Famed Forbes toy collection auctioned off for $2.4 million in New York

13:51, 18 December 2010

NEW YORK. December 18. KAZINFORM A collection of antique toy boats, soldiers and motorcycles that once belonged to magazine publisher Malcolm Forbes has been sold for $2.4 million at Sotheby's, the auction house said on its website; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

The collection includes the best examples from the 1870s through the 1950s, which is known as the Golden Age of Toys.

A 37.5-inch-long replica of the ill-fated Lusitania, crafted in 1912, was the highlight at the auction. The toy ship, with five pairs of lifeboats and two sailors, sold for $194,500.

The Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine in 1915 and sank in eighteen minutes, killing almost 1,200 out of its 1,959 passengers and helping to precipitate the United States' entry into World War I.

A replica of Andre the Giant, a heavily armored 19th century French battleship, was auctioned off for $134,000.

The earliest circular hand-made Monopoly game board crafted around 1933 raised as much as $146,500, although a maximum price for the lot was estimated at $80,000; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti.

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