One of the Great Sources for Old Toy Parts

Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Overcast, snow and cold

One of the Great

Sources for Old Toy Parts

(Thomas Toys)

   When I used to buy toys on ebay, I'd occasionally buy toys with missing parts or broken parts. I figured that I could then write posts about repairs, and of course, I'd be able to buy toys at a discount. Of course, being Canadian, and living across the border from the USA,wasn't much in savings. There is shipping, tax collection by Canada, money exchange (now 32% with the exchange fee), and shipping.

    The positive in buying toy parts for repairs is that I had lots of fun making repairs, and I got to meet some very nice people. Two of the very nicest people that I have met are Mr. Julian Thomas, the owner and his daughter Julieann. Their son, Loren forms the third member of the quartet, of people,followed by Mr. Robbie Roberson, the husband of Julieann. I always enjoyed speaking with
all of them, and they were of course very helpful in identifying the toy parts that I needed.

Below is an e-mail that I received from Julieann Roberson 

"Hello Stacey, Sorry it took me so long to get back to you but its hard 

for my Dad and I to come together sometimes and I wanted him to read 

your blog. Just have a couple corrections; Julian Thomas actually 

formed Thomas Toys 11 years before he retired and he retired from GM 

with his full 30 years and pension. Our staff here at Thomas Toys is 

made up of Mr. Julian Thomas, Mr. Loren Thomas(his son), Julieann 

Roberson(his daughter) and Mr. Robbie Roberson(his son-in-law)

Thank-you for thinking of us and we are looking forward to talking to 

you again. Hope you are well these days. Julie @ Thomas Toys"

   If I couldn't find a part in the catalogue, I'd send some photos to the Thomas' and then phone them. I always received the orders fast and never was there a mistake. All of the Thomas' certainly knew their toy parts!

Please click here to visit this exceptional toy parts seller

I could only find a 2000 catalogue, so please excuse this. I'm sure the latest 2015 or 2016 catalogue is more up to date and has the latest toy parts and better presentation. By the way, I just decided to check out their website, and it's much faster and nicely organized.

Please note that the catalogue posted here is a 2000 catalogue and of course the prices are outdated!

Below: A sample page of tires. THe Julians have metal, rubber and even wood tires and wheels.

When I was buying parts, I could buy the smallest Tootsietoy propellers 

or the larger Hubley propellers!

Lots of people grow up and actually keep their toys. They have fond memories of their days of yore playing with them. AS such, when parts are missing they want to "restore" the toys to workable condition (but of course never to be caught playing with them!).

Below are just some of the cast iron parts available for "really old" toys.

And of course,  if you like motorcycles, there are the Hubley collection of parts…...

Of course, children would lose parts such as those from fire trucks. Ladders were meant to be removed and placed against houses to save the "imaginary people" in the burningbuilding. But talking about saving, the Julians have plenty of ladder replacement parts……..

Not all of the 2000 catalogue has photos or drawings. As such you have to look at the front page directory and sometimes you'll come across a descriptive written page.  AS such, you'll have to read what you want. Just to be sure, I'd recommend photons the Julians for help and to be sure that you are ordering the right part. And as I mentioned earlier, you can always e-mail them.

I hope that I have helped some of you with today's post. Occasionally I receive e-mails  asking me where to find toy parts, and Thomas Toys is among several that I always recommend very highly. 

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

The Hubley Cast Iron Cab

Friday, November 28, 2014
Cloudy with light snow, seasonally mild

The Hubley Yellow Cast Iron Cab

  Yesterday, I presented a fine Thomas reproduction Hubley Checker Cab (Thomas Toys,Inc). The cab or the more proper name - "taxi" was not produced by Hubley ( I will have to "check"). The real "Checker Cab " was in fact an American-made taxi manufactured by  the Checkers Motor Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan that the taxi company, Checker Taxi used. The story of the Checker Cab is quite interesting and you might want to go to the Wikipedia link below to read up on it.

Please click here to visit read the Wikipedia article on the Checker Cab Company

  Hubley's actual cast iron taxi looks exactly like the Thomas reproduction . However it was painted only in yellow or orange, and never had that checkered pattern of black and white squares alone both sides of the car body.

Please click here to visit the Bertoia Auctions excellent website

Hubley's cast iron taxi,for dome reasons I know not of, came in different variations.

If you compare the two diptychs (a larger photo of 2 smaller ones) you can see the following differences:

1. The driver varies from nickel-plated to hand -painted black and skin-toned.

2. The luggage rack at the back of the car varies from silver to black

3. The actual colours vary from yellow to orange.

The Thomas Checker Cab is an excellent reproduction of the original Hubley. Mr. Julian Thomas started his company in 1969. He had worked for GM (General Motors),and during a downturn in the economy, decided to form his own company manufacturing antique toy replacement parts. His fine series of cast iron toys were produced in the early 1990's and can be found in the resale market of older toys.

Please click here to visit Malinda Trollinger's ebay home page

Thanks for visiting, and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com