Colt’s Collectibles, Seekonk, Mass.

Review & Onsite Photos by Kiersten Busch

NORTH FRANKLIN, CONN. — The gray morning of Sunday, March 8, did not reflect the sunny attitudes of the volunteer firefighters greeting cars full of enthusiastic collectors as they drove onto the grounds of the Franklin Volunteer Fire Department (FVFD) for its Fourth Annual Antique & Collectible Toy Show. With a $10 early bird admission at 9 am and free admission after the regular 10 am start time, all of the show’s proceeds (which also included the refreshments sold) benefitted the FVFD. Showrunner Jodie Hanks was pleased with this year’s early bird turnout, happily touting that at least 30 people had showed up, eager to start browsing before the general afternoon crowd.

The show’s first room hosted around ten dealers, including local Mark Nall of Franklin, Conn. Nall collects and restores Tonka and Prestige toy trucks “working back to the 1920s-40s,” he explained, and was happy to show us a 1949 Tonka carry all/shovel truck and 1948 Smith-Miller C10 tow truck, which he had restored and repainted with shining red and white paint. “I mostly modify and repair,” Nall said. “My daughter-in-law has one rule: my grandson can’t play with toys that are rusty!” One of the trucks he had specifically modified for his grandson — a red Keystone example, to which he mounted a U-Haul trailer — was displayed at eye-level on one of the booth’s shelves. Nall also offered a 1968 General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower action figure by Marx, which came with all of its original clothing and hat.

Mark Nall modified this Keystone truck to include a U-Haul trailer on its bed at his grandson’s request. Franklin, Conn.

Around the corner from Nall was Doug Platz, who decided to attend as a dealer for the first time this year after being invited to the show by Clay and Mary Smith of Das Bulli Haus (North Franklin, Conn.) the year prior. “Trains are my specialty, but I do offer other items, hence ‘and Collectibles’ in my name,” Platz, who trades under the name Digger’s Trains & Collectibles, joked. “I wanted to branch out. I sell mostly on eBay, but I’m retiring soon, so this is becoming more full-time.” Platz usually buys collections of trains at garage, yard or estate sales, including a mid-1960s set by Renwal Plastic, which were 1/48 scale models. On the “Collectibles” side of things, Platz’s most unique offerings, included a green Furby in working condition and a set of 57 toy Chevy cars, made as promotional material for 3 Musketeers candy bars. “In the set, you would receive three mini-sized bars and three cars,” he explained.

Also attending for the first time was John Cokely, who owns Diecast Vehicles. Not only does Cokely sell vintage toy trucks but his entire house is covered in them, hence the “Museum” label on his business card. “I have over 4,000 pieces on display at my home. My wife would like [my museum] to say, ‘out of business,’” he joked. Diecast Vehicles also helped produce at least 21 toy trucks, some of which Cokely had on display in his booth. Two examples advertised The Boston Globe, with sides labeled “Read The Boston Globe Daily Sunday” and “Read The Boston Globe Morning, Sunday, Evening.” Next to them was another example Cokely’s business helped produce, which advertised St Johnsbury Trucking Company, located in both St Johnsbury, Vt., and Boston.

John Cokely shared that his company, Diecast Vehicles, put up the money to produce the two Boston Globe trucks (second row from top) he had on display, as well as the St Johnsbury Trucking Company example to their right. Holliston, Mass.

Across from Cokely was Rich Caine, who was busy all morning making sales. He took a quick minute to clarify with us that he was based in Beckett, Mass., and that his specialty was diecast cars and trucks before jumping back into the fray. Caine had in-box merchandise, including a Peterbilt truck, Model 589, from Diecast Masters, which was part of the company’s Transport Series, as well as a Kenworth T880 Day Cab pusher-axle tandem and Trail King TK120HG with a Caterpillar D11R Dozer components load model, which was 1/50 scale. Sitting among his unboxed and displayed trucks were also model aggregates — sand, rock and asphalt — which could be secured onto a transport model to make it look more realistic. Just as we were finishing up in Caine’s booth, he sold a small green-painted First Gear dump truck to a customer planning to surprise her collector husband with the purchase.

At the far end of the first room was Karen Guerra, who has attended the show as a dealer for three of the four years it has operated. Hailing from Wolcott, Conn., Guerra specializes in antique toys from the 1950s and especially favors battery-operated, tin and Japanese varieties. “My husband buys and collects, and sometimes he gets doubles,” she said, explaining how she has amassed her own collection, separate from her beau’s. An ongoing motif in Guerra’s booth was that of circus clowns. Several small tin windup examples, including one that walked and another that popped out of a barrel, were scattered across her display table, along with a larger doll in its original outfit.

Walking down a small hallway and through another door led us to the main show space: the FVFD’s garage. While most of the vehicles had been cleared out to make space for the 15 or so dealers, a parked ambulance was visible behind the rightmost aisle. The firefighters’ gear was also on full display in their lockers, which we passed by before stopping at the booth of Mark North of Columbia, Conn.

Plenty of dealers were also set up in the Franklin Volunteer Fire Department’s garage, keeping good company with ambulances and fire equipment.

North, who specializes in all things automotive, has attended the show every year since its inception. Why, might you ask? “Why not!” he replied. “It’s 15 minutes from my house, and everyone is very easy to work with.” Attendees were very interested in North’s colorful display of diecast cars, which he explained were his father’s. “I sell if there’s any interest, and it seems there’s a lot of interest,” he happily reported.

“This is my second time set up, but my third visit,” clarified Larry Eiden of Montville, Conn., who is a “car guy, mostly, but beyond that it’s just things I enjoy.” As to why he’s in the business, he explained, “I’ve always liked bartering and selling, and I used to exclusively go to swap meets for automotive parts; that’s where the interest began.” Eiden was happy to report that he had already had a few sales about an hour into the show and excitedly showed off some of his more unique offerings to us. He had a lamp in the shape of a balloon that he called “nostalgic,” a fully functional and complete Walt Disney World monorail train set, a Campbell’s Kid doll and a 1960s Barbie’s Dream Kitchen set. The kitchen set was unusual in that it did not feature the bright pink and fuchsia color schemes that the modern-day Barbie is associated with. Instead, the furniture was mostly in shades of beige and yellow. “She must’ve remodeled,” Eiden quipped.

Larry Eiden was particularly excited to show off the items in this corner of his booth: a 1960s Barbie’s Dream Kitchen set, a Campbell’s Kid doll and a complete Walt Disney World monorail train set, which still functioned! Montville, Conn.

Slightly down the aisle from Eiden was Jeff, no last name given, from Uncasville, Conn. His specialty honed in on collectibles, mostly diecast trains, of which he had multitudes lined up on their sides neatly in boxes for customers to easily view. “The market’s not what it used to be, but this keeps me out of trouble,” he said. “It’s just inventory to me. I was born into this! My dad used to own a hobby shop when I was growing up; he’s also here dealing today.” While diecast trains made up the majority of Jeff’s booth, a small section was also dedicated to model train accessories, including various signage and lights.

Before heading out the door, Hanks, who handed us a few pieces of candy from a small basket at the check-in desk, assured us, and all those wondering, that the show would be back next year, noting that she would be “looking to push advertising even more next year!”

A date has not yet been announced for next year’s show. For information, [email protected] or 860-966-7612.