Woodsy,
I was gonna send these photos last week, but Terranova's awesome C-119 post prompted me to get off my keester and get 'er done!
As happens so often, this toy was marketed as one kind of plane when actually it is another kind (in caricature) entirely. Ideal marketed this plane as a Globemaster.
The real Globemaster was made by Douglas Aircraft and designated the C-124 Globemaster II and was produced from 1950-55. Ideal's version came out around 1963-64. Below is a photo of the real Globemaster. I think you'll agree the two are not at all similar.
There were two actual planes made similar in appearance to Ideal's which are more appropriate to the way the toy looks. The first is the Fairchild C-82 Packet Plane shown below. The C-82 was produced from 1945-48 and first flew with the U.S. Army Air Forces and later the U.S. Air Force.
The C-82 is considered an early developmental stage for the more familiar C-119 Flying Boxcar which first flew in 1947 with production ending in 1955. It remained in service with active duty Air Force units until 1962. You'll notice that neither the real C-82 or C-119 had cargo doors in the front of the aircraft. Both of them had their cargo bay doors to the rear of the aircraft.
The toy measures 17 1/4" (40cm) L x 21 3/4" (55.24cm) wingspan x 5 3/8" (13.65cm) H (to tip of rear vertical stabilizer's) and is a hybrid plastic/tin-litho piece. The set included a nice array and some very boring figures.
The airplane in these photos I actually sold off years ago because I still have one in the original box! (which I just haven't gotten around to photographing yet).
From Vegas Air Field
Ed
USA
Another great cartoon aircraft. What was it about transport planes that toy makers found funny?
ReplyDeleteThe Swadar Pack Plane was a decent representation, but this one lends itself very well to just being a large fun toy. Lots of play value here for the kiddies.
DeleteUnwieldy and beautiful, that’s what that is! The ugly duckling of transport aircraft! SFZ
ReplyDeleteThere's something about big unwieldy looking planes that fascinates me. My favorite flying boat is the Short Sunderland.
Delete...and if you lose the toy soldiers, you can always play "Flight of the Phoenix"
ReplyDelete-crash it, pull it apart, stick it back together and fly off into the sunset!
noooo, not unless the toy is already a wreck. :-)
DeleteAnother great old toy. The US national insignia is a bit of a mix. The white star on a blue circle, with a red dot in the centre, was only used up to 1942. The type with the bars on each side should have a blue outline, not red - only the central stripe is red, and the star does not have a red dot anymore. Toy companies really struggle with US insignia.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately that's a very common attribute of toy companies. Their mentality is that their job is to make toys - not to make ACCURATE toys
DeleteAnother superb piece you've got there, Ed. So much fun and adventure to be had with this set. Always put me in mind of Thunderbird 2.
ReplyDeleteThanx Tony! Yes, the play value in this set is over the top. Maybe these types of planes were the inspiration for T2 - after all they weren't distanced by too many years.
Delete