Does anyone know what These parts are?

[Rana Temporia]

I bought some spares a while ago and I am only just sorting through them. There are about ten of these but I have no idea what they are. Does anyone know?

[What About The Bee]

Hello Rana

"Hess Toy Trucks" have been part of American Christmas Tradition since 1964. Each year, there is a new model. While I cannot, of course, be confident that the Hess parts you have go to a Hess Toy Truck, I think the coincidence of the exactly spelled name worthy of pursuit

Bee

[Going Spare]

If they are indeed linked to Hess toy trucks, and those toy trucks come in a display box, that plastic moulding looks similar to the clips used by Corgi to keep their models in place within the display box by trapping the wheels in recesses cut in to the inner floor of the box. The plastic clip sits immediately below the box inner floor and the outer 'horns' locate in to the inside part of the model's wheels that protrude below the floor. They are released simply by the two sides of the moulding being squeezed together.

[What About The Bee]

To amplify Going Spare's remarks, yes, Hess Toy Trucks sometimes did come in display boxes.

A nightmare to gift wrap but a delight to children.

Bee

[What About The Bee]

The title changed.

Used to say "Hess parts", now says "These parts"

This makes the commentary below Rana's post somewhat cryptic and a non-sequitor.

Bee

[Rana Temporia]

It should have said ‘these’ (now edited}. The keyboard on my iPad is sometimes working intermittently and predictive text makes up the rest!! It somehow managed to put the picture in the text and it wasn’t like that when I pressed OK but I couldn’t check as it had to go for moderation. The plastic parts were in with some Tri-ang and Dublo spares I got as a job lot.

I have learned something new, I didn’t know Hess was a make. I can add it to my list of lesser known manufacturers such as the French GeGe who made HO rubber band drive electric locos.I have only ever had one, it had pantographs which were little more than bent wire. There must be a market for them as someone bought it and I know there is someone on eBay selling replacement rubber bands for them. The actual motor in mine was cube shaped in the middle of the loco with a shaft coming out of each end that the rubber band went round and then round a drive axle. I had an American loco with a very similar drive system as well. I may still have some parts of it somewhere as the motor broke and it was quite a poor representation so it got broken up.

[What About The Bee]

I must say, I do think Going Spare still has it right. That part has the appearance of a packaging clip.

'Tis a pity it is not a Hess clip, there is a very avid bunch of collectors who would pay you dearly for that part.

Hess Toy Trucks initially were the gift of Leon Hess to his customers. Mr. Hess owned an empire of gasoline service stations. He also owned a major sporting team, the NY Jets. Quite the wealthy individual. In 1964, his first "gift" to the community was a Hess branded gasoline delivery truck. My guess he was attempting to indoctrinate children to the Hess brand. Parents liked it, you could purchase it for a song.

The tradition carried forward and eventually took on a life of its own. The Hess Toy Truck continues, even though Mr. Hess is now gone, as is his empire, sold on to others.

A first year, 1964 Hess Toy Truck recently sold at auction for 2500 USD.

Bee

[Rana Temporia]

I think I have solved this. I was looking through an old railway magazine and by chance came across a picture of something very similar. I think they are some type of close coupling device that allows the distance between vehicles to extend on curves. They look to have had the mounting bracket for the coupling removed creating the open end, and a quick check shows they have been cut there.