Greetings from Dyersville!

It’s August in Northeast Iowa. Time for sweet corn and baseball games. In case you haven’t heard the big announcement already, the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees will be playing a major league game in Dyersville, Iowa in August of 2020 out at the Field of Dreams. I can’t wait to see if they can pull this off. Work is starting soon on a stadium that can seat 8,000 people. If you’re really into baseball and tractors, you’ll also want to check out the Minnesota Twins game on August 25th. The Twins and Case IH have teamed up and are giving away a 1:64th Case IH Magnum to all fans 12 and under for the game. So, invite your children, grandchildren – or maybe the neighbor kid and hope they are willing to share their tractor with you!

Speaking of Case IH, I was fortunate enough to be able to visit their new Racine Experience Center earlier this year. This new center lets you experience the past, present and future of Case IH. You’ll get to see a vintage Case car, 75HP Case Steam Engine, the last IH 5488 produced as well as the modern AFS Connect Magnum tractors. I had a great time talking to the staff and checking out all the awesome tractors on display. After talking with Old Abe I’ve decided I want to come back again when I have more time to look around. Look into doing a factory tour of the Racine tractor plant and you can spend time at the Racine Experience Center yourself.

Staying with Case and Case IH I have a few new introductions to talk about. First is our 1:16th scale Case SV340 Skid Steer with special 50th Anniversary graphics (Stock # 44198OTP) Case bought the rights to the “Uni-Loader” from Universal Industries back in 1969. Universal Industries was located in Hudson, Iowa and produced several different sized models including the 1526, 1530 and 1537. These models had between 26 and 37 horsepower. This is a far cry from the current SV340 that features a 90 horsepower engine and has a rated capacity of 3,400 pounds. The eagle graphics on the side of the engine are amazing. I’m definitely adding one of these to my collection.

In addition, we’re now offering a 1:16th Case 970 tractor with the “Black Knight” paint scheme. (Stock # 44189OTP) Case started producing the “70” series tractors in 1969 and wanted their dealers to get farmers to take these new tractors for a test drive. They came up with a marketing plan to paint these tractors in a black paint scheme with special “Demonstrator” decals. Several tractor models were included in this promotion including the 970, 1070 and 1470 tractors. Our replica shows off this unique paint scheme and graphics. What a great way to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of these tractors. To make them even more special we’re only producing 2,500 units of this model. Check out your local Case IH dealer if you want to order one.

Lastly, we’ve also updated our 1:32nd New Holland T8 tractor. We’ve just recently announced our latest model the T8.435 tractor in the “Blue Power” paint scheme (Stock # 13935). It has front and rear duals along with an updated cab, cab roof and interior.

I hope you all have time to get away from work and enjoy the scenery. Every now and then you just need to take a step back and look at your surroundings like I did.

Until next time,

Bill