Tootsietoy Find...race, restore, or sell?
Visited a local community yard sale today. I asked an older couple "Do you have any diecast cars?". The woman walks into her house and returns a few minutes later with this truck saying "I found it in the dirt". I gave her $1.00 for it. It was filthy. so the pics are after a Dawn bath and soak. I need to scrub it down tomorrow as there is a lot of crud in the detail. Looks like the axles are corroded as well but I'll give it some attention tomorrow as it might be just caked on mud. Those are rubber wheels and they spin too. From a quick Google search it seems to be from the late 40's or early 50's. Ebay shows a pristine all original one for sale with an ask of $26 bucks or so.
Discussion
I think I'd sell it on ebay and if it brings a good buck, split the money with the older couple...you make a few bucks and you give an older couple a nice surprise. If it doesn't sell, hang onto it...it's cool!
- It would be a nice gesture but they mentioned they are moving soon. After sleeping on it though I may hang onto it. I have kids of my own. — Steele_Mill_Racing
- They may appreciate it down the road — Steele_Mill_Racing
- Just a thought...it's cool if you could pass it along to your kids :) — 72_Chevy_C10
I collect tootsies, passively. most are not worth much, well unless were talking pre-war stuff anyway. that pickup having the softer solid black rubber tires pretty much marks it as early post war, probly late 40's early 50's. newer tootsies had a very hard rubber wheel that was a totally different shape, whereas the older tootsies used white rubber, sometimes over metal wheels, and the real early stuff just had metal wheels, no tires par-se. that being said, unless there in excelant shape, most postwar tootsies arn't worth more than a couple bucks unless there in excelant shape or are a rare casting. fun to restore tho, not much to the little guys.
one thing stands out about yours tho, the axles are hidden under the body, odd.
Thanks for the comments so far. As I have been researching, I found it is a "type 2" which means the wheel rivet is in the body. Also as it doesn't have a rear tailgate, it is a desireable casting. Unfortunately, according to what I have been reading it is not worth much of anything due to it's condition. I cleaned it up a lot, so I will most likely sit on it for a while until I get more comfortable with my painting/refurb skills and make it pretty again.
I thought maybe it can be customized. A good sparkly red repaint and some nice Real Riders to replace the rusty axles?