Terrific weekend for toy enthusiasts on tap Feb. 3-4
On Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 3 and 4, toy enthusiasts will have a pair of opportunities to take in toy shows. On Feb. 3 Smithville High School will host the Wayne County Farm Toy Show. A day later the Medina Community Center at the Medina County Fairgrounds, just a short drive from Wayne County, will host its quarterly Model Railroad and Toy Show.
Christmas is barely a month in the mirror, but it is never too early — or a bad time of year — to talk about toys. And lovers of the miniaturized versions of all sorts of things never have to go far to see, buy or sell the generation-transcending wares.
On Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 3 and 4, toy enthusiasts will have a pair of opportunities to take in toy shows. On Feb. 3 Smithville High School will host the Wayne County Farm Toy Show. A day later the Medina Community Center at the Medina County Fairgrounds, just a short drive from Wayne County, will host its quarterly Model Railroad and Toy Show.
The Smithville show has a different slant than most toy shows, with farm-related models and toys the primary focus. While there will be trains and other toys, the primary focus is scale models of all kinds of tractors, combines and any other imaginable farm equipment.
“We’ll have a little of everything, every kind of tractor, from 1/24 scale all the way up to 1/18 scale,” Wayne County show coordinator Bob Platt said. “Obviously, the implements are miniaturized way down from the real size. It’s what used to be for kids to play with. These are toys for the big boys now. They’ve gotten to be so intricate and detailed they’re not made for the little child now. You can’t run them around in your dirt and play with them. At least you shouldn’t.”
Because of the more specialized nature of the Smithville show, enthusiasts might come from a bit farther and a bit wider to see, buy and sell the farm-themed trinkets. Platt said it’s not uncommon to have people visit from as far as Western Pennsylvania to Bowling Green, Sandusky or Xenia. He said he expects one particular vendor to make his way from upstate New York, if the weather is right.
“Buyers, it’s kind of the same,” he said. “If they know there’s a show going on, they’ll drive here. Yes, it’s predominantly a local thing, at least from the counties touching Wayne County and a little further out, but they can come from all over.”
In a standard toy and model train show, you’ll see a lot of toys and model trains that aren’t quite “seen one, seen ’em all,” but a lot closer to that than a farm toy show.
Those whose focus is a bit more dialed in will find many more things to their liking in Smithville.
“Sometimes there will be something that will be just really, really interesting,” Platt said. “In the Smithville show, there’s a gentleman that will make these oil rigs from scale. Those are really interesting. They’re electrified and actually work. Another gentleman will take a soft pinewood and custom-make a barn. If you give him a picture of what your barn used to look like, he can make it into a 3-D barn.”
The Wayne County show, sponsored by Future Farmers of America Alumni, will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $3, age 10 and under get in free, and refreshments are available.
The Medina show, established in 1992, is expected to have upward of 1,000 visitors and more than 100 exhibitors who will display and sell their items, mostly train-related but with plenty of other types of toys to be seen and sold, spread over as many as 300-350 display tables.
The show is one of four held each year at the community center. The others will be in April and October, along with a Christmas Extravaganza in December.
Along with trains from HO to G, Lionel, American Flyer and others, show-goers can expect plenty of collectibles, Matchbox cars, Hotwheels and nostalgic models on the various vendors’ tables.
The show will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cost is $7 for age 13 and above. Kids age 12 and under get in free.