Press Release

New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada, May 15, 2024 -- A Canadian 1940s McColl-Frontenac service station sign, six feet in diameter, soared to $22,420; a Bally’s Gilligan’s Island pinball machine from 1991 went for $10,030; and a Japanese 1950s Linemar toy Good Humor Ice Cream delivery truck hit $3,245 in three days of online auctions held May 10th-11th-12th by Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd.

All prices quoted in this report are in Canadian dollars.

The auctions included a Toys & Historic Ephemera auction featuring Part 2 of the late Howie Meyer Legacy collection held on Friday, May 10th; a Toys, Advertising & Coin-Op auction held on Saturday, May 11th; and a Petroliana & Advertising auction featuring the late Syl Rumas collection held on Sunday, May 12th. The three sales combined totaled a gross of $947,156.50.

“Toys sold in our inaugural online-only sale for the late Howie Meyer Collection performed well,” said Ethan Miller of Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. “Some rare boxed examples crushed the high estimates – especially anything Disney. In the collector market, the upper five percent of any category is where to invest but first, make sure you like it. Top items did well this weekend.”

Mr. Miller went on to say, “We can still feel the afterglow from the Rumas Collection sold on Sunday. Choice porcelain dealer signs soared through the roof. However, I do sense a slight regression in the advertising market compared to the fever during the pandemic. Great things are performing, but the importance of condition, size, and medium seems to have grown somewhat.”

Petroliana lots on Day 3 posted some of the highest overall prices. The Petroliana & Advertising auction was a three-part event that featured the petroliana collection of the late Syl Rumas (signs, Canadian gas pumps, cans, ephemera and more), plus petroliana selections from the collection of the late Ken Hatt of Inverness, British Columbia (signs, Red Indian ephemera, Red Head tins).

The McColl-Frontenac double-sided porcelain sign easily bested its $6,000-$9,000 estimate to be the day’s top achiever, while a Canadian 1940s White Rose single-sided porcelain service station sign, 36 inches in diameter and marked ‘P&M 47’ to the lower edge, topped an identical estimate by changing hands for $20,060. Both were expected to do well and each exceeded expectations.

Rounding out the Day 3 action, a Canadian 1940s Supertest Gasoline double-sided service station sign, five feet in diameter with the original aluminum frame and hardware, finished at $18,800 against a pre-sale estimate of $8,000-$12,000; while a Canadian 1940s White Rose Gasoline double-sided porcelain “Slate Boy” service station sign, four feet in diameter with excellent color and gloss on both sides, brought $17,700 against an estimate of $9,000-$12,000.

Following are additional highlights from the three auctions, in which a total of 907 online bidders placed a combined total of 18,920 bids. Internet bidding was facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com and the Miller & Miller Auctions website. Of the 1,139 total lots up for bid, nearly all of them were sold and better than 50 percent of all lots surpassed estimates.

On Day 2’s Toys, Advertising & Coin-Op auction, the Bally Gilligan’s Island pinball machine made in America in 1991, fully restored, a fun, family-friendly game that even played the theme song from TV’s Gilligan’s Island, was the top earner. Runner-up to that was an American 1950s 16 hp Mercury Mark 20 racing boat motor with Quickie Prop lower unit – the holy grail for collectors, with a low serial number – topped its $5,000 high estimate by gaveling for $8,850.

To learn more about Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. and the firm’s upcoming auctions, please visit www.millerandmillerauctions.com

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