Thursday, July 18, 2013
Aero1Toys
(A fine Etsy Seller)
On July 13, 2013, I wrote about Matching A.C.Williams Toys to Their Original Catalogue Drawings. My favourite toy was a road scraper. Somehow,I had forgotten that these items were once pulled by horses before they had a gas-powered motor. I mistakenly wrote that I couldn't see the motor on this item.
Coincidentally, I received a note from a reader by the name of Mr. John Armstrong. He nicely wrote that this toy was in fact pulled by horses , without his mentioning my big "blunder". The toy had reminded him of a "real" life road scraper that he saw as a youngster when he was growing up in Iowa. I wrote back to John, and asked if I might use his comments, and added the correction and his words to the post. I also found a "real" horse-drawn road scraper to add.
Well, I couldn't let this reader "off the hook" so easily, and had to ask if he collected old toys. He didn't, but he mentioned that he is a seller on Etsy. For those who don't know, Etsy is a great place for old toys and antiques, as well as many craftspeople who make all kinds of things. I went to Etsy, and looked up John's store which he calls Aero1Toys. When I went there, I found a wonderful collection of hand-made wooden toys of all kinds. For today, I just concentrated on a few trains. I'll return in the future to write about some of his other toys.
Not only are his handcrafted toys great, but he also takes fine photos, and presents at least 4 images of each product. I naturally had to ask John if I might write about him and use his photos. He informed me that he has sold about 250,000 toys over his span of 26 years as a professional toymaker. I had to ask him of had "elves' helping him out. He answered no (politely), but said that his wife helps him out. His fine work can be found in many US states across America.
Although I wrote mostly about old and antique toy, I have written about modern-era toys, and models. Models are more collectors items and not toys. They're usually higher-priced, have many small parts (not for children),and are for people who are interested in those fantastic cranes, earth-movers, and trench differs.
So today's post is all about a fine craftsman who makes fine toys for children. I must inform everyone that these toys are not for very young children because of the small parts. John specifically mentions this on every one of his toys. Nevertheless, I'm sure all of the people who have ever purchased these toys are aware of this, and have made many of their children very, very happy.
Aero1Toys
I wanted to present John's toys in the same way that I normally do. That is, against a white background. I sent him an example, and he wrote that he preferred a coloured background as white was too bright for the toys. John did give me the OK to use white since I was the blogger, but I decided to go with the coloured background. I took too much time "experimenting", so I was only able to present 5 fine toys today.I also had to visit the dentist today, as I needed emergency work on one of my teeth. I still like the white background, but the coloured one does in fact allow the toys to show better.
Any way that these toys and the quality photographs are arranged illustrate the
fine work and finish that John Armstrong adds to each of his fine toys.
Now if only I was 60 years younger (in body)!
Thanks for dropping by,
and have a great part of the day,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
No comments:
Post a Comment