No. I-1973 Army Bulldozer With Driver (Original) - OD HP

Back in 2016-17 I was posting Ideal military toys. Along the way several Ideal bulldozers had come my way, a couple of which were customized. An original bulldozer did come my way but, it came with a repo driver (first photo below) and that's how it was blogged back then. The repo driver looks far better than the original but is incorrect as an original piece.

At some point in 2017 I had acquired an original driver for this bulldozer and even took photos...

...but never posted them! 

WHY? Arrrrrrgh, I can kick myself sometimes. Oh well, it are what it is, soooo, today we're gonna take a look at what an original Ideal bulldozer looks like with the correct driver figure. To be honest, the figures for these are little more than featureless lumps of plastic, which may be why they're harder to find, having been replaced over the years by superior sculpts. 

As I go through my photo files I may have some more old, but as yet unposted military toy photos. Be Blessed and Relish Life! Ed

Ideal No. 2757 Army DUKW

We're interrupting our look at Pyro (again) and taking a gander at this soft plastic Army DUKW by Ideal. These were available in OD and blue and possibly other colors as well. These are of a larger scale than the Pyro vehicles we've been looking at and would work quite well alongside MPC or Andy Gard tanks and such. An MPC ring-hand driver would perfectly in the seats. Iknow, I know, I should have photographed this alongside MPC stuff but honestly I just didn't feel like digging out the other toys. I will some day. The DUKW measures 6 1/2" (16.51cm) L x 3" (7.62cm) W x 3" (7.62cm) H.

The DUKW, like the other Ideal toys we've covered recently is numbered differently than in the guidebook I have. On the toy it's "I-2757" but is numbered "4949 51-52", "4948 Silvertone (51-53)", and "4947 Sliver Star (53-55)" in PLASTIC TOYS Dimestore Dreams of the '40s & '50s. Also it is only listed as coming in olive drab. The book also states that the 'towbar' raises and lowers. After looking at the toy and looking at photos of DUKW's I can't honestly say what that front attachment actually is. None of the photos show that gizmo and to me it looks like a folded canopy. But that's not right either as the canopy on the DUKW atttached to the rear seating area over a series of metal supports and din't fold up at the front. Of course this toy may be based on a different style of landing craft I'm unfamiliar with. As time and energy permit I'll have to dig deeper into this little mystery. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Ideal No. 4904 U.S. Army Mobile Canteen - OD HP

Our U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Battalion has done a lot of work of late and the guys are gettin' hungry. Time to call in the Mobile Canteen. Today a vehicle like this would more than likely just be referred to as a Food Truck and it would probably end up appearing in "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives", "Bizarre Foods", or some Travel Channel special on food trucks, but mobile canteens have been a staple of work crews everywhere for a long time. An early non-motorised predecessor was the Chuck Wagon developed by Texas cattle rancher Charles Goodnight who outfitted an Army surplus wagon as a mobile kitchen to feed the cowhands along long cattle drives back in 1866. In the '50s the Army authorized the use of mobile canteens on Stateside bases and 'roach coaches' (as they are still referred to today) became a staple of life on military installations. Today however the trucks are run by civilian vendors with a license to come on base vs. those trucks in the past operated by military personnel.

Like the bulldozer we've been looking at the past few days, Ideal took their civilian delivery van and re-purposed it for the military. My reference lists this as being produced in 1951-52. The civilian versions were available in multi-colored varieties and all included operating doors and the typical lump of featureless plastic which passes for a driver and measures 5" (12.7cm) L x 2 1/8" (5.39cm) W x 2 1/8" (5.39cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina