Farmyard sets

[tractorman314]

My wife found these for me in a charity shop recently, i have cleaned all the pen and pencil marks off the buildings and they have come up quite well. Has anyone any idea who they are made by and how old they are. Also very straneg to find 2 sets in the smae lot. Any information would be very helpful.

tractorman314.

Edited April 12, 2012 by tractorman314

[BC]

Sorry I asked the same question but in your other post

[Lady Ferguson]

I love these and I believe they are 1970s Early Learning Centre. There would've been a little farmhouse with them too

[david_scrivener]

I love these and I believe they are 1970s Early Learning Centre. There would've been a little farmhouse with them too

They were sold by ELC, but were made by Joy Toys & Woodcrafts at Upton-on-Severn, later at Malvern.

This was a successor company (1969-1987) to the earlier ELF Toys (1955-1967) started by father & son, Fred and Ted Hall (who managed the production), Fred Elford (who managed sales & finance) and from 1960, Philip Hall (designer & Fred's half-brother). In 1967 Fred Elford (who financed the company from the start) retired and sold out, but Elf failed under the new owners, so Fred Hall and various relations started the new company.

They got the contract to supply ELC because their previous supplier of similar wooden toys (farmyards, castles, western forts, dolls houses), Tiger Toys were unreliable, and eventually went bankrupt.

(Today's toy history lesson was from a long article by 'The Toy Castle Expert', Allen Hickling)

Edited April 12, 2012 by david_scrivener

[FordTractorCrazy]

so this wealth of knowledge was not based on yourself David? just kidding of course, you surprise me every time with how much you know about these type of farmyards and buildings of which most knowledge is hard to come by.. thanks for sharing!

Edited April 12, 2012 by FordTractorCrazy

[david_scrivener]

so this wealth of knowledge was not based on yourself David? just kidding of course, you surprise me every time with how much you know about these type of farmyards and buildings of which most knowledge is hard to come by.. thanks for sharing!

Because information about these old buildings is indeed very hard to come by, I've become rather obsessive about filing every snippet I find. As the files get thicker, including print outs (because I'm an old fashioned guy, still very much with an ink on paper mentality) of Ebay and toy auctions, I gradually build up an idea of what buildings were in each range (by similarity of style), even though i don't know who made many of those ranges.

For example, the buildings marked underneath 'Willow Series' and numbered, rather like the better known Hugar buildings. The highest number I have is #46, and I know what 9 of them are, and still don't have a clue who or where the manufacturers were. And this after many years of looking.

[tractorman314]

Would anyone have a picture of the Farmhouse that would go with this set?

tractorman314.

[david_scrivener]

Would anyone have a picture of the Farmhouse that would go with this set?

tractorman314.

I don't know about this farmyard specifically, but there is another (slightly later) similar one on eBay at present. Item No: 140737771496

[david_scrivener]

I've just found a suitable looking house for sale on its own. eBay No: 390407213732

[Lady Ferguson]

Would anyone have a picture of the Farmhouse that would go with this set?

tractorman314.

Somewhere I should have... will have a look tomorrow

[robertw1]

I remembered I had these and wondered if they are sort of the same?

[david_scrivener]

I remembered I had these and wondered if they are sort of the same?

Also Joytoys, a few years after tractorman314's farmyards.

[robertw1]

Not that I am interested in selling them but how much are they worth?

[david_scrivener]

Not that I am interested in selling them but how much are they worth?

These simpler and relatively newer farmyards, say post 1970, not a great deal, say £20 to £30, depending on size and condition, more if in original box.

Values go up for older and better quality farmyards and individual farm buildings.

Perhaps the two most collectable brands from the 1950s & '60s are Debtoy and Binbak, which can be in the £60 to £80 range.

Then of course, there are the wooden farm buildings sold by Britains Ltd (but not actually made by them) 1959-62 (in 2 known batches, might be a 3rd), which seldom appear for sale, and are very expensive when they do, unless you're lucky enough to find one where other Britains collectors aren't looking.

Pre-war toy farm buildings prices are very variable in value according to size, condition and quality, so impossible to give a sensible reply about them all.

Generally, I think these old buildings are undervalued, considering their rarity, but value is a balance of supply and demand, so although supply is limited, so is demand. An extensive collection takes up a LOT of storage space (trust me on this ), so few collectors buy a lot of them, although I imagine a lot of collectors have a few farmyards etc to display their farm people/animals/horses & carts/ more toy like tractors (like Charbens & Crescent). it becomes pretty obvious which items are appropriate for which buildings, according to age and where they are in the toy-to-model spectrum.