Rubber Toy Vehicles Revisited

Monday, January 22,2018
Overcast with snow
-5 C  23 F

Rubber Toy Vehicles Revisited

Rubber toys were made in the 1930's and 1940's. Molds were made in the shape of the toy, the melted rubber was  poured into the mold, allowed to cool off, then removed. Later, these toys would be painted. The main rubber toy companies were Auburn Rubber Company , Sun Rubber Company, and  the Barr Rubber Company. 

I've written about rubber toys before, so if you do a search in the upper right corner for the manufacturer's name or the words "rubber toys", 

you should be able to be redirected to the previous post.

Auburn 1930's Military Motorcycle with Sidecar

Length:  3"  76 mm

Barr Rubber Ford Stake Truck

Circa: 1935

Length:  4 1/2"  115 mm

Barr Rubber  Ford US Army Truck

Circa 1935

Lenght: 4 3/4" 126 mm

Auburn Rubber 1940's Military Tank

4 1/4"  118 mm

Sun Rubber  Woodie  Stationwagon

Length:  3 5/8"  92 mm

Sun Rubber 1930's Super Charged Coupe

Length:  4"  102 mm

When I was buying and selling toys on ebay, I managed to purchase a few of these toys.

What I like about them is that they were made of rubber. The rubber is quite flexible and bouncy, although I would advise not twisting the toy.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

More Lesney Matchbox Toys

Friday, December 8, 2016
Sun with Cloud
-4 Celsius  21 Fahrenheit

More Lesney Toymasters

Please click here to visit this fine ebay merchant

Matchbox is a very small type of toy that literally fits into a matchbox, hence the toys are called Lesney Matchboxes.  The original company was started by 3 people, Leslie Charles Smith and Rodney Smith and Jack Odell (who subsequently left) started the company in 1953.The company name was devised from the partial first names of the two Smiths. Their first  best seller was the toy  model coach of Queen Elizabeth II, who made her coronation travels in  the original coach . This sold more than a million toys.

The impetus for the size of the toy was based on Jack Odell's daughter. Children in her school were only allowed to play with toys that would fit into a matchbox. Mr. Odell had one of those "Eureka moments", and got the idea to manufacture toys that would fit the size of a matchbox. The first toys were the Elizabethan coach, a dump truck, and a cement mixer. Subsequent toys were mostly  modelled after British Cars, with future models being American, and even included farm machinery, and busses.

By the end of the 1960's, major competitors, such as Mattel USA) started to compete with Lesney. Mattel's small toys were called "Hotwheels" and were quite popular. They weren't as realistic to scale or design to those of Lesney, but children all over the world wanted them. Eventually Lesney went into bankruptcy, were bought up by an other company, which also went bankrupt, and Mattel in 1997 came to own the Lesney brand of Matchbox.

Like all collectibles, the Matchbox toys are in strong demand, and sell for a fair amount of money on ebay and other toy-selling websites. Some of the Matchbox toys can demand up to $ 5000.00 USD or more!

*Please click here to read the whole story about Matchbox from Wikipedia

More Nice Dinky Toys

Tuesday, December6, 2016
Cloudy with sun
-3 Celsius  26 Fahrenheit

More Nice Dinky Toys

Please click here to visit this fine ebay merchant

Dinky Toys, which were first known as Modelled Miniatures were first introduced by Meccan (British) at Christmas of 1933, and ended when the factory closed in 1979. During the 46 years that these toys were made, millions and millions were made for the enjoyment of children, and later on for the enjoyment of collectors. The idea for these small die-cast toys were from the inspiration of the Tootsietoy Toys that were already being made in the USA.

Within a short period of years, these toys were the most popular in the world, and the name "Dinky Toys" entered the lexicon of the English language being defined as any small toy vehicle - car or truck alike. There were hundreds upon hundreds of different car and truck models made during the timespan of the company. There were even airplanes and farm machinery toys.*

* Citation:  Dinky Toys and Modelled Miniatures By Mike and Sue Richardson

New Cavendish Books, 

London, England, 1986

(revised edition)

I've taken a cross-section of 10 Dinky Toys from Vintage-Toymasters on ebay,  and there is no direct correlation between the age of the Dinky Toy and its' value as a collectible. In other words, the oldest toys are not necessarily the rarest or the most-costly, were you to but them on the open  marketplace. In all cases, these toys have appreciated in value over the years, and their prices to purchase are relatively high compared to their original costs.  As usual, having the original boix that the toy came with, appreciates the value of the toy.

Most of the toys are between 3"- 4" (76 mm-101 mm) approximately.

If you carefully look at the above toy, you'll notice some hairline cracks at the front hood area. Early die-cast molds had some problems due to the nature of the metallic composition of the toys. 

In later years, the  metallic composition of the different metals was improved, 

so that the cracks were no longer a problem. Nevertheless, the toys do sell for their

 asking price due to their value as collectible toys.

Some Nice Toys from Vintage-Toymasters

Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Overcast with rain & snow
2 C 36 F

Please click here to visit this fine ebay merchant

Last wek, I added a post about some nice toys from Vintage-Masters toys. When I returned to visit their ebay site, I came across a nice grouping of toys, that I've posted for today. There's a lot more there, but these are the selected ones.

1950's "Lopz Servicio Particular

Lithographed pressed steel

Length:  18" 467 mm

1920's Felix The Cat Fire Chief Car

Original, Largest Size, wood and metal

Length:  14"  355 mm

Wyandotte Ambulance

Painted pressed steel with lithographed tin artillery spoked wheels

Length:  11"

Turner Pressed Steel Roadster

painted pressed steel

Circa: 1920's

Length:  13 1/2"  342 mm

Slik Toys Oliver Row Crop 77 Tractor with Corn Picker

Painted diecast metal

Circa:  1950's

Length:  10"  254 mm

Arcade McCormick Deering Farmall Farm Tractor

Painted cast iron with nickel-plated figure

Circa:  1930's

Length:  5 1/2"  140 mm

Thanks for dropping by,

and always,

Have a great part of the day or night,

Wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com