Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Hubley Animated Cast Iron Racer

February 1, 2011

     This is one of my favourite Hubley toys. It was produced from 1931-1941, and was a pull toy.You attached a piece of cord to the front hole, and pulled this along.  What makes this toy unique is its' patented design that allowed for the "fire" in the pistons to shoot up through the holes in the hood.
Don't worry, I'll present the photos for you to understand what I just said.




If you look closely at the front of the car (between the 2 wheels), you will see the hole for attaching a cord.

This is a close-up of the hole

Notice the "s-shaped" front axle. As the car is pulled, the axle moves to push the long red rods underneath the chassis. These have small projections coming through the top of the engine hood and they resemble "fire"
I would assume the car had 12 cylinders, since there are 12 "spouts" for shooting out fire from the explosions of the cylinders via spark plugs.
Here's another image of this fine toy. It is 10 1/2" (L) x 3 7/16" (W) x 2 3/4" (HJ) at the rider.


These toys have lasted well over the years, and there are still plenty of them around for sale on E-Bay and through antique dealers.









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4 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 19, 2014 at 10:13 AM

    I'm guessing that this is a reproduction The original is extremely rare and is worth upwards of 2500. and there are very few around. Check out this link
    http://www.realorrepro.com/article/New-Hubley-racer-fools-experienced-buyers
    Cliff
    gothamcitytoys

    ReplyDelete
  2. toysearcherJanuary 20, 2014 at 11:00 PM

    Hi Cliff,

    You're probably right about this being a reproduction.
    However,this particular Hubley toy is not that expensive compared to the one that
    allows toy to open up the engine compartment.

    I'm not an expert on toys, especially up here in Montreal, Quebec,, where it's hard to actually find any American toys,let alone cast iron ones.

    Thanks for dropping by,and thanks for having helped me, by allowing me to use your great toys from your store.I'll have to do a visit.

    Take care,
    Stacey

    ReplyDelete
  3. Garydhavens@gmail.comAugust 4, 2017 at 3:55 AM

    How can you tell if there reproductions

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2023 at 6:26 PM

    Hi I actually just recently came across one of these. I'm looking to sell it.

    ReplyDelete