Another Reissue of a Spammed Post

Friday, October 17, 2014
Overcast and colder

The Buddy "L" Cement Mixer
(Reposted from Original date of June 2013)  

 This is one of the original posts that was spammed for the last 18 months. Google won't or says it can't do anything, 

so what I did was inform google through feedback (which they never read) that I would remove each and every post that was spammed, and  keep it in the draft and edit mode. The spam stopped  almost overnight,but I can't be sure it was actually due to my note to Google. I was again spammed today about 20 times, but that was because I changed 

a safety check on comments.This "blogger issue" will be updated periodically for anyone who has this inconvenience of having been spammed.

The Buddy L company began in 1910. At that time, it was the Moline Press Steel Company. IN 1921 the production of toys began. The owner, Fred Lundahl sold trucks and farm machinery, but made toys for his son Arthur. Arthur's nickname was Buddy.  The toys became so popular, than soon all of Buddy's friends wanted them also. Eventually, Fred Lundahl, changed the direction of the company to manufacturing only toys. If you do a search for Buddy L toys, you will find lots and lots of very well made toys ,as well as playful toys for young children.

   Yesterday, I wrote about cement trucks and portable cement mixers  exclusively from the Kenton Company. I had seen other brands, but decided to wait. So today, I'm writing just about the Buddy L cement mixer.

This particular toy was designed after a "real" machine of that time.  If you look closely, the toy has a  boiler, with a door for opening it to feed the fire. It has a water tanks with a faucet, as well as tracks and a pulley to move the trough. As far as toys go, this particular one has lots of details.

Today, I'm presenting 4 toys that are all the same. The only differences are that 2 were repainted and professionally restored. One of them is missing the tracks. The third one is also missing its tracks, and the fourth one is original and untouched. 

Please click to be redirected to Bertoia's fine website

#1

 # 2

 #3

#4

Winning Bids ( + sales commission - not included)

#1:   $  5,175.00

#2:    $ 1,725.00

#3:       $ 862.50

#4:      $ 431.25 

    As you can see, the prices descend depending on the condition of the toy, as well as it having all of its parts. The highest winning bid was for the original toy in its original condition. The second highest was a very nice toy, but missing its original tracks. The third and fourth toys were restored, but the last one was missing its tracks.

   If you're a collector that needs to have the "original, original" toy,then of course you'll have to pay more. If you'd be someone, like myself who'd like to have the toy, but couldn't afford the high price, I'd be bidding on the bottom 2 toys. What's more, is that you can find replacement parts either from  the Classic Tin Toy Company  or from Thomas Toys, Inc.

   I just thought of something that someone who's more an expert on antique toys might want to provide an answer to my question:

  If you were able to purchase 2 of these toys in less than ideal conditions, and were able to take original parts from 1 and attach to the other, how would that be bid at an auction, and how would that toy be classified or considered on the antique toy marketplace?

Thanks for visiting,

and have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

Liveauctioneers and Skinner Inc.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Liveauctioneers and Skinner Inc.

   During the past weekend, I noticed that Liveauctioneers had updated their fine website. For those who don't know, Liveauctioneers is a Host site for live auctions around the world. What they do is to present the auctions from many different auctioneers on their site, and of course, the photographs and information pertaining to each item.

   I've used Liveauctioneers as a valuable "stepping stone" from which to search out toy photos from the fine auction houses and auctioneers who have most graciously allowed me the permission to use their fine photos. 

  As I mentioned, on the weekend, Liveauctioneers had updated their website. It's brighter and cleaner than before, and of course still has the millions of photos of past, present, and future auctions. It will take myself some getting used to, but I'm sure, in time I will familiarize myself with this fine site. 

  I had written to Kathryn Gargolinski of Liveauctioneers to ask for permission to use photos from their site. Kathryn helped me out by suggesting that it would be easier to focus on 1 auction house, rather than the 4 whom I had mentioned. And of course, I received her permission.  Kathryn Gargolinski's title is Web Marketing Specialist. That sounds quite awesome, and must require lots of hard work to maintain their site. As well, she most likely has to be able to speak several langauges for the international auction houses located around the world.

Please click this sentence to be redirected to Liveauctioneer's fine website

Please click to be redirected to Skinner Inc.'s fine website

The "Home Page" for Skinner Inc. on Live Auctioneers

There is a description of the auction hose, the location, past auctions, and a contact address

  The above screen capture is a sample from Liveauctioneers.

1. Location

This allows the viewer to select from which country he/she would like to go to. 

As well, the many different companies will be listed.

2. Search for Item

This is where you enter what you are looking for.

3. Auctioneer

All of the auction houses and auctioneers are here. You can select just one, or do your search let's say for France,and then see which French auction houses are listed.

4. The Date

This is where the present and future auction dates are listed.

Some auctions have already been prepared months in advance, and you can actually see listied auctions for the month of June.

The screen  capture above illustrate the following:

1. Live

This is for the current listed auctions, as well as future upcoming auctions

2. Sold

This area allows you to venture back in time. Depending upon the auction house, and how long they've been with Liveauctioneers, you may be able to go back a few years or as far as 10 years!

3. The Search Entry

I entered only the single word "Zeppelin". However, that single word may have not been descriptive enough. In other words, I might get photos, paintings, parts, ticket stubs, and all other items aside from "toys".

The above search was unrestrictive for any specific auctioneer. A a result, 3,833 entries were located. However, as I only have 4 fine auctions houses that so far have allowed me to use their photos, I normally would limit the search to one of the 4 auction houses at a time.

However, it's a good idea of you're interested in a specific item, or are wishing to bid on an item, to allow the search to be non-specific. In this way, you will get to see lots and lots of the same item and be abetter able to judge such criteria as:

1. Past final winning bid prices

2. What parts the actual item should come with -e.g. pull rope, flags, spare tires etc. (for toys)

3. Original colour or repainted  

By narrowing my search just for Skinner Inc., I can now see that Skinner Inc. had sold 18 "zeppelin" items in their past auctions.

A screen capture of the 18 listed "Zeppelin" items that were sold by Skinner Inc.

Although the photos may not present an actual Zeppelin, the written description would.

However, as you can see, my search was too broad - having used only the single word "Zeppelin".

I made a decision to select the first image in the upper left corner
Coincidentally, this selection is similar to what I wrote about yesterday - the A.C.Williams cast iron banks.These banks on the Skinner Inc. website are not identified as to their manufacturer, but they might be A.C. Williams.

Please click to be redirected to Skinner Inc.'s fine website

The enlargement of the particular image

How I have been presenting the images that I find on auction house sites

What I do is:

1.Adjust the exposure, colour-balance, and shadow detail

2.Enhance the focus because I'm presenting small-sized photos

3. Add an "inner glow" in Photoshop to both enhance the image and to remove any background that I didn't isolate through the selection process in Photoshop

4. Add the text:

i. Description

ii. Copyright notification

iii. Watermark of the Auction Houses's name

    I have presented a brief explanation of  these 2 excellent websites. Liverauctioneesr allows the viewer to have an entire library, figuratively speaking of course, at the touch of a computer key. Skinner Inc. then allows the reader to focus in on his or her particular toy. Skinner Auctioneers has an outstanding staff of specialists - all experts in their respective fields. When you read about their auction listings, you can get a well-written and researched short narrative about any particular item. 

   The combination of such marvelous resources as Liveauctioneers and Skinner Inc.have certainly made writing my work of writing this blog much easier. At the same time, I have learned a lot about a topic that until several years ago, I knew very little about. 

   What else could you ask for?

Thanks for dropping by to read,

and as always,

have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey 

Cast Iron Bus Passengers

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Cast Iron Bus Passengers

   As I was browsing Liveauctioneers this morning for my next post, something caught my eye. It was a cast iron old toy bus. What was so different from I'm normally used to seeing is that this one had passengers. So I investigated further, and sure enough, there were other listings that in fact had passengers. Interestingly enough, most of the listings were of items that were not in the highest prices. Not only was this interesting, but I learned something else, which was to look at all the listings of a search, rather than just focus on the most expensive and usually most interesting items in a search! 

Please click here to visit Bertoia Auctions fine website

Both of the cast iron busses above (Kenton and Arcade) are the larger-sized cast iron busses. They also received much-higher final bids than the items below.  Notice that they don't have any passengers.  

It could just be coincidental that all larger-sized cast iron busses did not have passengers, or perhaps, the larger-sized busses never came with passengers.

Mind you, the Kenton above is relatively large, but it does have passengers. On the other hand, it did not garner a final very high winning bid.  The passengers are hand-painted cast iron.

Here's a repainted old Kenton bus that is also large. However probably due to the repainting, it again did not achieve a high final bid compared to other nom-passenger large-sized cast iron busses.

Another Kenton cast iron bus with hand-painted cast iron passengers.

The final image for this blog -  still another Kenton cast iron bus with 

hand-painted cast iron passengers.

I'll have to do more research to see if what I have concluded is in fact true or just coincidental.

Of course, I always am open to receiving e-mails from readers to help me out!

Thanks for dropping by to visit,

and as always,

have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey 

(toysearcher@gmail.com)

A Nice Grouping of Popeye Toys

Friday, August 9, 2013

A Nice Grouping of Popeye Toys

  Two days ago, I had presented some  examples of Buddy L toys in almost-pristene condition from James D. Julia. I also had seen a nice grouping of Popeye toys that I catalogued away in my head. So today, here' a nice presentation of Popeye (the sailor man). Popeye is a famous cartoon character from King Features Syndicate, although not as popular as he once was.  You have to remember that back in the 1920's-1950's kids and people did not have as muse amusement as today, Newspapers were still popular and the main line of news for people. TV was just coming in and eventually would go to colour. Children had no smart phones, digital tablets, their own TV's,or computers. And moreover,they actually played outdoors, by themselves when times were a lot different, and parents could not worry about the dangers outside of the house and view.

I left the photo as they were taken by James D. Jules excellent photographers. I did in fact clean oner up against a white background, but I decided to leave the photos as is.  What I also noticed earlier in the week when I posted the Buddy L trucks is that the photos are quite large, and you should to directly to the Julia site afterwards to view the images. There, the images are large, and although just 72 dpi ( I shrink then to half their size and show them at 144 dpi), they will appear better in their original format.

Please click here to visit James D. Julia Inc.'s fine website

All of the above toys were made by LineMar, while those below are a variety of manufacturers, including LineMar. I spelled LineMar as you see it, but there are variations to the spelling. Even the front box cover has two variations.

One thing for sure is the fabulous colour of all of these toys. Of course, what I am always wanting to know is did they toys ever get played with? They're always in such great condition!

Popeye is not as popular as he once was, but I can tell you that I've never eaten so much spinach in this new century as before, There are just so many variations out there, and this vegetable is the "new" green in many restaurant salads, and at our home. 

Popeye does live on every time I have salad!

Thanks for dropping by,

and  as always,

have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

Some Rare and in Excellent Condition Buddy "L" Trucks

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Some Rare and in Excellent Condition 

Buddy "L" Trucks

   I need to visit James D.Julia more often. I don,t though, as he's not on Liveauctioneers, so I often forget as I'm looking for toys there.  He's an exceptional New England (Maine) auctioneer, and his staff take excellent quality photography. Focus, colour-balance, and best of all - large sized files. Anyway, I just "dropped by and found a small collection of some Buddy "L"  trucks in  exceptional condition  and rare. They were, I'm sure part of one person's collection. The Buddy L's were from June 21, 2013 auction.

Please click here to visit James D. Julia Inc.'s fine website

I liked the way James D. Julia Inc.  described the Buddy "L" toys like this:

Being somewhat hesitant to use the word "pristine", but this vehicle, as well as several that follow, fall into this category. What's interesting to note is that the "ice blocks" are made of glass, and some of them were in fact described as "chipped". I would assume that plastics and acrylics were not quite perfected back in the 1930's.

To deviate slightly from, but related to today's "substitute" ( I dislike the word "fake") ice cubes, they're made from acrylic. The reason for this is that they don't melt, and they rarely have air bubbles in them. If you go to Calumet Photo, you can see some examples of these ice cubes. Some of the best made ones can easily go for $ 500.00 US for a set. Those are the ones that you see on TV for colas and liquor.

Another interesting fact here is that this truck came with the original tongs, ladder, and hand trolly.

What's interesting to note is that the basic cab is similar on 3 of the trucks  that you see in this post. Also,  the 4 water cans are original, but only one has its original cap.  

 One thing of interest if you've read the descriptions that I copy from auctioneers, is that I rarely include colour. However,in this case, the colours are red, black, and dark green. The green here that I present looks like it has some dark blue in it leaning towards the colour - aquamarine. The problem for accurate colour is that I would need a special step wedge that had both special colours, as well as a grey scale ranging from a pure white to a pure black.

By including this item in the photo, one can then use it in any image-editing software to accurately colour-balance and accurately determine the colours exactly!

"A superlative example about as good as they come. A somewhat deluxe model with stamped steel simulated spoked hubs and rubber tires. When one looks under the truck, they are somewhat shocked by the luster of not only the black paint of the cab but also the deep red paint on the framework and the red of the body. If I could point out one minor drawback, it is the typical problem of all Buddy L vehicles that use die cast gears. Similar in nature to the drive wheels Lionel used on their trains, the pot metal gears or wheels tended to deteriorate with age. Upon close examination, the four gears are basically intact, yet one can see the deterioration, thus rendering the hooks somewhat inoperable. One cannot say enough about this particular vehicle and its condition as well as its desirability. SIZE: 32" l. CONDITION: The only area of true weakness on this vehicle is the 3" steel rod that connected the front leaf springs. More than likely, the child had some sort of metal hook on this bar causing paint loss"*

* Source: James D.Julia - June 21, 2013 Item Auction description 

What's of interest here is to read the information about the gears. Auctioneers that see many toys over a long period of time get to learn about the idiosyncrasies of toys made  such a long time ago, and naturally include this in the item's description.

Notice the painted black-enamel painted metal chains at the back of the truck. Not only did this collector (owner) carefully collect the best that he/she could find, but James D.Julia Inc. shared that bit of information as well.  You don't always see these smaller accessories or details, since the loose items tend to get broken or lost over time.

The red undercarriage that you see on all of these trucks are not the same colour as the reds of the wheels or the bodies of the trucks. You can in fact see that, but in some cases, I got "fancy" with dodging to create a more-stimulating lighting effect on these toys. What's therefore noteworthy is the fact that the Buddy "L" company at the time decided to spend the extra money and time to vary the different shade of hues of red on these toys. The collector collected the best  he/she could find, and these toys still present themselves in their original  majestic beauty as they were some 80  years ago. I don't thing I exaggerated, when I used the word "majestic".

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey 

(toysearcher@gmail.com)

Details, Details, Details!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Details, Details, Details!

    I was tired yesterday, so I wasn't motivated to post. However, today was different and I came up with the topic for today - details. You have to do a lot of research to know old and antique toys. I'm no expert,so I have to always be researching. Even with catalogues (which I only have 4), I have to look at 4 or more listings of the same item to see what the original item has. So if you want to collect or already are collecting toys, it's important to know what the original toy should have looked like or what parts that it originally came with. So I did a selection today, specifically looking for details that I could have easily missed a year ago, had I not started to write about old and antique toys.

    I have to put a big caveat here: As I have never handled or seen most of the toys in "real" and up close, I am writing from all the fantastic photos that I have seen.

Please click here to be redirected to the fine website of the Lloyd Ralston Gallery

T Reproductions makes 99.99% authentic replicas of original  Buddy "L" toys. They either are licensed to do so from whomever owns the Buddy "L" name  or plans, or can do so if the company closed down and no one bought the company after. I've never seen one up close,but I would assume T Reproductions have their own decal or identification marks somewhere.

These 2 items are Dinky toys. I know for sure that the green coupe is not a Tootsietoy, but  the ambulance looks like the Tootsietoy model. The additional grill on both vehicles might fool you.

Again, perhaps Dinky toys have special markings or decals hidden on their undersides which would easily identify the differences between Tootsietoys and Dinky Toys.

Above are 4 Tootsietoy vehicles. Notice how the grillwork and lights of the Tootsietoys  are similar to the Dinky Toys. However, from looking at the 2 photos, it appears that the Dinky Toy headlights "stick their necks out more".

The 2 cars above are Wyandottes. I've seen any other toy cars similar to them, but you never know.

They're beautifully crafted, and I always am fascinated how someone could figure out where to make the small cuts in the metal in order to allow a large press to bend and fold the parts.

The long and sleek design, in combination with what appears as exaggerated fenders makes these fine toys from Wyandotte easily recognizable. Also the gauge of the metal is another factor. I have  bought and sold a few Wyandotte toys, but not the beauties above.

Here are 2 different items made by 2 different companies. The convertible with the rumble seat is a Hubley, and the road sign is from Arcade. What is interesting to note here is that many smaller and older car or trucks came in sets. These sets would not only have cars or trucks, but they would have accessories such as road signs. Most original cars and trucks that are not in their original boxes will be found at antique shows or garage (yard) sales without the pieces, and most people don;t know they came with them.  Naturally,m the sets are much more valuable than the individual parts.

Here are 2 A.C. Williams small cast iron trucks.  What's interesting to notice here  are the wheels. One truck has what are called disc wheels, while the other had the slats in their wheels. The question here to research is whether both original trucks had one type or both? Both sets of wheels appear to be old and original. Also, the way these toys were made so long ago,they hardy ever broke, unless you dropped them from a high point.

If you are "older" like myself, you'll have remembered who said "very interesting" on a comedy TV show from 1968-1973 (answer at the end of the post). I've seen photos of the plates on top of the stove, and the handle to lift the plates. However, I never saw the smoke stalk that appears in this photo. I'm sure that the smokestack adds additional value to the cast iron stove. I've also seem other photos of pots and pans on the stoves, but can't tell you if these pieces came with the original stove or were sold separately.

If you examine this photo in the larger size, you will see a fireman at the back of the fire truck. Several things are worth noting. FIrst, many times the original fireman (front or rear) have either been lost or broken,so new replacement are needed. Also,  the ladders and ladder supports either go partly missing or the whole set gets lost. Of course, as I've written, there are several fine sellers on E-Bay and the Net that sell replacement parts.

Older and original nickel-plated figures (firemen) or ladders appear to have  certain finish probably from age and human oils from the hands that causes them to yellow. Newer replacement are shinier and silver-toned. As well, the new parts may not be nickel-plated.

Finally, we have here a nice Arcade Mack Ice Truck.  With some models  (Arcade made different sizes of ice trucks), the  truck usually came with a piece of ice and a pair of nickel-plated tongs. What's of additional interest here is that screw head that is below the drivers elbow.  Most of the time, there are no screws in cast iron toys, but here we have one,that I assume holds the driver firmly in place.  Was this originally done in the 1920's or 1930's for this Arcade truck, and is the toy more or less valuable because of the screw. Also, is the screw original or a replacement , and is it nickel-plated or a modern-era screw, with different thread pattern?

And you though old and antique toys were simple to get to know?

By the way, the answer to the TV quiz was Arte Johnson on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In circa, 1968-1973. Arte Johnson, I believe played a German WWII soldier or officer and with a German accent would say that after talking to someone!

Very interesting!

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always, 

have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey 

(toysearcher@gmail.com)