Just one more month to go now before this years National Toy Show.  My bags are already packed and in the car!  Collectors from all over the world will be filling the streets of Dyersville looking to add to their collections.  It doesn't matter how old you are or whether you’re a small collector, a die hard fan of every little variation or a carpet farmer.  If you can make to the show at least once it will be worth the trip.  I guarantee you'll have a great time.  This is the perfect place to put a face with a name that you know as an author, a collector or someone you have conversed with on toy talk.  This will be my eleventh trip out and if there is one thing I have learned is that I need to bring clothing for both extremes of weather.  I've been there in zero degree winds as well as seventy degree sunshine.

            Over the past month I have noticed a lot of talk about 30, 40, and 50 series John Deere's.  Some of you have posted questions about how to tell the different series apart.  The best way to tell each series apart is to look at the stripe on the side of the tractor.  Ertl has given us the perfect set of tractors to use as an example.  In the early 80's Ertl produced a line of tractors that became known as the 4230, 4240, and 4250.  There are no actual numbers on these tractors due to an agreement between Ertl and John Deere.

            The 30 series tractors were the first to be produced by Ertl.  This is recognizable by the plain yellow stripe on the side of the tractor.  These toys came with a rivet used as a rear axle and a single metal green stack.  The earliest models had spun on front wheels (right).  This was soon changed to the push-on style that is most common.

            The 40 series tractors were the mid size tractors.  The solid yellow stripe on the side of the tractor started showing some vertical black stripes.  One way to look at that is the tractor has earn some stripes by growing in power over the 30 series models.  The first toy models started off as redecaled 30 series models.  These models came with a rivet as a rear axle and a push-on front axle. 

It also had the single green stack.  The axle rivet was phased out and replaced by a steel pin, but the single stack was kept around for a little while longer.  In the last variation we will find the only change is the single, metal green stack, was replaced by two black plastic stacks. 

            The 50 series tractors, the largest size available to farmers has the striped decal turning solid black by the time it reaches the grill.  This could be considered to mean the tractor has grown more and has reached its full potential of power.  The first variations of these models also started where the 30 series models left off.  The first 50 series models came with a single green metal stack and a rivet as a rear axle.  Like the 40 series, the rivet was changed to a steel pin and the single green stack became two black plastic stacks.  These seven models are all that I am aware of.  I am excited to see what variations the new set will bring.

1. 30 series.  Spun front axle.  Rivet rear axle.  Single stack.
2. 30 series.  Push-on front axle.  Rivet rear axle.  Single stack.
3. 40 series.  Push-on front axle.  Rivet rear axle.  Single stack.
4. 40 series.  Push-on front axle.  Steel pin rear axle.  Single stack.
5. 40 series.  Push-on front axle.  Steel pin rear axle.  Double stack.
6. 50 series.  Push-on front axle.  Rivet rear axle.  Single stack
7. 50 series.  Push-on front axle.  Steel pin rear axle.  Double stack.

TTT October 2003 Page 2

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