Collecting -- and collectiong information 11

I have a new virtual hobby -- gathering information about the Model A friction toy cars Bandai manufactured in the early 1960's. And it's taken a nasty -- but not entirely unexpected turn.

Things were lining up nicely. I had found enough examples to make some generalizations about the product line, and shared that information in a three-part post.

Part 1: Bandai Model A series overview
Part 2: Bandai Model A cars bodies 
Part 3: Bandai Model A truck bodies

When doing online searches for these toys I tend to cast my net pretty wide. If I just searched specifically for Bandai, I would have missed a good portion of what I found.

Bandai, like other Japanese toy manufacturers, produced products for Cragstan. Cragstan was a major importer of toys to the US, and marketed them under its own brand. Often, the manufacture's logo would also appear on the box in a corner -- but never on the toy itself.

The three Bandai Model A cars I owned as child are all clearly branded with Bandai on the car frames -- no question of origin there! And I had assumed the same was true with the rest of the line.

I had previously run across the Bandai Model A fire truck. As you can see from the image (click to enlarge), it's branded as a Bandai product.

The Model A fire truck -- with the Bandai brand

But then I found this version. Same model, only this one's branded Cragstan on the box. And there's no Bandai mark on the frame. The mark (lower right of the box) is NGS. This was Cragstan's Japanese export partner, Nipon Goraku Shokai, not the manufacturer.

The Model A fire truck -- by Cragstan/NGS

While I have no doubt that Bandai made both toys, it does add a new wrinkle to the classifications. Where there versions and/or color schemes of this toy that were exclusive to Cragstan? Which ones were sold under both brands?

It seems that with any type of intellectual pursuit, the more you learn, the more you learn what there is to learn.

Collecting -- and collecting information 8C

I have a new virtual hobby -- gathering information about the Model A friction toy cars Bandai manufactured in the early 1960's. In part one, I gave some background. In parts two and three, I'm sharing what I've learned so far.

Part Three - Truck Bodies
So far, I've only found examples of two different types of truck bodies -- a panel truck, and a pickup truck. As with the variations for the car bodies, I would expect that in addition to the two styles of convertible pick up trucks, there is at least one version with a hard top cab.



1) Panel Trucks

2) Pickup Trucks

A) Models with top up -- known body colors: red, yellow

B) Models with top down -- known body colors: yellow

3) Fire truck
This is a somewhat unusual piece. Although it uses the same basic body as the rest of the Bandai Model A series, the pumper mechanism looks like it borrowed from another Bandai toy, a Model T-style fire engine! Only the fluting at the top of the boiler is different.

The Bandai Model T-style fire engine. Note the pumper
assembly.The boiler is the same as the one on the Model A.
The Model A's version is missing the fluting at top.

4) Battery-Operated Vehicles
Bandai also used parts from the Model A series to make some battery-operated vehicles. The fire engine is very similar to the Model A friction toy, save for the base, which has the battery compartment. Plus, an additional spinning mechanism was added.

Incorporating many of the Bandi Model A friction toy
parts, this battery-operated toy nevertheless falls
outside the series.

This fire engine has a completely different
undercarriage than the rest of the Bandai Model A's

The battery-operated hot rod uses the coupe body. Look carefully at wheel base, and you'll see the same spinner that the battery-operated fire engine has.

 Updated 6/20/13

Part 1: Bandai Model A series overview
Part 2: Bandai Model A cars bodies

Collecting -- and collecting information 8B

I have a new virtual hobby -- gathering information about the Model A friction toy cars Bandai manufactured in the early 1960's. In part one, I gave some background. In parts two and three, I'm sharing what I've learned so far.

Part Two - Car Bodies
So far, I've only found examples of two different types of car bodies -- 4-door touring cars with convertible tops, and 2-door coupe convertibles. I would not be surprised to discover hard top versions of these styles.



1) 4-Door Touring Convertibles

A) Models with top down -- know body colors: cream, green, red, green No. 10

4-Door Touring Convertible with top down (cream)

4-Door Touring Convertible with top down (red)

4-Door Touring Convertible with top down (green)

B) Models with top up - know body colors: blue, red, blue with Police markings

4-Door Touring Convertible with top up (red)

4-Door Touring Convertible with top up (blue)

"City Police" 4-Door Touring Convertible with top up (blue)

2) 2-Door Coupes

A) Models with top down -- know body colors: green

2-Door Coupe Convertible with top up (green)

B) Models with top up -- known body colors: cream, red, yellow, red No. 3 "Champion"

2-Door Coupe Convertible with top up (red)

2-Door Coupe Convertible with top up (cream)

2-Door Coupe Convertible with top up (yerllow)

3) Woody station wagon
known models: tan woody; white ambulance

Woody body in tan.

Ambulance body in white

updated 6/21/13

Part 1: Bandai Model A series overview 
Part 3: Bandai Model A truck bodies

Collecting -- and collecting information 8A

Three examples of Bandai's Model A series.

One of the side projects I have going is collecting information about some Japanese tin friction cars I own. Bandai produced a series of Ford Model A tinplate vehicles in the early 1960's. By just changing out a few parts, Bandai was able to offer a line of toys, without the expense of creating tooling for each model.

The Model A pick-up with the top up. Change one
piece of metal...

If there's a theme to the Collecting -- and collecting information series, it's this: how much information can be gathered about an under-documented topic? And how best to make sense of that information in a meaningful and realistic fashion?

I remember seeing six of these Model A toys for sale at Kann's Department Store (where my grandmother worked);  a touring car with the top down, a touring car with the top up, a coupe with the top down, a coupe with the top up, a pickup truck with the top down, and a pickup truck with the top up.

All had the same wheels, frame and friction motor. They all had the same grille, hood, bumpers, and plastic headlights and steering wheel. I received three of these models as a boy, and until quite recently I was sure that I had half of the set.

...and you have a different toy. Changing colors
helps, too.

While checking on the prices for the Bandai Model A's I owned on eBay, I discovered I was wrong. There were body styles and colors I had not seen before. And so a new hobby was born. I'm curious to find out exactly how many Model A variations Bandai made.

In a sense, it's a virtual hobby. I'm doing some searches and saving images to a folder, but that's the extent of it. I have no desire to purchase any more of these toys, nor do I want to devote the space it would take to display them properly.

No, I just want to know how many variations there are, and so I'm just keeping track of them as I run across them. It's sort of like trainspotting, I suppose, and probably just as long-term. We'll see!

Part 2: Bandai Model A cars bodies 
Part 3: Bandai Model A truck bodies