IH Toy Stories

International Harvester Toy Stories

The Following Articles Appeared in Issue #4 the August 2002 Farm Toy Report to Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of International Harvester

71 1/64 IH Tractors, Combines and Trucks were used to create the 100

International HarvestER Heritage

By Jason Hasert, ToyTractorShow.com Webmaster

A real prize IH toy: Ertl's first IH toy the Farmall H

One of the first toys produced by the Ertl company was the International Harvester H in 1945 in their family home. It all started in the family basement where Fred Ertl, Sr. took scrap aluminum from old air craft parts and melted it down in his furnace. The melted aluminum was then poured into sand molds. Once the aluminum cooled, the molds were opened to show a well formed tractor. The castings of the model tractors were sawed apart, hand drilled and assembled. The tractors were then dipped in paint and hung to dry. After the toy tractors had dried wheels were added. The International Farmall H was Ertl's first red toy. A Farmall M with a little more casting improvement followed in the 1950's. The original Ertl H featured rubber wheels, a farmer driver and red paint. The H did not have decals. It is difficult to put a price on one of these original Ertl Farmall H's because so few are left in good condition and those who own them are not likely to sell. Jason Skillen who showed in the 2001 National Farm Toy Show Display Contest had an interesting display that helped place him in the contests top 5 displays. Jason chose to display the history of International Harvester Toys. One of the most interesting pieces in his collection was an Ertl H. This was a prize piece to Jason and it took over 20 years of collecting red toys to find the rare toy. It is a very historical toy that helped launch a family business that latter became the number one farm toy maker in the world of quality toy tractors and implements. Today Ertl offers a wide variety of IH and CaseIH toys. You can learn about some of the newest red toys from Ertl in this issue of the TTS Farm Toy Report as well as some of Ertl's classic IH toy tractors from the 1970's and 80's.

Classic Toy Tractor Review

Remembering a Man and His IH Tractor: The Claire Scheibe Memorial Farmall 400

by Michael G. Henry

Although Claire Scheibe died July 23, 2000, and never got to see his Farmall 400 in 1/16th scale, the ones that received it saw a beautiful replica of the Scheibe tractor. Claire used a Farmall 400 on his farm, then sold it. Later, he bought another Farmall 400 and restored it. The picture on the Toy Farmer Website, under the Country Store "barns" section, shows the Farmall 400 sitting in front of the museum.

The Scheibe 1/16 was delivered in early May 2002. When collector's received their models, they were greeted by a highly-glossed box with the picture of Claire Scheibe and his Farmall 400. The tractor inside is a similar replica of the Farmall 450 that was produced by SpecCast for the Penfield, IL., Red Power Roundup. However, the 400 has a wide front, unlike the 450. The Farmall 400 has a highly detailed engine with realistic fan belts and decals. The tires and rims represent the tradition Farmall well with its silver and red hubs.

The Claire Scheibe Memorial Farmall 400 is close to being precision, with only being half of the cost of a precision model. Most importantly, the proceeds of the tractor go to annual scholarships for qualified agricultural students.

For the collector who purchased the tractor, the Farmall 400 is a nice tractor and a good buy. For the collector who didn't, this may be a piece that may have value in the future. For the Scheibe family, it is a way to remember a man who helped the toy farming community out tremendously, and a way for a grownup to see his own tractor in a toy.

If you would like to learn more about the publication that launched the farm toy collecting hobby 25 years ago and is the leading magazine in the hobby today visit http://www.toyfarmer.com . If you are not a subscriber you should strongly consider this quality monthly source on the hobby.

TTS Notes

My interest in farm toys started in 1978 at the age of 2. Santa Claus left an IH 886 tractor, 915 combine and gravity wagon under the tree for me that Christmas. I was hooked for life on toy tractors. Between rug farming and the sand box I probably put a million hours on those three IH toys by the next Christmas. A testament to the quality of Ertl's die-cast toys is that I still have these great toys today. They show there years of use but are still intact and part of my collection. IH holds a special place in my collecting interest. Last year I decided that I would invest a little in my IH collection and purchase my first three toys new in the box. My first purchase was the IH 915 combine from Les Seigrist at the Carlisle, PA Toy Show. My second find was the 886 tractor at the National Toy Show in Dyersville, IA. The set was completed this June when I attend the LaMoure, ND toy show where I purchased the IH Gravity Wagon. It is a thrill to have my first toys in crisp clean condition. To give an idea of the appreciation of IH toys in the past 24 years the 886 tractor cost $12.96, the 915 combine $15.00 and the Gravity Wagon $8.95 while today on average the 886 brings $100, the 915 combine $265 and the Gravity Wagon $40. These great toys brought hours of fun to a young rug farmer and still do to a collector.

Jay

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