GREAT FALLS — The annual Toy Show at Montana Expopark concluded on Saturday. The event showcases vintage toys ranging from model cars, model farm equipment, dolls, board games, and even miniature model steam engines.
Those that showcase their toys attract buyers, sellers, and traders from the surrounding states.
“Of all the people here, there’s several of them that I’ve known for a long time,” says Farm Toy collector Ralph Bloomquist, “It’s always interesting to meet new friends and travel to new places. A lot of that would’ve never happened if it weren’t for the toy hobby.”
“I have worked in the farm industry and in custom work, and I’ve run some of these machines, the real ones,” Bloomquist adds.
“At my age, I’m just incredibly happy to be able to visit and talk to people, and share what we do with them,” says Cathy Scheibe.
Scheibe has published “The Toy Farmer” for the last 46 years, a magazine highlighting farmers, ranchers, and their toy collections.
“There’s a gentleman here who has an incredible collection of toy combines, and I’ve been meaning to do a story on him the last four years,” she says. “We have our 50th anniversary coming up, so I plan to do a special issue for our magazine.”
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