To Restore or Not to, That is the Question

Tuesday, October 18 2016

Overcast and Raining

23 Celsius 74 Fahrenheit

To Restore or Not to Restore,

That is the Question.

A reader by the name of Mr. Matt Lee has been e-mailing me, and we have been corresponding. 

He was asking several questions. One was where he might get replacement parts for his toy, and the other was whether or not to restore the toy.

It's always a question of what you want to do with the toy. If you plan to save it,then go ahead and restart it. If not, and you plan to resell the toy, then leave the toy alone - do not restore.

Mr. Matt Lee

Description:

Wyandotte pressed steel camper travel trailer.

Circa 1930's

Dimension : L x W :  11" x 5"  279 mm x 127 mm

I believe that this Wyandotte trailer is the larger trailer. There is also a smaller trailer measuring 5" (125 mm)  in length.

This trailer came together with a car.

The car was longer than the trailer.

Above:

 THe photo above shows the problem.The 2 rubber tires have either dried out, or the toy was placed near a heat source that eventually damaged the tires over time. In order to replace the 2 tires, you would have to cut the axle, replace the axle,then measure the axle, then cut it to its' proper length. You would then have to hammer the end float in order to avoid the rubber tires falling off, as the end of the unhammered axle could slip out of its' hole on the side of the trailer.le

Above:

This hammer is called a peen hammer. The rounded hammer head is used to flatten the axle. The reason for using this head is because it won;t damage the trailer body if used properly. The flat end of the hammer hear will damage the trailer side body.

I did find on ebay several of the smaller Wyandotte toys (car and trailer) for sale, as well as one in "as is" condition.

So that leaves us with the question  

to restore or not to restore - that is the question.

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

And of Course- Marvellous Restorations

Thursday, January 14, 2015
Overcast, cold, and some snow

And of Course,

Marvellous Restorations

    I wasn't looking to find Mr. Tom Sanders while I was browsing on ebay, but I did. I was looking for a toy that someone asked me to identify a few days ago, and I think I found the answer - it's a Wyandotte oil truck, and estimated to be worth anywhere from $ 30.00 - $ 70.00 depending on the condition.

   However, I happened upon a fine Wyandotte seaplane and the name of the store (on ebay  happened to be ohmyflyguy. Wait a minute, I said to myself, I think I know who that is. Sure enough, I did a search for toy restorations on my blog, and lo and behold, I had found Mr. Tom Sanders - an old friend from a while back who helped me with my blog.

Please click here to visit Mr. Tom Sanders' ebay store

Please click here to visit Tom Sanders' Website

I can tell you from my own experiences with toy restorations that Tom is an expert. He has knowledge, experience, patience, and of course skills. He make my work (check it out on my blog) look like elementary school quality!

The photo below is the same one as the one above. I just did a fast photo-edit to remove the orange colours. This also helps to present Tom's masterpiece in all of its splendor.

If you do a search for  "Wyandotte China Clipper", you will be able to see what these toys look like without a restoration.

Of course, the question many of you will have is why would anyone want to take an old toy and restore it or purchase it? The answer is subjective (personal). Some people prefer the "as is" condition, while others prefer restored. In the "real world"  of old cars, it used to be that old cars were more valuable restored. Nowadays, collectors are starting to purchased old cars in found condition- go figure!

As for Tom Sanders, he has lots of work  scheduled to both sell and restore old toys for collectors.

That's the way it is -some people like them old, and some people like them old but restored.

Thanks for dropping by to visit,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

Those Unmistakeable 1940's Wyandotte Trucks

Friday, October 25, 2013

Those Unmistakeable 1940's Wyandotte Trucks

   I've had the pleasure of seeing up close the Wyandotte toys, and one or two trucks form the 1940's. There is no mistaking that they are  Wyandotte trucks from then. First of all, Wyandotte used pressed steel for many of their toys t that time. Also, after they pre-cut the size of the steel for pressing, they would add a few cuts to the steel sheet. I assume that these allowed for the metal to form nicely under the heavy presses, but not to tear apart or get stressed. This is one of the few American brands of toy where I've noticed this. The second characteristic is the design of the trucks themselves. Their cabs are roundish and comic-like (in a positive way).  There's no mistaking these toys for any other brand. Also, the Wyandotte trucks are not the rarest, and so you don't often see very lengthy descriptions of the toys or their dates.

Please click here to visit the fine Website of the Lloyd Ralston Gallery

I included the image above as a reference to the size of the wagons below.

Also,you can in fact notice the "roundness" of the small and larger cars. The truck is a much earlier Wyandotte, and like the earlier times (1920's-1930's), you would have some trouble differentiating between one manufacturer and the other.

Those fenders appear very exaggerated and disproportionate to the cab body. Notice the similarity to the larger convertible car in the  first image.

I didn't have time to check on the wheel or tires in the above two images.  As I mentioned before, there is usually not much description for those usually lowered-priced toys. However, having been made in the 1940's during WWII, when metal was rationed, I have come across some models that in fact did come with wooden tires (wheels).

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com