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Site changes

26/2/2013

Hello! I have changed the website slightly. As I only started in November it was always going to evolve. I'll be stocking up the shop shelves with many more great condition 1970's puppets towards the end of March and some of the rarer ones before that. I do have duplicates of the more common puppets but usually only have one at a time listed. If you are interested in any other Vintage Toys ....keep looking! I'm hoping to add a page for 'Other Vintage Toys' soon. By the way, Fifi has found her way onto ebay but will be back in the shop if she doesn't sell there! Poor Fifi :/

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Happy Valentines Day!

14/2/2013

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I tried to think of a special puppet for today, all I could come up with, was the White Rabbit from the Alice in Wonderland series of solid head puppets.These bear a resemblance to the original John Tenniel illustrations for the book.
I hope to be having one or two of these rare Pelham Puppets for sale in the shop in the future, they are difficult to find and one sold at auction this week for a grand sum of £2,000. A very rare 'Duchess', not just the 'Duchess', rare in itself, this was the Duchess with her baby. Only a very few of these were made I believe and the person who bought this puppet has a beautiful addition to their collection, a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy.These SL Solid Head puppets for the Alice range are very sought after.There are other 1950's Solid Head characters that don't hold the same fascination and can be fairly inexpensive.

Don't forget to vote for the 'Puppet of the Week' if you haven't done already. Next week the chosen puppet will be reduced. Votes will be taken up until Sunday.

Hope you are having a good day!

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新年快乐 Happy Lunar New Year!

9/2/2013

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The festivities are getting underway for the Year of the Snake, laden with customs that will ensure a happy and prosperous year ahead.
I would love to find a nice early Snake Charmer Pelham Puppet to add to my personal collection, the one with upturned thumbs and a beautiful costume with jewels adorning it. A difference other than the thumbs is in the snake, it has nail teeth and a hard tongue, later this is felt and softer. Often this puppet is missing its flute or its snake more importantly. A rare find and competition is high, the later Snake Charmer also is very sought after. It's not often that one is seen for sale. Recently on ebay some spare mould parts were sold for painting, a good buy to make your puppet complete, a Snake Charmer flute was in the lot. I love all the differences each puppet has, thanks to the person who was sitting at their work bench using their imagination and producing a unique puppet, every puppet painted differently.
Wish me luck finding a Snake Charmer for me and one for the Shop!

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Ebay v Auctions

4/2/2013

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I've been to a few auctions recently to check out the Pelham Puppets for sale. The prices are high and puppets are commanding good values again. This is good news for collectors with large collections of rare puppets who were beginning to worry about the value of their collection in the last few years. Any Collectors sometimes come to a point where they decide to sell up and use the money for another cause dearer to their heart. Recently I met a collector who was selling his puppets in order to buy a motorbike, his love for the puppets was over.... I wonder if he will start up again a few years on. I've heard of this time and time again, often the regrets are outweighed by the delights of collecting again, the frenetic search begins some time later, fueled by the desire to retrieve those same beloved puppets from the past. Only this week, I heard of two collectors who were selling their entire collection. The auction this week in Reading UK was a whole collection from one seller, 72 lots of several puppets in each lot in some cases. This is good news for the new collectors of which there are certainly many. The toy auctions seem to be thriving, SL Lettice Leefe, from 'The Girl' comic in the 1950's, sold at auction for £600 with auction fees added. An ebay listing for this puppet in better condition sold for quite a bit less. I've come away thinking that auctions are not necessarily the best place to find wonderful puppets for the shop but with a good mix of toy fairs, private sales and small auctions, I should manage ok.
I hope you'll enjoy looking at this weeks findings of rare and not so rare puppets.

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Site changes

Happy Valentines Day!

新年快乐 Happy Lunar New Year!

Ebay v Auctions

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