A baby-girl pink Sky Princess tricycle

As I rounded the corner at the auction house, the pastel pink color finger-snapped my eyes toward its direction. A girl’s tricycle with a tail fin reminiscent of a vintage airplane practically shone before me in this dimly lit room.

It was so adorable.

My auction buddy Janet had seen it, too, as she previewed items for an upcoming sale and it had even called out to her. The auction staff had placed the tricycle in a strategic spot, right smack where any of us could see it as we walked into the open room. It was on the floor at the end of two tables loaded with small items, and with its color and design seemed to be occupying its own special space.

I looked for a manufacturer and found a sticker on the side with “Sky Princess” written in script. How fitting, I thought. I’m not much into princesses, but the name seemed appropriate for this soft pink tricycle with its white accents.

On the front was another sticker: “Airflow Collectibles AFC.”

The tricycle was in played-in condition with some paint loss, a missing cover and tassel on the left handlebar, and some scuff marks. I couldn’t tell how old it was, but from my research, I suspect that it was a reproduction.

I found a number of retail websites selling Sky Princess reproductions of what they called 1936 tricycles made by the Junior Toy Corp. of Hammond, IN. I was never able to determine if Junior Toy actually made a Sky Princess or whether the reproduction was a new design created by Airflow Collectibles. The company was founded in 1999, is based in the Netherlands, and makes pedal cars, pedal airplanes, pedal trains, and tricycles.

The Junior Toy Corp. started out in the 1920s making small wheel discs for toy makers, and later manufactured red wagons and tricycles, according to a history of the company. By the time the Depression rolled around, it was making its money on toys, primarily velocipedes, according to the website tricyclefetish.com.

The top of the line tricycle among the company’s products was the Sky King, said to be was one of the most collectible. The company was eventually sold and  merged with the makers of Roadmaster bicycles, according to tricyclefetish.com. Here are some of the Junior Toy tricycles.

Some of the company’s original tricycles can go for more than $2,000, according to tricyclefetish.com. Other sites kept repeating that some of those 1936 models were selling for $3,000. I don’t know if that’s true because I could not find a single original one sold on the web, including a Sky Princess.

I did come across a beautifully refurbished Sky Knight selling for $1,500 on eBay. It had been listed since 2010, and had gotten 10 bids that apparently were not high enough because the owner had declined them all.

The Sky Princess tricycles sold on eBay all appeared to be reproductions (the highest went for $122.99), although a few sellers indicated that they didn’t know how old the tricycles were. I think the label “Airflow Collectibles” affixed to the front should’ve been proof that they were not vintage. The repros were selling for up to nearly $300.

Here’s some advice on determining a fake tricycle from the real thing, and here’s a 1930s photo of a girl with a Sky King.

This retail site offered reproductions of the Sky Princess, Sky King, Road Hog and other tricycles. According to tricyclefetish.com, Junior Toy never made a Road Hog.

I wasn’t around when the Sky Princess sold, but I’m hoping that it went to a good home.