Lincoln & BuddyL

Buddy L Toy Poster

Lincoln brand toys was another Canadian company, located in Windsor Ontario,  that manufactured metal toy trucks that have become highly collectible. These, although often easier to find than Minnitoys, can be almost as expensive as Minnitoys. Most are in a more reasonable price range, but some of the rarer or more coveted ones are pricier. Like all toys from ages past, condition also plays a part in the cost of procurement.

The Toyman has turned an eye towards adding some of these to his collection - they are in a similar scale to the Otaco toys, but so far, the ones he has come across are slightly smaller.  Both Lincoln Toys and Buddy L toys come in a wider range of scales, with Buddy L toys having quite a few smaller scale offerings, something Otaco Minnitoys doesn't offer.  

Buddy L is probably one of the most recognized brands, and has been manufactured in one style or another since about 1910 (with an interesting history: see QC Times story), making it one of the oldest of the three, and in fact, some of the older Buddy L toys are being produced now as reproductions (so be careful when buying the oldest models - see Buddy L Trucks Copied).

Lincoln Toy Tow Truck - Dunlop Tires

 

The Lincoln Toy above (Dunlop Tires) is one of the Lincoln toys he is pretty pleased with ... again, probably because it's a tow truck. Although there are some scratches in the paint, a little rust, and it's missing the hook from the tow end, it's in reasonably good shape - the logos in particular, which is often one of the first things to degrade.

Lincoln Branded Grey Tow Truck

Currently, he doesn't have a lot of either of these brands, but he does seem to really like some of the Lincoln Toys. There is something to note about this brand, though. Lincoln Toys from the Windsor area is not the only "Lincoln" toy. There was a Lincoln Toys in New Zealand as well, but the toys offered there are quite different in style than the one from Windsor, and there was also a company in Lincoln, Nebraska (Lincoln White Metal Works) that offered toy cars in a smaller scale and made with a different manufacturing process. Those are white metal toys, with slush metal poured into molds ... when you see them (at least if you are a toy collector) you'll note a similarity between those toys and London Toys.

Lincoln Dump Truck (only logo is on the hood)

 

Lincoln Red Tow Truck (missing the tow rope and hook)

Lincoln Express Transport

I don't have many of the Lincoln or Buddy L toys photographed yet, but they're coming as soon as I finish off the photgraphs of the Otaco toys.

Buddy L Coca-Cola Truck with bottles

The "Boy Toys" poster (above left) was a gift I made for my husband (probably about 8 years back) and eventually had printed and framed for his office. At one point, he owned all the toys in that poster, most of which are long gone now. And the framed poster was passed on to one of our extended family members ... a little boy who would enjoy growing up with it.

Buddy L Orange Dump Truck (no logos as yet).

I know of one other in the collection which is still packed away. It's a large Buddy L Texaco tanker. Once we're fully unpacked and set up, I'll get a better picture of of it. It's one we purchased in the US.