Glenn "Junior" Bower Jr. has amassed a treasure trove of pedal tractors and implements. When queried about his early collecting, Junior recalled playing hard with toys as a youngster.
"Early toys as a kid were mostly construction toys. The one I remember best was a dump truck made by Buddy L. In addition, a special John Deere pedal tractor received at Christmas as a child made a lasting memory. With six kids in the family, our toys didn't stand the test of time. As a result, none of those made it into my collection. As I progressed into my late 20s, collecting scale models started to interest me, he shared.
Collection Evolution
Junior worked on a friend's farm as a teenager in Ohio. The farm equipment was almost exclusively Allis-Chalmers. With that brand familiarity, Junior collected a few pieces of the iconic orange equipment while still employed at the farm.
"I bought my first toy tractor at a nearby Allis-Chalmers dealer. It was a 1/16 scale, die-cast Allis-Chalmers D17," he said. Serious collecting started a number of years later. As with many collectors, his interest changed with the small-scale models.

Want to read the rest of the story?  
It's available in the JULY TF 2019 magazine!
Call (701) 883-5206 or (701) 883-5206 to purchase or subscribe!
Or download here: JULY TF 20

Gavin Redman of Wellington, New Zealand, collects English-made die-cast Matchbox toys, including tractors and farm-related models from the Lesney years of 1954-1982. The collection is comprised of the I-75 series of miniature replicas, with both Regular and Superfast wheels, sold as individually boxed toys.

His adult collection began in 2001, and contains few of his childhood toys. At least one representation of each tractor's issued colors is included, such as No. 46f Ford Tractor, painted in both blue and green finishes.

From its inception, Lesney used zamak, also known as Mazak, a zinc alloy, for casting Matchbox toys. The company was always conscious of children's safety and never cast models from lead or painted them with a lead-based paint.

Gavin likes the compact size of the models, which makes storage easier. "There's always the challenge to find something new," he says. "The more you have, the harder it is to get new ones. The ones you're looking for are ones that everyone else is looking for."

He will have some competition at the annual Wellington Toy Fair that he and Tony Dowman organize. This year, the event's 10th anniversary show, will be held in the Chilton St. James School hall, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, on Sunday July 5, COVID-19 restrictions permitting. Collectors and sellers of farming models and other toys come from as far as Auckland and Thames to attend the largest fair of its kind in New Zealand's lower North Island. When there's a lull in the hall, Gavin will leave their stall to Tony while he canvases the venue, searching for what he's after. Or Tony may have gone first, as they take it in turns.

Want to read the rest of the story?  
It's available in the JUNE TF 2019 magazine!
Call (701) 883-5206 or (701) 883-5206 to purchase or subscribe!
Or download here: JUNE TF 20

For this year's National Farm Toy Show, the Toy Farmer is offering collectors two models of a well-loved, orange fallen flag. The 1/16 scale National Farm Toy Show tractor for 2020 will be the first-generation Allis-Chalmers 190XT with a bar grille and slant fenders. Continuing the series of 1/64 scale four-wheel-drives, the other 2020 National Farm Toy Show tractor will be the Allis-Chalmers 4W-220.
In 1965, Allis-Chalmers introduced a new logo while dealers were showing off what Norm Swinford calls "the hottest tractor they ever had to sell." The venerable diamond corporate logo, with the A-C letters inside a gear motif, was reshaped as a pyramid incorporating both letters. The hot new tractor was the 93-PTO-horsepower 190XT, introduced in late 1964 and put into full production in 1965. (It is interesting to note that some of the earliest 190XT tractor grilles showed the gear motif logo.)
The "XL" designation was significant, because just one year earlier, Allis-Chalmers had introduced the 190 model, initially proposed as the D19 Series II. But because there was "a strong desire for an all-new line designation to support the modern styling and features," the "19" in D19 became 190. At 75.37 gas PTO horsepower and 77.2 diesel PTO horsepower, the 190 tractors had been "met with great disappointment," because other makers could offer more power in the same sized tractor.
Eve though the West Allis factory continued to put out the 190 through 1972, the 190XT outsold the lower-horsepower tractor nearly five to one (22,419 190XTs vs. 4,703 190 tractors.)
The 190XT tractors were available with a 89.53-PTO-horsepower LP burner. However, most of the 190XT tractors sold with A-C's 301-cubic-inch turbocharged diesel. In the right hands, the diesel 190XT "would easily outperform the D21," When farmers and dealers cranked up the turbocharged engine, "it was not unusual to hear of 120-horsepower XT diesels." At 7,738 pounds shipping weight ("One-Ninety," p. 23), the 190XT diesel could be lightened up to qualify for the 7,000-pound puller class, so the tractor soon became a favorite for competition (Swinford 103). In fact, the 190XT's 301-cubic-inch diesel, gas, and LP engines were all newly engineered, designed from the outset to be readily enlarged for even more power.

Gene Gregory's craftsmanship of scratch-built models could be better defined as artistry, due to the design quality and the detailed handwork. Through time, Gene has perfected his artistry. His more recent build is a radio-controlled Minneapolis-Moline UDLX tractor. This superbly crafted model could be considered Gene's magnum opus, or his grandest accomplishment!
Gene's scratch building goes back nearly a quarter-century, when he crafted a Silver King pedal tractor. From his Loudonville, Ohio, residence, he went on to build numerous pedal tractor models, with limited numbers of each one.
"Making pedal tractors from scratch was enjoyable, but, after a time, I wanted something more satisfying; unique models for my personal collection. That's when I decided to make them operational and just one-of-a-kind. Having them powered by gas engines could be messy, with potential maintenance issues. Eventually, I went the battery-powered route with radio-control," Gene indicated.
In 2006, Gene built his first high-detailed, quarter-scale radio-controlled (R-C) tractor, a John Deere 8020 diesel. After that achievement, he constructed an industrial John Deere 5010 diesel. Gene next considered the challenge of building a Caterpillar. Subsequently, he crafted a CAT D5N bulldozer with a high track. Gene then moved onto the trucking industry by building a quarter-scale Peterbilt 379 day-cab truck. To make a complete rig, he added a fifth-wheel, lowboy trailer.

There was a day when folks gathered around the potbelly stove in the general store to share news, tell stories and gossip. Today, that setting has changed to the local barbershop in small-town America. In the case of Sonner's Barber Shop in Hillsboro, Ohio, the potbelly stove has been replaced with farm equipment models.
Little did Marty Sonner and his fellow barber, Matt Butler, realize their collections would create such a draw. Along with a haircut, the farm toys became a gathering point for customers to jaw about their favorite farm equipment brand.
"We always thought our quality barbering was what customers came for. Evidently, the toy tractors were the customers' excuse to stop by," Marty chuckled.
Marty explained, "It all started a number of years ago, when Matt decided to put some of his John Deere tractors on display shelves in the barbershop. That's when I brought some of my collection in for display as well. This evolved into more than we ever anticipated. We became aware of more farm toy collectors than we could have imagined. It also became an exchange point for some to sell or barter their extra models."

Every morning, Doug Harke settles into a chair at his computer, then launches an extensive search engine he's devised to hunt for farm toy literature on the internet. With such an extensive collection of catalogs, brochures and advertisements, it seems impossible there's more to find. But he still untangles some treasures from the web.
"That occasionally turns up things. Last fall, I found some Massey-Ferguson literature that I never saw before. One was from a year that I didn't have, but I didn't know that it existed," he shares.
Doug's collection of literature related to farm toys in an outreach of both his love of history and his love of the farm toys themselves, passions which both stem from his childhood.
"I always liked toys growing up," he says. He and his late brother had an almost complete set of Massey-Harris toys made by Lincoln, which they played with while growing up on the prairies of western Canada near Edmonton, Alberta. His favorite full-size tractor as a child was an International Super WD-9.

Want to read the rest of the story?  
It's available in the February TF 2020 magazine!
Call (701) 883-5206 or (701) 883-5206 to purchase or subscribe!
Or download here: FEBRUARY TF 2020

Farm toy collectors are constantly searching for their cherished oldie, the creative custom piece or the latest and greatest. Collectors were able to pursue their quest at the 42nd Annual National Farm Toy Show staged in Dyersville, Iowa, in November 2019. The ample offerings throughout the show resulted in thousands of collectors breaking new ground by adding special models to their assemblage.
"I would say 90 percent or better of collectors either grew up on a farm or have connections to farming today," commented Kate Bossen, owner of Bossen Implement, indicating those connected with agriculture have the greatest influence with the farm toy hobby.
Some questioned whether the farm economy and challenging 2019 farming conditions would affect the show's success, but vendors were generally optimistic about the interest expressed by collectors.
"We have not seen a (farm toy) setback with the current farm economy. The rare toys are still as strong as ever. We've even seen resurgence in cast-iron toys. The only noted slump is the pieces that were overproduced," noted Ken Girard, whose Girard Auction & Land Brokers, Wakonda, S.D., sponsors a tent with several dealers.

Meld mechanical expertise with a generational family history in farm toys, then infuse a sense of humor. The result is Jered Buckert, a farm toy scratch builder and owner to "Looks Like Farm Toys."
The 32-year-old from Nauvoo, Ill., has a baby photo of himself clutching a 1/64 scale John Deere tractor, a toy which was handed to him shortly after birth. "They say I just grabbed onto that as soon as they handed it to me," he says. 
That John Deere is being held captive by his mother in a display case in the family home. "She said I can have it when she's gone, but until then, it's hers," Jered says with a laugh.
While Jered's love for farm toys in an inherited family trait, his business was launched when he became a serious builder, paying homage to implements from the 1940s to 1960s. 
"I've been keeping with the antique implements just because that seems to be a void in the industry," he says. "There are not a lot of guys building implements and part of the fun of owning an old tractor, to me, is taking it out and using it, pull the plow or run the combine."

Dan Robinette's has a defined purpose for assembling farm tractor and equipment replicas. "Collecting the farm toys I grew up with provides wonderful memories. In addition, I've rounded up models of the equipment I farmed with over the years. I'll often go into my man cave, look at special models and reflect on those memorable past days," Dan reflected.
Dan continued, "I also view my collection as being educational. Without seeing models of farm equipment from the past, the next generation cannot appreciate how farming was done. I don't expect young farmers to go back and farm as we did. But, it helps give them an appreciation for the progress that has been made through time. I enjoy sharing my collection for people to view."

Collection launch and content
Like most farm kids, Dan received a plethora of farm toys as gifts when he was a youngster. During his teen years, Dan probably 16 when I began buying my own tractors and equipment models. And then, when I graduated from high school, I got serious about putting toys on the shelves."