The ‘Golden Era’ of the Japanese tin lithographed toys began after World War ll in the early 1950′s and continued through the 1960′s and into the early 1970′s.
Even though these tin toys were very popular because of their colorful exteriors and attention to details, there was pressure to discontinue production from groups that felt toys manufactured in tin were more dangerous to children. The pressure from these groups eventually won out and resulted in companies discontinuing the manufacturing of these great toys.
During the ‘Golden Era’ there were many different models of toys, like automobiles made in the United States, as well as many robots, character toys, ferris wheels, race tracks, play sets, etc.
Many of the toys had unique modes of action, i.e.,
Friction drive
Wind up
Battery-operated
Combination of both
These brightly painted, litho toys can be found in sizes ranging from eighteen inches all the way down to a very small 1-inch in size.
In today’s market, the collecting of tin toys is still one of the largest segments of toys that you can still find and enter into at very low cost. In my opinion, I would recommend that you buy a current toy price guide so that you can be come familiar with, properly identify and purchase your toys at a good price. Not knowing the market value can really cost you in the long run if you don’t do your homework with a good price guide.
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago at 3:47 pm. Add a comment
The Hafner company was founded in 1900, but the first Toys produced wasn’t until 1901. The firm’s name was changed to W.F. Hafner in 1904, which later became the American Flyer. Then in 1914 Hafner started his own company Haefner manufacturing Company, and in 1918 his son joined him and from that point on they produced only wind up trains until they were bought out by Wyandotte in 1950.
The picture shown in my post is a Hafner wind up train that was produced after 1918, this train was made up of four cars and circle track.
Engine
Tender
Coal car
Caboose
If you would like to see some larger pictures of the train cars . . . click here.
In my opinion if you are looking to adding a quality wind up train to your collection, I believe the Hafner wind up train would the be one to chose.
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago at 9:31 pm. Add a comment
The Hot Wheels Scorchers – much the same size as the traditional Hot Wheels cars – came with a spring powered motor. These cars were designed to race around a track after being pulled backwards and then letting them go. Unfortunately, in most cases the names of the cars was not on the car itself making it difficult to identify if you have a loose car. A few came with the name on a tampo.
All of the Scorchers cars came with:
Chromed windows
Eight pronged wheels (small in front; large in back)
Rubber tires (for traction)
The blistercard was orange and red with the Hot Wheels logo along with the word ‘Scorchers’ on it. The words ‘Spring-powered motor! Die-cast metal! No batteries needed!’ was also on the blistercard. The car sat upright on a pedestal picturing the White Thunder Scorcher. The blister portion – on top of this pedestal – had the name and number of the car on the pedestal.
First introduced into the Hot Wheels line in 1979 and in production until 1981, Scorchers are not easily found and as such are highly collectible.
Posted 9 months, 1 week ago at 3:37 pm. 2 comments
Mystery Toy No. 5 was difficult to identify due to the multiple clues. This toy is the green head duck manufactured by Gescha, Made in US Zone Germany (c 1948-1952). It is also marked ‘PATENT angem’.
Estimated book value for this toy is $250-350.
Watch for Mystery Toy No. 6 coming soon.
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 6:43 pm. Add a comment
To me one of the most intriguing class of toys is the class called ‘wind-ups’. Some of these labeled as clockwork are the ones I find the most interesting because they have more actions. They can either walk, sway, flip, make music or talk . . . you get the idea – lots of different, independent actions. (While most wind-up toys are single action, those with multiple actions means additional value in the marketplace when you get ready to sell.)
c1950 Japanese Wind-Up
I have found that the Japanese manufacturers possessed a great imagination and excelled in the making of wind-up toys – especially the animal ones. One of my particular favorites is the fuzzy bear ‘teacher’ that flips through a multi-paged book of animal pictures he is holding. He has nice movement and it is amazing to see him ‘turning the pages of his book’ – one page at a time as he moves side-to-side..)
There were several bears manufactured that performed different actions as well as other wind-up animals including lions, elephants, owls, and monkeys. You can check out more vintage toys of the 1950′s, see identification and price guides for vintage toys at Texas Antique Mall
Thanks !
