Who Are We?
My wife (and best friend) and I were antique dealers
for more than twenty years, when we discovered the joys of toy
collecting while attending an auction. After several years as
hobbyists, we decided to share our knowledge by becoming Ertl®
toy dealers. We started sending our customers a price list, which
contained full descriptions of our products. Soon dealers were asking
me for extra copies of our price list to give to their customers.
They urged us to expand our price list into an accurate Ertl bank
price guide. We started publishing our "Heuser's Quarterly
Collectible Bank Price Guide©" in 1989. Then we
further expanded our Price Guide to include the products made by
First Gear®, Action Racing Collectables®, Gearbox, Liberty
Classics®, SpecCast®, Crown Premium/Vees Collectibles®,
Taylor Sports®, DG Productions® and Scale Models®.
Our price guide was sold by more than one hundred quality toy
dealers throughout the U.S.A and Canada. Our publications were
recommended by Ertl®, First Gear®, DG Productions®,
Gearbox®, Scale Models® and SpecCast® Corporations. Our
copyrighted price guide was also accepted as an authority by
insurance companies throughout the United States and Canada. We were
often consulted when losses occurred as a result of fire, flood,
theft or other catastrophe. Unfortunately the market took a rapid
downturn when Ertl decided to dispose of a warehouse filled with
large quantities of unreported “over-runs”, returned
“samples” and un-issued planned project diecasts. Several
truck-loads of diecasts were sold for less than $3 each and
subsequently sold for (and are still being marketed on the internet)
for $5 to $7 each. Many of these previously valuable “short-run”
collectibles WERE originally worth $100+, which is one reason why our
business became somewhat less valuable to the collectible market. We
do have high hopes that the market will again regain its' popularity
soon so that our product will again be in demand. I DO have tentative
plans to produce a CD or internet version of my guide if I sense
enough demand for our information.
Meanwhile, I have been able to buy back a limited number of our
year 2000 “Centennial Year” price guides. This issue
lists all of the banks and non-banks produced from 1983 through April
1, 2000, although as explained above, values do not necessarily
reflect todays values. If you are interested in these guides, they
are available by searching for “Heuser's Price Guide” on
Ebay.
"This is the day the LORD
has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Where is West Winfield, New York?
Located in Central, NY on
U.S. Rte 20, 20 miles S. of Utica, NY,
75 miles W. of Albany, NY
and 50 E. of Syracuse.
Copyright
1989 - 2002 by Heuser Publishing, Division of Heuser Enterprises®
508
Clapson Road, P.O. Box 300
West Winfield, NY 13491-0300
Last updated: July 6, 2005 - Webmaster: Dick
Heuser
My "Angelfire" website:
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/toybanks/index.html
My main website: http://www.heuser.com
Please
send all comments/problems to: toybanks@heuser.com