Marilyn Monroe will make an appearance in Cockermouth next week.

Seventeen Franklin Mint porcelain portrait dolls of the star are among the items set to be sold at Mitchells Auction Company's latest vintage and antique toy sale.

Split into two lots, the are expected to attract plenty of interest and sell for £80 to £120 per lot.

Other themed toys include a collection of 12 Franklin Mint gold plate on sterling silver Star Trek insignia with certificates, which are expected to make around £150 to £250.

But it is rare toys from the 1920s and 1930s that are expected to be the most valuable lots in the sale.

Among the items up for grabs on Saturday, July 21 will be a 1930s Lionel Craft wind-up clockwork boat, measuring 42cm long, raised on a wooden stand with a cream and red body. The piece is expected to fetch between £400 and £600.

A 1920s/30s lithographed Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace automaton is valued at £200 to £300, while a rare pre-war Steiff horse on wheels, with the pre-war button, which appears to have been customised, has an estimate of £80 to £120 but could make much more.

A rare 1920s mutoscope arcade game entitled A Rich Man's Plaything is expected to fetch £200 to £300.

Other arcade games in the sale include a 1950s vintage Rolling Road game with an estimate of £100 to £150, and a small 1980s retro Puck-Monster Pac-Man-style handheld gaming console which could make £20 to £30.

Model ships will also feature in the sale, with the most valuable lot expected to be a large, cased late-Victorian clipper, which has an estimate of £350 to £450.

A rare Tri-ang Minic Ships' Original Series 1959-64 SS Nieuw Amsterdam M895 presentation set, containing the SS Nieuw Amsterdam, SS Varicella and other pieces strung to the original dark green card base, is expected to sell for between £320 and £380. Only two examples of this set have appeared at auction in the UK during the last ten years.

There will also be three scratch built and detailed wooden model ships for sale including Highlander, measuring 83 cm long, and Snowberry, measuring 87cm long, on stand, both with estimates of £80 to £120. There is a private collection of tinplate model speedboats too, some of which could fetch high prices.

Several local scratch-built and large-scale wooden model Baines of Bouth lorries are also for sale, some with steering mechanisms inside. One example, a storage and distribution truck with trailer in blue and maroon, is expected to fetch £100 to £150.

There are several interesting Pelham Puppets, including Pinky and Perky, valued at £30 to £50, and two Walt Disney Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck puppets which have an estimate of £50 to £80.

Highlights among the soft toys and dolls include a late 1920s Chad Valley teddy bear, with a button to its chest, valued at £80 to £120, several Schuco Piccolo bears with estimates of £70 to £100, and a limited-edition 1980s Schuco perfume bear expected to make £50 to £80.

There is an original Margarete Steiff Gabbi doll, from the 1980s, which could make £80 to £120. Other dolls of interest are a small wax overhead doll, which has a tag attached to it labelled "Laura 1775", and several pot head dolls.

There are numerous lots of modern Corgi die-cast models for sale including a Corgi James Bond Aston Martin DB5, Corgi Classics, Nine Double Nine and a Citroen DS19 in Monte Carlo trim, with estimates ranging from £120 to £180.

Among numerous model locomotives and train-related toys are Fleischmann Piccolo and N-gauge locos and rolling stock, such as a Fleischmann Piccolo 7430 two-car DB set, with an estimate of £30 to £50, a number of 0 gauge Hornby and Bing locomotives, such as a Flying Scotsman, and half a dozen Fleischmann HO gauge locomotives, consisting of an interesting and rare Bo-Bo electric rail car, for Regional Suburban services, estimated between £150 to £250.

The saleroom is open for viewing on Friday, July 20 from 3pm to 7pm, and from 8.30am on the day of the sale. The sale starts at 10am.