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here’s a box full of empty boxes in a storage space under the Toy artwork can be off-the-chart charming, and it also can offer a
eaves of our house. The empties once held toy and model cars, glimpse into the era in which it was created. When I was in my 30s, I
Tbut that was 60 or 70 years ago. Now they await replacements— started hunting for British Minic clockwork-powered tin cars and
or, more precisely, duplicate originals—something that happens only trucks, which were made long before my time, during the 1930s and
sporadically as I hunt for vintage stuff. 1940s. Minic boxes often depicted the cars and trucks motoring
Several years ago, I made this kind of connection when I came across through English towns and along country lanes, and looking at them
a blue and cream plastic friction-powered Simca Versailles for sale, actually made me nostalgic (if that’s the right word) for a time I never
made by French manufacturer Minialuxe in the 1950s. It was in perfect knew. A piece of folded cardboard that can do that is all right in my book.
original condition and I thought, “Don’t I have a box for this one
somewhere?” Minialuxe models don’t come along very often, so I
wasn’t sure I had a match. But I dug out the box box and sure enough,
a box bearing the words “Simca Versailles 1/32 scale,” which had been
given to me by a friend some time before, looked up at me hopefully. I
bought the Simca, then the toy and box were placed on display together
in the cabinet, and all was well in that little corner of the world.

Attractive and practical: in the mid-1950s, Amsterdam-based Luxor
offered their plastic pickup truck in a box that doubled as a garage.

Then there are boxes that do double (triple?) duty as miniature
buildings. Dutch toy maker Luxor offered a plastic pickup truck during
the 1950s that came in a box with a peaked (and shingled) roof, and
garage doors on one end. The pickup fits snugly inside the miniature
garage, the artwork of which just screams “1940s.” The pickup is a
Charming period art graced the box for Keystone’s set of sedans from the 1950s, decent model, but I think this one is a case of the box being more
into which you could pump water into the “gas” tank at the back of the car,
and then drain it out of the front as “oil.” interesting than the toy.

Alternatives to Originals
Collectors know that the vast majority of vintage toys no longer
The Essence of the Original
For some toys, of course, finding an original box is quick and easy,
especially for items made during the past 30 years. But vintage originals have their original boxes. Even when they do, the presence of an
original box can easily double the price of a toy, with especially rare
can be rare birds, which is why I buy empty originals whenever I can. examples adding even more dollars to the equation.
It’s not hard to figure out why original boxes generally are rarer than That’s why reproduction toy boxes started appearing some 30 years
original toys. When a kid was given a GI Joe or a tinplate police car or or so ago. Many early repros were not of great quality, but as imaging
a set of dollhouse furniture, what part of the toy usually went right into technology continued to improve, makers of these things upped their
the trash? Add to that the fact that a cardboard box is far more easily games, providing collectors with well-made copies of boxes that
damaged than a metal car or even a plastic refrigerator, and it’s a sometimes prove to be elusive. When that original is a rare bird and
wonder that any original toy boxes have survived the years. very expensive, a quality repro box can add to the display of a vintage toy.
An original box often is more than just a place to store a plaything
When I asked him about originals vs. repros, a collector friend,
until it’s played with or displayed. Many toy boxes made from the Marc Star, told me, “My main collecting areas are models and slot
1920s through the 1960s (and beyond) also had to sell the item(s) racing cars, and I’ll buy a repro box for a slot car that’s particularly
inside, which usually meant appealing both to a kid and a parent. Boxes attractive, or elusive, to display with the item. Usually, it’s an
therefore often sported colorful and whimsical artwork – more so than, enhancement compared to what I’d have to put on the shelf otherwise.”
for example, a box for a kitchen appliance or a box for a wrench set.

24 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles