A Trio of Heavyweights from opamerica

Monday, November 6, 2016
Clear skies with Sun 
9 Celsius / 48 Fahrenheit

A Trio of Heavyweights from

opamerica

Please click here to visit this exceptional ebay seller

I haven't written about OpAmerica in a while, when I saw a nice image from them on PicClick.

So I decided to venture over to OpAmerica's ebay store and see what was being offered.  Immediately, I saw a very rare  Lockheed Sirius (below), and decided to check for more airplanes. 

I had a "hunch" (feeling) that if I searched by price from high to low, I'd find some interesting items. Sure enough, there were 3 exceptional and rarer airplanes for sale.  And that's how today's post arose.

OpAmerica is an exceptional and highly-successful ebay store. They have an excellent seller reputation, always have  a very fine selection of toys for sale, and of course (my favourite) take excellent-quality photos in conjunction with well-sized files.

I've decided to let the super photos and well-written descriptions speak for themselves as far as today's post goes. 

Hubley Lockheed Sirius Cast Iron Plane Lindy NR-211 

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I am pleased to offer this Antique Hubley Lockheed Sirius Cast Iron Plane.  Following the famous flights of Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Hubley manufactured one of their rarest and most valuable toys in commemoration: the Lockheed Sirius.  Designed by Chief engineer Gerard Vultree, the Lockheed 8 Sirius was based off of Charles's specifications.  Around 3 feet shorter than the Spirit of St. Louis (the plane Lindberg used for his NY-Paris flight),  the Sirius could travel at 185 mph, 52 mph faster than the St. Louis.  

This particular piece features a two-tone black/orange paint job, with "Lindy" embossed on the left wing; "NR-211" embossed on the right wing, as well as "NR-211 Lockheed Sirius" embossed on both sides of the tail.  The front engine is nickel plated with a small attachment for a pull rope, which is not present.  All Parts, wing sections, tires, and pilots are present, making this plane complete minus the original pull rope.

This rare plane is in good condition for its age, showing moderate paint wear and mild oxidation from age/display.  Paint is at about 80%, with the majority of loss being on the wings edges and the underside.  Original tires are present, but they have hardened and are cracked (see pictures).  Propeller moves well.  Remnants of a Hubley decal can be seen on the tail wing.

Measures about 9" L x 10-1/2" W x 4-1/4" H

(228 mm x 268 mm x 106 mm)

Rare 17" WS Hubley Cast Iron Tri-Motor America Plane 

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I am pleased to offer this Antique Hubley Cast Iron Tri-Motor America Plane.  This version of the America was the largest Cast Iron Plane made by Hubley, and features three prop motors that rotate via a spring drive when the toy is pushed across a surface.  There are two visible pilots in the open cockpit, and right behind them across the large single wing panel are raised lettering of "AMERICA" and two circled stars.  There is also a raised star on each side of the tail wing.

This plane is constructed with a cast iron body and cast aluminum motors/propellers.  The two large front wheels are rubber, and look to be reproductions of original Hubley Tires.  There rear small tire has no rubber but still rolls well.  Plane looks to be all original (with exception to the tires).

This antique Hubley America is in good aged condition, showing some moderate shelf wear from display/age.  Moderate paint wear throughout, with some mild oxidation present throughout the areas of paint wear.  Spring drive works rotating the motors as you push the plane, although the props do stick occasionally.  

Measures about 17" Wingspan, about 13" L, and 5-3/4" H 

( 432 mm x 330 mm x 147 mm)

Antique Arcade The Monocoupe Cast Iron Airplane #357

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I am pleased to offer this Antique "The Monocoupe" Cast Iron Airplane #357 made by Arcade.  This great example of early 20ths century cast iron aircraft was made by the famous Arcade Toy Company.  With a black cast body, orange steel wing, and iron wheels/propeller gear; this beauty will stand out in your collection.  "The Monocoupe" is found in raised lettering on each side of the plane.  On the top of the plane you can see the remnants of an Arcade Toy sticker.  The inside of the plane is marked "Arcade 357".

This Monocoupe # 357 is in good antique condition, showing some moderate scratching and paint wear from play and display.  Mild oxidation is present on the iron section of the plane (prop, wheels, etc).  Front wheels spin smoothly when the plane is moved, rear wheel spins with slight resistance on smooth surfaces.  Wing is a little loose

Measures about 9-1/2" L x 10-3/4" Wingspan, x 3-1/2" H

Sometimes you don't have to write much to say a lot, 

and OpAmerica certainly has done that for me today!

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

A Trio of Rare Vindex Cast Iron Toys

Wednesday, October 5, 2015
Sunny with Clouds
22 Celsius / 72 Fahrenheit

A Trio of Rare Vindex

Cast Iron Toys

Please click here to visit bargainjohns ebay website

Please click here to visit bargainjohns web store

Lately, I've been returning to old friends who have granted me permission to use their photos and written descriptions. I don't have any saved Excel files with all the people who have helped me. I have to go on Blogger, and use "labels" that I write out. These help me to find specific posts that I have written in the past. As of today, I have 1140 posts. 

Mr. Lars Ostrom's store is in Lexington, Nebraska, USA.  Lars is quite a photographer. He created his own diffusion screens. A diffusion screen is a photographic material made of transparent opaque mylar. When you place a photo light behind the the screen, the light becomes very soft, and allows for easy recording of images.If you use too harsh a light source (e.g. sunlight), you are going to have problems with too much contrast, and losing detail in the shadows.

Not only are Lars' photos well exposed, but he also takes very fine photos, with lots of images to show every detail of his rare Vindex cast iron toys.

Most of the Vindex toys and the ones that you see here were manufactured in the late 1920's-early 1930's. These toys were made very well as you can see from these photos.

Up here in Montreal, I'm starting to tidy up my vegetable garden and flower beds and flower pots around the house. I'm sure the Nebraskan farmers have already finished cleaning up their vast acres of farmland, and have sewn the seeds for their crops for next year.

Thanks for visiting,

and as always,

Have a great time of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Who's the Rarest of Them All?

Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Partly sunny and seasonally cold

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall,

Who's the Rarest of Them All?

   I like to get up early every day. I find that I can go to my regular "haunt" for toast and a coffee then return home by 07:00 A.M. If I have time, I can then prepare future posts for the upcoming period. I found some time this past Sunday, and ventured over to Bertoia Auctions. 

   For those who don't know, Bertoia Auctions is one of the most prominent antique toy auctioneers in the world. The company was established by the late Mr. Bill Bertoia, and is now owned and operated by the family. 

   The 4 toys presented today were from a 2013 auction, and were owned by Mr. Bertoia himself. They aren't the "rarest, rarest", but are rare enough for Mr. Bertoia to have seen the value in these toys. When they went to auction, they are received handsome bids. All 4 are from the great cast iron era of the United States, which lasted from approximately 1890-early 1940's. By then ,transportation of such heavy toys was costly by train, and the public was more interested in more complicated and better-made toys such as the pressed steel toys or pressed tin lithographed toys.

Please click here to visit this fine May 2013 auction by Bertoia Auctions

Cast iron toys were still popular in the 1930's, even though more complex and more advanced toys were starting to appear from Europe. As well,  American pressed steel toys were starting to become more and more popular.

The cast iron toys of the 1930's also were more complex than their early brethren in that they too were more complex and had more moving parts that the earlier decades of toys.  

The "Oh Boy Tractor" below is not as valued so much for its' complexity as its' rarity. The rubber treads are sat ill original  - imagine 85 years later!

Cast iron toys 

Steam engines were more popular in Europe than in America. You see these toys being manufactured by a company like Carette in the early 1900's, but time wise, America is manufacturing cast iron toys. 

So what makes this particular toy so valuable is that it is a rarity in the sense of being a "steam engine". I placed the words "steam engine" in quotation marks as this was simply a hand-cranked copy of a live steam engine with many moving parts. It's rarity lies also in the fact that it still works and has all of its original parts.

The Vindex company made many fine toys, and are sought after today for their beauty, functionality, and of course, their rarity. THe toy is probably late 1920's or early 1930's and as you can see, it has lots of moving parts, allowing a clild to play with it.  There is a turret that allows the base and cabin to rotate in a 360 degree circle, and the crank allows for an up and down movement of the bucket.

And finally, another rare Vindex toy. As a footnote, the 1920's and 1930's in the United States were a major boom to the country. Millions of immigrants continued to arrive to the United States, and the country started to build major cities from one end of the country to the other.

As such, "toys mimic reality", and a lot of new toys replaced the horse and wagon toys of the earlier decades (1890's-1910's). Cars became more and more common, so were trucks, and heavy-duty machinery such as the steam shovel, cement trucks, and of course, the portable and location utility- the cement mixer.

What's also interesting is that many toys of these 2 decades had parts that were nickel-plated. The cranks and levers are nickel-plated, and were meant to last and not rust.

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