Happy birthday The Dandy and Desperate Dan

Technorati Tags: Children's comics,Juvenalia

THE Dandy's barrel-chested, be-stubbled, cowpie-guzzling Cactusville cowboy Desperate Dan was easily my favourite, but I was horrified to learn that he celebrates his 70th birthday this month. Yikes that makes me feel ancient.
    Yup, it's true. Still entertaining young (and old) readers all over the world, The Dandy is the world's longest-running comic.
    The first issue featured the five foot tall feline, Korky the Cat, on the front cover and inside were strips staring such memorable characters as Keyhole Kate, Hungry Horace, and the great Desperate Dan.

See a slideshow © DC Thomson & Co. Ltd. 2007

    Tucked inside it was a free gift, an "Express Whistler", and it hit the newsstands on Friday December 4, 1937.
    It cost 2d (0.83 of a penny). In an auction in October 2004 that sent comic collectors crazy, a copy of Issue 1, complete with its free gift, sold for a staggering £20,350.
    Was it an investment? Probably. This remains the highest price ever paid for a single comic in Britain.

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All I want for Christmas is a pop-up book

Technorati Tags: Juvenalia , Christmas , Pop-up

THERE'LL be no Wiis in my house this Christmas thank you very much. We watched them being demonstrated at the launch by Nintendo PR girls thrusting, parrying and gesticulating in front of a widescreen TV.

See a pop-up slideshow

It immediately made us wonder how long it would be before one of them let the thing slip, sending it crashing through the screen. Wiis don't have a wrist strap for nothing, but if I was the parent of a youngster expecting one from Santa this Christmas, I be taking out extra insurance.

Oh for the days when children were content with a stocking containing an orange, the latest Dandy or Beano annual, a handful of assorted nuts (still in their shells, of course) and a few simple and inexpensive toys. Ah yes, I remember it well.

Time was when the must-have Christmas present for children and adults alike was a magical

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The tricksy trio who still make us smile

It wasn't much to look out, but the little round lapel badge we found lying in the bottom of a box of knickknacks at our local collectors' fair had a fascinating background.

About the size of an old sixpence, the badge was decorated with blue enamel, picked out of which were the initials W. L. O. G.

The only other decoration was what we later learned was a pair of oversized ears -- an image that was once the trademark of a cartoon rabbit, and no, I don't mean Bugs Bunny.Read more »

Money on trees

Congratulations! Now, stand back and admire your handiwork. You manoeuvred the ladder up to the loft, you scrambled around in the dust and cobwebs, you found the old suitcase containing the Christmas decorations and the tree looks fabulous.

But stop and take another look. Those baubles, knickknacks and trinkets that you remember when you were a child might actually be highly desirable collectors’ items.

And that means hard cash to pay the credit card bill which arrives when Christmas is but a distant memory.

The thought occurred watching Coronation Street the other night. Ken Barlow probably didn’t realise what the Bakelite crib ornament was worth as he hung it on his tree, but it was not lost on me.Read more »

Annual treats

There’s no shortage of choice: Barbie and Sindy, My Little Pony and the Brownies continue to have mass appeal for the girls, while us boys go for Thunderbirds, Spiderman and relative newcomer Bob the Builder.

All are on sale this Christmas and so it was –admittedly with a different cast of characters – since the 1820s, which means there’s a rich collecting vein for lovers of children’s annuals.Read more »

Schuco’s toytown charmers

It was love at first sight and you could tell instantly that the woman standing starry eyed at the end of the collectors' fair stall was never going to be able to resist the two plush Teddy bears waiting to be taken home. The deal was struck and money swiftly changed hands, but it was what happened next that was the most intriguing.

The stallholder handed the woman her purchases, having shoved them somewhat haphazardly into a plastic shopping bag. One Teddy was up, the other one was down with his head somewhere at the feet of his companion. Clearly for them it was going to be an uncomfortable journey home.Read more »

Barbie for sale: the story behind the ‘biggest collection in the world’

Like most of the bargains I buy on impulse, I knew it would come in useful eventually. We were browsing in a shop selling remaindered books and on the basis that one day I felt sure I would need to write about collecting Barbie dolls, the big, glossy pink encyclopaedic guide to the subject at half the recommended retail price was a must-have. That was five years ago. Since then "The Collectible Barbie Doll" by Janine Fennick has sat on my bookshelf gathering dust.

Click here for a Barbie (and Ken) photoshoot

The news that top auctioneers Christie's are to sell "one of the most significant and complete collections of Barbie dolls ever to come onto the market" meant my bookshop investment was about to pay dividends. My only regret, judging by the estimates in the Christie's sale, was not investing in a stash of the dolls themselves. But believe me, buying the book was embarrassing enough.

Fact is, the September 26 auction will offer some 4,000 dolls representing what is thought to be the largest privately-owned collection in the world. It spans the entire history of Barbie, her family, friends and fashion during the second half of the 20th-century. The collection is expected to realise more than £100,000.

Until I delved into the pages of "Collectible Barbie", I had no idea just how complex Barbie's world was. In a generation, the 11 and a half-inch vinyl child's doll became an international icon. But although she was originally advertised as A Teenage Fashion Model, Barbie was inspired by something about as far away from a child's toy that it's possible to get.

Americans toy manufacturers Ruth Handler and her husband Elliot were on holiday in Europe with their children Barbara and Ken, when they saw in a shop in Switzerland a provocative novelty doll intended for men. The doll was called Bild Lili and was based on the sexy character of the same name in a cartoon strip in the German newspaper Bild.

In 1945, Elliott and his business partner, Harold "Matt" Matson had formed a small company, calling it "Mattel" by combining their names. At first they made picture frames but soon realised that toys were more lucrative. Ruth Handler was later to become president of the company. She saw Bild Lili's commercial potential and purchased several examples, each in a different outfit, to take home.

The inspiration came to her as she watched her daughter play with paper dolls. Rather than pretending they were babies, little Barbara was imagining them in grown-up roles. As a result, Ruth decided to make a doll based on a young woman that little girls could dream about becoming. Barbie, named after Barbara, was unveiled by Mattel at New York's annual Toy Fair in February 1959.

Initial skepticism resulted in poor orders from toy and department store buyers but during the first year of production, 351,000 dolls were sold. There was also criticism. Detractors said Barbie's voluptuous figure was based on male fantasy. Ruth stuck to her guns but over the years, Barbie underwent a gradual change to reflect changes in standard and current fashion.

The first-ever Barbie had V -shaped eyebrows and vivid red lips and nails. Wearing a black and white striped knitted swimsuit, she looks distinctly similar to Bild Lili. However, the late 1950s saw the beginning of the trend that still strongly influences today's designers and Barbie and her wardrobe encapsulated this perfectly.

She started following fashion and teenage lifestyle trends, eventually becoming known for blazing her own fashion trail. The Christie's sale charts her progress. A Barbie Number 1 is estimated at £800-1,200 but later on in 1959, she wore designer outfits such as "Gay Parisienne" which featured the famous "balloon-line skirt" conceived by Hubert de Givenchy (estimate: £400-600), while in 1960, "Sweater Girl" featured a knitted twin-set reminiscent of Lana Turner's skirt and sweater appeal, (estimate: £80-100).

Barbie Trivia

• Ruth Handler was born Ruth Mosko on November 4 1916 in Denver, Colorado the daughter of Polish immigrant parents. She died on 27th April 2002 in Los Angeles, California.

• Barbie's boyfriend Ken is named after Ruth Handler's son

• Barbie has had more than 95 careers - from rock star to palaeontologist and Presidential candidate

• The first Barbie doll sold for $3

• Barbie is sold in more than 150 countries.

• Three Barbie Dolls are sold somewhere in the world every second

• Barbie has represented 45 different nationalities

• Barbie has had over 43 pets including 21 dogs, 14 horses, three ponies, six cats, a parrot, a chimpanzee, a panda, a lion cub, a giraffe and a zebra

• Barbie's full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts

• Over one billion outfits and pairs of shoes have been produced since 1959 for Barbie and her friends, using 105 million yards of fabric

Coco Chanel's influence can clearly be seen in "Fashion Luncheon" (c. 1966) featuring a Jackie Kennedy-style suit (estimate: £80-100), and "Solo in the Spotlight" featuring a Balenciaga-inspired gown from a design in 1951 (estimate: £70-100).
Other highlights from this important era include "Enchanted Evening" inspired by Grace Kelly's sumptious evening gown which she was photographed wearing in Life Magazine, January 1956, (estimate: £60- 80).

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw Barbie following the trends of London's pop culture and taking inspiration from the "Flower Power" movement. Mattel even produced a "Twiggy" Barbie inspired by the waif-like style icon in 1967 (estimate:£80-100). Barbie fashions included "palazzo pajama" pant suits, the zany glitz of the "disco" era, hot pants, mini-skirts and flares.

By the 1980s, Barbie's original fans had reached their twenties and thirties, and Barbie collecting began to attract adults as well as little girls and in the 1990s, some of the world's most famous designers such as Bob Mackie, Givenchy, Versace, Vera Wang, Dolce & Gabbana and Christian Dior began creating fashions specially for the toy, setting a new standard with over-the-top glamour for Barbie featuring stunning gowns of sequins and beads.

The Christie's collection is being sold by Ietje Raebel, herself a part time fashion designer who was born in Utrecht in 1921. She started buying the dolls in the early 1960s, originally as playthings for her daughter Marina, but her love of clothes and fashion took over and she began to collect Barbie herself.

Once Marina was a teenager, she joined her mother in collecting virtually every Barbie in existence, both vintage and current examples on the market at the time. Between them, they amassed the largest Barbie collection in private hands.

It was Ietje Raebel's dream to turn their collection into a private museum, but she succumbed to Alzheimer's disease in 2002 and the dream has never been realised.

The sale is at Christie's South Kensington and is one of a series being marketed as 20th Century Week (Click here for the online catalogue). Other sales include: 20th Century British and European Decorative Arts (Tuesday September 26); Vintage Film Posters; Modern Decorative Prints and 20th Century Fashion and Accessories (Wednesday September 27) and Modern Design (Thursday September 28).

Picture shows: The first ever Barbie, dating from 1959. She's estimated at £800-1,200 in the Christie's sale

Click here for a slideshow of further images

© 2006 All Rights Reserved.

Auction chance to give Smuggers a new home

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Rare Steiff Teddy bear is star of Christmas collectors' sale

The little boys looked forward to family trips from their home in Vienna to visit their three aunts in Düsseldorf, but not necessarily to see the matronly trio with their smothering hugs and embarrassing kisses.

Instead, the visits meant the three nephews got the chance to play with Smuggers, a magnificent and expensive Teddy bear - christened so because of the smug look on his face - which was purchased specially to amuse the boys when they grew bored.

But the visits were few and far between and so in the intervening years Smuggers sat in a cupboard which explains his as-new condition - all the more remarkable considering he was born in 1903.

Now Smuggers is about to start a new life. Passed though the family to the present Canterbury owner, he is one of the stars among a gleeful group of toys and dolls in the annual Christmas auction of antiques and collectors' items at The Canterbury Auction Galleries. The sale is on Tuesday December 6.

A product of the German soft toy company founded in 1847 by Margete Steiff, Smuggers stands just short of 12 inches and has a plush mohair coat, eyes made from black shoe buttons and the characteristic brass ear tag Steiff trademark. He's yours for £1,500-2,000.

More information from The Canterbury Auction Galleries on 01227 763337.

Celebrities design Mickey Mouse souvenirs for charity auction sale

by Christopher Proudlove©
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You'll know, if youre a regular reader of this column, that were just back from our annual holiday, in Florida, but as far away from Disneyland as we could get. With our two young apprentices now grown up, weve moved on from the traipse home with armfuls of soft toy souvenirs from the Magic Kingdom.

But the memories came flooding back (as they say) as we watched one child struggling under the weight of a Mickey Mouse that was bigger than she was. Either the airline was very understanding, or the toy must have had a seat of his own.

Taking home any of the Mickeys illustrated here will present more of a challenge. Each stands six feet tall and weighs 700 pounds.

They are the stars of an auction in New York next month to conclude the celebration of Mickey Mouse's 75th anniversary and the sale is expected to raise more than $1 million for charity.

Mickey turned 75 on November 18 last year and among a series of events to mark the occasion, the Walt Disney Company invited 75 celebrities notable Disney legends, artists, actors, musicians and athletes to each design their ultimate Mickey.

Since then, the statues have been on tour as part of a special tribute entitled "Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations."

The proceeds of the sale of each statue at Sotheby's in New York on September 27 will benefit charities designated by the artist of each statue.

The appeal of the character is universal.Michael Eisner, Disney Chief Executive Officer, said: "No other single character has such timeless, ageless appeal or has engaged the hearts of so many. Chances are, if you talk to a four-year-old or a 70-year-old anywhere in the world, they consider Mickey a special friend."

There was no shortage of budding Mickey designers who agreed.Our own Sir Elton John rose to the challenge to produce, fittingly, Music Royalty and the money raised from its sale will go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Other participants include:
· Ben Affleck designed "Home Run Hero" for The Jimmy Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

· Andre Agassi designed "Love All" for the the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation

· Jamie Lee Curtis designed "The Original Mouse Pad" for the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation

· Long-time Disney animation artist Andreas Deja designed "Fruits of the Mouse" for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America

· Tom Hanks designed "Space Mouse" for the James Birrell Neuroblastoma Research Fund

· Kelly Ripa designed "Big City Mouse" for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

· John Travolta designed "Jet Setter" for the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project

So how do you join in the bidding for what must be the grandest Mickey Mouse souvenir? Actually, its easier than you think.

First, youll need a catalogue which can be pre-purchased by logging on to www.sothebys.com or by calling Sothebys in London on 020 7293 5000. It costs $41 including shipping and handling.

In the catalogue, youll find an absentee bid form which you fill in and return to bid department by fax or post.

Indicate the highest amount you would like to pay and the auctioneer will submit bids on your behalf, never bidding more than necessary to secure the lot and never more than the amount you specify. (Dont forget the buyers premium).

Absentee bid forms are also available at Sotheby's offices and on www.sothebys.com.

However, much more exciting would be to bid in the New York sale without actually leaving home.

Youll need a computer and access to the Internet, of course. Log on to www.ebayliveauctions.com

Will the really Mickey please stand up

Topolino to the Italians, Raton Mickey in Spain and Mi Lao Shu in China, Mickey Mouse was born when Walt Disney discovered he had lost the rights to his previous character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Originally to be called Mortimer, Disney changed his mind and called the stick-like creature Mickey in the world's first synchronised sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie which opened on November 18, 1928.

The mouse later appeared in the Laurel and Hardy film Babes in Toyland, and won his first Oscar in the 1941 film, Lend a Paw.

He first appeared in colour in The Band Concert, in 1935, and has now featured in more than 120 cartoons.

Originally, Mickey was voiced by Disney himself, but was later played by Jim Macdonald and then Wayne Allwine.

Mickey greeted his first guests to Disneyland in California when it opened in 1955, followed by the vast Disney World in Florida in 1971 and later in Tokyo and Paris
Each venue pours out a torrent of kitsch souvenirs some more collectable than others!

One sure fire hit is a limited edition "Tuxedo" Mickey pin for collectors which will be given to the first 5,000 catalogue orders for the 75th anniversary auction. The pin is sure to rise rapidly in value.

More hardened collectors seek out only vintage memorabilia such as tinplate toys, money boxes, clocks and watches early annuals and film cels.

High prices are the norm. In February, a solid gold 24 carat statue of Mickey called "Celebration Mickey...100 Golden Years of Magic," produced in 2001 as part of celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth on December 5, 1901 sold for $690,000 (£370,000).

Pictures show: Top, Sir Elton John's Music Royalty which will raise money for the Elton John AIDS Foundation

Below, He's come a long way... a Dean's Rag Book soft toy Mickey, worth £60-80 and a tinplate clockwork toy motorcycle with Minnie riding pillion. The motorcycle was made by Tipp & Co and sold for £11,000

Join the space race - but batteries not included!

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by Christopher Proudlove©

It's almost time … but not yet. According to the countdown clock on the BBC website, the invasion begins in . . . well, click on the link and see for yourself. Doctor Who is back - almost … and with Billie Piper as his sidekick. Coo!

The news was enough to send a nanostream of nostalgia coursing through my neurones.

I felt suddenly compelled to vector in to the loft and teleport my collection of tinplate space toys from the bottom of the tea chest.

They've been lurking up there for as long as the Doctor has been off our screens and experience tells me they have suddenly surged as hot property on the collectors' circuit.

I just wish I owned a Dalek like the one pictured here, at the same time one of the most popular - and most feared - robot villains in the history of British television.

It was made in the 1960s by the British toy firm Cowan-de-Groot and marketed under their trademark "Codeg".

Today the clockwork contraption, in unplayed condition and with original box, would be worth £200-300.

Fact is, I was a teenage sci-fi junkie. It started with Saturday matinees at the local picture house ... Buck Rogers and Captain Marvel and all that.

Come secondary school and a constant diet of Dan Dare's Eagle comics exploits and rainy lunchtimes spent devouring science fiction books in the school library sealed my fate.

Sadly today it's all become too much like a Hollywood blockbuster as special effects departments and make-up specialists try to outdo each other.

Give me Blake's Seven, Lost in Space and Star Trek in the days of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy any day. I'm just horrified when I realise that's 35 years ago!

Which probably goes some way to explaining why I started to collect the tinplate toys connected to the programmes.

So did a legion of others, and the toy manufacturers responded accordingly. Among the diehards, interest never waned.

Already, top people's auction houses Sotheby's and Christie's have staged specialist sales devoted to nothing but tinplate space toys and Saturday collectors' fairs usually have something to tempt cash from wallets.

The strike force chez nous currently stands at four tinplate and plastic robots (easily my favourite space toy).

Each is battery-operated and cost very little from car booters clearing out their unwanted toys.

Manic messages of goodwill

Two are particularly clever little fellows who recite manic messages of goodwill to mankind each time buttons on their heads are pressed.

A third does very little, basically because the battery compartment is missing one set of connection terminals, so he remains inert.

My favourite, though, is the one whose torso lights up with a clever moving panorama of space ships, shooting stars and planets as he trundles towards you in menacing fashion.

Sadly, none is worth much more than what I paid for it. All bear the ubiquitous Made in Hong Kong mark and are not really in the frame when it comes to the Investments For My Retirement stakes.

But as the ardent robotiana freak I've become, they're great fun and very much part of the family.

My ambition is to find a robot made by either of the two best Japanese toy manufacturers in the business, Taiyo and Horikawa.

When new in the 1950s, such a gem cost about £8-£10. Today they can fetch four-figure sums, and they show no sign of going down in value.

Shortly after the end of the second war, and after years of imitating others, Japanese manufacturers gave full rein to the creative talents of their designers and that, combined with the rapid advance of technology, saw the country attain dominance in the production, among many other things, of tin toys.

The appearance of the robot coincides with the advent of Space travel which began in earnest in 1958 with the first Sputnik orbiting the earth.

With typical oriental panache, innumerable Japanese toy makers flooded the market with brash but brilliant robots, as well as space rockets, ray guns, spacecraft and moon landing vehicles, spurred on by the American and Russian exploration race.

The result was a rapidly changing array of toys that were obsolescent almost as soon as they hit the toy shop shelves.

Fortunately, some farsighted adults had the sense to rescue examples and prevent their offspring from ruining what today are worth anything up to £1,500 apiece for the more rare examples that remain in mint condition and complete with their original boxes.

The joy of collecting robots is the naivety of some of the once futuristic designs and the wonderfully inventive names they were given.

Robbie the Mechanical Robot is probably the most famous of all. He starred in the film Forbidden Planet, and his pals include Sparky; Mr Machine; Laughing Robot; the tongue-twisting Silver Ray Secret Weapon Space Scout; Television Spaceman; Mego Man, Mr Mercury and many more.

There's still time for collectors to join the Space race. With some careful shopping around, you'd be surprised at what turns up.

The key is having the knowledge to spot the earlier, more rare examples from the stuff being turned out today.

Research styles and makers and, as always with toys, buy the best you can afford and preferably those with original boxes.

Watch out for rust and metal fatigue, always the twin problems with tinplate, and don't forget to take along a selection of different batteries to try out potential purchases ... they're never included you know!

Names to watch out for

Names and their respective trademarks to watch for in addition to the two aforementioned include: Nomura (TN in a diamond); Yonezawa (Y on a leafshaped reserve); Yoshiya (KO on a diamond); Ichida (bunch of grapes design on roundel); Bull Mark (running bull with the name); Sconosciuto (N in triangle with diamond at apex); Yoshiya (SY in diamaond); Shudo (name); Ohta (K in circle); Masudaya (TM monogram in diamond); Aoshin (ASC in diamond); Toplay (three fingers in salute Girl Guide style and TPS on 'bangle'); Bandai (old English 'B' in box); Daiya (name in diamond); Alps (name in mountain line drawing); Daishin (DSK in diamond); Linemar (Line Mar Toys in circle); Mastutoku (MT); Asahi (Father Christmas with ATC on sack); Mansei ('HAJI' in oval); Usagiya (rabbit head).

Pictures show

Top: The Dalek made under licence from the BBC in the 1960s by Cowan-de-Groot. Condition and the original box boost values considerably

Above, left to right: One of the earliest Japanese wind-up walking robots. His eyes flash with sparks as he walks

A 1960s Space Tank by the Japanese company Nomura. Power is from batteries carried in the compartment between the spring-loaded rear bumpers

This tinplate wind-up Walking Space Man robot was made in China. As he walks, the doors in his chest open to reveal his electronic works

Now jigsaws are collectable

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by Christopher Proudlove

I was never really that interested in jigsaw puzzles as a lad. They were the kind of thing you were reduced to tackling when chicken pox or some other childhood ailment meant you were confined to quarters and couldn’t cope with anything more strenuous.

Now I’m a father myself, I find I’m fascinated by the things, but not as a pastime, more as intriguing collectors’ items, many of which have real wall-power when framed and hung together.

My interest was fuelled by the discovery of the amusing jigsaw illustrated here. It cost all of £5 and came complete with a box.

However, there was no illustration to help with its assembly, so imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a 1930s advertisement for bird seed and pet food! Since then, no fleamarket stone has been left unturned in the search for more.

John Spilsbury, the owner of a print shop in Russell Court, London, is generally regarded as the inventor of the modern-day jigsaw, in about 1760.

Spilsbury glued engraved hand-coloured maps on to thin mahogany boards, which were cut with a saw along the boundaries of countries and counties.

He called them “dissected puzzles” and they were used to teach children geography in an entertaining manner.

In 1787, another Englishman, William Darton, produced a puzzle showing portraits of the kings of England from William the Conqueror to George III.

History lessons were never so much fun, so long as you your kings in the correct order.

Images on the dissected puzzles were generally taken from contemporary engravings that were coloured by hand to make them more appealing.

Puzzles dating from the 1800s onwards were made from lithographic prints, which allowed much improved, four-colour designs.

Just as printing became mechanised, so too did the cutting on the puzzles. Earlier jigsaws had to be hand-cut with a coping saw, which forced makers to use simple repeating patterns.

Later examples were cut using a treadle-powered saw, but the process was still laborious and time-consuming.

Around 1840, makers began cutting their puzzles with the interlocking snap-in patterns familiar today.

They also cut their costs, replacing expensive hardwood veneers with backing of pine, softwood, plywood, and pasteboard. At last low-priced puzzles were affordable to everyone from rich to poor.

From around 1900, machine cutting was adopted, allowing more complex patterns and manufacturers also started making complex puzzles that would appeal to adults, rather than children.

The Golden Age of jigsaw puzzles came in the 1920s and 1930s with companies like Chad Valley and Victory producing a wide range of puzzles reflecting both the desire for sentimental scenes and the enthusiasm for the new technologies in rail and shipping.

Puzzle designs also became more intricate and difficult and they were sold as much to adults for challenging pleasure, as to children.

Companies like Cunard and The Great Western Railway also used them for advertising purposes.

In the 1930s, the need to cut costs in both materials and labour led to the development of the mass-produced cardboard puzzles that could be stamped out on giant industrial presses, and the decline of the jigsaw puzzle began.

By the end of the Second World War, the wooden jigsaw puzzle had all but disappeared.

Today’s collectors generally prefer wooden examples, but cardboard puzzles with interesting illustrations such as ocean liners or steam trains are also popular. Prizes range from £5 to £50, but be sure to buy only those that are absolutely complete. A single missing piece can render even the best jigsaw almost worthless.

Pictures show: left, my £5 fleamarket find and an image from the Superior Jigsaws range of replica Victorian puzzles: The Lover’s Letter