The Tri-Motor Airplane Toys-Part III

Thursday, August 7, 2014
                Sunny and warm

The Tri-Motor Airplane Toys

Part III

   If you've been following my blog, this will have been my third post in a series. Personally, this is one of my favourite toys by all the manufacturers. It has plenty of details, and everyone made big efforts to design their exterior colours to make these toys so attractive. But the best of all was the most-interesting design of the mechanics. Many of the manufacturers created ingenious mechanical designs to have the 3 propellers move all at once. It was as if the toy association decided to have a contest to see who could come up with the best design, and everyone did!

Please click here too visit this most interesting American auctioneers' website

When you write a blog or anything for that matter, you learn lots. If I've learned anything, especially with regard to Stout Auctions, it's that they also auction all kinds of other toys. True, their logo is "America's Premier Toy Train Auction Company", but they do auction other toys. I Searched on Liveauctioneers, and without any surprise, I came across 5 great Tri-Motor toys that Stout Auctions had auctioned off over the years!

Please look closely at the last photo above, so that I can explain how the 3 propellers would rotate in unison. Between the 2 large tires is a black roller. A band (metal or rubber would attach to the front central propeller. As the 2 tires rotated, they would move the front propeller. However, the 2 tires were also attached to the left and right wing propellers by small rods (hidden). So when the tires turned, the  2 wing propellers would rotate in synchronization with the central front propeller.

Even though this airplane was missing its some of its original parts, a collector replaced the parts with others.  You can understand how desirable these airplanes were and still are.

Metalcraft (the manufacture) made several kits that children would assemble. The kits were designed well, and well-made. The Tri-Mpotor above is a fine example of the longevity and durability of this Metalcraft.

Of course, what would  a Tri-Motor  set be without Louis Marx and his contribution to this special toy. His "piggy-back" presentation certainly is different from the "usual", and reminds me of the Zeppelins with their hanging airplanes, or the Boeing Jumbo 747 carrying the Space Shuttles back to their launchpads after their landings in other parts of the USA.

Even my favourite small-sized toy manufacturer-Tootsietoy, made the Tri-Motor. These "miniatures" compared to the "colossal" sizes of many of the other manufacturers, nevertheless were in great demand by children.  They measure approximately 5"- 6" in length (( 127 mm - 152 mm), and I've bought and sold a few of them. Even being small, you are immediately attracted to the wonderful design and features of the Tri-Motor airplanes.

I hope that you liked my presentation of this mini-series. Of course, there are still many,many other Tri-Motor airplanes that I left out, and that can be found at Liveauctioneers or at the individual auctioneers websites. If you get a chance to see one, have a close look at it. You may even want to bid or buy it!


Thanks for dropping by to visit,
and as always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
toysearcher@gmail.com

The Tri-Motor Airplane Toys-Part II

Wednesday, August 6, 2014
           Overcast (Cloud) and warm

The Tri-Motor Airplane Toys

Part II

  It's hard to imagine that the Ford Tri-Motor airplane (the "real one") was made in 1925, a mere 18 years after the Wright Brothers successfully flew a heavier-than-air motorized airplane.  The record and invention books describe their airplane (with 5 people who witnessed the flight) as having flown  852 yards or 779.06 M.  By 1925, flight was somewhat "common", and airplanes could fly very long distances. Airplanes were getting bigger, flying longer, and hopefully were becoming safer.

  The Tri-Motor was a beautiful  aircraft , and since the invention of the motorized airplane was a mere 18 years old, seeing any plane was always a marvel of wonder and awe, especially if you lived in the countryside. The tri-motor became a airplane to model, and there were many, many different toymakers who created their own version (mostly exterior decoration and design) to their models. 

  If you read yesterdays post (The Tri-Motor Toy Airplanes _Part I), I realized that I would have to add at least 3 posts to present to you all of the beautiful toys that were made so long ago. Interestingly, many of the toys are within reach of most people who might want to buy one. Of course, the Fokker Cast Iron (Below) by Hubley is out of range for most of us.  What's also interesting about many of these toy airplanes, is that they were ingeniously designed to have all 3 propellers rotate. 

Please click here to visit this fine American auction company

The "Fokker" Friendship Tri-Motor (below) is one of the rarer of all the Tri-Motor toys. In excellent condition, it can sell at auction in the $ 10,000 US and over range. It's rare,and has a clever  series of winding cables to allow all 3 propellers to rotate at once.

Although not mentioned in the written description, I have a feeling that this toy also had its 3 propellers rotate simultaneously (at the same time). The reason for my mentioning this is that I see a small winding coil underneath the wheel well just below the right propeller.

The top airplane is not a tri-motor, but a toy replica of Charles Lindbergh's aircraft that was the first to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

One of my favourite of the tri-motor toys is the Metalcraft version below. This on (the larger silver airplane) is not in the best shape, but I like this toy for its details. The toy came in a kit form, and children would assemble the toy parts together.

If you read some of the written descriptions of these toys, you'll keep reading "nickel" or nickel-plated" propellers and even other parts. What is also of interest is to see the crossover of the different older and newer processes of the American manufacturers. On this post you can see the much older cast iron toys, as well as the newer and more modern pressed steel toys.

If you venture over to Wikipedia and search for the Tri-Motor, you'll see a nice collection of photos. Of course, just type in the word "Tri-Motor", on any search engine and you'll see these beautiful airplanes - the real versions!

When something is invented and has a wide and universal appeal, it never goes out-of-date.

Like the real airplane, like the toys - timeless!

Thanks for dropping by to visit,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey.

toysearcher@gmail.com