Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines
The Regular Stuff: Chat, Buy, Sell, Off Topic, etc. => General Discussion - Model & Toy Steam Engines – Stirling Cycle – Flame Lickers – Small Antique Originals => Topic started by: krypto31337 on April 15, 2021, 08:16:07 pm
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Yea, I remember buying the same day as soon as he listed them as well. He took several days to ship them. I went back and bought some more after talking to Dorita. 3 or 4 folks here on the forum bought one too.
I remember everyone was very skeptical until I spoke with Dorita and she confirmed make them. She actually installed and wired the posts. While I was on the phone with her she pulled the customer order and confirmed they were all legit Jensens and she only made 15 of them.
The rest is history.
As of tomorrow I will be down to only 1 left.
Congratulations to the new owner.
They are really a very cool part of Jensen's history.
At only 15 made, they are some of the most rare Jensen's ever produced.
Congratulations to all those who were fortunate enough to grab them.
Have a great day and thinks for walking back down memory lane.
Cheers.
Jack
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Hey Nick
Sorry I forgot that you were the one to initially spot that Jensen 85G deal in Israel and post it up. I just remembered that I typed in my order as soon as I could after Jan reported back on it being a real deal and not some scam.
It was great revisiting that old thread where this all went down almost eight years ago now.
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I posted them on the Mamod forum after they were listed on eBay on 9/4/18, and Jan purchased one that day
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/modelsteam/too-good-to-be-true-t102997.html
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You got me thinking about this, and it was back in 2018.
I have two left.
The first few I received were dated 9/7/2018.
The second shipment of 5 were on 9/20/2018.
When I placed the first order, I had the opportunity to buy all 15. But I did not do that. I believe i'm bought four of them at that time.
The second order was five.
So it is possible Jan got his engine first.
I know it doesn't really matter. I'm just sort of a analytical technical minded person.
Anyway, a fellow steamer was interested in buying one of them.
I only have three 85G's left.
1) of the common production 85G's.
2) of the "Israeli 15" 85G's.
Here are a few photos.
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He certainly was the first to share what he found. However, I assure you I was the first to find them, buy them, and verify with Jensen they were really Jensens.
I coin'ed the term the "Israeli 15" and did several YouTube videos sharing them.
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Well, Jan was the first to buy one and report back on it that I heard about, so I'll still have to give him the credit from that respect!
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I never really discussed this before. But I actually started to buy them all before anyone knew about them. I had the opportunity to buy all 15.
Instead I only bought a few at first. Then after I spoke to Dorita and she verified they were actual Jensen's I bought a second group.
Once they arrived I made some YouTube videos.
The funny thing is just about everyone thought they were fake but I had already verified them legit.
It was a great find.
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Thanks Jack
That is really good info about those Israeli Jensen #85's.
Was one heck of a good deal at the time, so I'm truly glad to have scored one of them. Still some mystery as there are also more than just one style of Hebrew label attached, possibly three if I recall correctly?!?!
As I also recall, it was Jan (classixs) who was the first to test the waters on what seemed like a sort of an "iffy" deal. So, thanks as well to Jan for being the brave lead on that unusual offering!
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Just to add about the 15 Israeli 85G's
There are only 15 that were made.
When I first discovered them I reached out to Dorita at Jensen.
She actually wired the #15's on each board.
It was a special order. She also pulled the original invoice and confirmed only 15 were made and only 15 shipped.
They were found in the back of a warehouse and the seller had all of them still together.
I can't remember exactly now but I bought either 8 or 10 of them. Two went to Howard and Tom. And a couple other collectors. I think I still have 5 or 6 of them. The ones I got were all in the original Jensen packaging.
I did a couple YouTube video on all of the one I received.
I sold 2 for around $400 each but to be only 15 ever made and so rare I felt they were worth more than that so I just kept the rest of them.
They have been in storage now for a few years.
But that is the rest of the story.
Check out the YouTube videos for more details.
ALSO: they were all on different wooden boards. Some were plywood and beveled and others on the common square corner boards Dorita said she just used what they had at the times. So you will find about 3 variants of the 15 engines.
Randy Tucker got one on the plywood beveled base. Howard and Tom too. I kept two like that. And the rest were not beveled.
Someone else here on the forum got a beveled plywood base as well. Can't remember who.
Cheers! Jack Boyles
www.SteamEnginesUSA.com
"Another rebranded Jensen engine that has surfaced in a very small lot of #85G's out of Israel, that were tagged in Hebrew, though they also had the Jensen tag unconventionally mounted on the firebox. I think there were only 15 or so that were found, though there may well have been quite a few more made in that batch."
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They sold under the Montgomery Ward name also I believe.
Quite correct Bruce!
Though the only model that I am aware of is the metal base #65 which had a tape/decal type label that read: M/W Signature Junior, but even so, came in a regular Jensen box.
These seem quite rare and are not often seen at all, so probably Montgomery Ward didn't contract very many, nor for very long. With the title "Signature Junior", one must wonder if there was ever offered a "M/W Signature Senior", and if so, what it may have been? Perhaps a Jensen #25, or even a 20 or 10 mayhaps, but if so, I've never seen one. As a caveat to the "rarity" of any possible Montgomery Ward re-branded engines I would note that the tape style label that they used to mark these engines was not difficult to peal off, so there may have been many more than there is currently any evidence for still extant!
Looks like the 75 was also labeled “Signature Junior”
That's a good bit of added information there Nick!
If I recall correctly, Sears & Roebuck did contract some engines from Jensen as well, but I'm unaware of any special badging or added logos that might have been used.
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They sold under the Montgomery Ward name also I believe.
Quite correct Bruce!
Though the only model that I am aware of is the metal base #65 which had a tape/decal type label that read: M/W Signature Junior, but even so, came in a regular Jensen box.
These seem quite rare and are not often seen at all, so probably Montgomery Ward didn't contract very many, nor for very long. With the title "Signature Junior", one must wonder if there was ever offered a "M/W Signature Senior", and if so, what it may have been? Perhaps a Jensen #25, or even a 20 or 10 mayhaps, but if so, I've never seen one. As a caveat to the "rarity" of any possible Montgomery Ward re-branded engines I would note that the tape style label that they used to mark these engines was not difficult to peal off, so there may have been many more than there is currently any evidence for still extant!
Looks like the 75 was also labeled “Signature Junior”
[attachimg=1]
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Any pictures of a Monkey Ward branded Jensen? I'm surprised Sears didn't sell their own special Jensen engine like they did for Coleman, Crosman and many other items.
Tried doing some searching on Cooper Bros but struck out. Since Port Washington is a fancy part of Long Island, perhaps it was just a local toy store.
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They sold under the Montgomery Ward name also I believe.
Quite correct Bruce!
Though the only model that I am aware of is the metal base #65 which had a tape/decal type label that read: M/W Signature Junior, but even so, came in a regular Jensen box.
These seem quite rare and are not often seen at all, so probably Montgomery Ward didn't contract very many, nor for very long. With the title "Signature Junior", one must wonder if there was ever offered a "M/W Signature Senior", and if so, what it may have been? Perhaps a Jensen #25, or even a 20 or 10 mayhaps, but if so, I've never seen one. As a caveat to the "rarity" of any possible Montgomery Ward re-branded engines I would note that the tape style label that they used to mark these engines was not difficult to peal off, so there may have been many more than there is currently any evidence for still extant!
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Daniel:
I had the images in my saved pictures Jensen database.
Not sure where I got them.
I am sure Gil can provide more history.
I don't own any Cooper Bros. examples and I have only seen two or three on eBay over the last five years.
Charlie
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Nice images Charlie .... where'd ya get those anyway? ;c)
Fact is I have yet to see any definitive information as to just who or what the Cooper Bros. are/were, but certainly they did get job lots of #70's from Jensen several times over a span of many years. An Educational materials supply house for the East Coast region perhaps, or ?
Whatever the actual history behind these engines, I would rate them as rather "Rare", but not exceedingly so, as they do show up from time to time, typically a few a year, on ebay. It is not uncommon to see them in well used and even rather abused condition, though nearly pristine examples also show up occasionally, but less often.
Another rebranded Jensen engine that has surfaced in a very small lot of #85G's out of Israel, that were tagged in Hebrew, though they also had the Jensen tag unconventionally mounted on the firebox. I think there were only 15 or so that were found, though there may well have been quite a few more made in that batch.
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Throughout its 90+ year history, Jensen has been asked to make batches and job lots for other retailers, and sometimes these engines were Re-Badged or Re-Tagged to the seller's own label, with little or no indication that they were actually made by Jensen.
Cooper Bros for many years purchased lots of Jensen model 70's from the plywood base era with plain black firebox, clear until the tin based units with the round porthole sight glass, identified by Coopers Bros. as the model 2508, like these:
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
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They sold under the Montgomery Ward name also I believe.
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I seen on Ebay that someone is selling a Cooper Bros branded Jensen engine which reminded me that I have a similar model up in the attic. It's kind of a basket case, really, as I didn't realize when I bid on it that the boiler has pretty extensive damage.
Anyway, my question is who were the Cooper Bros and why did Jensen sell their engines under their name tag? I can't recall seeing any other Jensen engines being marked with another name.