Good morning, folks! I'm anticipating a busy Friday, but before it gets rolling and I have to scramble out of its way, I wanted to dash off this post sharing a favorite S.T. Roadshow find.

If I knew how to photoshop, I'd put my head on this Indiana Jones shot. My day is looming about like this boulder!

But first, I have some excellent information about those Matchbox/Hotwheels cars, and some about the the plastic toys as well. 

Yesterday, I posted this photo: 

I got this great message back from Ewan of HebrideanBeachComber. (Do check out his shop!) 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/hebrideanbeachcomber
 

Hi there,

Only to happy to try and help!

Firstly the Matchbox - back in the early 80s was when people first started to get a bit nostalgic for the 50s and 60 and Matchbox introduced a few older cars, there was a Ford Model A, a 62 Corvette and a Jaguar or 2 as well as your Thunderbird.

Now, these early 80s models are themselves starting to get more collectable although my own opinion is that they are unlikely to ever be as popular as the 50s and 60s stuff is.

Downside first - your Thunderbird isn't in the greatest of shape, and most collectors are looking for mint condition items in mint condition boxes. Now the upside - it's not the most common example, they were nearly all red.

The most important discovery I have made selling Matchbox on etsy is that I'm not really selling to collectors - at least the serious ones who have to have every minute variation covered. I think I'm mostly selling to people who like a particular car, or maybe a specific toy from their own childhood. This is where your Thunderbird scores. It's quite an iconic car, very 'of it's time', very well known and there was that white one in 'American Graffiti' which everyone seems to remember.

I'm not a 'Hot Wheels' expert, but I reckon the same basic rules apply. The condition isn't great but every kid loves an ice cream van and every adult remembers them. I would put them on etsy for around 5 dollars each and see how it goes.

Great information and advice here--big thumbs up to Ewan!

Then I got messages from both Vanessa (here's her shop link for fun old toys:   www.etsy.com/shop/Vintagetoyfun ) and Pam (you've got to see her jewelry--swoon!!  www.etsy.com/shop/recreated1 ) Both these excellent ladies had information about these plastic figures:

 

Pam wrote: Victoria ..... the clown is from the 80's.... came with the Crazy Clown Fire Brigade playset. I think I may have seen one for around $8-$9.

And this is a great site to search for toys...
www.thisoldtoy.com/L_FP_Set/Pg_Main.htm

Those two with the metal shaky things are bath tub toys...I saw them there, and definitely old enough for etsy. The little guy with a beard....???

Vanessa recognized the little guy. He is Noah, as I guessed at, and he's a "Little Tikes Toddle Tot". So now I have much more to go on, and I've learned about a helpful resource for future toy identication reference. Thanks, Pam & Vanessa!

Okay, now for today's Sheer Trash Roadshow vintage toy finds:

Ta-DAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Enter the TROLLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was never much of a doll fan as a kid, but one thing I did adore was my troll family. All the girls on my street collected trolls and we had a whole troll society thing going--we even had currency and little shops for one another's trolls to shop in! It was wonderful.  

My own trolls disappeared eons ago, but recently I was able to purchase some bag lots of trolls at different garage sales, and today is their unveiling. I'll back up a bit so you can see them better.

 Aren't they wonderful? And there are some here that are quite unusual. Here are the main three that I find intriguing:

I never saw a troll calf before. (If the kids in my neighborhood had known about troll animals we'd have added a whole agrarian side to our play.) This poor guy is missing his eyes, but the little I've researched thus far shows me replacement eyes are available and that serious collectors fix this kind of problem all the time. Now, as for the other two...The large troll stands about 6 inches tall and is marked "Thomas Dam" and "Made in Denmark". This is the original outfit, apparently. I can't wait to do more research and find out what she/he is worth! The other little guy is very odd. He was made in China so he's probably not particularly old or valuable--more a "wannabe" than a true troll, but I can still find it in my heart to like him. Sort of.

Next I have an trio of standard-sized trolls, but of various types:

The ashbrown-haired one is of a glossy, harder plastic than the others. I can make out a copyright symbol "64" and, faintly, DAM. The blue-haired troll is of very pliable plastic and has no markings on its back, but there are horseshoes on the soles of its feet. The peach-haired girl has no markings at all I can find, but she does have a little nubby thing on the back of her neck. 

Now for the babies:

These seem fairly recent to me. And turning them over, I see I'm correct in that assessment. Each one has a clear vinyl label on its left foot reading "Russ" and "Made in China" etc. Information about these should be easy to track down. I'm guessing from the bunny ears that these were in some lucky girl's Easter basket, maybe in the 90s. 

Lastly, let me show you the nifty tray I used for the background. It's a bit battered, but I can live with that. It's one of those TV trays with folding legs, so you can use it sitting on your couch, or even for a sick child in bed. It's dated 1992. A garage sale find--I think it was in a free box, if I remember. At most I would have paid 50 cents for it.

 

I hope I can get back to you soon with additional information about these items, but right now I've got to run. Anything you can tell me will be greatly appreciated--please do comment!