Vintage 1940's Comet Metal Tanks (1 Viewer)

[Peter Reuss]

We had a customer come in the shop the other day with some examples of what he has in his collection...I think he has quite a few of these (I'll have Shannon give the full update). I think that the ones with a mark by them on the paperwork are ones he has. Anyone have a clue as to what they are worth? He's a bit curious.

 

[Peter Reuss]

 

[Peter Reuss]

 

[Al Fisher]

You find them going for anywhere from $5 to $30 on e-bay with higher priced ones including the box. I'm fortunate enough to have about 50 or 60 of them about half with boxes and wish I had more. (about half of these are from my childhood.) Not the most accurate of models but certainly collectible.

Al

 

[theBaron]

You find them going for anywhere from $5 to $30 on e-bay with higher priced ones including the box. I'm fortunate enough to have about 50 or 60 of them about half with boxes and wish I had more. (about half of these are from my childhood.) Not the most accurate of models but certainly collectible.

Al

Hi, Al, I like your observation about their accuracy. It's almost ironic, when we consider that Comet kept in business by making those armor models, originally, as ID models for the US Army. They garnered a government contract, and at a time when other manufacturers had to close, or switch to alternate materials, because lead was now a strategic material, Comet's factory worked around the clock, with armed guards on patrol for security, to produce these models. After the war, they renamed the company to Authenticast, partly based on their wartime models! I think collectors noted that irony, too (I think there's a similar comment in O'Brien's book). The figures were nice toys, but anything but "authentic"!

But for their time, these little models are pretty nice. Did you use them for tabletop battles, or in a sandbox?

Prost!
Brad

 

[Shannon Reuss]

So the background on this is that the collector owns 40-50 of these tanks, all in original boxes and with the original catalog. I believe he said he's owned them since he was a kid and wondered what the value of his collection might be.
I offered to photograph what he brought in and pose the question on the forum, partly to help him find the answer and partly because I thought people would enjoy seeing these vintage tanks produced while the war was going on.
Pete and I were trying to figure out how they were allowed to make metal toy tanks during wartime so thanks to the Baron for explaining this.
I thought it was pretty unusual to have not only the boxes but the catalog as well. I would think the catalog may be worth more than the tanks themselves.
Cheers,