A Tale of 3 Cast Iron trucks

Saturday, June 2, 2012

A Tale of 3 Cast Iron Trucks

(With thanks to Charles Dickens for 

Altering the Title of His Famous Classic Book)

     Periodically, I will look at other toy brands from my usual list. I have 5-6 that I am familiar with, and I   like to stay with them with regard to buying and selling. 

    When I find more information about this company, I'll add it to this instalment. However,right now I don't know much about the company. I saw several other of these exact toys on E-Bay and the sellers were asking $ 200.00-300.00 US. The name of the company is Walker and Stewart.

    However, I came across 1 of these nice cast iron trucks - a Walker & Stewart truck, and was able to purchase it at a great price. Then I found 2 others, at also great prices and purchased them. With 3 of these trucks in hand, I knew that I had an instalment to write about.

    I used the high-priced listings on E-Bay to find out how the toys originally appeared almost 80 years ago. As such, I'll be buying replacement steel wheels form Thomas Antique Toy Parts, when they arrive in their inventory. I sometimes joke with Julie Thomas, the daughter of the owner, that the "elves" need to work harder to produce toy parts. I think of Thomas toys as the North Pole residence of Santa Claus.

The centre truck is the one that has all of its original parts.

The steel wheels have 3 holes each, and they're painted yellow.

The rest of the truck body is painted red.

I first purchased the truck on the right,and ordered the steel wheels from Thomas Antique Toy Parts. The truck on the left was my most recent one. The steel wheels I guess collectors and sellers don;t do their "homework" and buy whatever parts are available or can be purchased.

Walker & Stewart Delivery Truck # 1

The right side of this truck has a  a crack  that runs through 3 of the rectangular panels.

It was hard to see this on the photos from the seller, and he didn't mention that. I try not to complain on e-Bay, because there's a double-edged sword there with regard to complaining and feedback. A seller can reply to a buyer with negative feedback rather than be honest about the fault. Also, many Americans are more comfortable selling just to other Americans, so when I purchase form an American, I try not to make waves.

Bottom line, always ask questions such as

"Are there any parts missing or broken?"

In this way, you can first correspond with the seller, and if you don't get satisfaction, you can then complain to E-Bay. Just remember that you have a limited amount of time to complain.

Most of the sellers on E-Bay that I've dealt with are honest. Also, the Top-Rated sellers get a 20% discount (like myself) for being rated as such. So it's in their interest to keep the customer satisfied.

If too many customers complain, then the Top-Rated status is lost,and the discount os cancelled.

Walker & Stewart Delivery Truck # 2

(Complete as it was 80 Years Ago)

I purchased the above truck from a dealer in Providence, Rhode Island (USA).

I think he found it in the ocean off one of the mansions in Newport where the super wealthy Americans in the 1880's-1930's used to live. Probably, The Great Gadsby didn't like the toy he received as a Christmas gift, and thus threw it in the ocean, where it stayed to 80 years!

Walker & Stewart Delivery Truck # 2

This is the last Walker & Stewart truck that I purchased.

The seller didn't pack it properly, and a tiny piece broke off!

I wrote to him to suggest that he package his item more carefully in the future. I gave him excellent feedback for the reasons that I mentioned previously. I didn't ask for anything, but surprisingly, he sent me a refund for shipping. I returned half to him, as he is an excellent E-Bayer,and accidents sometimes happen!

The yellow arrow is pointing to a unique detail on these trucks. There are 3 columns of small round depressions that are at the point of the arrow.  This design seems to be unique to this truck. As I mentioned before, the steel wheels are not the correct ones for this toy.

I'm going to pick up the Rhode Island (rusted hulk) truck from someone I met who has  access to a sand-blasting machine. I'm unsure how well the sandblasting will work, since deep rust affects the structure and integrity of toys. You can only remove so much rust from a toy, before you damage it.

I'm taking a chance, but I didn't pay much for the toy,so the experience will be worth it, even to be able to write a new instalment.

Today's instalment was a long one, but then again , if you just came to this blog, it will be Saturday, and you'll have all the leisure time to read this one.You can even take a break if you want. 

Thanks for dropping by.

I hope that you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it. If you don't already know, I'm always looking for "guests" to write an instalment. I can;t pay,nor do I make any money, but it's good for publicity of you're a seller or buyer, and it will help me.

As always, have a restful weekend, wherever you may be.

(Mr.) Stacey Bindman