By Far, Not Your Ordinary "Toy" or Seller

Thursday, November 7, 2013

By Far,

Not Your Ordinary "Toy" or Seller

   I'm sure that I've attracted many people to this post just from the title, but  I'm  not doing it for that reason.  I'm doing it because both today's subject and seller are both extraordinary, in the most positive ways that I can honestly write this.

  I was on ebay a few days ago,when a toy car caught my eye. It was painted a bright colour and was from the 1940's. It wasn't the most exotic, nor was it the most interesting, but it caught my eye. And when I went to look further, I got the biggest surprise! It wasn't "really" a toy, but a bank. And the bank company that manufactured this bank had been around in the USA for a very long time, and had made theses banks in large numbers for banks, for car dealerships,and of course, for parents and children alike. And the name of the company was Banthrico. I'm assuming that the name was an abbreviation for Bank Thrift Company, but if not, that's how I remember both the name, and how to spell Banthrico. 

  I naturally did my "usual, usual" and contacted the seller. I waited a few days, as I know by now that not everyone is going to read their e-mails right away and write to me. The world does not revolve around me and my blog. A few days later, I get a nice reply, with lots of information to write for about Banthrico, from Mr. Bob Weinzierl. I've misspelled his last name so often, that I now know it by heart. I kept adding an extra letter i in his family name, and only realized this when I magnified the copyright notice after having adding that to all the images. But it was worth it to have to replace all the copyright notices, and I will remember Bob Weinzierl's last name for his kindness in writing so much, about his passion for these banks, as well as his thorough care in both taking photographs and in listing these fine items.

Please click here to redirect to Bob's Home Page on ebay

In Bob's Own Words

"Hi, you contacted me about restorations of the Banthrico banks and National product cars and trucks.  I am not a true expert, though I have learned a lot about their history over the past 10 years that I have been restoring these cars and trucks.  My interest began about 10 years ago, after I began seeing these diecast banks and promos listed on EBay.  As a child I had a love for building the AMT plastic model kits. I was fascinated with these metal promos and decided to buy one.  My first metal car was a National Products 1949 Nash Ambassador that I purchased to restore because my Dad always drove Nashes.  I still have that car on display.  Then I painted a 1950 Dodge Coronet in the same light gray as the one I first drove when I was 16. From then on I would search for and purchase different Banthrico and National Product models to paint.  Most were well played with with paint long since chipped off as well as a wheel or two missing. At first I used paint stripper but then found that the paint was easily removed with a wire polishing wheel which also brought the metal back to a bright shine.  I began Googling the paint charts from the cars and models of each year I was working on.  I then tried to find a match with common auto touch up spray paint lacquer from Duplicolor or Plasticoat.  It has since become a labor of love to bring these 60 year old promo cars and trucks back to their original look...if not better and more detailed.  I use mostly lacquer paint because it is easy to remove over spray with lacquer thinner.  In the first few years I would paint the windows and bumpers silver but later found that the polished metal windows and trim looked more original that the painted versions.

     Over the years it became obvious what cars were more sought after by collectors.  The 1947 through 1950 National Products cars were not banks but the first real dealer promos.  It is also interesting that National products was contracted by Studebaker to make a replica of the Giant Worlds fair Studebaker in 1934.  I have restored one of these and they are really one of the earliest promos. The Early Mercury's , Lincolns and Desoto's are rare and command a higher price. The 1947 Chevy and Pontiac likewise are hard to find.  As for the Banthricos the Kaiser Fraser is the pick of collectors and is valuable.

     Again I enjoy bringing these cars back to life and if I can salvage them from the trash heap it's worth the effort.  I really don't make much profit on most of the cars that I paint.  I do have some collector friends that I restore cars for.  One in particular lives in Tampa and collects only 1949 and 1950 Chevy Banthrico and National product cars.

If you have any questions or need any more information please let me know. "

Bob Weinzierl

"The keys came with the banks and were often lost over the years.  As far as I can tell the keys were all the same.  so if you had one key it would open any of the older banks from the 50's.  There may be a few variations but most are the same and often come up on EBay for sale.  The locking mechanism is fairly simple but did keep money secure.  

   ebay of course sells extra keys. I was reading somewhere where kids and people would lose their keys, and some of them being very impatient to get at their "savings" would destroy the banks in the process. 

Banthico also used a patented screw to keep the base plate on that is beveled and very difficult to remove with a common screw driver.  I have included a photo of one.  There were usually 6 screws like tis in every bank.  Notice that the right side is tapered so that if you try to remove the screw the screwdriver slips off due to the curve.  I have found that if you push down very hard on the screw it will slowly turn out after many slips.  Putting it back in (righty tighty) is easy because it is a common screw head in that direction. one other note.  In 1949 and 1950 Banthrico used rivets to hold the base plate on.  these were not banks but true promos.  The rivets have to be drilled out to remove base plate.  These also used short independent axles that fit in a band or clip.  It was a good design but eventually Banthrico went to straight wheels and axles.

You can see how much time and effort that Bob put into the photography. I'm assuming that he wasn't happy with how the colour weren't quite coming out in the first set of photos, so he redid the photography. Now that's dedication!

   Bob also ave me a flashback to my first car. My first teaching job required me to drive about 30 minutes on the highway. As a result, my parents bought me a car - a 1969 Dodge Coronet.  It wasn't the most glamorous car at the time, but you get to just love your cars anyway. I kept that car for about 10 years, and removed the Coronet side die cast metal logo when I scrapped the car" for a terrible Honda Civic, which I kept for 18 months!

    Of course, I'll be trying to do a post on 1969 Dodge Coronet toys, if you can find them - being somewhat not the most popular or best selling cars of that time!

Also one other piece of information on original Banthricos and restored models.  The originals are more sought after even with major paint loss.  The original paint used on these models was expertly applied for that era.  It was one coat, though, and very thin.  After the car was handled even carefully the paint would likely begin to chip.  That is why an original with 90% or more of its paint (and the lettering of the car dealer or bank that was added to the roof) are so valuable.  these cars were likely never removed from the box and have survived through the years.

     The models that I restore look better than originals sometimes but true collectors want the unrestored models even with the paint loss.  I have included a photo of an original 1950 Dodge that shows nearly all original paint as well as the rivets.

Let me know if you have any further questions and I can try to add anything I can to the blog. " 

thanks

Bob

  I would certainly like to thank Bob for letting me use his photos, and of course, for writing such an extensive narrative about these fine collectibles. Having 4 tires that spin can certainly enter them into the "toy category", and I'm sure lots of kids did ion fact play with them.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

write to me anytime at:

toysearcher@gmail.com