The excitement is building at Donley Auctions! Join hosts Randy and Susan Donley for a special preview of their massive October Fall Classic event. The showroom is buzzing as the team prepares for a spectacular three-day auction. Randy’s motto for the prep? "What it is is what it is!" This is your insider's look at the incredible, rare, and wonderfully eclectic items going up on the block. Get ready to be amazed!
Show Highlights:
Kicking Off Outdoors: The tour starts outside with impressive yard art, including a pair of entry lions, a heavy bronze seesaw, and a full-size horse.
Behind the Scenes: Get a peek at the setup, where Michelle is hard at work arranging a huge collection of sports memorabilia for the display cases.
A Story of Value: Randy shares a fascinating story about ticker tape machines, recalling a time when his father bought one for $25 from a massive scrap pile. Today, they can fetch $10,000-$15,000!
Auction Details: The items are color-coded for the auction days: green tickets for Thursday, hot pink for Friday, and 3000-series numbers for Saturday.
Featured Treasures: The camera pans to a stunning, dual-signed Tiffany lamp and a rare set of Retro 123 model Tucker cars—only 49 were made, matching the real cars.
Classic Cars: Two beautiful Cadillacs are up for sale: a 1937 convertible and a 1931 convertible.
Eclectic Thursday: Thursday’s auction is a treasure trove for all collectors, with items ranging from door stops and Pepsi memorabilia to antique busts of Lincoln and Shakespeare removed from a high school.
Bright Lights & Fine Furnishings: The collection includes beautiful neon signs (Packard, Rolling Stone lips), high-quality furniture, and a stunning leaded window reportedly from the Astor estate.
Games & Art: Don’t miss the "holy grail" of pool tables—the Monarch—unique pottery by artist "Billy Joe Craven," and two "big six" gambling wheels.
Carousel Corner: A whimsical collection of carousel animals is featured, including a stag, a giraffe in original park paint, a rare rooster, and a beautifully stripped horse.
Toys & Nostalgia: The toy section is packed, with a reminder that original boxes are often as valuable as the toys themselves!
A Walk Down the Aisle: The tour winds past terracotta lion's heads, vintage speakers, and an interesting 1950s German driver's training vehicle.
The McDonald's Story: A vintage "Multimixer" sparks the story of how Ray Kroc discovered the McDonald brothers, who were ordering machine after machine.
Bikes & Bands: Highlights include an all-original Schwinn Stingray bike and an amazing collection of Grateful Dead items—art, rare posters, and even Jerry Garcia's registered pistol!
Heavy Metal: Two impressive architectural pieces are shown: an industrial parts cabinet and a massive, ornate newel post from a Chicago staircase.
Slots & More Slots: "Slot Machine Row" features 84 machines, including extremely rare models. This area also has mechanical banks and a rare Thomas Edison tinfoil phonograph from 1877.
The Back Room: Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the back room reveals a 1931 Cadillac, a 1959 T-Bird "time capsule" with suicide doors, a stagecoach, pinball machines, and more.
Ryan's Saturday Preview: Ryan jumps in to highlight Saturday's lots, including high-end jewelry (Rolex, Patek Philippe), gold, and sports memorabilia like a ball signed by Muhammad Ali, OJ Simpson, and Walter Payton.Donley Auctions - We bring buyers & sellers together.Let us put our experience to work for you.Donley Auction Serviceshttps://DonleyAuctions.com815-923-7000Info@DonleyAuctions.com8512 South Union Road (entrance on Marengo Road)Union, IL 60180