Another Reader Needs Help to Identify Her Toy

Saturday, June 23, 2018
Overcast with potential rain
23 C  74 F

Another Reader Needs Help

in Identifying Her Toy

   In the last several weeks, I've received inquiries from readers asking if I could identify or authenticate their toys. Today's interesting acrobat toy is from Carol Caraher. The toy is rusted, and has the writing "Made in Germany" on it. So if you can help identify this toy, please feel free to write.

   The toy is made from tin, and has a wind-up mechanism for the acrobat to do turns on the metal "traspeze". There is what I think is a logo, of a clown in a circle (4th photo down).

My e-mail address is:

toysearcher@gmail.com

Carol Caraher

So please have a look, and if you can help Carol identify her toy, that would be helpful.

Thanks as always for visiting,

and have a nice day or night.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Another Reader Asks for Help in Identifying an Old Toy

Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Cold and Overcast
8 C  46 F

Another Reader Asks for Help

in Identifying an Old Toy

     It's been a miserable MArch and April, and so far May is not so great either. There hasn't been much sun, and there's too much rain. April almost broke the record for rain, and with the rain in May, we're seeing lots of flooding that hash;t been seen here in 20 years. Rivers are overflowing their banks, causing houses to be have water in their basements.

   Anyway, I was looking at my e-mails, when Mr. Ezra Walker  wrote and asked me if I could identify a toy. I could;t, but I asked for his permission to write a post for him, to see if anyone out there might help out. So that's the essence for today's post.

The toy is about 5" x  2" x 2" and looks like it was made from cast iron. Judging from the topmost photo of the side of the bus, the toy appears to have been made in the late 1930'd or early 1940's. 

The hubs for the tires are made from wood, and the tires were most likely rubber.

I tried to search for this toy from my catalogues, but I'm missing several catalogues from the 1930's-1940's, so I couldn't find any information on this toy. So if someone out there has a similar toy, or knows who made the toy, would you please write to me, to help out.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part of the day or might,

Wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearchert@gmail.com

An Inquiry from Finland

Sunday, October 20, 2013

An Inquiry from Finland

   On Friday, I received another inquiry,but this time from Finland. Mr. Mika Jarkia had a toy and asked if I knew where he might get parts for it. It was given  about 55 years ago when he was a "younger" boy. I used the term "younger" as we all are still boys or girls at heart. Mika asked if I might know where he might get replacement parts for this toy. 

I wrote back to say that he could  try both: 

Classic Tin Toy Company( Click to be redirected)   and 

Thomas Antique Toy Parts (Click to be redirected)

   I did not notice that Mika had in fact added the type of the car in the e-mail title - a 1958 Mercedes 190 SL,which I asked him for in my reply. So fast forward 8 hour later, and I realized that the toy type was there.  I typed in the Mercedes 190 SL into a search at Liveauctioneers, and up comes a result from Bertoia Auctions for a toy to be auctioned off on November 9, 2013. If you wonder why I am writing this post on a Friday, it's because it's raining  here in Montreal, and I wanted to get ahead. Google doesn't have a pre-posting schedule for people to post in advance, but post0date the date. 

  I wrote back to Mika that I'd add his photos and those of Bertoia to a new post, and we'll see if anyone can help out Mika,or perhap Mr. Thomas and Julia (his daughter who has helped me out many times) and  Classic Tin Toy can  in fact find Mika his parts. I'm not sure if they came, as this is a toy manufacturer that I have never heard of, so parts may not be than common or being made. Perhaps there is someone out there who just purchased a new 3D printer and might communicate with Mika?

  The Bertoia toy may not be the toy that Mika has, since their toy is a wind-up and the interior decor is different from the Seidel (Bertoia) listing. 

Please click here to be redirected to Bertoia Auctions excellent website for this auction

Mr. Mika Jarkia

Please click here to contact Mr. Mika Jarkia

New Material Added

October 22, 2013

When I wrote Mika to inform him that his post was up, I suggested that he send me more photo, which he did. I decided to place some of them against white to show them better, and to help show people the new additions.

Mika also write that:

"Some details of the car are that the car has an electric motor 4.5 v and 

a gearbox with two steps ahead, free, stop and astern used by stick"

I'm sure this toy is European in manufacture, so most likely if anyone will identify it, 

it will be our European cousins

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever yuo may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

A Reader Asks for Help with a Find

Saturday, October 19, 2013

A Reader  Asks for Help With a Find

   A few days ago, a reader sent me today's photos and asked if I could help him identify the toy. I'm not an expert at all, but I informed him that I would try and gather some material to answer his question. His name is Mr. John McCoy from Warwick, Rhode Island (USA). I studied pro photography in Providence, and although the State is one of the smallest, it makes up for its size with exceptionally nice people and a much varied landscape.

Mr. John McCoy

(Providence, Rhode Island, USA)

I couldn't identify the maker of the cast iron toy, and asked John to send me any identifying marks or the manufacturer's if there are any.  I did find at least 5 similar items and all were not valuable. However, as a memento from John's relative, this item would be nice to keep. After searching for a similar item, I came to the conclusion that this particular toy is not necessarily valuable for several reasons. 

1. Compared with some of the other similar toys that I did fins, the mold (casting) did not retain

   good detail such as in the side lanterns or on the lady. This could be from how the original casting 

  and details were made.

2. The texture of the toy is rough in places. 

3. I asked John whether the white horses were rusted or was that a yellow finish that was added. On "fakes" (reproductions), the makers will add this yellowing to give the "illusion" that the toy is old.

4. The toy is broken in 1 place and is missing the broken off part

5. The toy is missing the driver

* As I said earlier, I am by no means an expert, so I also advised John to try to bring this item to an antique toy dealer so he/she could give him a better professional opinion of this toy.

I did mention to John that sometimes "less" detail from a mould or form does not necessarily translate into "fake", hence my advise to seek out a professional antique toy dealer.

You can see the broken part where the front vertical part would be. Also, the finished casting had a rough texture, and the 2 yellow "spots" between the hole are supposed to be lamps.  Once again, my rationale for having said that this item may not be a authentic original "brand" name.  What I just remembered is that not all "reproductions" are modern, and in fact on some occasions, I have read professional antique dealers write about an unmarked "reproduction" being very old, but obviously not worth a lot.

If anyone out there (collector, auctioneer, or dealer) can help us in identifying or providing me with photos, we'd appreciate that.  I couldn't find any similar examples from my regular sources, so I posted this item by itself.  

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night, wherever you may be.

Stacey

(toysearcher@gmail.com)