B'mann Cardstock (?) Buildings . . .

[doug c]

. . . . . ToyShop 95002   Hotel 95003  Townhouse 95006     circa ??

My oldest "Bachmann" catalog is 2003 (likely a comp. during eclsts)  obviously has no reference to them  nor do they seem to be in a  '98 walthers  "big trains" catalog !

Nor any online searches {neither here or google.ca} although I do think someone last yr. (?)  asked about them tooo !?

thanks for any info
doug c

[Joe Satnik]

Dear doug c,

I googled "bachmann townhouse 95006" and got many hits.  Here is one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110405959440&rvr_id=133292245333&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=WXF%3F&GUID=5883f04812a0a0265307c6a7ff96ecd5&itemid=110405959440&ff4=263602_263622

Somehow it ended up in the "Dept. 56" category.

My 2001 catalog doesn't contain any. 

Bach-Man or Barry might have some catalogs from the 1988 to 2000 era.

Obviously not weatherproof.  I don't know if anything practical could be done to make them last longer in the sun, or weather an unexpected storm....

Ideas, anyone?

Hope this helps. 

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[ThinkerT]

I have picked up a fair number of these buildings off of EBAY - I actually have duplicates of most of them.

First off, they are indoor use only!  They are made out of heavy 1/8th inch cardboard

Second, the buildings are fairly small.  Their bases range from 7 - 9 inches wide, but are a uniform 9 inches deep.  The buildings themselves have depths of 4.75 - 7 inches.  The width of the buildings stop about a quarter inch from the edge of the base.

Third, there is a bit of a scale issue.  The fire station, for example, has an acceptable 1/25 -1/24 'man door', but the vehicle door next to it is far to small for a 1/25 - 1/24 fire truck.  It is actually just barely wide enough to admit a 1/32 slot car.  Likewise the parking spaces marked out on the base for each building are way too small for 1/24 sized vehicles.

The buildings do go together pretty easy - just punch out the cardboard sections, glue the brace supports together, glue the windows in place (and the doors, too, if you want to) and your most of the way there.  If you set the braces right, you can put second and third floors in them.  There are stiff paper corner sections which hide the seams and  theoretically allow for the building to be folded down, but I'm not too sure about that.

I've built the 'Dry Goods' store, which I envision as a sort of 'hole in the wall' type shop. It came with a alinset lobby which I reversed (set on the outside) of the structure to make more room for inside the store.


I combined two of the fire stations back to front to make a small garage.

Because if was such a redicuously narrow structure, I merged two of the hotels together side by side,  making it a bit more acceptable.

[doug c]

Thanks guys for the input on this !  I had googled just the toy shop   I think there were 6-7 diff.

T'T'  Good to hear of some enduser results with this seemingly vintage product,  too

"...Somehow it ended up in the "Dept. 56" category."    
A lot of ebay users actually don't know how to use the ebay posting system,  even the so-called powerusers !

nite,
doug

[Bucksco]

They are definitely collector's items. Some of the steel sheets used to press them are still in the warehouse but the machinery to do the job is long gone.

[ThinkerT]

Doug...

...I picked up all of my Bachmann Buildings within the last year or so.

Right now, there are several of them on the auction block in the G scale section of EBAY - just run a search for 'buildings' and hit the 'Bachmann' button.  I do believe one of them is the toy store.  

[NarrowMinded]

Could the fire station door be small because the station is horse drawn wagon and steam pump era? Or even bucket wagon era? I haven't seen the fire house. Just a thought.

NM

[ThinkerT]

Could the fire station door be small because the station is horse drawn wagon and steam pump era? Or even bucket wagon era? I haven't seen the fire house. Just a thought.

The signage on the Ice Cream Shop says 1933; that on the General Store says 1931, indicating a early to mid 1930's period (maybe right on up through the 1940's and 50's).  I don't know what sort of fire fighting equipment was prevelant in the early 1930's. 

I do know that these buildings are not very big; in 1/24 most would scale out to 9 - 12 feet deep by 10 - 16 feet wide, making for very small shops indeed!  The Hotel would work out to a one room per floor type deal, and even as a back ally gas station / garage, the 'fire station' is still on the small side.   And, as previously stated, the 'Ice Cream Shop' is more of an 'Ice Cream Booth'.

(This is also why I set the entry for the General Store on the outside of the shop, to leave room for at least a counter and some merchandise on the inside.  Otherwise the back wall of the entry would have been too close to the back wall of the shop.)

[doug c]

Thanks for the feedback regards this aged product  !  

Chkd out another ebay link  . . .

 At the bricks'n mortar outlet of the seller which is where i first spotted this b'mann product last Tuesday,  they have a sticker price of $5  !!

doug  

[doug c]

"Obviously not weatherproof.  I don't know if anything practical could be done to make them last longer in the sun..." 

Ya could spray them with the Krylon "Preserve It"  product  UV protection and they say good for digital prints, scrapbooking.      Have use it  to overspray after decalling and weathering with no apparent negative reaction.   

BUT is 'toxic' so ya need a place to allow it to 'gas out' while curing . . . a couple days at least.   

doug c

[Doneldon]

doug-

I think this will have to live inside when not actually in use, even with the Krylon spray.
                                                                                                                   -- D

[Loco Bill]

HI Guys,
If you are trying to get them all here is a list.
These are the ones I have documented so far.

The original MSRP of 95001 & 95002 was $40, the others were $35.  I have all the catalogs and have never seen them in the catalog.(unless I have been looking in the wrong place)

95001         Building kit, fire house
95002         Building kit, toy store
95003         Building kit, hotel
95004         Building kit, general store
95005         Building kit, ice cream parlor
95006         Building kit, town house

[ThinkerT]

95001         Building kit, fire house
95002         Building kit, toy store
95003         Building kit, hotel
95004         Building kit, general store
95005         Building kit, ice cream parlor
95006         Building kit, town house

Yep, thats all of them.

I currently have all of them except the Toy Store (which is supposedly enroute).  I actually have two or more of all of the rest, though some, like the Townhouse just do not interest me all that much.

I should add that these buildings are set up to be lighted from the interior, with small flashlight bulbs and short lengths of wire.  The bulbs are apparently intended to be set in round holes in the bases.  Never bothered with this route myself, instead I decided to opt for a bit of minimal interior detailing.

Again, I have to stress that these buildings are made out of *cardboard*; not suitable for the great outdoors at all. 


 

[doug c]

Thanks for all the feedback, people   

And also the product unit listing LocoBill !!


doug c