"Tuneyville Choo Choo" Musical Box Toy
By Tom DeLay
My kids had a "Tuneyville Choo Choo" made by Tomy that has eight
fixed-pitch plastic pipes that were played by a plastic disk equipped
with pins on that resembled those found on a player barrel. There
are four of these disks.
The little thing was powered by two size 'C' cells [batteries].
We still have the thing -- after 20 years! -- and it still plays
quite well with its very loud "twelfthy" [third harmonic] plastic
stopped flute pipes. These pipes are not slide whistle pipes in
any sense.
One interval is a bit painful, but, it is amazing the pipes are as
close to being in-tune as they are, having been formed in a mold
of some sort. For such a toy to have been built circa 1983 or '84
is remarkable in itself.
Tom DeLay
Salinas, Calif.
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(Message sent Wed 30 Jun 2004, 07:10:21 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.) |
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