Monday, November 14, 2011

One Of The Best Things About Thrift Stores Is Never Knowing What (If Anything!) You Are Going To Find When You Step Inside. Status: Something A Little Different.

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'Memba metal toys?  The kind that could do some serious damage if used "improperly".  Does Tonka still make their dump trucks in America?  I can't find any good info on dating these particular Tonkas but I'd place them at maybe early to mid '80s.  Not at all Modtomic but still a cool vintage(ish) thrift score!

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These were in the "bin" at the Goodwill down on Forest Park Parkway meaning they hadn't

been placed in their appropriate area yet.  They were so cheap that I just couldn't leave

them behind.  I'm gonna throw an ad up on craigslist and see if there's anybody out there

who needs these guys.  I took the pics and liked the photos so much that I thought I'd share

the thrift score here!  Man, I would have LOVED to have had these when I was little!

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Sadly the bucket that goes on the end of the string on the crane is missing. I looked all

through the bin for it in case it had broken free in there. There was a newer Tonka pickup

truck in the bin that I left behind but I would have loved to find the ubiquitous Big dump

truck. That's the toy everybody thinks of when your hear Tonka. I'm pretty sure I'll have

no problem moving these since a guy who came by this afternoon to pick up an 8 track

player / recorder asked if I was going to sell them. I hadn't done any research on them yet

and I wasn't sure what to ask just yet so I told him I'd let him know. I won't be asking

much so I might already have a buyer!

2 comments:

  1. It is sad that they don't make most, if any, Tonka trucks in metal anymore. My brother had many of them but his favorite was the snorkle fire engine! Seeing these bring backs happy memories of days gone by. I don't know the dates of your trucks but most of my brothers were from the 1970's.

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  2. Great find! My brother (he's 34 now) had these as a lad. I loved to play with them, too! So well made. They are definitely from the early/mid 80's. Cheers ~ Audra in Springfield

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