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Ben Franklin + Hobby Store Scores
Topic Started: Aug 11 2014, 03:43 PM (528 Views)
craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

On my recent vacation out west I spotted a Ben Franklin store @ Cut Bank Montana just east of Glacier National Park. For starters I didn't realize the chain still existed and furthermore it had been a while since I had seen one open. Only previous one I had been to was behind the McDonalds in Dyersville, Iowa that was located in a strip mall. Apparently some hardware chain bought the company when it went into bankruptcy and kept the name alive.

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Once inside I darted to the back of the toy section and saw a Tootsietoy Porsche still looking quite minty.

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Unsure if this was a return at some point, old stock or purchased from a wholesaler. Regardless how often do you find 22 year old toys in a store?
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On a top shelf were some plastic 1/50ish scale tractors. I glanced at them and continued looking. My dad luckily saw what I didn't. :D
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This wasn't very new either as it was made in the USA. :thumbup:
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How often do you even find American made toys period?
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At a farm toy auction a few years back I bought this farm set.
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I checked the number compared to the box and it's a match. With some sleuthing on the internet I discovered that the orginal Slik Toys line was bought out in 1959 by Norbert Spinner who continued producing these up till the time of his passing in the year 2002. In early 2003 his grandson relaunched the line under the name 'Grandpa's Farm Toys'. These are/were produced in Hugo, Minnesota.
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The Saturday before leaving on vacation I attended/photographed a demo derby in a nearby town. At the town's square I saw a hobby/diecast shop which I had aimed to stop at several times before. It was early still for the derby so I drove back around the square and stopped.
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L to R - Revell '70 Monte Carlo, RC '64 Impala, Revell '85 Caddy, RCI/Action? '65 Galaxy and a RC '50 Ford.
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Plan on heading back to the hobby shop this weekend. Will keep everyone updated on my scores over there.

Edited by craftymore, Aug 11 2014, 03:45 PM.
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
Yes, It has been a number of years since I was through Cut Bank, MT - think I might have even stopped at that store you have pictured on one of those trips. The grader is one of the models from Slik Toys but you already figured that out. Last time I saw some of those in a store was a number of years ago in Sioux City, IA. :) They weren't really a size I collected but I bought some anyway because they were made in the US (Iowa, I think).

A side note on the Ben Franklin store - we still have one in Mott - well the sign is still there because they have not taken it down - now it is simply Olson's Variety and Grocery. A lot of those smaller town hardware stores still have toys on the shelves that have been there forever. A little hardware store in Carson, ND still had some carded Zylmex on their pegs. It is one of the joys of wandering through those types of stores and seeing what old diecast treasures you might find.
Edited by pjedsel, Aug 11 2014, 03:52 PM.
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Douglas
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SUV
Great finds....Makes you wonder if any of these old stores still have a long forgotten box of Lesney Matchbox buried in the back of their storage room or basement.
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
Dug-my-toys
Aug 11 2014, 05:10 PM
Great finds....Makes you wonder if any of these old stores still have a long forgotten box of Lesney Matchbox buried in the back of their storage room or basement.
I have occasionally asked and I keep hoping that one of these days in an out of the way drug store in a place like Deer Lodge, MT or an old variety store in some small town in Iowa a clerk will look in the back and come out with a bunch of regular wheel Matchbox cars. A collector can always dream and hope. :D
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bigtractormike
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Station Wagon

WOW !! A Ben Franklin !!

Haven't seen one of those since the early eighties !! a couple of aisles of toys usually, Christmas time , 6 to 7 aisles of toys !!

My parents went back up north quite a while ago and they picked up a bunch of ERTL pieces for me.

very cool to see them still around.

Some good stuff Zach !! Like the boxed farm set, that would have been great for our outdoor dirt farm in 1 / 43 rd

COOL STUFF !!
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SeberHusky
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Station Wagon
Amazing how old that stock is and it hasn't been sold still. That Tootsie is as old as me! :O

But that's really cool stuff, I would love doing that. Like Indiana Jones, raiding backwater department stores from the past, finding those dust-covered 80's diecast still brand-new and untouched hanging on the pegs.
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JeepXJLover
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Minivan
Great finds.

There is still a dedicated Ben Franklin store in Winterset Iowa.
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JeepXJLover
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Minivan
Was the hobby store decent on prices?
Edited by JeepXJLover, Aug 16 2014, 07:05 PM.
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cody6268
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Minivan
The local Bobcat/Kubota dealer had a US Made Ertl 1/16 Kubota tractor that had likely been there for 20+ years. I wish I had bought it, but someone bought it last year before me.
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

JeepXJLover
Aug 16 2014, 07:04 PM
Was the hobby store decent on prices?
For what I bought I thought it was a decent price. Spent less than $10 on the items shown. I'm going to try and head back this coming Friday if I have some free time.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow!

I think I need to take a trip up north one of these days!
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