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

Visiting Toydecals again

Friday, February 23, 2018
Cloud with rain and snow
4 C     39.2 F

Visiting Toydecals Again

Please click here to visit Toydecals

I often visit Rick's Toybox website on ebay. His store is titled "Toydecals", and as you can tell,

he sells replacement authentic-looking toy decals. However, he also sells toys, and always seems to have rare and interesting old toys.

The 2 wooden toys were made by the Buddy "L" company during World War II (WWII).

During the war years, metal was rationed out in the USA. As such, the  government created strick rules for the way metal was used, as war armaments were needed.  As a consequence, metal couldn't be used for toys, and wood was substituted.

Vintage Buddy "L" WWII Era Victory Toy

Wood and metal

"Wrecking Truck"

Length: 16 1/2"  42 cm

Vintage Buddy "L" WWII War Era Victory Toys

Stake or lumber truck

Wood and metal

Length:  25"  63.5 cm

Kingsbury was a toy manufacturer in New Hamposhire (USA). 

Most of their pressed steel toys had a patented wind-up mechanism (motor)

to run their toys. You can see the wind-up motor in the third image below in the composite.

Vintage Kingsbury Pressed Steel Wind-up Motor Army Cannon Truck

Circa 1920's

Pressed Steel 

Length:  11"  28 cm

The "motor" in the D.B. Clark truck below was a friction motor.

You pushed the truck wheels on a flat surface, and a large rotating 

wheel started to spin the tires. You kept doing this until the wheels were

spinning fast, then you let the toy go, and it moved as much as 15" (4.57 M)

D.P.Clark Hill Climber

Circa 1920's

Length 12 1/2"  30.5 cm

The structo toy below is "somewhat" rarer than other Structo toys.

It has a battery (size "D") compartment to add light to the front light.

Vintage Structo Pressed Steel Tank with Rotating Head

Pressed steel with wooden wheels

Length x Height: 

12 1/2" x 6.5"

31.7 cm x 16.5 cm

Buck Rogers was a favourite comic character in the 1930's, 1940's and a bit later.

I remember going to the Sunday school movies, and there on the screen was Buck Rogers.

The movie effects the were "primitive",to say the least. I remember seeing the toy move on the "invisible" string that was clearly visible. 

Vintage 1940's Wyandotte Buck Rogers Space Ship

Pressed steel with rubber wheels

Length:  6"  15.2 cm

So this is it for today on a very rainy day.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great day or evening.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

So That's What it Looked Like New!

Monday, February 19, 2018
Overcast with rain
6 C  42.8 F

So That's What 

it Looked Like!

Please click to visit Ron Michaud's ebay website

I decided to visit Mr. Ron Michaud at his ebay store. He's one of the people who have helped me out over the years of my blog. He's always has nice old toys, and in summer, you can tell their his toys from the way he photographs them. He uses his front porch railing to place his toys against his nicely-maintained front garden and lawn.

In winter, I assume, he photographs his toys indoors like the one below. As usual, I whitened the surrounding of the toy to focus more in it. Nevertheless, his photos on a neutral foundation and background are very good. As well, he always presents a lot of photos for each toy that he is selling.

I saw the restored to below, and decided to present it by itself. Ron also happens to have several more restored toys. Even though the toy has been restored, Ron has set a high price for the toy. 

I personally like the restored look, because I try and imagine how a 1930's child might have received this fine toy way back then. Even then , whatever the cost of the toy, it was expensive to buy then,  especially with the Great Depression going on in the world (1929-1941).

Whomever did the restoration did an excellent job, and the toy presents itself very well.

If you visit his ebay store, you'll be able to see other well-done restorations.

Vintage Keystone Packard Sprinkler Tank Truck

Pressed steel with brass radiator cap and rear sprinkler

Circa 1930's

Length: 25"  63.5 cm

So that's it for today's rainy day. 

Of course there is a bright side to today - it's warm and it's not snowing!

Thanks for dropping by,

And have a great day or evening.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com