Posted 13 years ago
rocklandman
(72 items)
Hello All,
I've been busy picking for the last couple of months, Now that I am back, I have thousands of items that I have picked.
I found this little beauty but cannot find any info on it, very heavy cast iron toy bus. Can anyone help me ID it?
Thanks
Rock
I believe it to be made by Arcade, probably in the '20s.
Thank you aycockonxion
HI ROCK, WAS I GLAD TO SEE YOUR TOY BUS. I HAVE ONE JUST LIKE IT AND I AM LOOKING FOR THE SAME INFO.
THANK YOU.
L DIGANGI
Is it a Toy or a Bank?
Hard to tell from those photos but looks to be a reproduction.
This isn't a repro. It's also not Arcade as I thought before, but it is old. You can tell by the way the wheels attach to the axle, and the quality of the casting is better than a modern repop, or one made to look old.
Did you ever find out more about this? I just found one myself.
It is a modern made item. There was one just at a local antique mall for $20.00, same weathering and color. Although the casting is better than some of the recent repos, it is still not as crisp at the old originals. The wheels are terrible.
I was thinking so. I guess the newer reproductions have good size spaces where they cast the pieces together. Well at least I learned a lot doing my research. Thanks for confirming. I appreciate it.
Not technically a reproduction since it does not directly copy any known Bus models. Definitely a later manufactor. Wheels do tell all. Your older cast iron toys had to have some way off caping or holding the wheels on the axle. Every example of this bus I have ever seen suffers from rusting. Either poorly primed or intentionally done to give it an older look.
I have one of these I purchased 30 years ago so if it is a reproduction it is moving along well. The one I purchased was and still is in much better shape. Thought maybe it was repainted but I don't think so after seeing this one. Mine is and looks always to have been black. Still would like know value if anyone might know.Thanks
I see them sell on ebay for 20 bucks or so. thirty years is about right. Many of the copies / repro's and fakes you see on the market were approximately 30 to 60 years ago. some were made from the molds purchased from toy companies that went out of business. While they were able to buy the molds they were not able to reproduce the processes and workmanship that came with the molds. thus you see what you have here. there's nothing wrong with repro's if you enjoy them. I have many nice originals and a couple of repro's that were well built and I enjoy looking at and owning.
As I posted above and KentonFan stated, it is a modern item, could be back as far as the 1980's but they seemed to start showing up later than that around me.
jflenker, you should post photos of yours, it may be the real thing.