Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Who put the K in K-B toys?

Donald Kaufman! Well, he and his family, anyway. Originally named after the 'Kaufman Brothers,' KB Toys recently closed.

Donald Kaufman, however, was a prolific collector of antique toys - mainly cars and trucks. Just this past year, he decided it was time to get rid of his toys and sell them at auction. The first of these auctions netted a cool 4.2 million, 1.2 million above the auction house estimate and 2.2 over Mr. Kaufman's own estimate. The Marklin clown car train pictured below alone sold for over $100,000. The second of these auctions is coming up in September. Check out this New York Times article about his collection.

1 comment:

Ben - Lego Tech said...

An incredible collection from one of the best in this business. Too bad mall retail is on the way out, and K-B stores with it. Ben - Lego Tech