Yonezawa Atom-Car Racer with Box, ca. 1955
GUEST: I brought in my Atom-Car that I got from my dad. I guess he got it as a Christmas present when he was little, from his grandma and grandpa.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: And down the line, I was at my great-grandma's house, and I would play with it. When the time came and she had to move out of her house, this is one of those things that she gave to me. And I never really played too much with it. Just always would get it out and kind of, like, "This is the coolest thing in the world," you know?
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: And my wife's, thinks I'm a hoarder for some things, but...
APPRAISER: (chuckles)
GUEST: But this is one of the cool things that I have. It's got a tag on one side. I guess it was underneath the Christmas tree. And then, uh, my dad looks like he scribbled his name at some point...
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: ...on the top edge over on the other side.
APPRAISER: Yonezawa is the name of the company in Japan...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...who produced this toy. Early '50s, 19, mid-'50s. The overall condition's great. And the lithography, the detail, the patterns that are on it are really eye-catching. What it's made of is a tinplate. It's a sheet metal, a really thin sheet metal, and it's laid out on flat sheets and stamped with lithography. The nice thing about doing the lithographed tin toys is, they're able to simply change the lithograph. They would produce this particular model, the 27 Atom, for maybe a couple years, and then change it slightly to change the number, therefore creating a new toy without having the cost of retooling the entire assembly line. One thing that's great is that it has a space theme. It's a race car, it has this imaginative rocket ship design. So it has a really wide appeal. The front has a triangle adorning the Atom 27 badge. Uh, and then that hood ornament just screams to me space race, space theme. Now, on the back, as the wheels would spin, it would emit sparks, and they'd actually shoot out almost like a rocket out of the back of the car.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: Now, condition is king. It would've originally had rubber slips over the tires, so it would've gotten better traction. Down here, you have what looks like some brush paint, some touch-up.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: I'm happy to tell you they are factory touch-ups.
GUEST: (chuckling) Oh, really?
APPRAISER: So, when the toy was created and stretched out, it might have left little creases, little tears in the litho.
GUEST: No way.
APPRAISER: And the factory'd go back and very sloppily touch it up. And over course of time...
GUEST: (chuckling)
APPRAISER: ...the colors fade a little different.
GUEST: Oh, I see.
APPRAISER: And that's why we notice it so prominently now. Huh. And then on the front, we have your box up here. Now, if you watch "ANTIQUES ROADSHOW," we've said it many times before, but the box is extremely important in helping the value of the, the piece. One step further that makes this extra-special is, is this box l, decal is in red background, which I've never seen before.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: I've seen this decal, but it always has a black background.
GUEST: Huh.
APPRAISER: So, just the box alone should easily fetch $3,000 or so?
GUEST: (laughing) Really?
APPRAISER: Now, when you have the combination of the car and the box together... That's... ...this would fetch at auction between $6,000 and $9,000.
GUEST: Holy cow. Wow. That's crazy.
APPRAISER: With the right bidders competing, this could zoom even past that.
GUEST: Holy cow. I didn't realize it was that special.
$6,000 - $8,997 Auction
Featured In
episode
Grant's Farm, Hour 1
Meet us in St. Louis as ROADSHOW discovers midwest treasures at Grant’s Farm! — Mon, April 27, 2026
Car
appraisal
Vindex "Number 2" Race Car, ca. 1930
appraisal
German Toy Bus & Car, ca. 1935
appraisal
Acme Toyworks Curved-dash Oldsmobile, ca. 1903
appraisal
Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
