Tonka Toys

[Morcar]

Re: Tonka Toys

Not quite my era, but I remember the slogan:
"Real tough toys for real tough boys: Tonka"

The one I remember was something like

You'll never conquer a Tonka

[Emettman]

Re: Tonka Toys

[/B]

I was looking through the thread for somebody mentioning this.

I had a big yellow car transporter. It was big enough to sit on and ride around the house. I had a us army jeep as well. This often used to fly off the top of the stairs to test its durability.

Of course much lates I found the definition:
unbreakable toy: what a child uses to break all his other toys.

[KromeDome]

Re: Tonka Toys

TONKA! Wow - I had the Dump Truck (of course) and... (thinking) - yeah - the Cement Mixer, Road Grader and the awesome Back-Hoe (cool rubber tracks w. bucket scoop on front and the digger-arm on the back. Also had the big-boy Front-End Loader. These were the old-school Tonkas, with steel bodies and rubber parts. All of the plastics were tough and heavy duty. And these toys worked - I never broke anything on any of these, and I drove roads all over the yard. The later Tonkas suffered as all toys have - lighter and cheaper - more fragile.

I really don't like the retail world's concept of "built-in obsolesence" where products are carefully designed to last exactly long enough that you don't mind replacing them. Seriously, a neighbor is having a tag sale and has an old-time chromed toaster with these cool sloped sides and little doors. I bet this is from the thirties maybe? A new electric cord for safety and it'd still work just fine even today! Big market and interest in these retro-appliances, by the way.

[moonvisage]

Re: Tonka Toys

I had a yellow dump truck aswell.I think it was my brothers,and i got it as a cast off.

[Tortie]

Re: Tonka Toys

I've just found five Tonka "Speedsters" (I think...), racing cars where you pressed down the back wheels to wind them up, them let them go and off they went. I had them taken off me for knocking the paint off the skirting boards on the landing :cry:

[Powdered toast man]

Re: Tonka Toys

I had this same yellow dumptruck and a tracked bulldozer that had a backhoe fitted as well. It was a clumsy thing to operate and hardly played with it The design of the dumptruck is based on a 1960's Berliet quarry truck. Not a lot of people know that

[darren]

Re: Tonka Toys

think i had a jcb digger and the dumptruck.
tonka they made quality toys.

[Richard1978]

Re: Tonka Toys

Me & my brother had a few of these over the years, great for playing in the garden when the weather was good.

We had the dump truck, the bulldozer, a car transporter with 2 flatish VW Beetles, & jibless crane mounted lorry a friend let me have for 20p.

[memoman]

Re: Tonka Toys

I had one of the big tonka's I remember it was green,But not which one it was?

[battyrat]

Re: Tonka Toys

Mine was also a dump truck type thing.On rare occations I used to play out in the back yard with it.It became more fun when a mate across the road had a sandpit put in and then these toys really came into their own.Mine was eventually sold on by my parants as I was not really into toy cars etc,and rarely played with them.It was a toy I remember but find hard to get too nostalgic about it.

[darren]

Re: Tonka Toys

have you sill got them all mate.
getting that one for 20 p well done..

i really wish id kept mine now.

Me & my brother had a few of these over the years, great for playing in the garden when the weather was good.

We had the dump truck, the bulldozer, a car transporter with 2 flatish VW Beetles, & jibless crane mounted lorry a friend let me have for 20p.

[darren]

Re: Tonka Toys

check this.



http://youtu.be/wyorLSW41Ic

http://youtu.be/hvoC3TD0aeA

http://youtu.be/_yF_EtPHKzY

[Finnthedude]

Re: Tonka Toys

I had the iconic dump truck and the crane, both yellow. I remember hours of fun with them in my sand pit. Brilliant toys, I wish I'd still got them now. Very tough - I could sit on the dump truck and ride it down my slide. This caused me more than a few injuries

Cheers,
Finnthedude.

[lifeonearth]

Re: Tonka Toys

Tonka was great had many when i was younger...But they dont make them like that any more..I found a tonka the other day from 2004 but it must have been when Tonka started entering the plastic arena..Its a nice thing but not a patch on the Tonkas from when i was a boy...http://youtu.be/ZkUFpYpe_P0

[darren]

Re: Tonka Toys

SAME WITH lots of toys now they are inferior quality or are made in china etc.

why did they go and make plastic ones.
im ure i can guess why.

i had lots of them a dumptruck being one.

Tonka was great had many when i was younger...But they dont make them like that any more..I found a tonka the other day from 2004 but it must have been when Tonka started entering the plastic arena..Its a nice thing but not a patch on the Tonkas from when i was a boy...http://youtu.be/ZkUFpYpe_P0