Toys in Unexpected Places

Friday, May 2, 2014
  (Still more cloud and rain!)

Toys in Unexpected Places

  This past Tuesday (April 29, 2014) I introduced you to Classic Boatworks and the owners, Dean and Angela Reynolds. Sometimes, a business name can throw you off. So when I first saw the nice rare airplane that I wrote about last Tuesday, I decided to search for more toys, and nice toys I found. And so for today, I thought I 'd present them to everyone. The Reynolds ebay store is interesting because there are all kinds of toys from different eras, and well as their very interesting vintage "real" boat accessories and boats , on their Net website.

Please click here to visit Dean and Angela's ebay store

Please click here to visit Dean and Angela's interesting boat website

"Hafner was started after WWI when John Hafner left American Flyer to produce his own trains. The earlier sets have cast iron steam engines and tinplate cars under the Overland Flyer name. In the 30's they began producing tin streamlined sets such as the Union Pacific M-10000 diesel streamliner and Hafner's 1010 steam locomotive"*

* Description Courtesy of Mr. Dean Reynolds

I always like when a sell for company provides information about a toy. In this case, Dean mentioned that  lumbers mills operate day and night. As such,  this American Flyer trio had the searchlight to provide light at night.

I didn't know that!

I always like when a seller or company has their "trademark" way of presenting their toys. In Dean and Angela's case, it's the nice satin material of red and white. Sometimes, there is blue.

For all of the photos today, I removed the red and white to focus on the toys. But if you ever are on ebay, you will see their toys stand out, and be easily recognized! 

Metalcraft Steam Roller

Painted pressed steel

Circa 1930's

 Dean provided some information about the above toy, and even included Mr. Brian Cowdery's website. I've had the pleasure to write about Brian, and you absolutely have to vista my post about him (do a search) and visit Brian's website! 

Brian is a modern-era toymaker making vintage-era toys.

Please click here to visit Brian Cowdery's to learn about this great toymaker

I'd like to mention that when you visit either Dean and Angela's  ebay or their own website, 

you can sign up for their newsletter.  This another another excellent business strategy. I just mentioned this same fact for Mike Matuka (Sweden) who sends me information whenever there is a new auction coming up. From that, I them have an instant reminder to visit and be able to find new interesting items. In the case of collectors, being on Dean and Angela's mailing list allows you to see the latest toys up for sale.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Classic Boatworks and a Great Airplane

Tuesday, April 29, 2014
      (Partly sunny and warmer)

Classic Boatworks

and a Great Airplane

   It's about 05:15 a.m. and I'm starting the day. What's going to be today's title? I started with "A New Seller and a Great Airplane, but I had previous used "New Seller" in several introductions, so why not use the actual name of the company. And so I decided to use Classic Boatworks in the title.  Google Blogger spellcheck now keeps telling me to correct the name, but I can't - go figure, that is the name!

   I had written to the ebay store, and got a speedy reply. Mr. Dean  Reynolds gave me the "go-ahead, and we then wrote back and forth. Dean photographs his items on nice white and red satin materials, so that you know it's his item for sale on ebay. I sent Dean several variations of one of the airplane photos, and he said that he's be fine with the airplane against white, and so that's what I decided. However, I still like the concept of people adding their own way of telling viewers that that is their item for sale. I think that's smart, because when you're on ebay or Liveauctioneers, there are thousands of toys for sale, and if you already have dealt with 1 person and are happy with him or her, then why not continue? By identifying your photos with a particular style or item, it's easy to match up the item with the seller quite easily.

   In the end, I decided to include several variations of Dean's airplane to illustrate what I mean.  I even included 1 photo with the nice red material - that one worked superbly with the red! 

Please click here to visit Dean and Angela's ebay store

Please click here to visit Dean and Angela's interesting boat website

Dean and his wife, Angela work together in their several businesses.  

The actual Classic Boatworks is a business where all kinds of vintage boats and boat parts and accessories are for sale. I took a sampling of some of the times to show you. I'd been wanting to present non-toys from sellers because many of them have the most interesting items to see.

What's interesting about these vintage parts is that they are still around. Even boats and boat parts are useable and collectible. I haven't been in a modern-era speedboat, but I'm sure many of the parts are plastic and the measuring instruments are digital.

And now for that airplane that caught my attention!

Air France Tin Litho Wind-up Plane Jostra F-PA-N-AM Paris to New York RARE

Air France Tin Litho WAir France Tin Litho Wind-up Airliner 

                                                          Made in France by Joustra 

22" Long x 23" Wingspan x 6½" High at the nose  ( 558 mm x 583 mm x 165 mm)

Nose and cabin lights Passenger cabin windows covered with red cellophane type material 

See the plane on YouTube.One blade was broken off one propeller - repaired with a wire for strength and solder (see photo) Battery box is missing from what I can tell.  I added a two AA battery box 

The battery box is held in place with velcro so it can be easily removed if an origianl battery box is found. If you are looking for a unique and very rare center piece for your collection this is it 

This plane is delicate and probably why they are so rare. This toy airplane would not survive most kids 

Air France began flights from Paris to New York in 1946. In 1947 Air France was flying Lockheed Constellations worldwide Based on this information we believe the aircraft was produced between 1946 to perhaps the late 1940s and is an extreamly rare surviving example of this very cool model aircraftItem Number 0286 with a wire for strength and solder (see photo) Battery box is missing from what I can tell.  I added a two AA battery box. The battery box is held in place with velcro so it can be easily removed if an origianl battery box is found.If you are looking for a unique and very rare center piece for your collection this is it. This plane is delicate and probably why they are so rare .This toy airplane would not survive most kids. Air France began flights from Paris to New York in 1946. In 1947 Air France was flying Lockheed Constellations worldwide. Based on this information we believe the aircraft was produced between 1946 to perhaps the late 1940s and is an extreamly rare surviving example of this very cool model aircraft.*

* Description Courtesy of Dean and Angela Reynolds

 This is  Dean's classic photo identification. He always adds that nice satin red material, along with the white fabric.

 This is how I have been presenting toys. I like to extract the toy and add it to a white background because I feel that the toy presents itself best without any distractions.

If you read the begging description of this great airplane, you would have read that the airplane came with both a nose light and cabin lights. As well, the windows had red cellophane material covering the cabin windows.


Initially, I had retouched out the red in the cabin windows, thinking the red coming through was from the nice satin material in the back. But when I reread the description, I know I had made an error in my photo-editing. The toy came with a transparent red material . I wrote Dean back and mentioned this. I then redid the images to present the red window effect. After all, this is an important feature of this toy!

I did some minor work on this image.  In this case, the red works superbly. It's dark enough to not detract from the plane,but it's there to contrast with the blue colour of the airplane. Also, placing the lit plane against white, would lose the light effect of the front searchlight  on the airplane, which is a very important characteristic of this unique toy.

Here again, the red fabric works well.  It contrasts well with the blue airplane, and adds contrast to  a lot of white space. Also, by being out-of-focus, it doesn't distract from the airplane.

I've never seen an airplane toy with 6 propellers. It's amazing that a manufacturer would make one with such complexity, yet they did. And the front searchlight is also a great feature. I'm sure many of the children who received these toys had lots of fun playing with them.

Please click here to see a short Youtube video on how this beautiful toy works

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com