Vintage Tonka Semi Truck w. Advertising - value?

[mygrandmasattic]

Hi there,

I have a customer who was interested in the value of this old Tonka truck that he got from his father who has passed on.  It appears to me to be a custom piece possibly given out to staff as a gift or as a project by a dedicated staff member.  The front and rear are definitely Tonka and the part numbers match to those found on the Tonka Bottom Dump (55160 - rear tires, 55010 - front/cab).  The tank is made of wood and marked with the decal Blue Flame Propane.  The owner believes the company shut down in 1973.   He believes that there is value in this piece - it is not in great condition showing a bit of wear.  I've seen Bottom Dump trucks online selling for relatively low in the Tonka market and am unsure that a custom piece like this would hold any value at all.

Any information about the company, history and value of this piece would be greatly appreciated!  Thank you in advance!

Sincerely,

Grandma

[KevinB]

Thats a neat truck. Most likely this was customized by an employee of Blue Flame Propane or a friend or family member of an employee. If this was produced by Tonka they would of easily been able to produce a new part for the trailers wheels and not just cut apart another truck to use by parts. It probably doesn't have much value.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Judging by this Tonka logo dating list:
http://www.neatoldtoys.com/id.htm
It looks like your truck is 1962-1969. There are collectors for these, and if I were you, I would start by contacting this site:
http://www.neatoldtoys.com/index.html after looking through the info there. The FAQ's section has a lot of questions being answered, I think you could post a question there.

[KC]

Great Job Talesof!!!

[mygrandmasattic]

Thank you all for your input!  I'll be posting on that site straight away.  Much appreciated as always - take care

Grandma

[talesofthesevenseas]

Let us know what you find out!