A Very Rare Buddy L Prototype Insurance Patrol w/ Box

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Clouds with Sun

10° C / 50° F

A Very Rare Buddy L Prototype

Insurance Patrol w/ Box

I've been blogging since January 19, 2011, and what I originally liked from Milestone Auctions was their clean and neat photography.  Soft and diffused lighting is used, and the item (s) for sale are placed on a white base and background (seamless paper).

The owner of  Milestone Auctions is Mr. Miles King, and it was he personally who wrote back and gave me his permission to write about his fine company and to use his photos on my blog.

Please click on this sentence to redirect to the Milestone Auctions on Liveauctioneers

Whenever I'm adding a blog post, I like to visit either the website or the auction site where a collector or a company is selling their merchandise. I start by go through the list of 1629 posts (this post will be the 1630th), and see who I haven't written a post for in a while. 

When I chose Milestone Auctions today,  I was very surprised 

and excited to see a toy that was unique. The description was very exciting 

for myself,  but I'll let you decide. It's not often that you see a toy going to 

auction that is the prototype and was never chosen to be mass produced. 

I wonder why not?

Item Details

Description

"Only known example of the Insurance Patrol with Headlights and Bumper.

Still has Factory Prototype Tag that says "205 C 1928 9 LBS". Truck came

from the Buddy L Morgue Sale. All original with near mint paint and decals.

Still has pull cord and Buddy L tag.This truck was never put into production.

A wonderful addition to even the most advanced collection.

Comes with original Buddy L Box with Blue Stripe Paper. This toy sold at the

Buddy L  Morgue Auction for around $ 40,000. One of the most important

Buddy L Toys there is. 27" Near Mint."

(27" = 68.58 cm)

Thanks for dropping by.

My name is Mr. Stacey Bindman,

and I can always be reached at

toysearcher@gmail.com 

 

The Pressed Steel Metal Toys Website

Sunday, November 27,2016
Overcast
1 Celsius  34 Fahrenheit

The Pressed Steel Metal Toys Website

I'd seen this fabulous website many times, but I'd never written about them. So, this past Monday, I decided to write to them and ask for permission. I received a very nice letter from Mr. Mike Yolles.

"Hi Stacey, I was an ardent toy collector specialist in 4 manufacturer's . I am also a member of The Antique Toy Collector's of America Inc. This organization is dedicated to the preservation of antique toys. I focused my collecting to specialize in Pressed Steel Toys with steering wheels or steeming handles. My interest was mainly with Buddy L (Moline, Il), Keystone (Boston, MA), Kingsbury (Keane,  NH) & Sturditoy (Pawtucket , RI). My reason for posting my website was to help other collectors identify  the variations and color combinations that these manufacturers offered. Also other Web sites don't  specifically  identify themselves As Virtual MUSEUM. People think they are dealing with  the manufactures museum. Not true!!!!  I get many questions each week concerning condition & approximate  values. I enjoy helping people in pursuit of there hobby or just as an info source. I have no problem letting you use my pictures etc, Mike Yolles."

Mike's website has lots and lots of toys from the four manufacturers that he has filled his museum with.  Not only that, but each of the four toy manufacturers have been divided into sub-categories. 

Even better, Mike hhas presented many of the different variations of a standard toy, such as a car.

I decided to start first with Kingsbury company as they manufactured many nice toys, especially the cars and race cars of that ere (1920's-1930's).Also the racer that they manufactured were based on some of the fastest cars that raced on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah (USA).

Please click here to visit this fabulous toy museum

The  Pressed Steel Metal Toys Museum is dedicated to showing some of the many toy variations

that were common in the heyday of pressed steel toy manufacturing during the1920's and 1930's. The four toy manufacturers if this time period which will be showcased on this site are as follows:

- Buddy L Toys

- Keystone Toys

- Kingsbury Toys

- Sturditoys

Kingsbury Toys

Kingsbury, the Wilkins Toy Company, manufacturer of tin novelties was founded by James S. Wilkins in Keene, New Hampshire in 1890. By the turn of the century, toy automobiles were introduced to the line and quickly became popular. The early Wilkins automotive toys were equipped with specially-designed disc wheels with real, white rubber non- skid tires vulcanized to the wheel. Automotive models could be purchased with metal spoke wheels or equipped with rubber tires at slightly more cost. Wilkins toys were made of steel ranging in size from 7 to 18 inches. The vehicles were powered by a long-running, flat spring mechanical motor, mounted horizontally at the end of the toy. In 1919, Kingsbury changed the name of the company to the Kingsbury Manufacturing Company. By 1926, Kingsbury introduced a new line of mechanical toys which were some of the finest automotive models ever produced. Leading the line was the 34-inch "Aerial Ladder Truck", the 25 inch long "Motor Driven Truck", and the "Fire Engine." Each toy was equipped with a front-end crank for winding the toy's flat spring motor. The 1927 line included the new Deluxe Custom Built Cars, featuring the "Town Car" and the "Sport Sedan." In 1930, Kingsbury announced that all Kingsbury passenger cars were now being designed and built with "Bodies by Fisher," just as real cars of the day were so equipped. Kingsbury's automotive toys received battery-operated lights in 1931. Kingsbury continued to manufacture toys until the beginning of World War II. After the war, the tooling was sold to the Keystone Manufacturing Company of Boston, Massachusetts.*

* Courtesy of Pressed Steel Metal Toys

The Automobiles

The car immediately below was quite sophisticated at the time. Most cars that were battery-operated usually had just the front lights go on. With this car below, it also had a battery-operated tail light.

Mike has taken lots of excellent photos of his toys, which most certainly was a big job to do, but well worth it to the many readers, whom I'm sure have visited his website.

The Racers

The Kingsbury Racers were very popular at the time, and were manufactured with wind-up mechanisms to have the racers move. I'm sure children had lots of fun with these nice race cars.

So that's it for today. For sure, I will be returning to Mike's excellent museum website in the future. His toy collection is certainly exhaustive, and is great for referring to. He is also always looking to but new toys, or to sell or trade some of his toys for ones that his museum does not have.

So you might want to contact Mike of you have something interesting that you think he might be interested in.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

T Reproductions- Some Recent New Discoveries

Saturday, January 9, 2016
Overcast and warm (6 degrees C / 41 degrees F)

T Reproductions

Some Recent New Discoveries

   I was searching for some new material to write about when I found a quartet of excellent-condition T-Reproduction toys. For those who don't know "T Reproductions" is or was a company that manufactured the older "Buddy L" toys (USA) that were originally manufacture red in the 1930's and later.  When a manufacturer closes down their business, a new manufacturer can ask for permission to reproduce the originals under license and payment. However, if the business closes down, and the name is not continued over the years through registration with the appropriate government agency, then the new manufacture may reproduce the toys without permission or licensing fee.

   What makes the T Reproductions toys so interesting is that they were price fairly high compared to the toys from the 1930's, yet collectors purchased them in good numbers to make them quite in demand. In the bidding, one of the toys was even listed to sell between $ 1000.00-$1500.00 US.

Please click here to redirect to this fine American auctioneer

You can see how well-made these toys are. Also, their reproduction was very faithful to the original toys. I believe these new reproductions came with name plates with the T Reproductions name.

Interestingly, the basic cab is identical in all 4 of the toys. What changes is the moving parts and pieces for each of the 4 different railroad toys.

So that's it for this rare warm January up here in Montreal.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

Buddy-L Toys

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Buddy-L Toys

     I'd seen Buddy-L toys on E-Bay, but never took much notice of them. On Tuesday, I  returned again to icollector, and saw a nice Buddy-L truck. I already recognized the fine quality photograph of the Dan Morphy Auctions company, so I expanded the search. Lo and behold, I came across a collection of "professionally-restored" Buddy-L toys, and some others in very nice condition.

    If you go to Wikipedia and then http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_L, you will find the history of the Buddy-L company. I'll  dig around to try and find more information. As for today's presentation of toys, most of the toys are large, averaging about 24" (71 cm) in length. What I also like about many of the toys is their interaction with young children, and their mechanical designs.

http://www.morphyauctions.com

(Please click on the above address to go to the Dan Morphy Auctions website)

     The image-capture above is where you will find some of the toys that I've presented below.  There are many other toys as well.

     Whomever restored the restored toys above certainly did a marvellous job. Also,when you look at the prices received form the bid winners, it was nice to see that prices were high. Most of the toys were made in the 1930's, and certainly have lasted for a long time.

Thanks for dropping by, 

and have a great time of the day, wherever you may be.

Stacey