A Tale of Two Mayflower Trucks - Pt 2 Tall Cab

As stated in the earlier post, the two trucks are best differentiated by their cabs. This one's cab is taller and has no 'lights' on top of it. As well, the grill is larger. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

SunnySide ('SS' China) - Ford Model A Stakebed Truck - 'Sunny Straw' Chassis No. SS 701-6

Today we have the second of twelve vehicles that were part of my boxed SunnySide Classic Transporter 2 set: The Sunny Straw Stakebed Truck. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Today we're looking at that truck second from the left on the top row

 

'SS' (China) - 1/43 Scale Diecast Ford Model A Panel Van - Shirley Chocolate

We'll start our look at the seriers of 1930 Ford Model A diecast trucks from 'SS' with this panel van. Marked for the fictitous "Shirley Chocolate's, Ltd." ("Shirley it's not chocolate?", "Yes it is, and don't call me 'Shirley'" - sorry, couldn't help it) it was the only panel van offered at the time. While the markings on these trucks are somewhat sophmoric, they do have the advantage of not having to pay royalties (thus raising the cost of the toy) and being generic enough and having enough variety to populate just about any toy train layout. All the vehicles have a pull-back friction motor and opening doors. The van is 4 1/8" (10.47cm) L x 1 3/4" (4.44cm) W. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

'SS' (China) 1:43 Diecast 1930 Ford Model A Truck Set

I can remember (sort of) when diecast cars and trucks really started picking up steam and gaining wildly in popularity. Back in the early '90s I was in a transition mode, switching from HO scale model railroading to 3-rail O-gauge trains. Then I started to slowly get interested in toys in general. This was great because by the mid-'90s you had all these companies coming out with some really nice diecast vehicles to plop down on our O-gauge pikes. You couldn't even walk into the supermarket without there being a display of diecast toys right up front. It became so pervasive that the last 'Great American Train Show' (GATS) I attended here in Vegas I derisively called the 'Great American Diecast Car and Truck Show' - there were few trains to be seen in the hall.

Which brings me to this set. Many of the diecast offerings were becoming expensive and I just wanted something to put on my portable train layout on the cheap. One of the local hobby shops had a counter display with these inexpensive ($2.50 each) cars and trucks. This set of six trucks represents one each of the different markings available in that display and, I believe, this may have been the first offerings for this truck by 'SS'. I have since seen these very same trucks in other colors and different markings. Each one is loosely based on the 1930 Ford Model A truck. The truck beds sit a tad too high (required to accomodate the pull-back friction motor) but overall they're a decently close match to the Ford - like we say here, "Good enough for government work!" :-) There was one panel van with the remainder being stakebed trucks. In the coming days we'll be featuring each truck separately and then I hope to feature the cars. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Banner Tractor-Tank Truck

Okay, here's the last Banner vehicle in my collection, a tractor-tank trailer combination. My collection is rather small but I'm always on the look-out for bargain pieces. This truck has some additional play value in that the tank can be filled with water. Normally there would be a removable lid on top of the tank and a stopper underneath to the rear but both of those are missing on my sample - I can imagine at one time Mom got tired of cleaning Junior's mess and tossed the lid and stopper out! Enjoy! Fritz and Bettina Berg

The fill hole is in the top middle of the tank and would normally be covered by a removable lid

Underneath the tank to the far left is the drain hole. The plug is missing as well

A nice feature of the tank is the movable landing gear shown here in green hard plastic