Corgi #77323 1930s DC Comics Batmobile

In today's 'Sunday Comics' segment we have the Corgi #77323 1930s DC Comics Batmobile in 1/43 scale.  There are over a dozen vehicles in this series so we can go on for quite a spell.  Of course, I'll have to offer some other 'comic relief' so to speak but today let's enjoy a really cool car.  This is one of my favorites in the line and just oozes class!  Enjoy!

Issmayer Pre-war Train Station

I'm kinda pooped today so this will be short.  Our selection is what I believe to be an Issmayer Pre-war train station.  There are no manufacturer's marks but the shingle pattern and overall look point to Issmayer, a German manufacturer of toy train accessories prior to World War II and is approximately from the 1920s.  It's kind of hard to tell from the photographs but not only is all the detail lithographed, it is embossed as well!  The lithography neatly follows each brick, window, and door frame.  What an excellent job!  Although the awning sticks out quite far, there are no apparent attachment points for supporting posts.  Instead there are two sturdy beams running from the back wall to the front of the awning.  The door is missing on my example unfortunately.  Size-wise this is a large structure more suitable for Standard Gauge trains than O-gauge.  It's a wonderful example of the toy maker's art.  Enjoy!

Ideal Plastic Fire Truck

Welcome to Fire Truck Friday.  Hey, it might as well be, I have a bunch of them!  So, until I run out of photos, let's just continue with this theme.  Our first outing is an Ideal Toy Corporation hard plastic fire truck from 1951-54.  It's a small toy measuring only 3 3/4" long but is compatible in size with similar fire engines from Marx, Wannatoy, Lido, Plasticville,  Hasbro, and others. Enjoy!

Japan Tin Litho USAF Jet

Those of us who grew up in the '50s & '60s fondly remember all those cheap tin litho Japanese toys. All kinds of toys for girls and for boys :-)  Well, here we have one of the toys for boys.  A nifty USAF (United States Air Force) X5 jet with friction motor, which measures 8 5/8" long x 3 1/4" high.  Based on the 'F.W. Woolworth's' price sticker still attached to the wing, this was apparently a bin toy.  Although the price itself is unreadable it must have been cheap because bin toys, those toys simply placed in an open bin without any packaging, were usually reserved for the bottom of the line stuff.   Generally speaking, the premium toys had nice packaging and were either hung up on the rack or in boxes displayed on the shelves.  I must say though this looks like a fairly decent item.  I don't know who made it because the only maker's mark is the word 'Japan' on the rear fuselage.  Today, the words 'cheap' and 'Japan' no longer go together like 'spaghetti' and 'meatballs' because in today's market, really good examples of '50s and '60s Japanese toys bring premium prices.  Enjoy!

DBF Cottage Bank / Biscuit Tin

Here is a terrific tin litho biscuit tin / bank in the shape of a small cottage.  It's made by the Belgium cookie maker DBF.  Here Stateside we call them cookies, but in Europe they're referred to as 'biscuits' and it is common to offer these tasty treats in all kinds of nifty containers and many times the containers do double duty: first as a container for the cookies, and when the cookies are finished, either a bank or general purpose container.  I prefer to collect the tins that I can use on my tin plate train layout and this is no exception.  It's perfectly sized and matches beautifully with those hoses made by Skyline and H&H Sales.  The last photo shows the DBF container next to a 'Skyline' tin litho house.  Enjoy!

Ohio Art #95 Livestock Farm

Here's a nice selection from Ohio Art.  Many people may not remember the name 'Ohio Art' but perhaps remember those little tin lithographed pails that kiddies played with at the beach and the pails all came with a small, colorful shovel.  Ohio Art made other toys as well, like the small barn featured here.  In size it would be comparable to the Marx and Plasticville barns that were marketed for 3-rail O-gauge trains and I've included a photo to show this comparison.  You'll notice that the box in the photo is a tad bit raggedy!  Heck, there's only about half of it left, but seeing as how the original boxes are hard to come by I guess I should be glad to have anything at all!  The set included four fence pieces and several animals.  The animals shown here are brightly colored hard plastic but later issues would have them in a nice tan color hard plastic.  Enjoy!

Marx #413A Switchman Tower Cream & Green Litho w-Red Tower

Today a quickie look at Marx's venerable #413A tin-litho Switch Tower.  The cabin has cream and green details and the support tower is red.  Enjoy!