Over the past year or so I've begun to notice this beautiful toy.
The Mountain Mover Shovel.
The box art is a masterpiece.
And the toy.
I mean, wow!
It was a Sears exclusive like the Moon Mobile Rocket Launcher and the Turnpike Van Trailer and many more in a staggeringly gorgeous series of tinplate toys, which seem to sum up the future in their sleek angles and big ideas.
I don't have any, I didn't know about them as a kid but I adore them now.
And the Mountain Mover Shovel is one of my faves.
This example was on Worthpoint.
Were you or are you lucky enough to own a Sears exclusive?
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Until this post I did not even know this toy existed. It looks like a real monster - how big was it really ? Very impressive. The wheels seem very small for such a vehicle, even though the size of the cab suggests they must be able the height of a man, most real excavators are tracked.
ReplyDeleteI agree Paul. The wheels do seem small but they seem to fit. The Sears Turnpike line of toys were very very stylish and appear to have been really well designed and made. The whole fleet of these toys must be incredible to see. You'd need to re-mortgage the house to own them all!
DeleteA decade ago I was astonished to come across a loose Sears Moon Mobile Scout Wagon Explorer in a window of a provincial antique shop. It was not in a best of conditions, but really rare bird nevertheless. Some years later, I was chuffed to find a perfect boxed example in Italy.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the whole Sears Exclusive toy line, but that particular toy has appealed to me the most. Much to do with the stunning box graphics, as goes with the whole toy line. I wonder who the artist was and whether the originals have survived.
I agree Arto. Gorgeous. Do you think they were limited to Sears in the US and maybe Japan? The Rocket Launcher was by Tomy originally.
DeleteThe Sears toys are really something, especially the Radiation Detector (?) - a long sleek vehicle which could have come straight from an episode of Thunderbirds. They must have been premium toys for the well heeled! Any pics of yours to show Arto?
ReplyDeleteThat radiation detector is just fabuloso Wote, I agree. nothing like that would be made now, no mystery around radiation anymore. It has to be one of the most beautiful 'space' toys ever, if space is the right word. i think they had an arctic toy too. We seemed to have been interested in all things extreme in those days - the arctic, the planets, dangerous elements, the deep seas and they were all reflected in the toys of the time. Even our encyclopedias were the same. Has it all shaped who we are? Did our interests drive the zeitgeist or did it drive us as kids?
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