Prewar Tinplate Prototype, The New York Central S-motor

As younger generations begin to explore the wonders of prewar tinplate such as Lionel, Ives and American Flyer many may ask themselves, “were there really trains that looked like these?” The answer of course is a resounding yes.

In 1906 General Electric and Alco paired to produce the S-motor class of electric locomotives. The most prominent examples of these were the New York Central S-1’s, S-2’s and S-3’s. Toy manufacturers of the time saw these locomotives as ideal representations of future motive power. Even better, these were electric and what better to prototype electric toy trains from then the new electric locomotives appearing on the East Coast. Today, some of the finest and most desirable prewar tinplate is derived from the S-motors. Two of my personal favorites shown here are the IVES 3240 in gauge 1 and the Lionel 1912 in Standard Gauge.
Notice the cast rivet detail of the IVES 3240 and the beautiful, although not protoypical “thin-rim” wheels of the Lionel 1912.


Comparisons between these tinplate-era locomotives and the S-motors they copied show that toy manufacturers were as interested in showing the future of railroading in their time as they are today, perhaps even more so. Stay tuned for more prototype/tinplate comparisons in upcoming articles.

Most Expensive Vintage Antique Toys

Vintage antique toys

I can still remember playing with a Mr. Machine. It was a big wind-up toy shaped sort of like a walking figure and made a noise. I played with a lot of toys as a kid.

Collecting an antique toy can be the most rewarding hobby there is. It's much more than the money value, it's the memories also.
And if you remember, a lot of times playing with the box the toy came in can be as much fun as the toy itself. And for that very reason when you can find a toy with original packaging this can be a real score.

Of course with some toys this doesn't matter but for serious collecting this is always an added bonus.

Another joy of collecting is kids can be rough on their toys by leaving them outside for months at a time, another reason a vintage antique toy in good condition is always a nice find.

The most valuable toys these days are in mint condition and in their original box or packaging. Since packaging is usually the cheapest grade of plastic that will possibly work, it will usually degrade
first even without the abuse.

Toys that pre-date plastic are much rarer. These toys were made of breakable or biodegradable materials like china, bisque, wood, iron and glass.

Here's a wind up toy that is cool:

I remember my Dad going nuts for a troop of hand painted metal army men in really good condition. He was an antique dealer.

Almost anything that was hand painted is valuable as a result. The hand painting or any other labor intensive processing adds value to the toy. This is especially true with the advent of mass production
automation.

In recent times, though, plastic is king. As such, heat, dust, sunlight (especially UV or Ultra Violet) and moisture are really powerful destructive factors for most toys.

Because of the plastic nature of toys, they are a lot more fragile and subject to degradation. Again, the stressful use they get from kids is only one factor.

In the 1980s, toy prices went through the roof. This was because of a rise in the cost of oil, the source of plastic.

For the modern toy collector, it is best to pick a toy category and become very knowledgeable about that topic. This is a case where throwing your passion into your chosen category is really a good idea.

Action figures are a huge topic, but there are as many to collect as there are stars in the sky. There is no shortage of action figures to choose from. Action figures now and from the past.