Antique Toy Airplanes - Repaint or Not Repaint?

Whether you are selling an antique toy plane manufactured by Hubley, Tootsie, Midge, Dinky, etc., the absolutely worst thing you can do is repaint the toy. Although the repainting may look nice and bring the finish back to the original colors, the bottom line is that any repainting or touch-ups will destroy the value of the toy and make it worthless to any serious collector.The original paint, even chipped, worn, scratched, or otherwise missing, still adds to the plane's value. The fact that the toy is in a "played with" condition makes the toy appear "older" and look more authentic. A repainted antique plane makes it look like a brand new reproduction toy that could have simply been purchased from any toy store.When people look at my display cases of antique toy planes, they marvel at how they look, warts and all. If I were to put a repainted plane in with the other planes that still had their original paint and look, the repainted planes would stand out and look silly. Simply put, when deciding whether to repaint an antique toy plane, the best advice I can give is NO!