OpAmerica Revisited

Thursday, May 7, 2020
Overcast
11 C  52 F

OPAMERICA

Revisited

If you've read my last several posts, you'll know that I have been going 

back in time to visit my old blog posts.  In this way, I can select stores, companies,

or individuals who have given me their permission to write about them.

OPAMERICA  is probably one of the more-successful stores on  ebay  to say the least.

They have an excellent reputation, have excellent merchandise, including toys, and 

their photography is just super!

Please click here to visit this very fine ebay seller

Below:

Vintage  1935 Marx Rocket Racer

U.S.A.

Larger scale tin toy windup

Length:  16"  407 mm

Below:

Wells-Brimtoy

Great Britain

1935 tin toy racer

11" x 3 1/2" x 2 3/4"

Below:

Antique Tin Touring Car Toy

JLH Hess Hessmobile

Flywheel, Germany

Length:  8"  204 mm

These 3 selections were certainly in quite good conditions.

With these racers, I just thought about the INDY  500 (USA Race).

I wonder if by August 25, 2020, the race will go on.

Who knows?

Thanks for visiting,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night.

I can always be reached at

toysearcher@gmail.com

Stacey Bindman

Toys-Part 1 (Tin Plate)

Monday, December 19, 2016
Overcast 
-19 C   -2.2 F

Part 1-Toys

The Tinplate Toy

Please click here to visit this fine ebay seller

I've written very many posts, but I haven't written posts about what the toys are made from, so I have decided to add a post about each of the 3 major toy materials - Tin or tinplate, cast iron, and pressed steel. As I hardly write about modern-era toys, plastic toys are not included.

A tin toy, or tin lithograph toy, is a mechanical toy made out of  tinplate and colorfully painted by chromolithography to resemble primarily a character or vehicle.

History

Tinplate was used in the manufacture of toys beginning in the mid-19th century. The toys were made from thin sheets of steel plated with tin, hence the name tinplate. They were a cheap and durable substitute for wooden toys. The toys were originally assembled and painted by hand. Spring activated tin toys originated in Germany in the 1850s. In the late 1880s offset lithography was used to print designs on tinplate. After the colorful designs were printed on the metal, they were formed by dies and assembled with small tabs. The lightweight nature of the toys allowed them to be shipped less expensively and easier than the heavier cast iron toys.

Germany was the major producer of tin toys in the world in the early 20th century. The most famous German manufacturer of tin toys was Ernst Paul Lehmann who is said to have exported 90% of his toys. France and England joined the fray and it wasn't long before hundreds of thousands of these penny toys were being manufactured. Production of tin toys in the United States started earlier, but began in earnest when tin ore mines were opened in Illinois providing easily available and cheap raw materials. A number of manufactures scrambled to catch up in the beginning of the 20th century, but it wasn't until after World War I, with anti-German sentiment high, that they began to make real gains. There was a growing demand for American produced products and by the 1920s American firms had overtaken the competition. The largest and most successful firm from the 1920s to the 1960s was Louis Marx and Company. Marx produced a huge number of designs and depended on large sales volumes to keep prices down.

The production of tin toys was discontinued during World War II because of the need for raw materials in the war effort. After the war, tin toys were produced in large numbers in Japan. Under occupation and the Marshall Plan, manufacturers in Japan were granted the right to resume production. The idea was to give Japan all of the low profit; high labor manufacturing and the US companies could sell the imported product. It worked better than they had expected and Japan became a tin toy manufacturing force until the end of the 1950s. In the 1960s cheaper plastic and new government safety regulations ended the reign of tin toys. Presently, China has taken over the role of the leading tin toy manufacturing country.*

* Reference: https://en.wiki2.org/wiki/Tin_toy

Scarce 1930's JML France Pre War Triporteur Wind Up Motorcycle Trike Toy

Very large scale. The rear half of the toy uses the JML Motorcycle "Tag-0158. The

toy is designed as a Delivery Trike, as the hood can be opened to

reveal a storage compartment. The motorcycle half is brightly detailed and colourful.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

A Different Wyandotte Toy

Saturday, December 3, 2016
Snow & Rain
2 C  36 F

A Different Wyandotte Toy

Please click here to visit this fine American ebay seller

I saw this Wyandotte toy a day ago on ebay, so I decided to post it on my blog. 

What's different about this toy is that it is a wind-up toy of ducks that move. 

It's probably a toy that is much later than the 1930's toys which seemed to be

mostly trucks and cars of pressed steel.

If you examine the cardboard, you will see that there is no ZIP code of any kind on the box.

Large American city ZIP Codes (Zone Improvement Plan)first appeared in 1943 , and they were

 2-digit codes.  In July of 1963, 5-digit ZIP Codes were announced for the whole country.

So, I assume that this toy is from the late 1930's or 1940's , excluding the war years, since metal was limited in the manufacture of toys during the war years.

A Bit of History:

Initially, All Metal Products Company specialized in toy guns, including pop guns, water pistols, and air rifles. Their slogan in the 1920s was "Every Boy Wants a Pop Gun." By 1927 they had become the world's largest manufacturer of toy guns. Wyandotte Toys stopped manufacturing air rifles in 1929, but continued to dominate the toy gun market throughout the remainder of their history by producing pop guns, clicker pistols, dart guns and pistols, cap guns and a variety of plastic pistols. In 1929 the company added girls' toys and toy vehicles, as well as lithographed novelty toys in 1936. Metal toys were banned during World War II because the metals were needed for the war effort. The company survived by producing wooden toys and die-cut cardboard "build your own" play sets during the war. All Metal Products also manufactured en bloc clips for the M1 Garand rifle. Clips of this nature will be stamped with "AMP1" on the rear of the clip.*

* Courtesy: Wikipedia

Vintage  Wyandotte Ducky Ducklings Wind-up Tin Toy # 850

Lithographed tin with wooden wheels and wind-up key.

Entire duck train Length: 15" 380 mm

Height of large duck:  L x H 6 1/4" x 5 1/2"  158 mm x 140 mm

Height of small ducks: L x H: 3 1/4" x 3"  91 mm x 64 mm

By the way, this toy was won by someone on ebay for # 249.95 USA.

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 Kenton 1920's Firetruck

Thursday, February 4, 2016
Cloudy and seasonal temperatures

A Kenton 1920's Firetruck

Please click here too visit OpAmerica's ebay website

   Of all the ebay sellers, OpAmerica Toy and Bank Museum (OpAmerica) is one of my favourites. They always have interesting merchandise for sale, but its' their written descriptions in depth, as well as excellent photography that makes them so outstanding. Not only that, but they always add plenty of photos for discerning potential buyers to carefully look at the merchandise.

1920's KENTON Cast Iron Toy Fire Pumper 14-1/2" Long

---

I am pleased to offer this Antique Kenton Cast Iron Red Toy Fire Pumper Truck that comes with two cast iron firemen figures. Appears as the 1920's model marked KENTON TOYS KENTON, OHIO; may be missing string hoses. Visible paint chip wear present on vehicle and firemen figures from play throughout; red color is visible yet faded throughout. Light spot marks present on frame of vehicle. Oxidation present on metal parts. Some dust and/or dirt throughout. Wheels function well. 

A great antique fire pumper!

Measurements: approx. 14-1/2" inches long x 3" inches wide x 7-1/2" inches in height.

(368 mm x 76 mm x 190 mm)

What's interesting about the toy is the fact that it is a replica of actual fire trucks that were around at the time. Interestingly, there were no fire hydrants or underground piped water supplies at the time in most cities in America. As such, the firetrucks had to have their own supply of water and/or use the boiler to pump up the water pressure in order to extinguish the fires. 

Even in 1920's there were still horse-drawn fire carts with boilers, and interestingly one could still buy toys based on the horse and wagon style fire wagon!

This particular toy is actually quite large.At the time most cast iron companies would make the same toy but in different sizes. As such, people with different budgets would be able to purchase toys for their children.

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

Opamerica's Very Interesting Pair of Arcade Monocoupes

Sunday, December 14, 2014
Cloud, lots of snow,and mild temperature

Opamerica's Very Interesting Pair

of Arcade Monocoupes

  I was was visiting ebay yesterday,when I spotted 2 beautiful "almost" centenarian (100 years old) cast iron Arcade airplanes. They were beautiful, and I would have presented them anyway,but what caught my attention was the fact that they were identified as Arcade, and even had the markings on them. But recently,  on December 12, 2014, I posted Mike's Skoglund and Olson's airplane that looked almost like the Arcade. I went back to Mike's post, then to Opamerica's listing on ebay to compare the two brands, and I was having difficulty. Only when I read Opamerica's description, and carefully examined the photos did I realize that the 2 planes were in fact different, and made on 2 different continents separate by the Atlantic Ocean.

  I have to repeat myself, but I like to keep mentioning that back then (1900's) companies didn't seem to fight about toys that they made, that looked similar to each other. 

Please click here to visit one of the exceptional sellers on ebay

The cast iron Arcade Monocoupe below is the larger of the 2 airplanes that are currently listed (December 14, 2014) on ebay. What 's different between the Arcade airplane and the Skoglund & Olsoon (Sweden) airplane is that in the Arcade toy:

1. It has a pilot

2. The body is one piece compared with the Skoglund & Olson airplane

3. Writing impressions are on the Arcade airplanes

4. Colours are different on the painted portions of the airplane.

 . The Arcade rear landing area has an actual small wheel, the Skoglund and Olson doesn't.

Below os the smaller version of the Arcade cast Iron Monocoupe.

Now we're talking "Huh, this looks like the Skoglund and Olson" airplane!

1. Both have no rear wheel, but  a triangular point that simulates a rear landing wheel.

2. The front portion of the airplane body is in fact 2 pieces, just like the Skoglund and Olson airplane. This is what got me all confused!

I don't add different sellers or auctioneers to one post out of professional courtesy to all who help me out. I'm sure they wouldn't mind, but that's me. So how would you compare the 2 different airplanes?

Answer:

1. Open up a new window in your browser

2.Go to my blog, and open up Mike Van Matuska's post on the Skoglund and Olson airplane.

3. Drag this window nest to Opamerica's Arcade Monocoupe post window 

4.Compare the two.

You'll then see why I kept going back and forth to see what the differences are.

New Year's Resolution for 2015:

Start training my brain to remember details, and avoid all the work to try and differentiate different toy companies and similar toys. However'I won't start  the training with all of the 1920's Yellow Cab Cast Iron Taxis in 2015.

 I don't want to damage my brain!

Thanks for visiting,and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com