Milton Bradley Transformers G1 Autobot Sunswipe, £2600 at Special Auction Services.
All the 63 lots included in the Toys for the Collector sale got away for a total of £11,670, double expectations.
The top lot, shown here, was a Milton Bradley Transformers G1 [Generation 1] Autobot Sunswipe which took £2600 hammer (plus 20% buyer's premium), more than five times the top estimate.
The Transformers were bought by the vendor from a work colleague who was getting married – and whose future wife insisted that he sell his collection beforehand.
At the time the vendor lived in a flat and did not have space for the seven large boxes he had bought. Fortunately, his brother stepped in and offered his attic. The collection stayed there untouched ever since.
Nostalgia trippers
SAS specialist Dominic Foster said: “This collection really was one of a kind and was a dream for collectors worldwide. The results show the strength of plastic toys dating from the 70s to the 90s versus the diecast market at the moment – people are buying their childhoods back.”
Transformers toys, first released in 1984, are among the more recent brands now appearing often at auction such as Lego, Star Wars and He-Man.
The Transformers at SAS were Generation 1, in original packaging, based on toys manufactured in Asia for several years before. The first batch runs from 1984-90 (in the US – dates vary for different countries). Generation 2 appeared in 1992.
