A contemporary of Hot Wheels and a part time emulator of the custom styling, was the short lived Tonka Tote range. Keen to grab a bit of the small scall action, Tonka released a small range of stylised vehicles, roughly the same length as an average HW car. However they were a lot sturdier and wider wheelbase, like their big pressed steel brothers. Tonka Totes only ran for a couple of years, as they were nowhere near as popular as the big metal giants.
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Stunning Wote. Never even heard of this line. Where do you find all this stuff!
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty funny, I was just thinking about these a couple days back. They have real rubber tires. I had 4 of these as a kid and they are off in storage at my folks. Each one came with a red plastic holder/carrier that had the Tonka emblem molded at the top and a belt clip. The carrier has 2 prongs that go into holes in the bottom of the chassis. I've got the Bug Blaster in a mustard yellow metallic flake, Scream'n Demon in white with red stripe, Dune Duster in a lovely metallic flake purple (what the Bug Blaster in the catalog is), and Double Deuce in a red metallic flake.
ReplyDeleteI've also got the apparently rare construction helmet from the line. It looks like a regular toy yellow construction helmet with a Tonka sticker but has 4 slots around the sides to put the tabs from the carriers into so you can haul the cars around on your hat. Not sure why you'd want to do that but hey, fashion!
That hat sounds amazing Lance. Any chance of a piccy?
DeleteHey Lance - I had one of those hats as a kid! The rubber tyres absolutely stink now, I fear they may be starting to break down with age. Might be worth checking yours. Ive still got a few to get, but they only realyy surface in the States.
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