Tricycle Fetish Blog

Q: I found a picture of me from 1967 ( I was 1! ) on some sort of AMF riding toy. It has a seat like a tricycle, but there are four wheels instead of three — two on each side — and no pedals. I’d like to know just what this thing is called. I’ve been racking my brain with every combination of terms (scooter, quad, kiddycar, etc.) to use on Google, but nothing matches what this toy looks like.

A: Hmmm, that’s a good question. Can’t say that I’ve ever seen one in a catalog or print ad to verify the actual name of the thing. It would probably be technically classified as a ride-on, rather than a tricycle or scooter. It was made by AMF and branded under their Junior Toy line. I’ve seen it called a Wee Wheeler, a Sit and Scoot, and a Wee Rider.  We’ve got one of these in stock, but it is far from being in mint condition. These were made for a number of years, and like AMF/Junior tricycles, they have different headbadges and those badges can be used to help determine the age.

Q: This is a picture of my tricycle I had when I was young some 50+ years ago! I was hoping you could shed some light on who the manufacturer was and the model (if any). The Tires say Swan on them. There are no other markings.

A: You have a 1950′s era Junior Toy Company tricycle. The company was purchased by AMF in the early 50′s, but production continued of the Junior line for years (while the company also produced other lines). Eventually the tricycles were branded as AMF Junior. By the looks of it, your tricycle was probably made before the AMF takeover. There was likely a model number associated with it in the Junior catalog, but knowing it doesn’t really do anything, because nobody that I know of has any knowledge of those numbers to any extent.

Q: I hope that you can help us to identify this tricycle. It has been fully restored and is in excellent condition.  The ‘Batwing’ handlebars are reminiscent of the Junior Toy Co. style.  Any assistance will be greatly appreciated including a ballpark valuation.

A: Your tricycle was indeed made by the Junior Toy Co.  It is from the  late 1930′s Sky Line, which was a series of streamlined tricycles of which the Sky King was the top of the line.  Your tricycle is referred to as the Sky Knight due to the knight’s mask type head tube design.

As far as value goes, we only give values out to those who’ve purchased our online price guide for a number of reasons.  We also don’t really like to give valuations for restored tricycles.  It’s so hard to tell from the pictures what kind of job was done.  In a 600 pixel wide photo, the tricycle looks perfect, but it may or may not be in real life when you’re standing in front of it.  Basically most tricycles are worth more before restoration, unless done by an expert restorer who has used 100% all original parts.

1938 Junior Sky Tot Before & After

Mike sent in this photo of his Junior Sky Tot project that he recently completed.