TOYS that have remained unopened and untouched for decades have sold for nearly £60,000 at auction.

Vectis Auction House in Stockton-on-Tees was packed with toy enthusiasts yesterday, as well as adults who visited the Frank Beech Toy Shop in Holywell as children, all there to see thousands of toys from the shop go under the hammer.
Estimates of £25,000-£30,000 were smashed on the day when the sale made £58,000.
But with 354 lots and in the region of 3,000 items sold, the sale was more about memories than big value items, said catalogue compiler John Catherall.
“It’s great when you’re dealing with something that’s been such a well-loved shop that people speak so highly of.
“There were a lot of people in the room and on the internet but we also had people from Holywell wanting a piece of Frank Beech’s toyshop.
“Some people had never ever been to an auction before. They’d literally come because they used to go there as a child and they wanted something from the shop.”
Mr Catherall who is the man responsible for opening and cataloguing all the shop’s toys, noticed one man from Holywell buy a Dinky toy Battlestar Galacatica.
“I saw his hand go up,” he said. “I’m not sure but I think he bought a few things – and that’s exactly what we want.”
The Frank Beech Toy Shop was well-known for its vast array of toys and popular window displays but it closed its doors to the public for good in 2009, bringing to an end decades of service since its opening in the 1940s.
Amazingly, the contents – with toys dating back to the 1960s, 70s and 80s – remained largely untouched.
These include boxes of Star Wars figures, Action Man and accessories, trains, Dinky cars, Timpo toys and Britain’s soldiers, dolls, tinplate and plastic, Airfix and many board games.
Just 10 per cent of items from the shop, which were taken to the auction house in over 22 separate journeys, were sold in the sale.
Another 125 pallets of toys are yet to be unloaded with an estimated 30,000 more items. A second sale is expected to take place in June.
Mr Catherall said there had been lots of highlights.
The item which went for the highest price yesterday was a sealed box containing six Palitoy/General Mills/Meccano Star Wars Return of the Jedi Snowspeeder which went for £3,000.
A box of 12 ballerina Barbie dolls was sold for £900. With tax and commission, the total bill for the dozen toys was £1,100.
Another box of 11 Barbies went for £560.
“I think people thought we were going to sell everything in skip lots but that wouldn’t be fair for everyone,” said Mr Catherall.
“People can’t see. That’s also why we try to do as good a job of photographing and cataloguing them as we can. There was something for everyone.
“We’re just so pleased to have been able to hold the sale and we just hope they’ll feel we’ve done them proud.
“We’re guardians for a short period and we want to pass things on for someone else to enjoy.
“It’s gone for some really good prices and we’ve found some really good homes.”