tnttoytrucks.com |
This collection has been purchased by Mark Bahr who continues to expand and improve it. You can contact Mark at: arkins@comcast.net |
The Dunwell/Buckeye line of trucks is somewhat unique in that during its brief production run of six or seven years the toys were marketed by three different companies! It all began with the Dunwell Metal Products Company of Clifton, New Jersey. They produced the first Dunwell trucks in 1954 or 1955. They were excellent replicas of the real C-Series Cab-Forward trucks introduced by the Ford Motor Company in 1953. The Dunwell trucks featured a round red decal on each cab door. At some point, the Fame Metal Products Company of Newark, New Jersey took over the line. The trucks they produced were basically identical to the ones made by Dunwell. In fact, they retained the famous “Dunwell” name, but changed the style of the door decal to a gold-colored elongated design. In February of 1959 the Ohio Art Company of Bryan, Ohio took over marketing the trucks and changed the door label once again. They were now labeled as “Buckeye” trucks and used a paper stick-on yellow logo. There is good reason to believe that the Fame Metal Products Company actually continued the production of the trucks since the Ohio Art Company informed their distributors that freight would be charged from Newark, New Jersey, and not from Bryan, Ohio.
that detracted from the original Dunwell design. The hubcaps were changed and a simple push nut was used to retain them on the axles. The semi mud-flaps were sometimes held in place by metal tabs instead of rivets. The Buckeye grille/headlight stamping used integrated headlights instead of the snap-in design used by the Dunwells. Perhaps worst of all, some of the semi trailers had single rear axles instead of the more attractive dual axles. Nevertheless, both Buckeye and Dunwell trucks are highly desirable in that they were colorful replicas of the real thing. They were rugged, well-proportioned and constructed with lasting quality. A truly great American toy. |