Toy robots auctioned in Pennsylvania are featured in a sale report in Kovels on Antiques & Collectibles July 2017 newsletter. Rare early robots, complete with their original boxes, tend to send collectors into orbit. See mesmerizing Japanese-made robots from the 1930s to 1960s that sold for $30 to $9,600. Blenko is best known for its brightly-colored glass and collectors look for rare or experimental colors. Blenko tableware and vases sold in a recent Virginia auction. Kovels’ July newsletter pictures pieces from the collection of one of Blenko’s design directors that sold from $35 to $702. And heavy metal sadirons, popular in the late 1800s for removing wrinkles from fabric, sold at a Missouri auction. Prices started at $5 and climbed into the hundreds. See the unique combination sadiron and fluter with two sets of rollers to form ruffles that brought $600.

Sewer tile art may sound like an odd collectible. Clever figures and other objects were made by manufacturers of sewer drain tiles with leftover clay. Animals and birds are the most popular forms. An early 20th-century American Indian bust made from sewer tiles sold for $2,280 in an Ohio auction. Kovels’ July newsletter has pictures and prices of a variety of sewer tile figures along with tips on identifying them.

There’s nothing like a bike ride on a summer night. Kovels’ July issue features of a variety of antique and vintage bicycles sold at auction in New York. See the 1870s Morse & Morton velocipede bicycle that sold for $21,060 as well as more modern examples, like the 1950s Schwinn Panther balloon tire bicycle that brought over $1,000.

Kim Kovel goes “on the road” to New York City to the big fairs during art week. The highlight of the trip was a behind-the-scenes tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met). Get an inside peek at some of the fascinating objects in their collection. The popular illustrated Collector’s Gallery answers readers’ questions about an old Coca Cola cooler radio, an 1880s English teapot, a Shirley Temple baby doll, and cast iron hearth stand. July’s Dictionary of Marks lists marks used by the Taylor Chair Company of Bedford, Ohio. And more than 70 antiques and collectibles are listed in the Buyer’s Price Guide.

Kovels on Antiques & Collectibles is available as a print subscription, or as a digital version that is part of the Kovels.com Premium subscription.