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About 15 years ago, Victoria Montifiore gave a Popeye in a Barrel toy to her husband, Stephen, as a gift. As it has turned out, that was the start of something big. It led first to a collection of other Popeye toys, then an impressive gathering of 1950-70's children's school lunch boxes, Japanese mechanical toy robots, and several other collectibles categories. The collection grew large enough to deserve a special room in the Montifiores' home in a loft in the SoHo district of Manhattan. Steve Montifiore said that the room was a magic place. But times change, and when the couple decided to move to a smaller home in Miami Beach, Florida, it was time to sell much of the collection.

On March 2 in Boston, Skinner's brought most of the Montifiore collection to the auction block: some two dozen Popeye items, about 25 other toys, more than 200 lunch boxes, and over 50 Japanese mechanical toy robots. Absentee bidders, some three dozen people in the sales room (about half of them dealers), and phone bidders battled for about three and a half hours for what was clearly an impressive collection. Bidding was active and steady, spurred by a phone bidder who made offers for several hours and took about 45 of the lunch box lots.

In addition to a three-day preview at Skinner's gallery, the auction was promoted with a reception and display of some of the lots a week before the sale at Louis Boston, an up scale retail apparel store in midtown Boston.

The auction was really a four-part affair: the Popeye items, the more general toy offerings, the lunch boxes, and the Japanese mechanical robots. For the most part, distinct groups of bidders were involved in each of the four categories.

The sale opened with 26 lots of Popeye toys. The first one to come to the block, a 7 inches high Chein clockwork Popeye in a Barrel with walking action, was the one Victoria Montifiore had given to her husband as a gift. It sold for $632.50 (includes buyer's premium).

Active bidding in the room, phone bids, and left bids pushed about half of the other Popeye lots over their upper estimates. Topping them were a Juggling Popeye and Olive Oyl at $4370 (est. $2000/3000); a Smoking Popeye at $1725 (est. $1500/ 2000); and, soaring far over its $500/700 estimate, a Popeye Cyclist at $2875.

Next on the block were 18 lots of miscellaneous toys, most of them clockwork or mechanical. Leading that group's prices were a Marx Amos 'N' Andy Fresh Air Taxi Cab, $546.25 (est. $400/ 600); a Linemar Pluto with Cart, $488.75 (est. $400/600); and a 16½ inches high clockwork Chein Disneyland Ferris wheel, $460 (est. $250/300). Four lots of toy boats followed. Those prices were topped by four Japanese battery-operated wooden boats, sold as a single lot, for $632.50 (est. $400/600).

Then for several hours, attention focused on the Montifiores' collection of 1950-70's decorated school lunch boxes. They were nostalgic reminders of many of that era's best-known movies, radio or TV shows, musical groups, the space program, and popular icons ranging from Smokey the Bear to Dr. Seuss. Interest in the lunch boxes was obviously high, with continuous steady and strong competition from absentee bidders and bidders on the floor and phones. Only 18 of the 212 lots were passed.

Some of the buyers seemed to get bargains, as nearly 40 lots dropped under their low estimates and left the block for less than $100 each. But the majority of the lunch boxes sold at the upper end of their catalog estimates, and about 60 climbed even higher. The most impressive among these highfliers was a 1954 Superman by Adco Liberty with thermos bottle and original box. Warding off intense competition in the room and from the phones, an absentee bidder took it at $11,500, a record price for a collectible lunch box.

Next on the price list, all by Ohio Art, were a 1962 Dudley-Do-Right at $3335 (est. $500/700); a 1974 Underdog at $2990 (est. $300/500); and a 1962 Bullwinkle and Rocky at $2300 (est. $300/500). At slightly lower prices were a 1967 Green Hornet with thermos, by Thermos, at $1840 (est. $300/400); one lot of four Aladdin 1971-77 Sid and Marty Kroft boxes (Lidsville, Bugaloos, Kroft Supershow, and Sigmund and the Sea Monster) at $1495 (est. $250/350); and one lot of two Flintstones boxes by Aladdin (a 1964 Pebbles and a 1971 Bam-Bam), both with thermoses and stickers, at $1150 (est. $200/300).

Not surprisingly, the Japanese mechanical robots carried the catalog's highest estimates, and the auction results delivered on those predictions. Some 50 robots came up for bid. About three dozen of them drew prices over the $1000 mark, and six sold above the $6000 level. The most sought-after collectible Japanese toy robots are the so-called "Gang of Five": Radicon, Non-Stop "Lavender," Target, Giant Sonic, and Machine Man. At 14½ inches or 15 inches high, they are the largest of all the Japanese robots, and all of them were produced by Masudaya in the 1950's.

The Skinner's sale offered examples of all but Machine Man, the rarest of the group. Only three of them are known to exist. One drew a record $42,550 price in November 1996 in Manhattan when Sotheby's sold the Matt Wyse collection. Skinner's offered the other four rare robots as the last lots in the sale. First up was the 14½ inches high Radicon in steel gray textured finish with red eyes. It had a spinning antenna and a gauge and blue light in its chest. Its forward, backward, and turning movement was radio remote-controlled. The lot opened on an absentee bid, then drew active offers in the room where it sold for $8050, the auction's fourth-highest price.

Next to come under the hammer was the 14½ inches high Non-Stop "Lavender," in lilac with brightly colored details and some touch-ups to the edges. The robot had a lighted face, red claws, and walking and turning action. A floor bid took it for $3450 (est. $3000/ 5000).

The Target robot came next. Standing 15 inches high, it was purple with red and yellow details. It had what the catalog called "squiggly" lights in its mouth, lighted eyes, red claws, and a red circular target in its chest. The original gun and dart used to hit the target and make the robot change direction as it moved were included in the lot. Most of the offers for the Target robot came from several phone bidders, and one of them won out at $6325 (est. $3500/ 4500).

The auction ended with the 15 inches tall Giant Sonic robot in red with a black head and arms with blue, yellow, and silver details. It had a lighted face, forward and turning movement, and a train whistle sound that came from a speaker in its chest. The robot's damaged box was also included in the lot. After strong offers from the phone, the bidding was topped in the room by Bob Gallegos, a collector from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who bought it for $11,500 (est. $7000/10,000).

In a conversation after the sale, Gallegos said he had become interested in robots because of the Matt Wyse sale and had bought his first three at that auction; he now has about 40.

In a conversation prior to the auction, George Glastris, the Skinner's specialist who managed the sale, said he was not certain what to expect, especially from the lunch box lots. But after the auction he summarized the results simply by saying of the lots, "They did what they should have done. Most of them sold at the upper end of their price estimates."

Skinner's conducts about 60 auctions a year at two locations, one in Boston and the other in Bolton. For more information on this auction, call (617) 350-5400 or visit the Web site (www.skinnerinc.com).

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