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Skyline tin buildings

Dave Farquhar Toy trains May 8, 2020January 27, 20221940s, 1950s, american flyer, billboard, cardstock, lionel, Louis Marx, marx, tin, toy train, train layout, train show, wyandotte

In the 1940s and 1950s, Skyline of Philadelphia manufactured and marketed a line of toy train-oriented building kits. Actually, there were two lines: One was a line of building kits made of cardstock and wood, and one was a smaller line of lithographed tin buildings, similar to the inexpensive toys made by the likes of Louis Marx, Wyandotte, and countless others in the days before ubiquitous plastics.

I’ve long suspected the two product lines came from the same company, but had no evidence to prove it until Ed “Ice” Berg produced scans of a Skyline catalog containing both paper/wood and tin litho buildings, side by side.

Most valuable rookie card

Dave Farquhar Baseball August 23, 2017August 22, 20171940s, 1950s, 1980s, Babe Ruth, baseball cards, Goudey, Stan Musial, Topps, Willie Mays

When it comes to baseball cards, rookie cards are usually more valuable than non-rookie cards. But when we think of the Pantheon of valuable baseball cards, they tend not to be rookies. Instead, they tend to be scarce cards from hugely popular, iconic sets. The T206 Wagner. The 1933 Goudey Lajoie. The 1952 Topps Mantle. So what is the most valuable rookie card?

1948 Bowman baseball

Dave Farquhar Baseball May 19, 2017August 1, 20171940s, 1950s, Babe Ruth, New York, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, Topps

I recently decided to collect the 1948 Bowman baseball set. It has a number of things going for it. With 48 cards in the set, it’s attainable. Of those 48 cards, 18.75% of them are Hall of Famers. It’s also one of the two first postwar major-issue sets.

A partial box of unopened 1948 packs surfaced recently in Tennessee, so that’s as good of an excuse to talk about the set as any. No one knew any unopened 1948 Bowman packs survived. It sold at auction for $521,180.

Make a 3/16 scale Marx ore car

Dave Farquhar Toy trains March 28, 2017August 1, 20171940s, american flyer, lionel, marx, NYC, Spare Parts

Marx fans often complain Marx didn’t make quite enough variety in its 3/16 scale line. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to get a bit more variety out of it by making a 3/16 scale Marx ore car. And you can do it all with original Marx parts.

When KB Toys closed

Dave Farquhar Retail February 9, 2017April 22, 20181940s, 1980s, 1990s, baseball cards, Big Lots, christmas, CVS, debts, IPO, Missouri, Star Wars, toys r us

When KB Toys closed is a relative question. While KB Toys went out of business in 2009, the store closest to you may have closed earlier than that. It was a sad end for a staple of my childhood, and possibly yours. KB Toys isn’t the only toy store to go out of business of course, but it was one of the more notable ones.

Londontoy: Canada’s answer to Tootsietoy

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized February 1, 2017July 31, 20181940s, Canada, decals, estate sales, tin, train layout

Years ago at an estate sale in St. Louis’ Central West End, I bought a number of Tootsietoy vehicles. When I got home, I noticed some had only the word “toy,” a number, description, and “Made in USA” inside. That was weird. These weren’t Tootsietoys. They were Londontoy.

Hipwell Manufacturing Co. of Pittsburgh

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 28, 2016October 22, 20221940s, 1950s, 1980s, american flyer, electric trains, lionel, lionel train, s scale, tin

The Hipwell Manufacturing Co. of Pittsburgh was the inventor of the single-cell battery and a venerable producer of flashlights. As recently as 2002, Hipwell produced 2 million flashlights in the United States.

Vintage tin litho buildings

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 26, 2016September 15, 20221940s, 1950s, american flyer, Hot Wheels, lionel, o gauge, s scale, tin, toy train, train layout, train show, wyandotte

Years ago, I decided I wanted to take a different approach with my trains. I heard about a guy in Springfield who has a traditional toy train layout with no plastic on it. I wanted to see if I could do something similar.

At the time, information about this approach was rare. So I’ve collected here what I know about tin buildings made prior to 1970 (the approximate end of the postwar era). You won’t find everything you want in pre-1970 buildings, so if you need something more modern to fill in the gaps, see my other post tin buildings for train layouts.

Bachmann vs Lionel

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Toy trains December 2, 2016October 11, 20171940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, american flyer, bachmann, Bachmann Plasticville, boxcar, electric trains, HO, ho scale, lionel, lionel train, n scale, o scale, train show

Comparing Bachmann vs Lionel is a contrast between two very old, established names in electric trains. Lionel, in one form or another, has been selling trains since 1900. Bachmann, the largest seller of trains in the world, was founded in 1833, though they started selling trains in 1966.

Ironically, it was Lionel that got Bachmann into the train business. In the 1940s and 1950s, when every kid wanted a Lionel or American Flyer train, Bachmann sold buildings under its Plasticville brand so kids and dads could build towns for those trains to run in. As the focus shifted to smaller scales in the 1960s, Bachmann moved with it, with greater success than the companies it once shared a symbiotic relationship with.

Should I switch to Fastrack?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains July 20, 2016October 22, 20221940s, 1950s, american flyer, christmas, lionel, marx, o27, tubular track

A common question is whether to switch from traditional Lionel tubular track to Fastrack, or from traditional American Flyer track to the new S-gauge Fastrack.

If you make the switch, I stand to possibly make a couple of bucks from affiliate links. But my integrity is worth more than a couple of bucks, so let’s talk this through.

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