the new year is just a few days old, but it started extremely well for me…
Yesterday I went to a toy and toy train show some 35 miles north of where I live.
Most of the dealers there had tons of toy trains and related items, and there were just a few diecast models mixed in here and there.
One of the dealers had about 20 unboxed Regular Wheels which he said he had from an old train layout that he bought some time ago.
He had no idea about the models, so he had priced them all the same. In between all the (mostly overpriced) standard models were three items that I had to buy…..
The 69b Hatra (Stannard code 3) with the red hubs is not not particulary rare, but is not too easy to find - and I did not have it in my collection.
The dark blue 55b Ford Fairlane Police Car (Stannard code 1) is very rare over here, so I took it with me. I already have a mint boxed one, but probably I can trade it for a model that I need.
Star of the lot obviously is the 72a Fordson Tractor with yellow hubs (Stannard code 12, but with black plastic tires). Even that there are so many fakes around of this model lately, I’m 100 % sure it is genuine – the axle ends look perfect to me, and it has some kind of provenance.
Some of you might say that “coming from an old toy train layout” is not enough of a provenance, but for me, the whole story sounds very convincing.
Here are two more close-up pictures of the model:
I wonder if the year will continue for me like that – but I hope so!!
Kay
