The Toy House No. 406 Buckboard REDUX - Got A Guy Riding Shotgun

After digging through my bins, I found the loose companion to The Toy House Buckboard driver. This is the 'guy riding shotgun' pose and yes, mine is a slightly different color but it is the right pose. I still have two of these buckboard's still in their bags. One of them has both poses, while the other one has two driver figures. This figure was supposed to have a tab on his butt which fits into a slot in the wagon seat, but it appears that tab was cut off. It doesn't make much of a difference other than with the tab in place, he would be forced to sit at an angle on the seat - looking to his left. Anywho, here's a couple of shots of the buckboard with both figures. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

The Toy House No. 406 Buckboard REDUX - Built-up

I broke down and bought a mint-in-bag Toy House Buckboard for the sole purpose of assembling it. Overall, it's as good as any other of the similar sized wagons out there. I only had one small disappointment - my package, though still mint - included two wagon drivers instead on one driver and one riding shotgun (no biggie because I did see that guy in my stash of figures). The toy was photographed as it came out of the bag. It measures 10 1/4" (26.03cm) L x 3 3/8" (8.57cm) W x 2 3/8"(6.03cm) H (to top of wagon seat back). Enjoy! Opa Fritz

The front wheels are a different color than the rear wheels. I looked at my other bagged examples and they're all like that.

This bag had two drivers. One of the figures should have been a guy riding shotgun.

The Toy House No. 406 Buckboard in Original Header Bag - Yellow

Guess what I got? Another Toy House Buckboard, but this time in yellow. It's not a real bright lemon yellow, but rather a very muted yellow tone. In any case, now I'm wondering how many other colors this was made in? This acquisition was the result of a random search, "Hmmm, I wonder what other things The Toy House made?" and this popped up! Cool :-) Enjoy! Opa Fritz

The Toy House No. 406 Buckboard in Original Header Bag

Here's a nifty buckboard still in its original header bag. The bag includes the wagon, four wheels, hitch, horse, and driver. It's sold by "The Toy House" but after looking at the "Toy Soldier HQ" website (link in the sidebar) it's included under the Payton listings. Was it made by Payton and distributed by The Toy House? In any case, I've seen these being sold as MPC which they are not! MPC wagons are shorter, lack the wooden board detailing (more noticeable when looking at the two wagons up close and personal), the wheel axles are placed differently on the wagons, and the hitches are different. Also, MPC never offered wagons in this aqua color. One of these years I'd like to pick up a wagon just to take it out of the bag and play, but until then this one stays in the bag - Enjoy! Opa Fritz

(L) MPC (R) Toy House

The MPC wagon is noticeably shorter

Axle placement on both wagons differ slightly

MPC '70s Era Buckboard Wagon with Cardboard Crate Load

This wagon, along with the covered wagon I posted just a couple of days ago, were both part of a Fort Frontier set also previously posted here but now we have the full photo essay workup for the two wagons. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

here are scans of all sides of the cardboard crate insert

top

sides

ends

MPC Buckboard - Blue with Red Wheels - The REAL Colors of An Old West Wagon?

My mother used to say, "You learn something new every day." Well, at my age there's some long dry spells and some days are kind of a blur of non-learning blah-ness, but this past couple of days has been interesting. I posted a couple of photos of this early MPC Buckboard in blue SP with red wheels in a couple of my fb groups.  In one of them, a member pointed out that these were the colors used by the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Hmmm - really? 

That led me down a rabbit's hole of Web searches and I have found out some very interesting details. If indeed blue wagons were used by the U.S. Army, it's not because of any standardization program in use by the military, but rather, that's how they were purchased from the wagon makers! Just as we've become so used to automobiles coming in bright colors, it appears that wagons were sold in bright colors as well - at least in blue, perhaps green as well. This was a big surprise to me because as I try to remember back on all those Western TV shows and movies I watched as a kid, I simply don't recall wagons being anything more than either unpainted and weathered wood or perhaps varnished - no colors! Then I came across an on-line article by the National Park Service, Wagons on The Emigrant Trails and nearly every wagon pictured in that article was painted in what I'm surmising as period-correct color schemes.

Courtesy NPS

This all makes sense now and also ties-in with the circus toys and models which I spent nearly all last year blogging. Those bright, gaudy, ornate circus wagons we so much enjoy today originated from none other than the wagon makers of their day. Studebaker, Sullivan and Eagle, Beggs Wagon Co., and others, all made wagons for the circuses and those wagons were anything but untreated or plain varnished wood. They were bright and colorful and so it stands to reason that wagon makers would offer their products for every day sale in bright colors as well. It also goes to show that in spite of what old B&W photos or movies may lead us to believe, it was a very colorful world back in the day! Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Early MPC Wagon 

What defines it as 'early' is the use of the slot butt driver (slot butt's came out before the peg butts).