A Look Back After 18 Months

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

A Look Back After 18 Months

    Since I'm not selling toys for now, and it's sometimes like "pulling teeth" to get readers to send me photos and a write-up.  I decided to look back at my 18 months or slightly longer with toys, and look back. When I started to choose the toys for today, each one reminded me of something.  I'm sure most of you can relate to this, I can also remember when I used to play golf. When I would come home and later go to bed, I would go over every shot that I had taken, and what I did right and wrong. Of course, the next time I went to play another round of golf, I just made other mistakes, and my score didn't improve.

     I had retired from teaching 3 years ago, and since I was an Alpha type, I couldn't sit on my behind and do nothing.  I decided to buy and re-sell high-end Mac Towers and the IMacs. I also went to a Dunkin Donuts near me, and would chat each morning with "the characters there". Of course, when I told my wife that, she said "and what do you think you are?".  One of the people there is Caroline who happens to buy all sorts of items to resell and she knows here subjects.

     One day, Caroline  is talking and she said that she found 2 complete and brand new building sets of Meccano. I let that idea sit in my head for a couple of weeks, and then I decided to see the sets. They were in fact mint. I couldn't understand how 2 sets from the 1940's or later could be in such great shape. So had  purchased them for $ 10.00 from a local Salvation Army store, and wanted 25 x that. I did a fast search on the Net, e-mailed 2 British toy collectors, set my price, and the first one who replied was the buyer.

    From then on, I was hooked. Of course, I didn't think every toy buy would lead to big bucks (lots of profit), and  after 18 months, I probably have lost money rather than make any. Would I have changed those 18 months if I could? No, no and no!  It's been a great experience, I've bought and sold lots of toys, and I've met wonderful people in person and on the Net.

    I'm going  to write about 3-4 instalments or posts on my retrospective. Today's instalment is about cars and trucks. I do have my favourites, but when I went through my 2 TB (terabyte) hard drive, all of the toys are my favourites!

The Start of It All

A # 7 Meccano Set form Great Britain in Mint COndition

Circa 1940's-Early 1950's

I don't think this set was ever used!

 A Hubley Cast Iron "Animated Racer"

Length- about  9" (230 mm)

   The undulating-shaped front axle causes 2 sets of rods to push up and down as the car moves.

The car is called a "Pull toy" because a string was attached to the front small hole.

The toy above was a "reproduction", while the one above that was the real thing, if I remember correctly.  I would not buy this toy or several others because there are more "reproductions in the marketplace that the real ones. If you were to buy one, I would recommend buying from a local dealer or a reputable one on the Net. There are several auction houses on the Net specializing in toy auctions. You may pay more, but you are guaranteed that what they are listing is what you will get. 

These specialists cannot afford to sell fakes and try and get away with that!

 A  Wyandotte Convertible

Circa Late 1940's-Early 1950's

This car is 12" x 5" x 4" (L x W x H)

310mm x 125mm x 103mm

The Wyandotte car came in several models and colour combinations.

The one above needs a push to propel it, while there was another model that was a wind-up.

I just love the rear trunk that opens, along with the convertible roof that retracts into 

the body of the car.

 A  Small Wyandotte Racer

Circa 1930's-early 1940's

(I don't have al the info on the toys, so I might be in error some of the time).

I will research my notes, and add and correct this post later on.

 2 Wyndotte Racers. 

Circa Early 1940's

These 2 are larger than the one above.

These are pressed-steel toys,just like the same way that most car parts are made still.

What's interesting when you get one of these up close is to see how the stell would bend when it was pressed.With some of these toys, cuts are made so that the toys bends and does not distort .

 The 3 toys above were made by the Manoil Company. I'll add their bio in the future.

These are die-cast toys measuring no more than 6" (130 m) in length.

The Manoil company was a smaller manufacturer,but what I like most about their toys is their

interesting and sometimes futuristic style. The 2 cars remind me of a Batman  movie.

  The 3 cars above are all Hubleys.

The green one is larger than the 2 small ones above.

All are die cast toys.

 A A Die Cast Hublet Stake Truck

Circa  late 1950's-early 1960's.

The design on the side replicates the "real" trucks that were had their sides made of wood, 

hence the term "stake".

  The  truck above is also a die cast Hubley from the same time period.

It's a log hauler.

When I first started buying toys, I would sometimes bid on toys missing their parts or needing restoration. I'd buy parts, and learn how to remove rust , repaint, and attach new parts. The experience was good, but it's really hard to make a profit on "restored toys".

What I did for the truck above was to buy round wooden dowels, which I cut.

The small chains were also purchased and then that  also cut to size.

I always make sure to inform any potential buyer on E-Bay what I did to any toy, or if the toy has faults to also inform the potential buyer. As such, my feedback record on E-Bay is 100%.

  n Assortment of Different Brands and Types of Toy Cars

The smallest one measures about 4" (102mm) in length.

The  cars range from cast iron to pressed steel, to die cast.

 A  1930's Die Cast Tootsietoy Truck

One of my previos blocks talks about  Mr. Peter Cozens from Australia. He has a marvelous inventory of Dinky toys that originated in Great Britain.

In the USA, in the  1920's-1950's, the equivalent version of the small line of toys that Dinky made, was the Tootsietoy company of toys.

The above toy measures about 5" (125.mm) long, with some original and replacement rubber tires. I believe the truck was modelled after the Mack company's truck.

 An Early Wyandotte Pressed Steel Truck.

Circa 1930's

The front tires are the originals, while the rear driver's side one is a replacement from the Thomas Toys Inc Company. Mr. Julian Thomas started the company, and now has 2 of his children working with him.

The company is a great resource for all kinds of old toy parts, and Julie Thomas (whom I correspond with) is a great person and a great company rep!

 2 Hubley Pressed Steel and Die Cast  StakeTrucks from the  Late 1950's Early 1960's.

The Hubley Company  was still making toys, but had to compete with Mattel with their "Hot Wheels" line of toys, among many other companies. The toy market was changing, and the great companies (Arcade,Wyandotte, Hubley) would either have gone out of business or were purchased by larger companies.

Personally, my parents never bought me toy trucks or cars.

I did have:

1. A cap gun 

2. Minibrix (interlocking rubber bricks to create houses or action figures)

3. Meccano set

4. Lionel Train set

5. Chemistry Set

6. Microscope Set

7. Carpentry Tool set

8. A Crystal Radio

Of course, like millions of other people my age (63), my parents threw out all of the toys when we moved or grew older. Being 4 children in my family, we did not have the luxury of keeping original boxes, or keeping toys in a part of the house. Mind you, who ever kept the boxes anyway?

Of course my great collection of Superman comics and the Classics were also thrown out. 

When I think back, those certainly were great times, and I  

enjoyed all of the toys that my parents gave me.

So that's "A wrap" as they say in the movie industry (or is it a "take").

Thanks as always for dropping by,

and have a good morning, afternoon, or 

evening wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com