Rubber Toy Vehicles Revisited

Monday, January 22,2018
Overcast with snow
-5 C  23 F

Rubber Toy Vehicles Revisited

Rubber toys were made in the 1930's and 1940's. Molds were made in the shape of the toy, the melted rubber was  poured into the mold, allowed to cool off, then removed. Later, these toys would be painted. The main rubber toy companies were Auburn Rubber Company , Sun Rubber Company, and  the Barr Rubber Company. 

I've written about rubber toys before, so if you do a search in the upper right corner for the manufacturer's name or the words "rubber toys", 

you should be able to be redirected to the previous post.

Auburn 1930's Military Motorcycle with Sidecar

Length:  3"  76 mm

Barr Rubber Ford Stake Truck

Circa: 1935

Length:  4 1/2"  115 mm

Barr Rubber  Ford US Army Truck

Circa 1935

Lenght: 4 3/4" 126 mm

Auburn Rubber 1940's Military Tank

4 1/4"  118 mm

Sun Rubber  Woodie  Stationwagon

Length:  3 5/8"  92 mm

Sun Rubber 1930's Super Charged Coupe

Length:  4"  102 mm

When I was buying and selling toys on ebay, I managed to purchase a few of these toys.

What I like about them is that they were made of rubber. The rubber is quite flexible and bouncy, although I would advise not twisting the toy.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

An Exceptional Collector of Rubber Toy Vehicles - Part II

Friday, January 23, 2015
Cloudy and very cloud, partly sunny later

An Exceptional Collector

of Rubber Toy Vehicles

(Part II)

I already introduced you to Mr. Michael Lavova, whom I'm continuing to write about today.  Michael had written to me last Sunday, and invited to help me out.  I always appreciate readers who write to me. It gives me solace that people are reading my blog, and keeps me going. However, he even wrote to say if he could help. I wrote back , thanking him, and said that I'd like to write about his collection of rubber toys that he's been collecting for 30 years. I wrote about his car collection, and for today, it's his toy racers.

Please click here to visit Michael Lavopa's exception toy website

Please click here to visit my first post on Michael Lavopa

What I like about Michael's website is that he likes to present his fine rubber toys differently from each other. You'' have hight camera angles,and lower camera angles, cars angled to the left, or to the right. Two cars and one car.This makes for  more interesting viewing.

What amazes me most about rubber toys ( I bought and sold a few on ebay) is that they have lasted so long.  The toys below are from the 1930's-1940's and they're still intact. I don;lt know what they put in the rubber to allow for the rubber to stay so firm and not crack. I know when my I keep elastics from my newspaper in my car for a week, they crack and break from the heat.

It's also interesting that Michael has made an effort to collect different variations of the same model, but with different colours or colour combinations.

This is a great photo for its' wide-angle effect.

I like this model because it had round surfaces compared 

with the other racers with straight edges and lines.

I don;t know if the toy below was ever modelled after a "real" racer that had this shape and design.

For those who don't know, Akron, Ohio (USA) is famous for its annual "Soap Box Derby.

Young children get to build and race their entry cars there. The cars do not have any pedals or mortars, but have to move down a hill on their own with the due driver. The cars have to be designed for safety, durability, lightness and speed. The fastest one to the finis line is the winner, and

gets to advance to the next round of races. At one point, as many as 70,000 people would come to Akron to watch the races.

Some companies, like other toy companies would offer 2 

different sizes of the same model to their young customers.

All of the companies here are American, but when I did write 1 instalment of my own 

about rubber toys, I did find 1 that was not American. However, what is amazing is that  toy companies could make rubber toys and sell them well for almost 20 years.

For these photos I added some bright areas called "highlights". These small toys are just so wonderful, I felt I had to make them jump off the page!

Thanks for visiting and as always

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

An Exceptional Collector of Rubber Toy Vehicles - Part I

Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Sunny and very, very cold!

An Exceptional Collector of 

Rubber Toy Vehicles

(Part I)

  I dislike the cold of winter and winter altogether! Today marks a mere 61 days to the spring equinox, followed by another 60 days  before I can actually walk around with shirts and a polo shirt. Today, it's  -18 degrees Celsius or -0.4 Fahrenheit. I let Buddy (our dog) go out through the front door to "do his business" and I stayed inside!

  Being locked up (it's really not that bad) in very cold weather does have some advantages. I can spend more time on my computer (not a real life-endearing function) checking my e-mails. And so a few days ago,I got a reader's e-mail saying that he had this nice website of rubber toys and would  I want to use his photos. I went to the site and there was a fantastic collection of toy vehicles.  looked through the collection, and wrote back yes,yes, and yes!  When I then went back yesterday to screen-caput the images, I had a bit of trouble - the images on Mr. Michael Lavopa's  website wouldn't show immediately or wouldn't show at all.  I wrote to Michael,and he didn't have any problem at all. So what I did was to download a different browser and see if that could be the problem. That was my problem. I was using an Apple iMac with their web browser - Safari. This sometimes happens on a Mac, so you have to try alternatives.  Changing the web browser worked.

Please click here to visit this very interesting website

Cars

The first section of Michael's website is cars. I've downloaded a large amount of this fine toys. However, Michael's presentation (photographs) are  vert well done. I like how he has managed to collected some different paint combinations of the same toy. As such, he had experimented very successfully with the composition of several items in a photo.

When I bought my first rubber toy car, I was "hooked" ( like a fish) immediately to this genre of toy. First, I was impressed with the fine detail that could be transferred from the mould (casting) to the final rubber toy. But  I was more amazed with a toy made of rubber that could last 85 years intact! Some of Michaels' toys have cracks in them, but that adds more of the allure (attraction) to them. Interestingly, rubber toys were made before WWII, when there were material shortages in the USA, and toy manufacturers had to make a lot of their toys from wood. Rubber was also a restricted resource ( I think I am quite sure), since most of the raw latex from which rubber is made came from Asia, where the Japanese had taken over the vast  Pacific countries there.

Perhaps, in the 1930's rubber toys were made because rubber was less expensive than metal, and easier to manufacture as a toy. You only had to make 1 mild and add wood tires and steel axles.

Immediately, you can see the excellent arrangement (composition) that Michael applies to his photograph. Adding variations to the compositions in the photographs makes viewing much more interesting. If you look at the sizes, you'll see that many of the toys are very small. 

I'm always learning new information, and with Michael's collection, this was no different. I never even thought to look for other sources of rubber toys besides the USA. Yet, within Michael;s collection are toys from both South Africa and Czechoslovakia. I'll have to do a search now for non-American rubber toys and see how many other toys I can find.

ONce again, you can see the different arrangements for the visual presentation of Michael's toys.

Also, the lighting is very nice,because although it appears Michael used just one light source, he has nice depth (3D) to his photos. Leaving some shadow makes the items have more volume (3D).

I like this "futuristic"  Auburn Rubber toy. Initially, I thought that Michael might have photographed it back-to-front, but he photographed it correctly or did he? Are those 2 small lights in the front or are they 2 brake lights? Is that a radiator or a trunk ornament over the bumper?

I always like detail - anti me or anyplace or on anything. It's probably because I was always curious as a young boy, and as a photographer, you have to be to photograph the product or house properly, and see every flat or defect to mention to the manufacturer. Of course, nowadays, there is photo-editing software.

If you look at the 1935 Oldsmobile below, you can see an infinite amount of very small detail that shows so well.

Below is another first - The first Czechoslovakian toy, and the first Czechoslovakian rubber toy.

And below is still another non-American toy - 

Made in Great Britain.

I adore the Pontiac toy for the cracking in the rubber. It makes of ran excellent photo because we (people) like to see contrast and irregularities. The cracks which are irregularly-shaped contrast well with the very definite and positioned line design of the car.

I  "played around" with photo-editing ( I hope Michael won't mind) with this Pontiac  toy.

I reduced the overall exposure, then used a dodging tool" to make certain areas appear brighter  or have "highlights" - a photographic term.

I would have did this to all of the toys, but this is Michael's post, not mine, and I didn't want

 to take away from his exceptional collection, nor his excellent photography.

This is just the first of 2 or 3 posts about Mr. Michael  Lavopa's collection. I'll be following up with his racers and his "Misc." (Miscellaneous) category. If you think this "Car" category is fantastic, wait till you see the other toys!

Thanks for dropping by and as always

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

A Return to the Auburn Rubber Company

Friday, December 12, 2014
Overcast, some flurries, mild

A Return to the 

Auburn Rubber Company

   During the time that I was buying and selling toys on ebay, I discovered the fascinating world of rubber toys. One of the largest manufacturers was the Auburn Rubber Company.  What fascinated me was the fact that these toys have survived for so long considering that they were made from rubber.  I know nowadays that my car tires do not last as long as my earlier cars.Are the manufacturers using "different" materials so tires do not last 50,000 miles  (80,000 km)? I had to replace both my summer and winter tires (on rims) last year, yet I only had  45, 000 km or 27,000 miles. Worst of all, summer tires are used for 8 months of the year and winter tires for only 4 months. Yet when I received my 1940's and later rubber toys, the rubber was still flexible on most of the toys.

   What I also liked from the rubber toys was the fact that rubber contoured superbly well in moulds. Consequently, lots of small detail could easily be designed to eventually come up with detail in the final product.  When I would photograph the rubber toys,I had a lot of fun and satisfaction, by being able to light these toys up so fine. Of course,  the photography was lost on most ebay buyers. As long as you are honest and show a fair image of what you're selling most don't care how great the photo looks! However, photography on ebay, is improving - finally!

Please click here to visit this fine American auction company

I hadn't added a post lately from the Lloyd Ralston Gallery, so it was good to be able to. 

The two sons of the late Lloyd Ralston have continued the fine company. Also, they were one of the first people to help me with my blog by allowing me to use their images, 

after I had stopped buying and selling on ebay.

Not all of the toys below are Auburn Rubber Company toys. Nevertheless, I selected this image as a great example of the some of the many different toys that were made in that period. Also the arrangement and composition of the photo is excellent.

Here's another sampling of rubber toys from different manufacturers. Obvously, although there are no dates provided, the jets most certainly have to be from the mid-1950's.,give or take a few years.

The 4 trucks are from the 1940's, and I can;t tell you when the 3 propeller airplanes were made.

 The name of the company on the side of the car is easily read if you enlarge this image in Google Blogger slide view. That illustrates how much fine detail can be transferred from the mould to the actual finished toy.

 You can easily appreciate the large catalogue of toys that the Auburn Rubber Company had at the time. Today's presentation is merely a "taste". As I was searching for what to present today, I had come across a fine set of rubber soldiers from the company.  I almost decided to add a post on the Auburn Rubber Company soldiers, but decided to present something different. Too many posts of a similar nature tends to keep readers from reading the later posts.  However, in a few weeks, I 'll see if I can find enough listings to write a post on the Auburn soldiers.

I like the depth and design of the many different racers and cars that the company produced. I didn't even get them all! 

I don't know why the company would make 2 very similar racers that were only 1/2" 13 mm) difference in length? However, the nicely-detailed tractor came with the racers, so I left all 3 together. I like how the hand of the driver are relaxed on the steering wheel,and how his head is turned downwards and to the side.  That's quite different from the normal  position of looking straight ahead.

Of course, if you like old cars,you'd like old toy cars.  What's great about rubber toys is that they're within easy reach (cost to purchase) of most collectors,and they'd make great items to display in anyones den or on house walls.

I would think that since rubber was fairly inexpensive at the time, the rubber toy companies could make lots of different moulds with lots of different models, toy types, and colours. You can easily see how the 2 motorcycles below are quite similar,yet have enough differences.

I've heard of the Cord car, but now that I think of it, I don't think I ever presented a metallic Cord!

What I like about this racer is how large the real racer was. at the time. Some racers were huge and I canlt even imagine the noise, vibrations and exhaust times that these produced.

Pastel colours were not used that much, and primary colours were. If you look at the overall toys shown today, there are a few toys that have 2 different shades of the same colour or are  totally different (red/silver, yellow/green, blue/white, and red/yellow). I don't know how the 2-toned or 2 different colours were applied to the rubber,so that's a question I'll have to find the answer to.

I think  I sometimes give myself too much homework to do!

If you want to do a search for my very early posts on my own bought and sold rubber cars, simply do a search for Auburn, Rubber Toys,Sun Rubber Toys, and Arcor. That should be able to  have some results come up.

Thanks for dropping by and as always,

have a great past of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toy earcher@gmail.com

Sometimes I venture into the 1950's

Thursday, August 14, 2014 
                  Cloud and rain

Sometimes I Venture 

into the 1950's

  If you've read enough of my posts, you'll know that my daily schedule is to get up in the morning, go for a coffee and low-fat muffin, walk our dog Buddy, open the computer, check the mail, then start looking for inspiration for the next several posts.

  Yesterday, I was looking on Liveauctioneers, when I saw an eye-catching rubber train from  AmbroseBauerTrains. The Company promotes themselves as "The Nation's Foremost Marketplace of Toy Trains & Toy Train Auctions". If I had the time, AmbroseBauerTrains and the vast archives would keep me busy for the next 20 years writing just about model trains! However, I've learned in my writing a blog, to always look what else an auctioneer might sell, and I've had many pleasant surprises on the AmbroseBauerTrains website finding items that were not train-related.

  I was this beautiful intense orange diesel engine yesterday made by Auburn Rubber. The company had made rubber toys in the 1940's and I discovered them a few years ago on my journey of writing this blog. I even purchased a few Auburn, and other manufacturer's toys to see them "up close". I was amazed at how well made they were, and how thy had lasted for so long. 

Please click here to visit this most fascinating model train auctioneer's website

Of course, whenever an original box, abbreviated "OB" in the description is included, the value of 

any toy escalates.  However, what attracts me to this toy is the ability for the rubber and the mould process to capture small detail. An example (without even enlarging these images) is the windshield wiper blade.

Today rubber toys have mostly been replaced with plastic toys. What I especially like about rubber is how long these toys last. Also, rubber (like plastic) is able to form and contour into small impressions in the mould to which the hot material is poured into.

The wheels are not  that impressive, but they're functional. The toy designers were smart enough to make the sides of the toy low-profile (low to the ground) so that the body covered the black wheels!

Nevertheless, you can see how the Auburn Rubber company was still producing fine toys into the 1950's - a place that I rarely visit, but if I live long enough I will - for my next blog!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

'wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com