Q. I have a toy that looks like a pair of dressed up scissors with a human head. The toy is wearing a high hat, glasses and colorful clothes. Can you date it and tell me about it?

A. You have a “scissors” toy. It's an idea from the 1920s. Children could make the character's arms and legs move by inserting their fingers in the round handles and opening and closing the “blades.” The head on your toy is a caricature of Harold Lloyd, a movie comedian who worked in both silent films and talkies from 1914 to 1947. Lloyd wore a funny hat and dark-rimmed glasses in shows and these were copied into many toys, including a tin mechanical bank that sells today for over $2,000 and a tin windup toy that's going for $300. Lloyd died in 1971 and today few collectors under 60 years old realize the cartoon-like figure with glasses represents a real person. Your toy, made in about 1928, is worth about $100 to $150 because it depicts a movie star. Other scissors toys sell for less.

Photo: RSL Auction