The Definitive Cast Iron Motorcycle Company

Friday, December 19, 2014
Sunny and cold

The Definitive Cast Iron 

Motorcycle Company

  I added a post yesterday about cast iron motorcycles that weren't made by the Hubley Manufacturing Company.If you did a search for cast iron toy motorcycles, 90%  of the results would most likely be Hubley. I had internationally added the "non-Hubley" cast iron motorcycles yesterday because I had never written about them before.

  I've certainly written about Hubley motorcycles or so I thought. However,when I went searching on my blog (approaching the 1000 post milestone),I couldn't find a whole post just about these exceptional class of toys. So for today, it's about about The Definitive Cast Iron Motorcycle Company", my title for Hubley.

  Before I ever started writing about toys, I only knew the toys that were sold in Canada,most from Great Britain at the time. These were Meccano, Minibrix, and yes, one American company - Lionel.

However, when you search for  early American toys, especially cast iron toys, Hubley and Arcade will inevitably come up, and if you narrow your search to cast iron toy motorcycles, it's definitely Hubley.

  I decided to go with 10 toys today, and as it turned out, it was a lot of work,which you will definitely enjoy. And when I did my whitening effect" the toys jumped off my computer screen! I've only selected mostly the civilian figures on the motorcycles, compared with the police figures.  So you know what that means - another post!

Please click here to visit this exceptional American auction company

The word "definitive" in one definition of the word means complete. If you go to Liveauctioneers or Bertoia Auctions, you will see lots of Hubley cast iron toy motorcycles compared to any other brand of the time. After looking at all of the results, you will understand why I selected the word definitive to define the Hubley Company was it related to cat he cast iron motorcycles of that era.

The toy below is extremely rare due to it's condition.

When a toy such as this one comes to auction, it will yield a very high return, since there are very fie, if any others of it!

I wonder why the faces of the figures are so chipped, while the rest of the toy is in such marvellous condition.  This toy came from the Hegarty Collection. Mr. Covert Hegarty was an auto dealer owner who specialized in collecting mostly cast iron toys,and this he did from the 1940's until his passing (death) in 1968. Sotheby's was the fortunate auctioneer to have won the nod of Mrs.Gertrude Hegarty to sell the toys.

If you look at the front of the toy just below the large headlight, you will see a smaller hole. That hole is where a lightbulb would fit foe the Hubley models that has light (from a battery).

The beauty of  people who could afford to collect toys then and of course now, is that they usually have enough money to but the best condition, the rarest, and the most interesting. Of course, when  the collection goes to auction, the toys are "redistributed" to be adored by a new generation of collectors, or people who can now afford to purchase them.

If you think you've already seen this toy, the answer is yes. The introductory  motorcycle was almost

like this one,but it was in much better condition.  But what I like about this one are the nickel-plated spoke wheels. You'll often see toys that for whatever reason seem to have different variations of wheels. The tires could be made form white or black rubber, and the hubs could be metal or wood.

You just got to love toys that have almost never been used. This is another factory sample, that was probably acquired when the Hubley Company either closed or was purchased. This is what the toy looked exactly the day it would have come off the assembly line in the 1930's! 

Here's another variation of the Hubley Hillclimber.
This one had a separate cast iron head and a separate black gas tank. I especially like the wrinkles in the casting of a leather outfit. And if you look closely just behind the left boot, you can see a chain gear that would run the motorcycle.

As if these toys were not great enough "as is",they came in a variety of colours.

Not all of the Hubley Motorcycles are out of my budget. 

The smaller ones are within reach of what I could afford, 

and they're still very interesting and attractive.

Yes,you've seen this model before, or thought you did!

It's quite similar, but as I mentioned previously, there are differences.This one also has a different paint theme.

I added this particular  toy because it photographed beautifully in Bertoia Auctions photography studio. I had earlier added a variation of this type of toy in the trio above. It's the red one called the "Crash Car".  The reason that I added this one is to lead you into tomorrow's post, when the Police and more complicated toys will be shown.

Those nickel plated spoke wheels  are exceptional!

In the time since I've started writing about toys, I've seen lots of nice toys,

but these motorcycles just present themselves so well. What I admire about cast iron toys is the detail that was handcrafted into the moulds and how this detail came out into the casting and the toys.

You just don't see modern  toys like this today.

I wonder what some blogger in  85 years will have to say about today's toys,

if they survive that long. Being an adult, I don't get to go into Toys R Us much,but one of these days I will. There are few small-sized toy stores today as there were back as late as the 1970's, and so you have to search on the Net to find toys that you won't find in the gargantuan-sized chains of toy stores.

I write about old, but those times are long gone. But when I  sometimes visit other toy bloggers or blogs about the "old times", I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one writing about "old".

Thanks for dropping by to visit, and as always

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you my be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com