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Sunday, October 26, 2014

MPC Prairie Schooner

Well, after a week of posting photos of our short trip to Sparks, NV it's time to get back into the toy groove. As we enter the fifth year of the blog perhaps we'll look at Western toys a little more. We've already posted a ton of Marx tin-litho buildings that went with their various Western themed playsets but that's about it so maybe it's time to feature other stuff as well and it would be very appropriate for a collector like me who's mostly into the '50s and '60s era. It would be difficult for anyone, say 40 years old or younger, to understand but there was a time when Western's were the king of the airwaves. At one time during the early sixties there was over 40 Western TV shows being aired - this at a time when there were only the three major broadcast networks: ABC, NBC, and CBS. As kids we were inundated with Western shows, western toy commercials, and Western toys and I enjoyed many hours in front of the tube watching reruns of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers (with Bob Nolan and the Sons of The Pioneers). 'New' shows like Wild Bill Hickock, The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, Rin Tin Tin, and updated westerns like Sky King were a major part of my childhood. Those were just the Saturday morning/afternoon offerings. The evenings brought Wagon Train, Bonanza, The Big Valley, The Rebel, Half Gun Will Travel, Daniel Boone, and The Wild Wild West just to name a few, and Disney had its own special offerings with Davy Crockett, The Swamp Fox, Johnny Shiloh, Zorro, all of which had  a 'Western' feel to them.


It's safe to say I grew up on Westerns and had a nice variety of Western toys as a kid, or had neighbor friends who had them as well and although I had a bunch of MPC Cowboys & Indians, today's featured toy, the Prairie Schooner,  wasn't a part of my toy chest. It's a nice covered wagon with three posts sticking up to accommodate three of MPC's ringhand figures. My wagon is a one-horse hitch but more hitches can be added and the top can be removed for added variety. Shown with the wagon is MPC's ubiquitous 'driver' figure. He's quite versatile and can be found on either side of the War Between the States conflict, as part of Gen Custer's last stand, heading out west, or even driving a Jeep during WWII! Yup, he gets around! The wagon measures 9 3/4" (24.8cm) L x  3 1/8" (7.9cm) W x 3 3/8" (8.6cm) H (w/driver) / 4 1/8" (10.5cm) H (w/top on).  Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina



















6 comments:

  1. Just purchased this for $5.00.

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    1. $5 is a good price. I know some collector's don't get into MPC but I've got a soft spot for them.

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  2. It was in a clear bag with all pieces, with 1 one blue driver.
    been there for a year and decided to buy it. I am getting into
    the playset pieces, as complete sets are alot of money. I
    started with Barclay tin figures years ago...but now enjoy
    picking up loose figures/wagons now and then.
    the plastic
    the early plastic figures.

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    1. I pick up sets when I can afford them, because occasionally they come around at reasonable prices, but I too buy a lot of bits and pieces.I started into toys by finding things for an old portable toy train layout. Eventually the hunt for toys overtook the hunt for trains!

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  3. It is amazing how interests can change. I would have never
    concidered the plastic realm. Britian figures are worth their
    weight, but a grab bag of loose plastic soldiers is always
    interesting....with some painting, can bring out some
    great detail in these "lost" soldiers of yesterdays mini
    battlefields. I thought about creating my own Frontier
    playset Fort with just collecting the odds and ends.
    I will have to check online to see portable trainsets, to
    see what that is about.

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    1. There's really a lot of detail in plastic soldiers.Especially the new offerings by TSSD and CTS - they're beautiful sculpts. The 'portable' train layout I referred to was something I had built myself to haul around to train shows here in town. I haven't posted it yet here on the blog but will probably do that here before too long.

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