A spot of Ramsay's guide reading left me thinking it would be quite interesting to start collecting some older toys. Discounting pre war Dinky (range too big, prices too high) and Britains (models too big, prices too high) left me with Charbens, Crescent, John Hill and Taylor & Barrett as the main possibilities - there are others but the ranges are very small. For once I did a little research, purchasing some photocopied magazine articles on T&B and spending a lot of time on Robert Newson's Charbens pages. Of them all, there seems to be less Crescent information out there than any of the others so naturally that's what I'm collecting, although the odd John Hill item has snuck in and I am still hopelessly unable to ignore anything I can't identify!
Whilst browsing Vectis past auctions I came across this Garage Set and have been trying to collect the parts individually since. There appears to be some flexibility in this, I've found another picture of the set in a Norman Joplin book and there are differences. I'm not 100% sure that the set is complete in either case as they don't seem to have the forecourt plants featured on the box and they are known to exist. Speaking of the box illustration (and I'm not reading too much into this!) I find it quite interesting that it appears to feature a Mack truck and a Fageol coach, both of which were Tootsietoys copied in the UK by John Hill. I've also been trying to match the components to catalogue numbers as there is a listing in the back of a different Norman Joplin book based on a 1940 catalogue. The only date I have seen for the set is 1949 and I'm going to try to avoid using the terms Pre and Post War as I believe there is a good chance most items were released in both periods. Anyway, here is the set
- Crescent Garage Set (450x221).jpg (72.64 KiB) Viewed 2237 times
The first item I got was what I believe to be the A10 Tradesman's Van. Some of the green examples I've seen have Carter Pattison labels and there are also red examples with Royal Mail labels. I spotted a grey 'Ambulance' variation on ebay which appeared to have painted/printed lettering rather than labels and I have no idea if it was original or not. These vans also come with metal hubs fitted with rubber tyres. The black example in the Vectis picture doesn't appear in the Norman Joplin photo of the set.
- A10 Tradesman Van (450x337).jpg (65.99 KiB) Viewed 2237 times
There are two cars in the Vectis set, a racing car and what looks like a Land Speed record car but was probably still referred to as a racing car! The Joplin photo has two record cars in red. I have managed to get an example of each, both are in very poor condition. My record car is the only one I've seen with hubs rather than one piece wheels and goodness knows where I'll find tyres as they really are tiny hubs, much smaller than those fitted to my John Hill Mack trucks. They are both slush cast and the axle's are very corroded. They look as if they may be cast into the bodies, hopefully I'll know for sure when I clean them up. These cars are roughly the same size as a Lesney Maserati 4CLT and I'm not 100% sure on the catalogue number. My listing shows A32 as a Racing Car which could cover both of them, and there is also a catalogue number A223 which is Motor Cars (various)......
- A32 (1) Racing Car (450x337).jpg (72.6 KiB) Viewed 2237 times
- A32 (2) Racing Car (450x337).jpg (71.44 KiB) Viewed 2237 times
Also causing me cataloguing problems is my petrol pump. The 1940 listing shows 3 pumps, all of which are branded (Shell, BP, Power) and I know to be of a completely different style. The style of this one looks so 1930s rather than 1950s to my eyes I find it hard to believe it would be a new Post War issue but you never know.
- 86 Large Petrol Pump (450x337).jpg (65.88 KiB) Viewed 2237 times
One of the more common components of the set is the Oil Bin (catalogue number AA60), although there are a lot around that look similar but not quite the same.
- A60 Oil Bin (450x337).jpg (64.32 KiB) Viewed 2237 times
Finally, I found one foreman - he's still waiting for some mechanics to boss around!
- DSCN0445 (450x337).jpg (55.17 KiB) Viewed 2237 times
I realise that all this stuff is a bit outside what most of you collect but I hope you've found it of some interest. As you've probably figured there are some pretty large gaps in my knowledge so if anyone has more information please share!
