About Us
While attending a toy show in December of '94 and talking with a fellow toy dealer, the question of toy 1/64 scale pulling sleds became the topic. I had scratch built a couple, and the toy dealer asked if I could build a couple for him. Two months later, he placed an order for 20 more and all of a sudden, I was building scratch built pulling sleds. The toy dealer quickly discovered a sled is no good without a tractor in front of it, so we started doing pullers for him as well. Just like that Appleland toys was born.
In the summer of '95 while attending some pulls, I got the brainstorm of trying to create the illusion of a real puller. With the permission of Esden Lehn, Rob Russel, we started with our first 2, the Red Line Fever and the Work Horse Classic. We figured out how to do the graphics and away we went. The next thing we did was to find a source for casting, then we started doing pull sleds and mods and next, T-buckets. Now, we potentially have the best one we have done to date, Gardner Stone's General.
All of our 1/16 scale models are customized from castings currently available in the current toy market. Again, we cut them down and build our own framework, wheelie bars, cages, etc. to create an illusion of the real one. At this time, all we do are Super Stocks, Pro Stocks, and Super Farms in the 1/16th scale. We have plans to expand the 1/16th line in the future, but due to the fact we manage an 800-acre apple farm, time doesn't allow for toys as much as we would like.
By the way, that's where the name Appleland Toys came from. We are not a major toy company by any means. I classify it as a glorified hobby and am very thankful that it has been good enough to allow us the privilege to travel to various pulls across the nation. If we never sell another toy, the experience has been worth it all. To be on a first name basis with some of the biggest names in the sport is an honor. And having a memory I can tell my grandkids about. Thanks to all pullers and fans for making Appleland Toys what it has become. To date, we have done over 70 different models. Our niche is that we will make one of a kind. We don't have to do large volumes like the larger toy companies. I hope you enjoy your visit to our web site and if you have questions please feel free to contact us. If you are ever at a pull we are at, please stop and say hello.