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Tips to Start Collecting Antique Toys

Gaynor Borade
Toys that amuse children are today, also collectibles for adults, especially antique toys. The history of natural and crafted toys is as old as that of our civilization itself.
The replicates of the toys unearthed from archaeological sites are finding a place within museums and showcases of genuine collectors. Antique toys include wooden and metal carts, figurines, and replicas of animals and birds.
The history of man on record documents that infants and toddlers play with whatever they can find. In fact, early toys have included rocks and foodstuff, and good old rollable pine-cones. The antique toys and games that have been unearthed have been written about in the ancient manuscripts and other literature preserved and handed down.
The earliest civilizations, being those which developed on the banks of the rivers Nile, Indus, and Hwang Ho, are also responsible for our understanding of the toys that children once played with.
Cave paintings and excavated whistles, pull alongs, and simple wind-ups are proof enough of where our modern and technologically enhanced toys originated. Antique toys are nothing but replicas of these articles that are well-preserved in dedicated archives.

Antique Toys: A Collection
The collection of antique toys include shapes of birds, toy animals that can slide down a string, rock figurines, stick games, moldable clay, elaborate dolls with wigs and movable limbs, stone-pottery-wood-wax harpoons & bows and arrows, miniature household items made of wax, terracotta or sticks, and even yo-yo's!
There seemed to have been a thriving home-based industry back then. Interesting evidence reveals that when Greek girls came of age, it was a custom for them to sacrifice their toys to the gods.
A ritual of one of the most enigmatic civilizations involving toys. And, it doesn't stop there; on the eve of their wedding, girls would make offerings to the local temple and one of the very important components was their dolls.
Antique toys, such as hoops, have been popular in many cultures of the world, and so have the rollable ball and wheel.
Today, we have harnessed technology to an extent that not only are improved versions of these antique toys are available for our children to behold and marvel, but the excavated originals are also replicated with genius.
As civilizations progressed, so did the toys, and stone, bone, wood and glass got replaced by fabric, plastic, and other synthetic materials.
While ancient toys were most often made by the older family members, their modern counterparts are produced in bulk and customized to individual tastes and demands. The market today also caters to dedicated adults who are genuine collectors of the change in the nature of toys.

Antique Toys Vs. Technology
The earliest and most primitive toys were simple carvings and extensions of the availability in nature. The ball and wheel probably replicated the pine cone rolling down a hillock. Modern technology uses the same concepts of color, visible-stimulant, and movement, and takes the toy to the next level for the child who has changed too.
Ancient Egyptian dolls reached a stage where their limbs were created to move realistically, and subsequently, by the 1800s, we bulk-manufactured dolls that could talk.
Today, dolls are designed to recognize and identify objects, tell you your fortune, and even recognize a defined voice. Even though the basic creativity and materials have changed, children still play with and demand for toys that stimulate their senses and involve action.

Collectibles
The popular collectibles seen with many genuine 'collectors' include rubber ducks and other bath time toys for small children, marbles, wooden blocks, and terracotta figurines.
These collectibles are not only visually pleasing, but also toys, like play itself, that provide entertainment and educate. They are observed in all forms to enhance cognitive behavior and develop physical and mental coordination.
Antique toys are ample proof of man's quest to develop hand-eye coordination, observation, and calculation skills at an early stage. They enable us to understand the simple designs created to learn about relationships that are spatial in nature, and the law of cause and effect.