North by Northwest » Toys

Tonka trucks

kas — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:27:37 +0000

If you grew up playing with playing with Tonka trucks as a kid, here’s a little trivia you might find interesting. I always thought that “Tonka” conjured up the image of toughness and it’s a great brand name for the trucks. Coincidentally, “Tonka” is the Dakota-Sioux for “Great” or “Big.” The first trucks were produced in 1947, with the first Tonka dump truck coming out in 1949. The metal toys lived up to their name and the design idea “that a toy should be durable and provide the child with as much play value as possible.”

The company that produced the toys was founded as a metal-working company in Mound, Minnesota. After some early failures making garden tools, metal tie-racks, etc., they reinvented themselves as Tonka Toys. Their new name and logo (featuring the name above waves) were obvious references to nearby Lake Minnetonka. Mound is located on the north side of the western end of Lake Minnetonka.

More Tonka Toy history on Hasbro’s page “The History of Tonka Trucks / Tonka brand history” and the Tonka wikipedia page.

Briefly looking over results for old Tonka trucks on eBay, you’ll find that vintage trucks are going for well over $100. For example, this Gambles delivery truck sold for $1426 and this 1950′s Carnation Milk Van sold for $814!

Makes me wonder if I have any Tonka trucks to sell…

Always doubt your GPS nagigator

kas — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:29:14 +0000

I’ve had the opportunity of using a GPS navigation unit on two trips in the last year or so and found that most of the time their directions were very helpful. However, here are plenty of humourous examples why you should always doubt your GPS aggravator (signs are already up warning motorists: “Ignore your Sat Nav”).

And here’s a word of advice to anyone using a GPS to find a quick meal near an airport – they obviously don’t filter the restaurants inside the airport terminal from the search results. Maybe they think you might need to use your GPS to navigate the airport to find the shortest route from concourse A to B via Chili’s? Our team in MN found that out when the GPS unit tried to steer us to the McDonald’s located inside the Minneapolis airport while we were driving around waiting to pick up a co-worker.

More on bad GPS directions at The Map Room.

Mall of America & LEGO Bricks!

kas — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:03:40 +0000

Why is “Google” written in Legos today?

It’s to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lego brick! The Lego brick used today was patented on January 28th, 1958. Legos are the greatest toy in the history of mankind and the kid in me was fortunate enough to visit the Lego Imagination Center at the Mall of America this past weekend and see just a few of the 19 billion LEGO pieces that are produced every year. I just wish I had a store like this near my house when I was growing up.