A Whole Set of Hubley Cast Iron Fire Engines

Monday, January 23, 2018
Partly Sunny with Clouds
-17 C  1.4 F

A Whole Set of  Hubley

Cast Iron Fire Engines

Please click here to visit this fine American Auctioneer

Here is something you don't see very often - a complete collection of Hubley ​Ahrens-Fox Cast Iron Fire Engines. Collected for many years - to find all the sizes and the best quality. WOW! I love this kind of collecting - finding all the different sizes - variations, or all the different colors of a particular toy. This group is in great overall condition as you can see in the pictures below. No breaks or cracks. All with original white rubber tires. The largest and most valuable measure

 11" (279 mm) not including the extended ladders. The next is 7-5/8" (194 mm) long, and then 

7" (178 mm) , then the next at 6-1/2( 165 mm)" long. The smaller version measure 

4-1/2"(115 mm), and the smallest - and probably the hardest to find - measures 3-1/2" (90 mm).

The image below is of an Ahrens-Fox fire engine that is much later (1928) than the toys below.

You can redirect to Wikipedia to see the actual photo and 

history of the Ahrens-Fox Company:

Please click here to redirect to Wikipedia

This fine grouping of these Hubley cast iron fire engines must have taken a long time to accumulate and I'm sure the collector must have been sad to sell these fine toys.

So that's it for a Monday.

Tham\nks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Hubley Static Speedboats

Sunday, October 15, 2017
Overcast and Raining
15 C   59 F

The Hubley Static Speedboats

Please click here to visit this renowned American Antique Toy Auctioneer

   The upcoming auction by renowned American toy auctioneer Bertoia Auctions will take place on November 11-12, 2017. The auction itself has many wonderful toys, but one of my favourite categories is the American cast iron toys. These toys were manufactured in the early 1900's-1930's, and what I like about them is how they feel. They're smooth, cold to the touch and heavy. 

   When I and my brother were young, our father would take us fishing. We enjoyed fishing at an early age, and never tired of it as we matured into adults. I even went on a fishing trip in June of this year and fished for northern pike and speckled trout.

   

The above Hubley speed boat is modelled after a Penn Yan boat. This particular toy was manufacturer by Hubley, but had a limited production life. The reason for this was that Hubley never received permission to manufacturer this model after the real speedboat. 

The length of this boat is 13.5"  (332.90 mm). The motor is modelled after a famous American manufacturer of outboard motors by the name of Johnson, and the specific model of motor is the Johnson Seahorse. Interestingly, there are people who collect these very old motors, and who completely restore them to working condition. Not bad for a boat motor from the 1930's and later!

The models above and below  were manufactured for a longer period, as their design was done by Hubley, without having to ask for any person from a real-life boat manufacturer. The toy came in a variety of colours, as you can plainly see, above and below.

The length of this boat is 9.5"  (231.30 mm)

The model above  is a "deluxe" model" that has blue waves cast at the hull. The cast iron waves make this model more valuable at the auction block. 

I've written about these Hubley boats and motors before, but decided to add another post. The reason is that these photos were photographed much closer up, and thus showed better detail than the original post that I created several years ago.

So that's it for this rainy day. Fortunately, September and October have been unseasonal. September has a 3 week span of warm temperatures, and sunny skies, while October has been also warm, with sun, and of course rain. The big question is what will the rest of the fall and winter be like!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part fo the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Cast Iron Toys Match-Up

Wednesday, October 2, 2016
Overcast
13 Celsius  56 Fahrenheit

Cast Iron Toys Match-Up

I like to match-up real toys to their old catalogue photos. So when I received a recent Hubley catalogue, I decided to  match-ups of  the upcoming Beertoia Auctions auction to this catalogue.

Please click here to visit this exceptional American toy auctioneer

This truck came in 2 sizes - 6" & 7" or  150 mm & 178 mm) in the catalogue.

The one above is 13" (332 mm) long. It must be from a later catalogue.

There are 2 things that are interesting above. That ball and string were attached to the from of the truck, as this toy was pulled by a young child along the road or sidewalk. It's called a "pull toy".

The other interesting to note is the rear chain pulley in the back wheel area of the truck (on both sides). These trucks moved with these large chains.

The above Hubley "Panama Differ" is 13" (332 mm) long.

The Bell  Telephone Truck above is # 41 in the upper right hand corner of the catalogue page.

The Borden's Milk Truck (above) is the largest of the milk trucks.

Below are 3 different sizes of the milk truck, although these assorted sizes 

were probably made later on. 2 of the largertrucks are in fact Borden's, while the

 smallest truck is not.On another page of the catalogue (not shown),

the smallest truck is described simply as a "Milk Truck".

The sizes are 3 3/4", 6" & 8" (76 mm, 152 mm, &203 mm) long.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

Whereever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Hubley Cast Iron Motorcycles

Monday, September 25, 2016
Cloudy with Sun / Getting Colder
17 Celsius / 61 Fahrenheit

The Hubley Cast Iron Motorcycles

(Almost all of them)

   I've been getting back to writing, but not as prolific as before.  When I recently returned to Bertoia Auctions, I was lucky enough to see a lot of Hubley motorcycles. That gave me an idea to display all of the motorcycles on one post. This is a big project, so I decided that, it will be done in sections until I add all of the motorcycles. The images come from a most-recent auction at Bertoia Auctions that occurred on May 20-21, 2016 and titled "Toy Shoppe Auction". 

The Hubley cast iron motorcycles were very popular in the 1930's and 1940's. As well, they are still very much in demand as collector's items. As you can see from their condition, they are in very good shape for toys that are 70-80 years old. Notice all of the nickel-plated wheels for the rubber tires. These have stood up quite well to the elements (mostly water)  and still are in fine shape.

Please click here to visit this exceptional American toy auctioneer

I decided to intersperse a composite photos after every 4 motorcycles with their descriptions

What's most interesting about the  above"crash car" motorcycle, is that the head swivels (turns).

So that's it for today - 16 Hubley motorcycles. I'm sure there are a few more, but this post has the most Hubley motorcycles that I added to any post.

Please click here to visit this particular auction (May 20-21, 2016)

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always, 

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be

Stacey Bindman

(toysearcher@gmail.com)