Another Fine Restoration of an old Keystone Toy

Monday, October 22, 2018
Clear skies and Sunny
7 C  43 F

Another Fine restoration

of an Old Keystone Toy

     I was chatting with Mr. Christopher Ferrone last week.  Chris is a successful businessman in the bus industry. However, one of his hobbies, for those who don't know, is taking old toys and restoring them with modifications. Being in the bus industry, Chris's company has lots of machinery to repair busses. What Chris does is to use this machinery to create his "masterpieces".

    His latest masterpiece is an old Keystone riding truck (circa 1940's) that was in good body shape, but quite rusted. Chris sandblasted this riding toy, and metamorphosed (changed) it into a superb steam-shovel/truck riding toy.  

As you can see, this toy is in very good condition. It even has its' rubber tires and wheels.

Below:

Chris decided to change the riding truck into a riding stream-shovel truck. You can see how much work that Chris put into designing, and then machining the new parts. He also did a fantastic job in  sandblasting and priming the old rusted and new parts.

Below: The Finished New Toy

This certainly is a fantastic new toy. It looks brand new! ALso, the toy can be ridden or it can be pushed. Notice that there are 2 handles on this toy. One for a small child when seated on the to of the steam-shovel  cabin, and another at the end of the steam-shovel grey part, which would be used to push the toy.

Chris even added a new "old" Keystone label 

in the back of the truck cab.

I did some restorations on smaller toys, but never did I do such

exhaustive and quality work as Chris. I just wonder where he finds the time to

create his wonderful toys!

Thanks for dropping by,

And as always,

Have a great part of the day or evening,

Wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Talented Toy Maker (Chris Ferrone)

Thursday, September 14, 2018
Sunny and Clear Skies
25 C  77 F

The Talented Toy Maker

(Mr.) Chris Ferrone

I have been in contact with Mr. Chris Ferrone for more than a year. Chris is the president of 

Americoach Systems, Inc. (Specialized Transport Technology, Safety, Management and Logistics), located in Chicago, Illinois (USA). When Chris is not managing his fine company, he likes to search for old toys, from which he "regenerates" then into new composite creations.

In His Own Words:

"Hi Stacey

hope your summer is winding down nicely !!

here are some photos of my latest toy

the cab was from a broken Ty-Nee-Tot, by maplecrest truck

the mixer body was from a broken structo truck

I have blended them together to make a new toy

the scale of the two trucks was just right to make the composite toy look proportional

I hope you like it

thanks

Chris"

    As you can see, Chris's  composite toy turned out to be a great play toy for any child. I'm sure that he uses his company's "real tools" for his fine bus coaches to be able to restore this fine toy. And as always, I've never been disappointed!

If you do a search on my blog for "Chris Ferrone", you will find the many posts that I have had the pleasure in writing about.

Thanks for dropping by,

And as always,

Have a great time of the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

Mr. Chris Ferrone Says Hi

Thursday, January 22, 2016
Sunny and Seasonally Cold

Mr. Chris Ferrone

Says Hi

   It's always nice to hear from people whom I can call my friends, and so it was today. I opened my e-mail and lo and behold, I had a friendly greeting from Mr. Chris Ferrone.  Chris is the president of his own company  called Americoach Systems, Inc. "The company specializes in Specialized Transport Technology, Safety, Management, and Logistics".

   When Chris is not busy working, he creates interesting new toys from old.  Below is the e-mail that he sent me:

Hi Stacey

hope you are well during this  winter!?!?

I didn't know if you are "still in business" so I sent you some photos of my newest truck (toy)

the cab is a 1930's ty-nee-tot dump truck

the box is from a 1930 Keystone fire truck

the ladder turret tower is from a 1930 keystone fire truck

the ladder is from a 1950 Tonka fire truck

and I made the remaining pieces

hope you like it !!!

thanks

Chris

Of course I like Chris'  new truck that he titled "Frankenstein". However, this fine new composite is much more than poor old Frankenstein. I admire people who can work with their hands and create things. 

Currently, I'm taking a drawing course to try and improve on what I can draw from sight. However, I think that you have to be born with this "talent". I'm working on creating form (3D) on paper, but everything keeps coming out 2D as shape or outline. As a photographer I can easily create 3D, but as far as drawing goes - I can't.

Below:  

The start of the fire engine- A 1930's ty-nee-toy dump truck

 Below:

The finished restoration. The body is from a 1930's Keystone fire truck.

You can see the skill and "eye" that Chris has, and the find job that he did in integrating 2 different toy company parts into one single unit.

Below:

The ladder parts are from a 1950's Tonka  firetruck

Also, whatever parts were missing or needed to be made, were in fact made by Chris.

He certainly must have an outstanding garage to repair his "real" trucks, while using the "shop" to work on his smaller toys.

I especially like the extra length of ladder and how the ladder extends from the rear of the fire truck.

I like how the truck is well-balanced to accommodate the ladder placement extension at the back!

Below:

The mini-tower that Chris made to support the tower.

Notice the small bell behind the fire truck cab. Proportionally it's actually quite big, and must make a great noise for any young child!

 Below:

Notice the attached wire pull at the front of the toy. 

Chris also made that himself for children to pull the toy.

For the "purist" toy collector, I'm sure some people would say that these rejuvenations of old toys are "heresay". However, these new reincarnations are truly great, and AI'm sure any child would simply adore them.

I'm always interested (as are some of my readers) in people who restore old toys, so if there is anyone out there who would like to be a contributor to my blog, by all means please write me.

So that's it for another cold winter day, and I hope you enjoyed seeing another one of Chris' masterpieces.

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

A Toy Friend Motivates me to Write

Thursday, July 23, 2015
Partly Cloudy and Seasonally Cooler

A Toy Friend Motivates 

Me to Write

     I received an  e-mail earlier this week from Mr. Christopher W. Ferrone. He's the president of a successful sightseeing and tour company in the U.S.A.  In his spare time, as if he has "spare time", he likes to create wonderful toys in his company's workshop. He wrote to find out if I was still  "still in business" and to show me his latest new creation. It's a Girard truck (the predecessor of the Wyandotte Company), that he modified into a tow truck. 

Here's Chris in his own words"

"Hi Stacey

I didn't know if you are "still  in business"....but here is a new truck I wanted to show you

this is a 1930's GIRARD...which was the predecessor of Wyandotte toys

it originally was a tractor of a tractor trailer combination, but I did not have the trailer

so I custom made a tow truck body in my shop

metal flake "wizard of OZ" green

hope you like it

Chris"

  I immediately wrote back to answer Chris. I was highly motivated to write again.  If you have followed my writing, I decided to take a break, and was managing my own retirement funds through the stock market. If you wonder how I'm doing, her's an expression that I "adjusted" from another one about a lawyer. 

   "An investor who uses himself to invest has a fool for an stockbroker", or so the expression goes . That should tell you to  be cautious. I did do well at the beginning  and I should gave stopped there. But this post is about Chris and not me,so I'll continue.

Below is what Chris started out with.  I hope Chris saved those beautiful original wooden wheels. As well, I like the detail of the 4 holes in the back of the truck for adjusting where the  trailer could be positioned. It's a good "detail" to help you recognize this old Girard toy.

Below is  how Chris photographs his toys. He's using his in-camera flash to light the truck, and uses the available  electric light fixtures in the room. These are incandescent and are "warm" in colour- balance.  If I can find a small "warming filter" to convert his flash, then Chris can take his photos, balance his camera (unless he has a high-end cell phone) for incandescent light, and all his photos will come out without the warm orange colours.

Of course, tChris's photo are excellent as they are!

What I did below is simply to  remove the colour from the background to present Chris's latest masterpiece. I like his "workshop". I got to ask Chris about his company. If this is the "workshop", I can't even imagine the showroom for his business!

In the photo below, I left a small amount of colour in the background. I like how the subtle warm tones works well with the truck.  

I especially like how Chris kept the design of the truck boom  "circa 1930's". 

He must know his old toys!  If you look at the hood ornament, you'll see what to me appears like wings. That also must be a characteristic of the older Girard trucks. I like the exaggerated oversized wheels that make the vintage old Girard appear like a later model "hot rod", especially with that fine spray painted  "candy apple" brilliant green colour. I haven;t thought about "candy apple" paint since the 1970's when My friend Herbie had a Plymouh Road Runner ("beep-beep"), and we'd go to the local famous landmark - the Orange Julip". There we'd have a Julep, but of course, we'd "present" his car, along with the cities finest racers - new and retro.

I like the subtle bend that Chris did for the back of the truck bed. There's a lot of word there just to cut the metal and then bend it. I also like the  red brake lights.

Have a look at the  gauge (width) of the pressed steel of the original truck metal. That also reminds me about how thick the metal of cars from the 1950's "used to be". Nowadays, the metal of cars is thin, and there is lots of plastic. Hot the bumper in a 210 mph accident,  and you're in for a $2000.00 repair and replacement of the bumper!

If you do a search for "Chris Ferrone" on my block site, you find many other fine examples of Chris's craftsmanship. Of course, I'm still amazed that Chris actually has "spare time" to work his magic restoring these old toys. It's only 05:00 A.M. here in Montreal, so Imagine how amazed I'll be with some coffee sand the rest of the day.

Thanks Chris, for invigorating me to write again, 

and I be waiting for your next wok of art to write about.

Thanks for dropping by to visit,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com