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This is the one of the family of Phonograph action toys that were offered by the National Co. of Boston back in the mid to late 19teens. Unfortunately for anyone who may be interested, this toy is missing at least one essential part to make it work. There is suppose to be a thin round hollow shaft protruding upward from the platform, into which the then metal rods from the Boxers is inserted. Without that shaft, the Boxers will not be held in place to perform on your phonograph. This is key and essential part. When I contacted the seller and gave him a heads up, he responded that he was not an expert about these toys, and also said it was in his/her opinion that the Collectors who want this toy are more interested in the original box rather, then in knowing that that the essential part is missing to make it work. It is also interesting to note that the seller, also has for sale at the same time "The Fighting Roosters Toy" which is complete with the same metal shaft in place that is missing from Boxers toy. It is upsetting when sellers, who could really give you obvious important disclosures about a sale, with a tiny bit of research, chose not to do so, and instead declare the item to be in excellent original condition. It reinforces that old adage, "Let the Buyer Beware".

The seller now includes information stating that he has been made aware that the toy may be missing a piece, and that it is being sold "as is".

Well, I don't know about the rest of you......but, I plan to bid high on both of these.. .

gramophone78 wrote:Well, I don't know about the rest of you......but, I plan to bid high on both of these.. .

Good Luck, if you can somehow find a new support shaft to make those Boxing Darkies do there thing, then go higher higher higher ! As noted by another interested buyer in the question section, the small round spindle clamp to which the Platform/Mechanism is attached is also missing and the mechanism also appears to be defective, but I guess if you are not planning on Using this as a Phonograph toy, but just buying it to Collect it and have it, then it will not make any difference to you, so Bid Away.

bbphonoguy wrote:The seller now includes information stating that he has been made aware that the toy may be missing a piece, and that it is being sold "as is".

I saw that, but that does help the folks who already have bid, assuming obviously now incorrectly, that this Toy was complete and operational, as the seller had not yet declared it an "As Is" sale, and that he or she had not tested it on a phonograph. Any seller worth his salt would have taken a few minutes to do a little research, and know that this Phonograph Toy was not complete and detail what was missing, and since he is also selling the fighting Roosters in another auction, how difficult would it had been for him to compare the two platform/mechanisms and realize that the support shaft was missing, and the mechanism defective ? This effects the credibility of this seller, and he should have pulled the auction and relisted it correctly. Instead the auction continues. That is just plain wrong. "may be missing a piece" he says ? He knows it is in fact missing a crucial part without which it WILL NOT FUNCTION !

It's too bad it's incomplete. I've got some great Collins & Harlan records they could box to.