Some Very Fine Cast Iron Toy Reproductions

 Thursday, August 21, 2014
Overcast (Cloud) with 40% chance of rain

Some Very Fine Cast Iron 

Toy Reproductions

  I've always wanted to write about Thomas Toys and their reproduction cast iron toys. This week I had contacted several ebay sellers, but I had no luck. One never returned my e-mail, and the other refused. I decided to simply reply on a highly reliable and excellent auction company by the name of Bertoia Auctions. I didn't expect to see many "reproductions", but I was able to actually find two - it's a good start!

   If you ever need an old and antique part, Thomas Toys (Thomastoysantiquetoyparts.com) is the place to go. I had contacted Mr.JUlian Thomas a while ago,but he must have been too busy, as he never sent me a current catalogue to which I would write about him and his company. I'll be writing about him probably later this week or next week.

   Julian Thomas worked for GM (General Motors) as a model maker for a while, before there was a downturn in the economy in the late 1970's or early 1980's. He decided to go into business for himself, and gas the expression goes - "the rest is history". Thomas Toys is a family run business, and  when I was buying toys on ebay,  I would buy some "wrecks" to restore. Some if these were missing parts, and so I searched the Net, and found Thomas Toys. I got to speak with Julie Thomas, Julian's daughter, who is a great help when it comes to helping out.

   For the company's 25th anniversary,  Julian decided to come out with a series of cast iron reproductions to celebrate the quarter century of being in business. He chose many different models to reproduce (Hubley and Arcade) and sold them. What's interesting to see is that Julian embossed "Repro" on the inside frame of the toys, so as to not "confuse" them with authentic and original toys.

Please click here to visit this world-renowned and exceptional auction company

Below are the authentic old toys sold by Bertoia Auctions.

Below, once again, is the original old toy sold by Bertoia Auctions.

You can see how the "contemporary" reproduction compare quite well to the "real" and "authentic" toys. Most experts could easily identify the "real" from the reproduction. However, it's great that Julian Thomas stamped "REpo" or "Repro" on the inside of his models.
Both Julian and his company have excellent reputations, but not all sellers are so honest!


Thanks for dropping by to visit,
and as always,
have a great part of the day,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
toysearcher@gmail.com

Cast Iron Car Haulers

Monday, December 17, 2012
                  (post # 2 of the day)

Car Iron car Haulers 

(Transports)

   When I started buying and selling old toys on E-Bay, I started cautiously, and set my budgetary  limits low. Eventually, by the time that I stopped (September 2012), I had set my limit at about 

($ 250.00 U.S.) Sometimes however,you absolutely, positively just have to have a particular toy,  and you break the rule! The Hubley 1938 Car Hauler was that item. It was so "cute", but true toy aficianados  and experts ,might be taken aback by such words! However, I invoke the "kid rule" - any person who collects toys is allowed to say he's a kid at heart, and that absolves him/her from using words that are not in the true toy collectors lexicon!

   When I did purchase that Hubley Car Hauler, it was just so "cute". Just like those tiny Fiats (real cars) that are starting to appear up here in Montreal!  I photographed it for a long time and eventually had to say goodbye to it as I resold it on E-Bay. But that wasn't the end of the story. The buyer write to me to say that a part was missing. I checked, and the cab (truck) seemed to be missing a part, but I had in fact seen others with the missing part, and without. Of course, in business, the buyer is always right! I reimbursed him a fair amount, and both he and I were happy.

     If I can find my photos of the Hubley car transporter and others, I'll add them here in the future. My supposed excellent filing for finding and sorting photos is, I have to admit, bad! I just may have to start using either my Adobe Lightroom or  Apple Aperture one of these days!

Please click on this particular image, as I have uploaded it to a high resolution.

It really is "cute"!

     Well, I did find what I was looking for, but it was a hauler of a different sort.  It's a moving van hauler. If you look at the second set of photos of the Hubley Hauler, you'll see that my cab is the same as that one. However, note that there does in fact seem to be a piece missing in mind. The good news is that I found lots of haulers for my next post - the newer car haulers! It's amazing how I seem to come up with future posts!

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great morning, afternoon, or evening 

wherever you may be.

Stacey

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