A Reader Finds the Answer to His Very Old Train Set

     Sunday, December 11 , 2022                Overcast                           -3 Celsius  26.6 Fahrenheit

A Reader Finds the Answer to His Very Old Train Set

    One of my most favourite and memorable movies is Forest Gump with the star actor Tom Hanks. At the beginning of the movie, the lead character, Forest Gump is seated on a bench and is talking to a lady. While talking, he says to the women "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get".    In other words or what that means is "Life is full of surprises; you never know what will happen next". And so it was with with Mr. Viktor Skarka from the fine country go the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia.

    Viktor wrote to me and asked if I could identify his very old train set. He thought that it might be a Johan Meier tin train set. I wrote back and said that I would search for an answer, and of course, asked if I may write a blog post about him and his fine set. We communicated back and forth, and in that time, Viktor was able to find an answer to his own question.  He discovered that the set was made by C.K.O. Kellerman Nürnberg circa 1920. Wow - a 100 year-old toy!  

    The company, known by the initials C.K.O. was founded by Georg Kellerman in 1910, in Nuremberg, Germany. Georg Kellerman was the owner of the company until he passed away in 1931, whereupon, his son Willy took over. Originally, the toys were made of tin, and wound up with a coiled spring (clockwork). Most of the toys then were exceptional motorcycles, which were very popular at the time. Sadly, the company closed in 1954. In the 1990's a Chinese manufacturer had reissued some of the old toys. I obtained the history of the C.K.O. company from Fabtintoys.com - an excellent resource for information about toys. 

    Viktor's train set is remarkably in excellent condition, considering that the set was manufactured about 1920. I'm sure that Viktor he cheishes this fine set, as I do my father's old fishing equipment that I and my brother inherited when he passed on, almost 45 years ago. There is "something" about rare and meaningful items that are meant to be kept, and this superb C.K.O. Kellerman Nürnberg train set is no exception.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

I can always be reached at 

toysearcher@gmail.com

A Reader Asks about An Unknown Bluebird Styler Racer

Thursday, December 8, 2022                Overcast                           3 Celsius  37.4 Fahrenheit

I haven't written for a while, so it was great to have several people write to me in the last 2 weeks. One of the readers, Lauren Roszak sent me several nice photos of a 1930's racer and asked for information. 

Lauren wrote:

" I bought this lovely antique slush metal race car and I'd love to be able to correctly identify it. Might you recognize this one? Thanks in advance for taking a look"

I initially did a search on the Net, but couldn't find a similar toy. I then had a "Eureka Moment" and decided to contact Mr. Ed Sanders, a toy expert and the owner of AntiqueToys.com. If you type in AntiqueToys.com, you will arrive at Ed Sanders website.

I've written many times about Ed and his excellent website, and when I went to see his website, I was very impressed as to how fine his site had modernized both in terms of view, as well as information on toys. 

The next day, I received an e-mail reply from Ed and this is what he wrote:

"Hi Stacey,

Good to hear from you again.

That is quite an unusual Bluebird style racer (the record holder). I would attribute it to Kansas lead toy makers like Kansas Novelty, but am unsure of the exact maker. These toys were cottage industry items.

Thanks for sharing,

Ed"

Lauren sent me 5 excellent photos, which I've added below.

                                                  

If there is anyone who can identify this fine toy, please write to me so that I can inform Lauren about her great find.

Thanks for dropping by,

And as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman,

and I can be reached at

toysearcher@gmail.com

                                                                                                                 

Toys Trains and Other Old Stuff

 Saturday, November 12, 2022
 Overcast & Raining
 14 C 57 F

I haven't been posting much this year, but periodically, I like to browse the Internet and the various auction sites. Like many other toy sellers and other vendors selling on the Internet,Toys Trains And Other Old Stuff has joined LiveAuctioneers, an auction website that presents, catalogues, and auctions on the Internet. 

So when I went there last week, I looked around for "toys"and found their listing. 

I liked their introduction (please read below), and they had a nice current auction that

was running today (Please excuse my lateness in writing this post).

"Toys Trains and Other Old Stuff LLC is your one-stop shop for vintage toy, collectibles and military related sales with over twenty years experience in the vintage toy industry.

Owners Wylie and Christine Stivers have been selling and buying locally and all across the United States since 1998. We are armed with a passion for, and an extensive knowledge OF, such items, having bought and sold tens of thousands of toys, trains and other old stuff (pun intended) during that time.

We are firm believers in transparency and honesty in all dealings. Our goal is to get obtain the highest returns for your items in an auction setting or offer you fair and honest prices if you prefer selling directly to us instead of using our auction consignment services.

Let us earn your business by providing you with superior customer service with attention to detail and the respect your vintage toy or train collection deserves."

Please copy and paste the website address to be redirected to the LiveAuctioneers website:

https://auctions.toystrainsandotheroldstuff.com/auctions/1-62B07D/american-flyer-s-gauge-and-prewar-o-gauge?sort=high_estimate_desc&limit=36&jump_to_lot_id=1-6NEJNE

So that's it for today. If you have the time, the auction is still going on.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part of the day or night

Wherever you may be.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman,

and I can always be reached at

toysearcher@gmail.com

Brian Cowdery Revisited

Friday October 14, 2022

Overcast and Raining

11 Celsius.   52 Fahrenheit

Brian Cowdery Revisited

    I've been blogging for a while now, and some posts and the people that I write about stand out. Of course, every one of my posts had been most endearing to me, and I thank all of the people who have me with my pastime. 

    Mr. Brian Cowdery is a master "artist". He's worked with metal since his teens, and his journey in life led him to become a fine and renowned "toy-maker", but more so as an artist. His works are often quite endearing, and they create a good feeling when you view them. And so, I decided to once again add another blog post about Brian.

      

Brian is always searching for new ideas in order to create new masterpieces.

I screen-captured part of a page for one of his very interesting toys. The image below illustrates a short history as to how Brian came to create that bus. 

The images within the screen-capture show part of the process that is involved in constructing one of his toys. There most-certainly is a lot of work and hours that go into the development and construction of each and every "piece of art".

Needless to say, Brian's creations are very collectable. 

If you copy and paste the address in your browser, you

will be redirected to Brian's website. There's is a lot to see, and it's 

very interesting.

http://www.briancowdery.com

So that's it for today.

As always, have a great part of the day or night

wherever you may be.

(Mr.) Stacey Bindman

Blogger

Thursday, October 6, 2022                                                                                                          

22 Celcius  72 Fahrenheit  

Sunny                                                                                                                        

                                                                           

        Because I've cut down in writing on my blog, I don't go to view the data (e.g. reader numbers) or comments. Last week, I did decide to check the data, and as a change, I decided to read the comments.  

Someone commented on June 22, 2022 that they would be having a future upcoming auction on June 23, 2022. That comment peaked my interest, and so I decided to answer the comment, and that's how I got to meet Mr. Wylie Stivers, one of the owners of Toys Trains and Other Old Stuff. Christine Stivers is the other owner of this interesting company.

You can go to their website by copying and pasting the 

address below:

https://www.toystrainsandotheroldstuff.com/

You can also go to LiveAuctioneers, where this auction takes place:

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/auctioneer/7015/toystrainsandotheroldstuff-llc/

I decided to select other items for sale that were not toys. I mostly write about about old and antique toys, but I occasionally like to see other items that are being sold. 

Now if I just had saved those bubble gum cards when I was a kid from 60 years ago!!!!!!

Thanks for dropping by,

And as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

You can always reach me at:

toysearcher@gmail.com

                                      

A Father's Gift is Beautifully Restored

Thursday, September 29, 2022                                                                                                                      Overcast with Sun Later Today,                                                                                                                    14 Celsius / 57 Fahrenheit

A Father's Gift is Beautifully Restored

      Two weeks ago, I received a letter from a reader by the name of Mr. George Zink. George asked me if I know who the manufacturer of a toy that he was restoring was, but I didn't. I asked George if he would send me more photos, and I would write a post for him. George send me more photos and that's how today's post began. I also asked for the dimensions of the day, but I didn't get them. However, when George sent me more photos,  I realized that I was looking at a large-sized toy, and "presto", it was a peddle car from about the 1920's-1930's.

     I answered George back, and then asked if I might write a blog post about his nice peddle car. As it turned out George inherited it from his father, and he's been in the process of restoring it for the last 8 years. Nevertheless the long time, the final result certainly has been a most-beautiful restoration. George inherited this old toy from his father, and wanted to restore it the way it would have looked way back then. He most certainly succeeded. As well, he had some nice friends who helped him out in this big job.

    

      George is still working on this project, and is even going to plate nickel-plate some of the shiny-metal pieces on this fine old toy. It's truly been "a labour of love" as the old expression goes, and I look. forward to seeing the final result, when George will soon have finished the work.

    For myself and my brother, we inherited my father's fishing equipment from when he had time to go fishing.  My father passed away much too young at 59 years old, and my mother would follow a decade later at 64 years old.

I have old rods, reels, and even some lures from the 1950's and 1960's. I've even fished with the equipment, and caught fish. The equipment has changed over time, but the fish don't know that. It always is a warming experience for myself to be handling equipment that my father once used all those years ago. It brings back old memories and times, when my hard-working parents were able to find some time in the summer to spend in the country with their children. Later on, they would spend less time with us, and worked lots more to care and raise all four of us. 

Those truly were "the good old times".

Thanks for dropping by,

And as alway,

Have a great time of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman,

and I can always be reached at

toysearcher@gmail.com

  

 

Can Anyone Please Help to Identify These 2 Toys?

 Saturday, April 9, 2022                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

           Can Anyone Please Help Identify These Two Toys

   I received an e-mail about a month ago from a reader. He had sent me photos of these 2 old metal toys, and asked me if I might identify them.  I searched for some time, but could not find  anything.  I would have added this post much earlier, but out of the clear blue, I got sciatica. For those who don't know, it's a "condition" whereby your large left and right sciatic runs from your hip down to your foot. It's quite painful, and you don't know from day-to-day whether or not your condition will improve. I've had it now for 5 weeks, and it's still sore. Hopefully, the pain will go away, but if it doesn't go away it could linger for a few more weeks or for a long time.  

      Dimensions:  

• Biplane
• Wings:   14.5 " (36.8 cm)                             
• Length of airplane: 11"  (27.9 cm)
•   Zeppelin
• 5" wide (12.7 cm)
• Length: 18" 45.7 cm

       

I'm going to be writing to the reader in order to find out the dimensions 

of these 2 toys and will get back to you when I have that information.

In the meantime, if there is anyone out there who knows anything about these 2 toys, 

could you please write to me.

And if you've had sciatica, and healed from it, would you  please tell me what you did 

or your doctor did in order to help. I just hope that I can get back to riding my bicycle, which I do 3-4 times a week around the city of Montreal (Quebec, Canada).   For those who don't know, Montreal has about 500 kilometers (310 miles) of bike paths. I prefer the paths that are not to the side of car roads, but even those are quite safe if you obey the traffic signs and rules.

As always,

Thanks for stopping by, 

And have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

I can always be reached at:

majortrout@hotmail.com

and my name is : (Mr.) Stacey Bindman