I have been collecting antique toys for more than forty years. I started hunting for old toys at yard sales and antique shops with my grandmother in Pennsylvania during the seventies. There weren’t any department stores close so this is where I found my “new” toys each summer. Before I knew it I was looking for specific types of toys and older was always better. All of those early toy acquisitions are long gone but the collecting continues on. I bought my first Keystone ship when I was ten, which I still own today. Curious, I did some research at the library to learn more about the cool little rocket ship that I found. My research came up empty and so did every conversation I had with any dealers or collectors that I talked to. So an obsession was born. It would be another ten years before I found my next Keystone ship, this time a B-8 Battleship. From then on I would find another Keystone toy every year or two. My Keystone collection grew slowly but I was busy collecting toy soldiers at the time.
In the late 90’s I started to seriously hunt down anything Keystone. I decided to focus on just Keystone wooden toys because I was still finding little information about anything other than Keystone metal ride on toys. In fact I ran into several collectors and dealers of the ride on toys that did not even know Keystone produced wooden toys. My collection grew quickly, due primarily to the internet, over the next several years but I was still plagued by a lack of information. So I started to track every online auction, ask the sellers questions and buy every catalog and piece of ephemera that I could find. This lead to compiling lists and spreadsheets of information. A picture of Keystone started to emerge but there were and still are many gaps.
So here I am with this site to share the Keystone toys and information that I have collected over the years, to ask for information that others may have collected and hopefully find other Keystone toy collectors. I hope you will enjoy what I have put together.
Happy hunting,
Derrick
is there a market for a floor standing tru-scale home bowling alley. It was my mothers so late 30’s early 40’s east coast mass, and not worth shipping costs so would have to be local. I don’t see any on Ebay.
searching for the 10th candlepin, only have 9 and two balls at this time.
Hello Steve,
They do have value but you are correct that shipping is prohibitive. I don’t know what the true value is because of lack of auction sales. When they do come up the asking price is usually about $100.
Derrick
Derrick– Thank you for the Keystone history and all the photos of your amazing collection. I am working on an article about the Keystone dollhouses I own for Doll News (magazine for the United Federation of Doll Collectors). I am not finding a lot of information on the furniture made specifically for the doll houses. I see that your model lists that some of the dollhouses came furnished (1229F, 1234F, 1258). Do you have access to the 1941-42 catalog? Or do you know where I could locate one? I would like to see pics and determine if sets of furniture were sold separately Thank you.
Hello Mary Ellen,
I do have that catalog and will be happy to share for your article. The descriptions mention being fully furnished but the pictures do not show any furniture. I have never seen any of the furniture that came with the doll houses. I do have some of the doll furniture produced by Keystone but it is a separate line and far to large for the houses.
Derrick