Unusual antique and vintage mechanical toys auctioned in Maine are featured in a sale report in Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles August 2015 newsletter. See pictures, descriptions and prices of toys that recreate the magic of another time, including a gumball vending machine with a moving “baker boy” figure that fetched a whopping $4,740. More than 120,000 buttons sold at a New Hampshire button auction for prices ranging from $5 to over $2,800. Buttons are fascinating little objects, utilitarian yet artful, and a sampling of buttons from rare and historic to just plain pretty are pictured with prices in Kovels’ August issue. And a Cincinnati auction included eye-catching art pottery from less familiar American makers. A sampling of vases by Owens, Overbeck, Van Briggle, Pewabic, Newcomb College and others is pictured and priced in Kovels’ latest issue.

The prognosis for medical furniture was good at an Indiana auction that offered a surgeon’s collection of late 19th and early 20th century exam chairs, tables and cabinets, where the top lot was a revolving dental cabinet that brought over $2,000. Kovels’ also reports on shopping costume jewelry online. Oh-so-pretty pieces by known makers like Coro, Lisner, Trifari, Monet, Weiss and other popular vintage designers, are pictured with their affordable prices in the August newsletter.

Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel go “on the road” to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where they examine Steampunk art and design. The popular illustrated Collector’s Gallery answers readers’ questions about a Wooton desk, a Gura doll, an early 1900s vacuum cleaner, and Russian spoon. The August Dictionary of Marks lists marks used by small American art potteries. And prices of dozens of antiques and collectibles are listed in the Buyer’s Price Guide.

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