auctions and the firm's calendar of upcoming auctions, visit www.WeissAuctions.com. Updates are posted often.