"You wind it up and they kind of erratically dance around the floor," she said.

A miniature Noah's ark piece from the late 19th century is expected to net anywhere from $6,000 to $8,000, its small animals assembled around the craft, all remarkably preserved.

Not as old, but of particular interest to collectors of shore-related memorabilia, is a wooden model of a cabin cruiser made in 1970. Chris Craft-styled and painted red and white on the hull with a blue rail, the boat is priced at $500 to $750. The model won first place at a 1979 boat craftsman show.

"I think it fits with the nautical theme," said Bertoia's son Michael, 23, who has helped out at the auction house since he was younger but just officially joined the staff as an auction coordinator. "It's almost like a ferry or a private yacht you could see out in the Atlantic."

He likes American tin toys the best, though, for their rarity.

"They're pieces of American history," he said.

"It's a very small niche," he said of toy collecting, with Bertoia auctions mainly bringing out the hardcore collecting sect. "It's a very expensive hobby. There are a lot of interesting characters in the field."

Just because many of the items are classified as miniatures doesn't mean there will be a smaller crowd at the sale.

For a single auction day, Bertoia forecasts about 250 bidders in attendance, with 250 to 300 on the phone and anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 people bidding live on the Internet through www.ebayliveauctions.com. The auction house used to travel to Philadelphia to hold its sales and had its first Vineland auction in 2001.

The auction house categorizes its toys, with cast iron including mechanical banks and early American toys for sale on Thursday. On Friday are trains, pressed steel, German automobiles, along with Japanese and battery-operated toys. Saturday is the former miniature collection of the Delaware museum and Santa Claus collectibles from Fred Cannon of northern New Jersey, a premier collector of Santa figures and Christmas ornaments.

An Atlantic-City themed toy from the 1930s is a rollo-chair with a driver, what we call a rolling chair, also made in Germany, with the city's name emblazoned across the top. One of the most prized small vehicles, though, is a Borden milk truck from the 1930s in such good condition it was given an estimated price of $6,000 to $7,000.

The toys aren't limited to what was once used for sandbox recreation for boys or play in the bedrooms of girls, either.

Turn of the century Valentine's Day cards in the original box are also up for auction, items that were expensive even in their day and could net a few hundred dollars today. The dye-cut pop ups with fanciful themes are more like works of art than cards, but because of their paper structure, wouldn't likely be preserved when they were given to a valentine.

"Because they're so delicate they wouldn't hold up and they would get thrown away," said Jeanne Bertoia. "That's why they're so valuable today."

"A lot of times toy collectors might collect memorabilia or ephemera that goes along with it," she said. Someone who likes boats might like an early 20th-century Valentine's Day card with a boat theme, for example.

The Bertoia Auctions Open House Sale runs from Thursday through Saturday at 2141 DeMarco Drive in Vineland, 856-692-1881.

For more information, visit www.bertoiaauctions.com

To e-mail Amy Kuperinsky at The Press:

AKuperinsky@pressofac.com

Izannah Walker Doll: 18-inch mid 19th century American painted oilcloth doll with well-modeled ears and painted scallop topped boots. Wears all period undergarments.

Estimate: $6,000 to $9,000

Gunthermann Tango Dancers: Couple depicted arm to arm in an interesting clockwork driven series of motions.

Estimate: $1,200 to $1,500

Stock Boardwalk Rollo Chairs: Germany, lithographed tin, a fine depiction of suited man pushing the once popular boardwalk chairs, clockwork driven, roof reads, "Riding the Boardwalk, Atlantic City"

Estimate $1,500 to $2,000