Today's blog is another case of identity (with forgiveness from Alexander Dumas and his book Title "A Tale of Two Cities".
I recently purchased 2 cast iron gasoline trucks form the 1930's. The danger with old cast iron toys, is that you never know if they were made 80 years ago, or last week in China or India. You can refer back to my last entry before this one to see what I mean.
I just purchased these 2 items from E-Bay sellers who ranked in with 4000 buys+ sales, so you have to give them some credence and be confident from whom you buy. Unfortunately, the previous items (see the previous blog) was the same story in terms of the numbers, but the items were not real!
As a Canadian, it's hard enough to buy from the U.S. Many E-Bay sellers are happy just to sell in the U.S.
Why have to make a trip to the local post office to fill out a form, when you have 350,000,000 potential customers there compared to 35,000,000 up here in Canada, and you don't have to get out of your computer chair! I don't want to complain, because I'll lose 1 potential source of toys. Anyway, I digress, and so let's get back to the topic today.
The above is an Arcade
It's more in demand and fetches a higher price than the one below, which is a Hubley.
The above is a Hubley
Initially, they seem quite alike. I'm still sceptical as to whether they are what the sellers claimed they are. That is to say old and authentic Arcade and Hubley cast iron toys. However, you can't lack faith in everyone, otherwise there would be no point in my being an E-Bay member. So let's look at some enlargements and detail images to see the differences.
Vent Designs Differences
1. Gas Caps
2. Arcade has word "gasoline" on its' sides
3. Design next to word "gasoline"
4. Gas Exit Valves
5. Arcade has springs like a car has to support the weight
6. Wheel Design
Left Side
Right Side
So what have I learned? Well I have 2 gasoline trucks. They're supposedly an Arcade and a Hubley, are old, and are in fact what they say they are.
As with all of my blogs, if anyone out there reads this instalment, please feel free to help me out to authenticate these 2 items. I wanted to add "debunk and disprove", but you gotta have faith in people most of the time!
I don't know about the Hubley, but the one marked Arcade is actually made by A. C. Williams. The good new is that it is worth more than the Arcade gasoline truck.
ReplyDeleteHello Asia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction. I'll try to search for these toys and write an update.
It's always great to have someone read my posts and even help me out with corrections.
I'm always looking for new people to write about on my blog.
Might you be interested?
Regards,
Stacey
That would be fun. I actually run an Etsy shop.
ReplyDeleteYou had mentioned #5 I believe to be springs or suspension for the rear wheels. In fact, they are to represent the chain drive mechanism that drove the rear wheels, these old trucks did not have driveshafts or rear differentials as later trucks had.
ReplyDelete