Toy maker's passion for cast-iron toys is reflected in his unique profession

By Reed Fujii
Record Staff Writer
January 04, 2009 6:00 AM
Yes, Virginia, there is a toy shop where skillful hands turn out imaginative cars and planes and horses and trains.

But it's not at the North Pole. Actually, it's just little way north of downtown Lodi.

There at Iron Man Toys, owner Arnie Prince - who used to make his living repairing and restoring dented and damaged cars and trucks - repairs, restores and replicates collectible cast-iron toys. And don't think this is strictly kid stuff. Some of the replicas he makes go for $800 a pop, and many of the antiques he works on may likewise fetch hundreds or thousands of dollars from avid collectors.

"I have the funnest job in the world," Prince said, reflecting the passion he has for cast-iron toys, as a collector himself, as well as a dealer and restorer.

"The whole thing is an intense process," he said as he explained some of the techniques involved in various repair jobs.

In some cases, the work may simply involve replacing a missing wheel or welding a bit of metal back together.

But he may also re-create missing parts from scratch, perhaps using a twin of the toy he's working on to create a mold. He then takes it to Sunset Foundry in Valley Springs where a new part is cast out of molten iron.

Parts then need to be trimmed, ground down and fitted, then buffed and polished as they once might have been in a 19th- or 20th-century toy factory, then painted or nickel plated. A final step in many cases is aging the part or toy - purposely chipping the paint or exposing shiny surfaces to chemicals to replicate a patina of age and wear.

"That's what all the guys want. They don't want something all shiny and new," Prince explained.

There is a strong, ongoing market for collectible cast-iron toys, largely produced from the late 1800s to the 1940s, Prince said.

"Forty-one was basically the last year they did production of cast iron because of the war," he said, of course referring to World War II when metal for guns, cannons, ships and tanks was at such a premium that patriotic metal collection drives were commonly held.

Some of the toys were made even earlier, however. At the Iron Man Toys shop, Prince picked up a monkey-and-lion coin bank - users would place a coin in the monkey's paw then push a lever to watch it drop into the lion's mouth - and flipped it over to point out a patent date of 1783.

And while Prince also buys and sells antique outdoor signs, does freeform metal sculpture and recently started collecting cap guns, demand for cast-iron toy repairs keeps his one-man shop plenty busy.

"If I had a lot more work, I probably couldn't handle it," he said.

There is a strong market in collectible cast-iron toys, said Noel Barrett, an antique toy expert who has applied his knowledge as an appraiser on PBS's "Antiques Road Show" and is the owner of Noel Barrett Antiques & Auctions Ltd.

Barrett, who's paid Prince to repair a number of his own items, said there is one Pennsylvania business with four or five employees that specializes in repairing collectible sheet-metal or tin toys. And there's a shop in Baltimore that, like Prince, does its own iron castings.

"It is sort of remarkable there is this infrastructure supporting the hobby of collecting antique toys," he said, noting, "There are a lot of people out there that collect antique toys."

And some of them will to spend a lot of money to support their hobby.

Barrett said a cast-iron toy motorcycle in the original box recently fetched $50,000 and added, "I just had an auction where I sold Marklin trains for $30,000."

Of course, such rare pieces might lose value if repaired or restored, but for badly damaged items a well-done repair may enhance the value.

"Each case is totally different," Barrett said. "The most important thing is not to do anything until you know what you're doing."

Dale Kelley, editor and publisher of Antique Toy World magazine, said Prince is one of a handful of artisan toy restorers in the country.

"It's a fine art," said Kelley. "When it's done, you shouldn't be able to see the repair."

He said Prince and his few peers provide a service much like restorers who work on fine-art oil paintings and marble sculptures.

"A repaired toy or a restored toy is not worth as much as one mint out of the box," he said, but as such perfect examples become rarer, collectors more readily accept restored pieces.

Kelley, whose magazine has taken advertising from Iron Man Toys for years, added collectible toy values have certainly held up better than financial securities over the past couple of years.

While prices for more common toys are a little soft, rare collectibles continue to draw increasing prices, he said.

"I think a lot of these people that lost in the stock market wish they had their money in toys."

Making money, though, is not the central focus for Prince and his Iron Man Toys.

He recalled offering toy repairs as a sideline to his body shop nearly 20 years ago.

"It just took over," Prince said. "I liked doing it so much I just got rid of the body shop."

Not even sure he could make a go of it, he spent the first 10 years or so traveling to major toy shows, primarily in New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Eventually, he got too busy to spend that much time on the road and now might attend one or two West Coast shows a year.

"I like toys; I like working on toys," Prince said. "I don't concentrate only on the money. I concentrate on doing the job right and trust if I do the job right, I'll get paid for it."

Contact reporter Reed Fujii at (209) 546-8253 or rfujii@recordnet.com.