Tin and Steel
Les Jouets C.R. book and Historic Millitary Tank-Truck
We note that the latest toy trends in America are far away from he distant shores of France. Our U.S. buyers seems to be wrapped up in Pennsylvania Steel as well as American metal toy builds. In this atmosphere of Amercian toys, ‘Merica!’, we have an interesting find that is far off the radar. We…
Read MoreCast Iron Tow Trucks and Christmas
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The toys are smiling back at you this tough 2020, and we love our cast iron tow trucks. Off to the far left we can see the giant Arcade Mack truck with steel wheels. As we go one right, we see another Arcade, a Red Baby Tow in…
Read MoreSmith Miller Gulf L-Mack Private Label Tandem
Smith Miller Gulf L-Mack Private Label Tandem Our Smith Miller represents an area we didn’t know well– private labels by the 1950’s maker. We have a private label Gulf tandem truck to show from the original family. We expect there to be other labels out there and would like to reach out to our readers…
Read MoreSpace Toys, Robots, and Rocket Collecting. Buying Robots and Space toys
Space Toys and Robot Toy History Toy styles mimic history and define generations. Trains dominated the 1890’s, as railroads connected worldwide citizens. Lighter than air travel enthralled the public and kids in the early 1900’s; toys copied life. Cars defined the early 20th century. War toys dominated minds in the 30’s and 40s; manufacturers marched…
Read MoreYankee Toys Battelship Oregon Found
Long lost toys and forgotten toy companies excite us. We love learning. Rarely do we find toys that haven’t been mentioned before in our catalogs; or books; or auction records. Seldomly do we unearth companies based in the US with a substantial toy lineup. Here we found a grand slam– we found an electric…
Read MoreAnimate Toys of NY- Tank Found
Have you heard of Animate Toys of New York? We had not, but were lucky enough to get a tank and box come our way. A collector shared with us a boxed example and we would like to share back. “Treat ‘Em Rough” that’s what they did to the Germans. is the headline…. 31 East…
Read MoreTin Santa Toy, Early Crank Find
Our very early Santa toy find is a deep curiosity. We need your help! The toy has English writing on it, but seems to have German Santa toy traits. From what we can barely discern, it was marked on the square base “World Wide Delivery”. The owner was a World War II vet and…
Read MoreTin Toy and toys with thin metal aka Tin
Friends and I have an ongoing discussion on tin toys and metal toys. What makes a tin toy? Why are some metal toys pressed steel and yet others known as tin toys? Aren’t they all the same and is there cross over in the toy terms? My latest line of thinking is this– Tin toys…
Read MoreRepublic Toys Pressed Steel Truck
Etch in your mind yet another lesser known pressed steel toy company– Republic Toys of Dayton Ohio. Our “Tool Products Company” didn’t leave a long lasting impression toy collectors (at least from our standpoint), but should have. Our American toy maker tends to be bunched into “Dayton” Toys steel products. The Republic Tool Products…
Read MoreGerman Tin Train Mystery- Carette Toy?
German Gloria Tin Train Mystery We have a mystery on our hands. In fact we have a mystery that may be solved by looking at the hands; the hands of a small instruction sheet. Help us please! The box and illustration appear to be from the late 19th century. After speaking with other collectors, we feel…
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