Antiques & Collecting: Motion clocks

Most clocks have hands that move to tell the time, but a group of clocks that also had moving eyes were popular about 1850.

Most of these figural iron clocks were made by Bradley and Hubbard of Meriden, Connecticut. A few others were made by Chauncey Jerome.

The clocks are popular with collectors because they are so entertaining yet, because they are iron, hard to damage.

This owl motion clock with green glass eyes that move back and forth in a silver-plated case sold in 2021 for $1,900 in a Morford’s auction.

Twentieth-century clocks with moving eyes have been made of wood or plastic, and some modern versions feature cats, dogs or cartoon characters.

But the clock with moving eyes that is most remembered because it was used in many nurseries for the past 79 years is the black plastic cat called the Kit-Cat Klock. It was first made in 1932, and new versions are still made.

My son got Capcom’s “Resident Evil” PlayStation game for Christmas in 1996. It fell behind an entertainment system and was found about four years ago. We’ve taken it to many places to find out the value, but have been told no one has ever seen a sealed copy of this game, and they couldn’t even begin to give us a price. Do you know anything about the value of this game or whom to take it to?

The survivor horror game “Resident Evil” was introduced by Capcom in March 1996. Old video games sell in video game stores, online and at auctions.

Rarity, desirability and condition determine the price. They sell better if they have been graded by an authorized company.

Games that are the first in a series or are sealed in the original package usually sell for more than a used copy of the same game. Contact an auction house that sells video games to see if they can give you an idea of the value.

An unopened copy of Nintendo’s 1985 “Super Mario Bros.” game, graded 9.4 — the first in the series and part of a short early production run — sold for $114,000 at Heritage Auctions.

Tip: Put your antique clock on the wall, a wall shelf or on a level floor and move it as little as possible.

Current Prices

Staffordshire plate, historical flow blue, Robert Burns, portrait center, six scenes from his life and writing around border, 10 inches, $30.

Toy, waltzing couple, Les Valseurs, man and woman dance a waltz, metal, cloth, windup mechanism under woman’s skirt, wheeled base, Fernand Martin, c. 1910, 7 1/2 inches. $800.

Advertising tin, biscuits, Normandie, luxury ocean liner shape, detailed graphics, flag, red, white and blue, removable lid with three smokestacks on top, 22 inches, $1,475.