China - Covered Wagon - Yellow-Red SP

Here's the companion piece to the donkey cart I posted yesterday. The photos show this wagon on an small Western themed train layout I built back in 2002. The original horse got separated from the wagon but it's the type that comes in Greenbrier Intl (aka Imperial) sets. Unfortunately, as I don't have any photos of the packaging for the wagon's set, I can't verify who made it. The wagon 9 3/4" (24.76cm) L overall x 2 1/4" (5.71cm) W x 3 1/4" (8.25cm) H

The set this wagon came in included a bunch of nice figures and accessories as shown in these photos. A few of the figures on this layout are Marx but most of the figures, the canoe, tepee, totem pole, and - I believe - the two large trees, were a part of the set.

China - Donkey Cart - Yellow SP

There's a lot of people out there who aren't too crazy about things made in China. Sometimes they get a bug up their keester because of political reasons, sometimes because they consider the products 'cheap'. As for the first reason, all I can say is: look in the mirror America for someone to blame on that score - we're the ones who transferred all of our production over there! As for the second reason, that's the same garbage I used to hear when I was a kid back in the '50s and '60s when we referred to toys coming out of Japan or Hong Kong as 'cheap'. That's the whole reason our production shifted to China - because it was cheaper to make things over there!!! My take on things as a toy collector is: there's a lot of good quality and innovative toys that have come out of that country. There's been some real crap too but, with the tremendous amount of production, overall the scales weigh in favor on the 'good' side. 

There's also been times when the creative minds behind the toys think outside of the box and gives us little gems like this cart. Think about it. We have our little Western toys and we expect covered wagons, and stagecoaches and stuff, but how often have we seen things like donkey-pulled carts? We see them sometimes in movies - just lazily rolling by in a background scene - but try to find one for Old West play. Just a plain, simple, little cart, but one that adds a dose of ambience to an Old West scene. To be honest, I've had this toy (and a second just like it) since about 1998 when I bought two header bag sets of 'Cowboys & Indians' from Wal-Mart for a train layout I was working on. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the set, nor did I make a list of the contents, but I do have these two carts as well as a covered wagon leftover from that set. The car measures 6 3/4" (17.14cm) L x 1 7/8" (4.76cm) W x 1 3/4" (4.44cm) H and is good 'nuff for 54mm figures. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Ideal 40mm Chuck Wagon - Blue-Yellow SP

In yesterday's blog - which  I posted in the morning - I mentioned getting in another Ideal wagon but had to wait until it came in to photograph it and post. Well, the wagon came in during the afternoon and this morning the photos were taken and edited - yay! There's another cool Ideal Western set coming in, but I know that one will take a while to get her. Until then - Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Ideal 40mm Wagon - Green SP

For right now, this'll be the last Ideal wagon to post. In another week or so I should have another one joining the fleet. None of my wagons came with a driver that I noticed. Ideal did make a driver and maybe there's one in my tote bins somewhere so I'll have to double-down and look again at all my stuff. 

This piece has all the earmarks of an Ideal wagon, however the 'Ideal' hallmark is missing from the wagon bottom. It could have come that way from the Ideal factory, it may have been made by Ideal for inclusion in another companies playsets (toy companies back in the day would provide pieces for other toy companies), or it could be a knock-off. My guess is it was simply made this way by Ideal - perhaps the plug with the Ideal name went missing that day on the assembly line and they inserted a blank. Anywho - Enjoy! Opa Fritz