PowerCoupleDeals - A Return to an Exceptional ebay Seller

Sunday, February 23, 2025

-2° C / 29° F

Overcast and Damp

PowerCoupleDeals

(A Return to an Exceptional ebay Seller)

Please click on this sentence to redirect to their ebay store

It's been a while since I visited the PowerCoupleDeals store on ebay. I wrote 2 posts last April (2024), and I was surprised to see the number of people who had visited their 2 posts. The visits or, as Google Blogger uses the term  "page views" have been higher than usual, so I was also surprised.

Originally, What attracted my attention was the large number of photos that

each and every listed item has. Also, the photographic lighting is simple

but well done. They use a soft lighting that reduces the dark shadows, and

allows for taking more photos in a shorter amount of time. By also using

a white foundation and background, an additional amount of light 

reflects from the white foundation back onto the toy being photographed.

Description:

Vintage Smith-Miller Pressed Steel L Mack Truck with Flatbed Trailer

Trailer Length: 24.5" / 62.23 cm 

From bumper of cab to rear of frame (Length): 17" /43.2 cm

Hooked together (Length): 36.25" /  92.07 cm

 

So that's it for today.

These fine toys are not inexpensive, and people like to collect them.

I'll bet that when adults buy these "models", when there is nobody around,

I can "imagine" that they play around with them.

Sometimes, some of us, just never grow up!

Thanks for dropping by, and as always, have a great part of the day or night

wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman,

and I can always be reached at 

toysearcher@gmail.com

I'm always looking for new readers to have me write a post for them.

So if you have some nice toys and can take good photos,

 I'm always available to write a post for you.

   

  

A Nice GAMA Friction Cadillac from OLDTOYS69

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Overcast with some Sun 

-7° C /19 ° F

A Nice GAMA Friction Cadillac 300

from OLDTOYS69

I always like to visit Mr. Ron Michaud on his ebay store named OLDTOYS69. 

He always has many toys for sale, and you can easily spend an hour 

looking and reading about toys that you haven't seen before.  As for a blogger,

he always presents a lot of photos to show every different facet 

from top, bottom and all four sides.  Also, he knows his toys, and presents the description with much information.Not only does Ron work hard to present lots of photos and information,but he has an excellent reputation on ebay.

Please click on this sentence to visit Mr.Ron Michaud's ebay store

Item Description

"Tin Friction Cadillac 300 by Gama in Two Tone Color"

"West Germany, 1950's. Gama is an acronym for George Adam Mangold,

founder of the company. The Gama series of Cadillacs are considered to be

toys that captured the elegance and prestige of 1950's automobiles. 

Marked "Gama 300" on side emblems, "Made in Germany" at rear passenger

seat and visible at the rear windshield. Manual front steering with rear working friction wheels. Showing chips and general wear as shown in the pictures.

Measures 12" (30.48 cm) long in an attractive two tone green color scheme."

 

Revisiting Mr. Mark L. Hartman

 Saturday, March 6, 2021
 Cloudy with Sun,

 -8 C.  ( 17.7 F)

Revisiting Mr. Mark L. Hartman

          I don't know about you, the reader, but I find that the older I get (I'm 72), the faster the time goes by. On July 31, 2014, I had the pleasure to add a post about Mr. Mark L. Hartman. Below is the link to that original post on my blog:

https://oldantiquetoys.blogspot.com/2014/07/rare-buddy-l-wooden-toys-from-war-years.html

        Fast forward and here's how I am writing this post. Someone from an Historic society wrote to me asking if she could use some of Mark's excellent photos from that blog post. So, I wrote to Mark, reminded him who I was (after 7 years, it's a long time for a busy person to remember who I am), and asked for his permission for this woman to use his photos. Being such a kind and good-natured person, and a great businessman, he wrote back and gave me the permission. 

     I had to check the old post to gather the information to check Mark's e-mail address on ebay.  I easily found it, and when I went to his "store", there were some very fine toys that I had not seen, just as when I had written to his 7 years ago. 

      

            

You can click on the link below to redirect to Mark's 

https://www.ebay.com/usr/toyman1955

 EXTREMELY RARE Early Marx Toys (New York, NY) Pressed Steel Ford Square Fender Cab "SEARS ALLSTATE HYDRAULIC DUMP GRAIN HAULER TRACTOR TRAILER TRUCK" Circa 1962-63 piece - THIS IS AN EXTREMELY RARE MARX TOYS SEARS ALLSTATE GRAIN HAULER TRACTOR TRAILER TRUCK IN STRONG ORIGINAL CONDITION - PIECE IS 100% ORIGINAL AND ALMOST COMPLETE (MISSING TRAILER REAR GRAIN DOOR) - MARX TOYS MADE THESE THIS SERIES OF TRUCKS FOR SEARS ROEBUCK CO. TO BE SOLD SOLELY THRU THEIR DEPARTMENT STORES - THIS IS A VERY HARD TO FIND VERSION OF THE SEARS ALLSTATE TRUCKS SERIES - ORIGINAL RED PAINTED CAB AND LITHOGRAPHY PAINTED TRAILER AND DECALS - HYDRAULIC PISTON DRIVEN DUMP ACTION WORKS BUT DOES GO UP VERY FAST - A VERY STRONG EXAMPLE OF THIS RARE SEARS ALLSTATE PIECE THAT YOU WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OWN - DON'T LET THIS BEAUTY SLIP THRU YOUR FINGERS - BUY THEM WHEN YOU CAN FIND THEM IN THIS ORIGINAL CONDITION!!!  toys and  This 27-5/8" long Pressed Steel piece dates from the early '60's.

        I have to leave now, but I'll be adding another post about Mark's other toys that he has for sale currently. The above toy is from his personal collection, and as I am writing, there are currently 26 toy collectors bidding on this rare toy.

        So that's it for today. It's nice to reconnect with an old person that I have had the pleasure to write about learn about toys.

 Please take very careful care of yourself and your family!

Up here in Montreal, Quebec (Canada), I'm finally (after a year of waiting)

going to get my Covid-19  first vaccination. The medical people, people in their  

80's and 90's, caregivers, hospital nurses and aides, and others have already got then vaccination.

I'll be much relieved when I get my vaccine on March 19!

I know that some of you may not believe in this pandemic, but it is 

real, and too many people have been sickened and died from this horrific virus!

As always,

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great day.

Stacey Bindman

Toysearcher@gmail.com

An Extremely Rare Wilkins Street Sweeper

Wednesday, May 27,2020

Sunny

37 C.  99 F

(A record-breaking high temperature)

An Extremely Rare

Wilkins Street Sweeper

Please click here to visit the listing this fine seller on ebay, and this fine listing

It's not often that I see a toy with the price set at 5 digits , being offered on ebay! So naturally I was curious to see what the toy was all about. It turns out that it's a Wilkins street sweeper made in the 1890's, It's a cast iron toy, that's in very good condition for being 100 or more year old.

It's length is 12 1/2" (317 mm).

I contacted the owner and asked for permission to use the photos, and to write about the fine toy. As it turned out, the owner of the toy is Mr. Aaron Phelps, whose ID on ebay is apbubba1.

Aaron's photos are excellent, so that I had very little work to improve them, but for resizing them to a smaller size.

In Aaron's own words:

"I've done some searching and it looks to me this was the last one to sell since 2005.  From a collection out of Minnesota. I don’t believe there is too many that are still around.  Thanks Aaron Phelps."

It's amazing that the bristles for the street sweeper are still  

on the toy, and that the letters (D.P.W.) standing for Department of Public Works

are also still on the toy. 

From this photo below, you can see a brown string

that is attached between the rear left axle of the toy, and the 

bristle gear on the shaft of the wheel.

The 2 photos below help you to better understand

how the sweeper rotates along the surface that it is  cleaning.

If anyone has some information about the Wilkins company, 

please send me the reference so that I can add it to this post.

So that's it for today, having written this second post.

I hope that this fine toy will sell, and that someone will enjoy

owning it.

Have a great part of the day or night.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

A Fine Canadian ebay Store Revisited

Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Sunny with Clouds
19 C 66 F

A Fine Canadian ebay Store Revisited

I've been revisiting people and companies lately, and decided to visit Mr. Ken McGee on his

ebay store. Mr. McGee happens to sell fine old cars, as well as car literature from olden times, and still manages to find time to buy and sell old toys! I visited him, and as usual, he had a big collection of toys to sell. I decided to present 2 Kingsbury old toy cars. 

Please click here to visit this fine Canadian ebay seller

P

Please use this link to visit his Canadian store to see his old cars for sale

You absolutely have to visit his ebay store, but even more so, his car and car literature location.

His cars are  from a while ago, and the descriptions of the cars is worth reading.

Kingsbury 1934 Chrysler Airflow

Working and in Fantastic Original Condition

Pressed Steel

Wind-up movement

Battery-operated headlights

Length:  14" 355 mm

1930's Kingsbury "Fire Chief Coupe"

Full Working Professional Restoration

Pressed Steel

Wind-up clockwork movement

Battery-operated headlights & rear light

L x W x H:  

12" x 4 1/2" x 4 3/4"

305 mm x 104 mm x 122 mm

With Ken's excellent photography, it didn't take me as much time, as when I 

have to Photoshop the pictures to make them more presentable to you.

That saves me a lot of time.

Wow, the time is moving so fast!!!

I hope all is well with everyone,

and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

toysearcher@gmail.com

Stacey Bindman

Tonka Trucks and Trailers from the 50's and 60's

Friday, May 15, 2020
Clouds with Rain
13 C  56 F

Tonka Trucks and Trailers

from the 50's and 60's

The History of Tonka Toiys

from Wikipaedia

"Mound Metalcraft was created in 1946 in Mound, Minnesota, by Lynn Everett Baker (1898–1964), Avery F. Crounse, and Alvin F. Tesch. Their original intent was to manufacture garden implements. Their building's former occupant, the Streater Company, had made and patented several toys. E. C. Streater was not interested in the toy business so they approached Mound Metalcraft. The three men at Mound Metalcraft thought they might make a good side line to their other products.

After some modifications to the design by Alvin Tesch and the addition of a new logo created by Erling Eklof, the company began selling metal toys, which soon became the primary business. The logo was based on a University of Minnesota drafting student's sketch by Donald B. Olson, who later became the company's chief industrial engineer. The logo used the Dakota Sioux word tanka, which means "great" or "big". In November, 1955, Mound Metalcraft changed its name to Tonka Toys Incorporated. The logo at this time was an oval, showing the Tonka Toys name in red above waves, presumably honoring nearby Lake Minnetonka. In 1964, Tonka acquired the Mell Manufacturing Company in Chicago, Illinois, allowing it to produce barbecue grills, eventually under the Tonka Firebowl label.

In 1987, Tonka purchased Kenner Parker, including UK toy giant Palitoy, for $555 million, borrowing extensively to fund the acquisition. However, the cost of servicing the debt meant Tonka itself had to find a buyer and it was eventually acquired by Hasbro in 1991.^[6] In 1998, Hasbro began a licensing deal with Funrise Toys to manufacture and distribute Tonka trucks. The deal began with versions of the trucks fitted with electronics for lights and sounds, but grew to encompass the entire brand.

Tonka has produced a variety of toys, including dolls (Star Fairies, Bathing Beauties, Maple Town, and Hollywoods) and other toys aimed at girls like Keypers and aimed at boys like Gobots, Rock Lords, Spiral Zone, and Steel Monsters. It was the original manufacturer of the Pound Puppies toy line, and in the late 1980s licensed products inspired by Maple Town.

Tonka produced video games as Tonka Video Games, including Tonka Raceway, and purchased the rights to distribute and market the Sega Master System after Sega of America stopped competing against the Nintendo Entertainment System in the US. However, the Master System's market share declined, since Tonka did not have experience with video games or how to market them. Hasbro sold the digital gaming rights for various properties (including My Little Pony, Magic: The Gathering, Tonka, Playskool, and Transformers) to Infogrames for US$100 million in 2000, buying back the rights for US$66 million in June 2005.

In 2001, Tonka trucks were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York. The Winifred Museum in Winifred, Montana, has a collection of more than 3,000 Tonka toys."

Please click here to redirect to Tonka's history at Wikipaedia

Vintage 1957 Private Label

Tonka United  Van Lines

Semi Truck and Trailer

Length:  23.5" 596 mm

Asking: $ 2,275.00 & $ 63.35 Intertnational Shipping

Tonka Private Label

Stix, Baer & Fuller semi trailer and tractor trailer

Circa: 1962-63

Length: 25" 635mm

Asking Price: US $ 1,195.00 & $ 63.65 Shpping

Vintage Tonka Allied Van Lines

Semi Truck & Trailer

1955:  Dedicated to Cerebral Palsy

Asking Price:  $ 520.00 & $ 63.35 US

The two trucks below are similar in size to the ones that I  mentioned before.

They're  private label, pressed steel toys, circa 1950's 1960's.

I can't believe how time has passed by so fast. 

When I look at dates like the 1950's or 1960's, they are like yesterday to me.

And yet, they're so long ago, since I was born in 1948.

It makes one realize how important it is to take precautions against 

this horrific Covid-19 pandemic!

So please take good care of yourself and your close ones!

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