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Play Tractors, Serious Collectibles
Taking the measure of farm toy collecting at a Maryland auction
By Jill Teunis
David Vail drove more than 500 miles from his home in Greenfield, Ind., to Woodsboro, Md., in the hopes of adding a Mohr Minneapolis-Moline G 705 to his farm toy collection.
"Roger Mohr Originals is a small company in Vail, Iowa," he said. "They build limited editions that no one else produces. Back in November '94 I ordered one of everything they made. So far I've got two. They make them and then they contact you and you pay for them. Roger Mohr died last fall."
As it happened David was outbid on the G 705, but he took home a Mohr Simpson scale model Case tractor, of which only 150 were made.
The auction, which was held at the Woodsboro Volunteer Fire Company Activities Center, featured the very extensive farm toy collection of the late McComas Albaugh of Union Bridge, Md. More than 1,000 toys, plus a wide variety of farm literature, were sold off on Friday evening and all day Saturday. There were more than 250 registered bidders from 10 states, with a further 20 absentee bidders from 11 states and Canada.
Rusty Hill came prepared to add to his collection of John Deere models. The 11 year-old resident of Lisbon, Md., took a front row seat with his dad - dentist, farmer and collector Grant Hill. Rusty was obviously an experienced auction bidder.
"I like shows, they're interesting," Rusty said. "And I like the John Deeres. I think they're unique. My favorite is the 8400. Dad and I work on the models. We fix them and paint them. Maybe when I grow up I'll collect real ones."
Rusty's dad shares his son's enthusiasm for farm toys. "I grew up on a farm," he said. "I still have some of the toys I had as a kid 40 years ago. I collect 1/16 scale John Deeres. Rusty collects 1/64 scale. He also collects steam engines. We just started working together on a computer program. There is software available to catalog collections. He knows what's going on."
There was a dizzying variety of toys in the Albaugh collection. Most were tractors built to different scales but there were steam engines and plenty of farm equipment. Brand names such as John Deere, Cockshutt, Oliver, Farmall, McCormick, Allis Chalmers, International Harvester, Massey Harris, Massey Ferguson, Case and Rumely were well represented. Some were factory models but many were custom-built by such companies as Mohr Originals, Trumm, Ertl, Silk, Cottonwood Acres and Teeswater.
Bidding was brisk and many prices were in the three-figure range.