The Rural Voice, 1990-12, Page 22FARM TOYS: COLLECTOR'S DELIGHT
story and photos by Jim Fitzgerald
While most farm equipment
manufacturers across North
America have been facing tough
times in the last decades as a
spate of amalgamations, take-
overs, buy-outs and bankrup-
tcies have drastically cut their
numbers down, there has been
one segment of the industry that
has been growing by leaps and
bounds. In fact, these manu-
facturers just can' t seem to keep
up with the demand. Sales are
soaring!
They are the farm toy equipment
manufacturers and business couldn't
be better as demands have been sky-
rocketing from a growing legion of
collectors.
The hobby of collecting scale -
model farm toys, particularly tractors,
has blossomed in the past few years
and is fast becoming a full-time bus-
iness for many people.
While the shake -out in the farm
equipment manufacturing industry has
cut the number of major players down
to three or four, there has been a
growing nostalgia for all the old
makes and models which disappeared
long ago. Whether it's a well -loved
McCormick -Deering or a long -gone
Minneapolis -Moline, that favourite
Cockshutt, an ancient Oliver, or the
reliable Ford N, you can find it in a
scale -model of some kind in several
different sizes, and in any state of
repair.
"It's the last of the collectibles,"
says Keith Stoltz of Listowel, who
along with his wife Jane publishes a
bi-monthly magazine called Tractor
Classics for collectors of farm toys.
As well as selling the regular size real
thing from his Case -IH dealership in
the Perth County town, the Stoltz
family collect, sell, and write about
the growing farm toy market that has
found a place in the heart of anyone
with a connection to or sentimentality
about farming. Their 1,200
Marty DeBruyn of RR 1, Exeter and Derrick Leenders of RR 1, Lucan take pride
in their growing collection of farm toys, shown recently at Hensall Kinsmen's
Toy Show.
subscribers are spread across North
America.
Collectors range in age from young
boys to retired adults and come from
many walks of life. Many either live
on a farm, or have retired from a farm.
"Many collectors are only one
generation removed from the farm, so
they may collect models of tractors
they grew up with or the first tractor
they learned to drive," says Stoltz.
He estimates that there are about
100,000 collectors in North America,
with somewhere between 3,600 and
4,000 collectors living in Ontario. For
many collectors, it's a family affair,
with fathers, sons, sisters, brothers,
mothers, and cousins all sharing
collecting, sorting, cleaning,
displaying, and trading the toys. They
travel to shows together where they
share their passion with other
collectors and get a chance to buy,
trade, and sell some of their collection.
Although the toy companies
manufacture a full line of scale -model
farm implements, the most popular by
far are the scale -model tractors. They
come in different sizes with the most
popular ranging from the 1/64 scale,
which will fit nicely into the palm of
your hand, through to the 1/32 and the
larger 1/16 size. Some enthusiasts
even collect tricycle -sized peddle
tractors that young children aged two
to six years could ride. A few rarer
sizes include 1/80, 1/43 and 1/25,
more common to construction toys.
Until a dozen or so years ago, most
farm toys were sold as that — toys —
for children to play with. Although
many are still sold as playthings, many
makes and models of farm toys have
become much too valuable to put in
18 THE RURAL VOICE