Sunday, July 6, 2014

Studying Some Very Interesting Kilgore Trucks

Monday, July 8, 2014
              Sunny and hot



Studying Some Very Interesting Kilgore Cast Iron Trucks

   Whenever I hear the name Kilgore, I am reminded by a famous American college marching band, by the name of the Kilgore Rangers. Anyway, I was reviewing my 804 posts to date, and decided to revisit Kilgore cast iron toys.  There's something about having heavy items in your hand. It doesn't matter if it's a cannon ball, a heavy cast iron toy, a bar of gold, or even a camera ( I still like a larger-sized digital camera over a smaller one).

   I was going to write about Kilgore toys in general, when I started to screen-capture, and kept seeing the same toys but in different colour schemes.  So  I decided to rethink todays' post and concentrate on 3 toys with different pairs of colours. It's amazing that these cast iron toys have surveyed for so long. However, when you look at the toys and realize how they were made, and what they were made with, you know why!




If you look at the side of the cab door, you will see the letter "K" representing the Kilgore toy company. The casting of all 3 similar toys is excellent as can be seen by the shape and detail of the gas tank covers . It's interesting that 2 of the trucks have nickel spoke wheels, while the upper one had white rubber tires on metal hubs.





Once again we see 3 different colour schemes and 1 truck with white rubber tires mounted on metal rims. However, this time the rubber-wheeled truck is smaller than the other 2 models. On 2 of the trucks the letter "K" appears embossed and is simply painted over. The smaller truck above has the letter "K" painted over to contrast with the Cabs overall blue colour.

Also, if you compare the headlights of the larger top models with the bottom truck, you will see that they are different.


The above 2 trucks and low boys are similar, but on the truck above the letter "K" is again painted over to contrast with its surrounding door colour. What's also noteworthy is the amount of nickel on this truck. Not only are the wheels of the truck nickel, but so are the multiple small rollers on the 
low boy.

The photos of the above 2 trucks allow you to see how the low bow attached to the truck with a curved hook at the front of the low boy. But what is interesting to any bidder is the fact that the winch is missing. Note how Bertoia Auctions mentioned that in the original description.

Whenever you are going to bid on any toy, regardless of the price or its being rare or common, you should always do your homework.  Not all sellers or collectors may know the facts about the toy, so it's good to do research.  In the case of the Kilgores, you can see the different colour themes, the differences in wheels or tires, and what the toy may have or is missing.

IN the case of these Kilgore toys, they are quite rare, and yielded handsome returned for both the original sellers and the auctioneers.


Thanks as usual for dropping by,
and as always,
have a great part of the day our night,
wherever you may be,
Stacey.
toysearcher@gmail..com








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