By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent HANOVER, Germany — Farm toy collectors may not have been expecting to see them at the world’s largest farm show – but they were there.
There were specialized ag tools of every kind imaginable at Agritechnica 2009, from forage harvesters to lumber milling machines, to potato harvesters and information about biofuel. Agritechnica had it all – and farm toy enthusiasts were not left out.
Jan Boomgaarden of Eilbote Boomgaarden was set up with an amazing array of toy tractors and implements that may or may not be known in the United States. “We buy and sell the toys,” he explained.
This German company was the main place to find the latest European farm toys. Boomgaarden said the latest toys included a Deutz D “which is coming out in February; Fendt has the license and Weise Toys produce it,” he added.
The highlighted farm toy for Agritechnica was the limited edition model made by Schuro: A Mercedes Benz MB Trac 1800.
“This was built by Mercedes Benz, but they stopped building them because they were not running well,” Boomgaarden said. “They stopped building them during the early (19)90s. Only 1,000 of the toy models were built specially for Agritechnica.”
Also available at the show was an MB-BH 1990-1991 that Mercedes Benz stopped building in 2003.
Eilbote began about 20 years ago with books and models.
“We started with five, and now have 2,000 models,” Boomgaarden said. “We went from models to books, to DVDs and puzzles.”
Besides the models mentioned above, more popular toys at the show were the models showing the progression of Lanz Bulldog, who, Boomgaarden noted, “was the biggest producer in Germany. They were bought out by John Deere.”
Eilbote had 1/43rd models of Lanz Bulldog and the Lanz Eilbulldog, which looks a bit like a Minneapolis-Moline UDLX and is driven as a truck. There was also a model of the Lanz/John Deere combination, the Lanz JD 6006.
It was a joy for farm toy collectors to view brands they don’t usually see, such as Renault, Kuhn, Dangerville, Hanomag, Porsche, Claas and others.
For more information on what Eilbote has to offer, check it out online at www.eilbote.onlineshop.de |
