Trying to FIX a 1977 BIG LOADER CONSTRUCTION TOY SET

[@superdonnie2011]

On behalf of all the 80s children thank you so much for saving this beautiful work of art

[@38911bytefree]

One of the best toys yoy showed, tons of actions and all from one simple motor. The designers were geniouses.

[@precbass]

When you think of how this was designed and manufactured,its amazing.I could sit and watch this all day.Nice bit of improvisation there Vince.

[@MrJoyforjoy]

OH MY GLOB...i have this when i was 6yo (around 81)...what a souvenir...thanks Vince ;)

[@broglang9102]

Vince, YOU are what makes your videos interesting my friend. You are a very likable person. Hearing your point of view and logic during these repairs is something most of us can relate to. Its especially cool watching what happens with old nostalgic items like these. Keep up the good work, your vids are very motivating. Much love from NY.

[@tedse21]

I just spent a very happy 39 minutes watching a grown man fix a toy from his childhood.

[@realitycrosser3366]

Thank you, thanks to you I realized it’s possible to just repair stuff rather then buy it new, so far I’m repairing my brothers 2001 series blue psp and it’s going great

[@sariflips3955]

i saw many many videos from you, and the last minutes the construction toy is running i smiled like in no other video before cause it reminded me of my own childhood. Great video and a great toy.

[@talon4x4]

When I saw the box it didn't ring any bells. However, when you pulled out the orange car with the arrow then I remembered, I had this set as a kid. Wow! Crazy how one small detail brings back the memories. Awesome!! Great fix!!

[@CaptainJonLuckPickard]

Just wanted to say thanks. That idea you had about turning the one gear around and using the less worn sides teeth worked like a charm for me.

[@Zaph0d]

I had one of these from new at Xmas 1978, it used to always struggle on the corners and the scooper would often miss occasional balls, great to see again

[@ChrisMelville]

Vince, I was born in 1979 - so just a few years younger than you. I loved Big Loader! I knew that those metal pins were just to keep in on the track :) Nice fix - very inventive of you :)

[@ryanwooldridge7546]

Bought this for my son after I used to play with my cousins as a child. It was the bigger version with the add on extra side bits and lift etc. Ebay jobbie came with 2 cars, 1 broken through water damage. I had just as much fun as you fixing it and then seeing my boys face as it all went on by itself 😁

[@Retro_andy_1977]

Found this repair so heartwarming Such happy memories for me too.my very small age childhood was 1978 to 1982 when I was between 1 and 5.loved it Vince

[@vincen4943]

love it mate,love your never say die attitude!Methodical problem solving at its best,it must have been so satisfying seeing it working perfectly at the end!

[@TheCod3r]

This is actually quite fascinating to watch. I'm about 10 years your junior so we didn't have these, shame because they look awesome. Excellent repair though, just love the dedication you have to make something work just for the sake of making it work whether it's worth the time or not. Well done 😁

[@geraldvanschaick4819]

I also just got this set. I was going to give it to my grandson. I enjoyed it when I was young as well. My truck seems to have the same issue. Thanks for the great idea. Your video was fun to watch

[@RootPCSales]

The set you probably had was the Big Big Loader set, I had one as a kid as well. Watched the thing for hours. Very mesmerizing as a kid.

[@Beamish32]

Hi Vince. I've been watching loads of your videos recently but this one has really hooked me. As a child of the 60's, I always wanted a Big Loader. My mum and her sister owned a couple of toy shops from 1977 onwards. I never got one but, when I became a father at 40 years old, I had another chance. When my son was about 4 years old (he's 15 now), I bought him one. It was a Tomy Thomas the Tank Engine version. I'm not sure who like it more; Jack or his friend who is autistic and loves trains, or me. Yes, it was me. Watching the plastic 'coal' being loaded and unloaded gave me hours of pleasure. Great to see one of the originals again

[@utkf16]

Nice fix and respect to whoever designed the original toy

[@Otherspersons]

I enjoy all your repair videos, but your toy fixes are my favorites!

[@Xaltar_]

Without toys like this growing up I never would have developed a fascination with how things work. I pity the generation that is bored by such ingenious toys, they clearly miss the point. You didn't just play with these things, you examined them, tried to figure out what made them tick, then, inevitably, broke them. Years later you find it at the bottom of the toybox and fix it again, just in time for a younger sibling to break it all over again :P Sadly these toys were often built exceedingly cheaply and broke all on their own. My favorite toys as a child were the ones my grandfather gave me, from when he was young. Metal gears, solid construction and built to last. I wish I had taken better care of them now, I broke everything as a child.....

[@gilles111]

I do remember those. A friend at elementary school (late '70s) had such a set. Loved playing with it when I was over there. Great to see it again!

[@nightstah]

This took me back as well. I had that set as a kid (I'm a few years older than you). It instantly brought childhood memories, a fascinating and simplistic toy. Thanks!

[@bristolrovers27]

What a brilliant toy !!! Very impressive design and ideal for those of us entering our second childhood

[@kevinaquino6655]

Love those kinds of toys. Brings back memories. Used to have a race track set way back when kids used to use their imagination a bit more than tablets and smartphones.

[@JoshWeeks]

Holy cow. I really didn't appreciate how awesome that thing was until it was all working.

[@MrPinda2010]

I remember I actually has this toy when I was a kid ! Bringing back memories

[@Map71Vette]

I had this same toy as a kid! Very cool to see it again. I'm not even that old, mine may have been inherited from somewhere based on that.

[@TDax]

My daughter had one of those in the mid/ late 90s.....she loved it Vince, if you want to use superglue kicker in an inaccessible area, spray it on the opposite face from where you apply the glue....you get a near instant bond as you press the two parts together

[@beavis6363]

Applause. I enjoyed this one a lot. I am astonished you where able to pair up replacement gears. The ratio of gear diameter and tooth pitch has to be pretty exact. Super nice concept and solution on the wheel drive gear. Well played sir. What a great old toy!

[@RugbyD0g]

I had one of these too! I bet it is still in my parents attic. Have not thought about it in years and it was fun to watch you figure out what that little bar was for on the bottom of the truck. I bet my kids would have been bored out of their gourds playing with this toy nowadays. Thanks Vince!

[@andyroberts9562]

Great little toy and a good fix to get it working im a child of the late 70's 80's but dont remember this, im amazed at the design and thought process behind this to get the set to do what it does i should imagine there was a fair amount of trial and error haha

[@naomijackson4691]

So my 3yo son has one of these sets (he got his in 2019 though) but it hasn't changed much. Which is great because his car stopped working. The motor was fine but it seemed like a gear was stripped or something because it get stuck and the wheels stopped moving. I opened it up because what did I have to lose, and it turns out that it was just a bunch of hair and thread around all the axles and gears. Anyway the point of this story is that when I opened it I had it the wrong way round and all the gears fell out and fell apart and I didn't get a chance to look at it so I could put it back together. So I'm so thankful that I found this video because the guts of this toy haven't changed much at all and I was able to put the gears all back together. It works good as new now! The only thing is there's a plastic piece in his that I can't for the life of me figure out where it goes, and yours doesn't seem to have it. But as long as it works it works right? Thank you again for this video!

[@Dave64track]

Interesting fix, Looking at this toy as a whole, a lot of thought has gone into making this with all the mechanics involved. Yeh your right children these days soon get bored they just seem to want to stare at tablet screen these days which i don't think is a good thing. Children need more hands on with things like this you learn a lot more well Vince and us watching do anyway nice repair.

[@milanavi5211]

This was such a great repair to watch!! Thanks Vince for the joy you brought me I loved to see this toy working

[@jinxnatorx]

Absolutely brilliant bring back to life a old school toy they don’t make them like that now days we’ll done vince 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@mrbussey]

This fix is fantastic, Vince! I also had one of these in the late 70s and early 80s as I wore them out! I actually bought ones in the early days of E-bay and paid about $50 at the time, but it was worth it. They did re-release it in the 90s too, but I wasn't the earlier model like you have. Looks like they still sell this on Amazon with Thomas and friends and John Deere! I had no idea! They appear to have also made a Big BIG Loader set which did more. I'm going to have to search KZbin and see what all it did. Thanks for working on this great toy!

[@craniumbear]

I'm glad you got it fixed. Loved seeing it work. Very cool!

[@stephencunliffe3062]

Good job Vince. Remember that toy from eons ago don't actually know anyone who owned one as kids though. Well done Good to see it working.

[@-Scraggyanne-]

A great little toy, i quite enjoyed watching it going round 🙂 quite therapeutic

[@TechGorilla1987]

Seller: Faulty, won't turn on, batteries changed. Vince: Fantastic! I'm well happy with that.

[@cheetawolf]

Gorgeous blue enamel on the motor windings. I've torn apart hundreds of these small motors years ago, and only ran into a blue one a small handful of times, and it was never such a deep blue as this one. I think I found a green one and a purple one once, and another one with two red windings and one teal one. This really brought back memories of my pseudo-scientific adventures taking apart my toys and figuring out how they worked. I'd have replaced the motor so I could display that rotor somewhere. I may even track down one of these sets so I can get one of these beautiful rotors. On a side note, I love the music you add to these videos. At 14:08 you really get a sense that you're breathing life back into something that would have just been thrown away by anyone else. It makes me feel like... almost like the toy itself is happy that it can be played with again, like something out of The Brave Little Toaster.

[@DiabloDeathPusher]

What a lovely and creative set. Your fix for the gear on the wheel was brilliant.

[@philsey6913]

Completely forgot I had one of these until I saw this video. I must have had one of the early ones since I would have been about six years old in 1977. I remember it being very fun!

[@michaelthomas3646]

I got to say 10/10 on this one you really got me stumped on who/what/where/when of my childhood!! first person ever!! lol. and takes a lot to stump me on something with a memory better than an elephant. The only option I can think of is one of my class mates bringing one of these to school as a bring your own toy day in Juniors in the mid 80's.

[@home-space]

This brings up childhood memories. Was the coolest thing. Even remember that box

[@danandrei96]

i remember these as recently as the 90s-00s, they were fun. Also Vince, you should invest in a 3d printer, great for replacing hard to find gears and other plastic parts

[@MrKeebs]

Came here to comment about the 3d printer :)

[@andersmmvfc.8376]

Is it really that simple to just do a gear it has a lot of teeth and it has to have the exact same measure and no slag, the 3d prints I watch on you tube is really not that high definition.

[@Mushroom67]

I'd get in touch with Colin Furze. He could probably make a life size one. Or replace all the cogs with high grade steel. 😁😁

[@PlaystationBlazingMediic]

@@Mushroom67 I love watching colin Furze videos, He's so entertaining

[@retrocomputeruser]

@@andersmmvfc.8376 3D printers are very accurate once set up right. Mine can print to 0.1mm accuracy. There is also a gear add on available in Freecad to design these.

[@michaeld1879]

Great Vid!! Keep it up! So glad you did the end bit there where you showed it loading the top part, so wholesome.

[@QsTechService1]

Love those motors .... I used to take them apart all the time when I was a kid it’s always fun getting them back together 😀🤣

[@lochanathambeliyagoda5065]

Yo same my grandpa owned a hardware shop and I wud always breaker thos motors and take the copper wire out idk y

[@QsTechService1]

BINGBONG BUTTER Funny I would do the same thing to

[@Jedda73]

It was a tragedy when one of the tabs would snap off though.

[@kasamikona]

Never thought I'd find such a niche yet relatable comment thread. I had a few motors that were smaller, rectangular and open frame, so I could see the rotor spinning. That was until I broke them all!...

[@cats_know_everything_about_you]

Oh this was my FAVOURITE toy from my childhood!

[@gb7767]

So glad you got one of these. I remember looking in the clubby book toy section and deeply desiring one of these. Not sure why I didn't ask for one. Simply mesmerizing.

[@travisritenour1849]

That toy is so cool ide be watching this all day

[@Markuf]

I love how you always find a way to fix unfixable things

[@chezsnailez]

Was real chuffed when the got a Matchbox harber playset with birthday money back in the day. Nice to get a whelkhood favorite back...

[@GadgetUK164]

Another nice fun repair =D Great seeing it all working at the end there!

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Chris, I enjoyed this one a lot :-)

[@DGDan316]

Well done Vince, great fix and what a well designed and clever little toy, I would have loved one of those in my childhood

[@willproctor7301]

I love the sound of crunching gears in the morning :)

[@floydfix420]

OMG! I just bought this to fix because I remembered it from my childhood! Same exact story when I saw it in the store less than a month ago. That's so crazy! Hope this helps me fix mine. It is an awesome toy

[@Jedda73]

Aw man, you've brought up a repressed memory of asking for one of those for christmas when I saw it on a shelf as a very young boy, and the devastation of being told no by my mum. And now you have one.... and I still dont. Life is soo cruel!

[@thattiktokdad__]

I have one sorry you don't have one☹☹☹☹😞😞😞😞😞👿

[@peterroy3052]

WoW brilliant again. Well done Vince.

[@adrianpearce5214]

Great job Vince nice to see a old toy Love your videos

[@whizzbits]

Bought one off ebay few years ago too, one of my favs toys when was younger

[@Buzz1151]

Vince, that was brilliant...you're a mechanical engineer..great toy..greetings from the USA, Buzz

[@charlesarnold4963]

That brings back memories. my kid brother had one. a brilliant video.

[@Th3OmegaPoint]

I had this exact set when I was about 4 years old in the early 80s, and it is still in my parents loft. Has been enjoyed by my niece, nephew and my own kids too. Such a clever toy and in fact I believe they still make it in one form or another.

[@dash8brj]

I had one as a kid and handed it down to my brother when I outgrew it, it then went into the cupboard until my sisters boy was born and he got to play with it. Yes it is a FANTASTIC toy, very well designed. As an inquiring mind I studied it closely and worked out how it did all the moves it did without fouling itself. What was even cooler about it is that is uses one motor to do many tasks, and one carriage to operate 3 vehicles. I love how it slows right down in the dump truck to prevent the balls being flung across the room when the tipper comes up to drop them in the red hopper, and likewise when the dozer does the same preparing to load them into the dump truck. Very ingenious toy! The Armatron is another similar toy (a kid size kuka robot) that utilizes one motor to do all the actions. They don't make toys like they used to!

[@spooktasticaparanormal]

Hi Vince, that was a joy to watch. I love how you used your initiative for the repairs in the drive gears. Keep up the great work. Kind regards. Paul.

[@dash8brj]

Another one motor wonder, just like the armatron. I too had one of these. The 70's and 80's came out with some ingenious toys!

[@CLC-1000]

Great video Vince.

[@bastiaansepisode1877]

Great video, I really like these 70'ties toys , great pieces of engineering. Thanks

[@elektron2kim666]

I have discovered that what we love as kids gives a better ability to accept a (big or free) reality of those similar items through a whole life.

[@Jacobusdjr]

I understand now... MyMateVine: "I need an excuse to buy all the toys I've ever wanted" IDEA! Make youtube videos! Everybody wins! Love your videos

[@TomMannCenturia]

They really looked after it, absolute bargain for all that nostalgia.

[@imzimansvideos]

Classic my dad wouldnt buy it for me from woolworths but got TMNT truck instead.....later i bought it off ebay and played it😜. Great job vince

[@crazyivan030983]

Wonderful fix and toy :) greetings from Poland :)

[@williamharris8367]

I am surprised how many people had this toy as a child. I did too, and I loved it! Given when it came out, it must have been very new to market when I received it. I remember trying to find different configurations for the track, but I don't think that any worked properly.

[@ThePoxun]

I remember having one of these as a kid around 1979. Just like yours the digger part (with the metal gate) never worked right, where balls would end up escaping. It seemed to be a design flaw. I also remember as a kid trying to stop the wheels from turning when it was impossible as the gears were too strong. I also remember spending a lot of time understanding on how it worked, how it knew when to turn around etc. Also the similarities between how the track slots are shaped to steer it around the T junction and how click latches (recently covered by This Old Tony) are very interesting...

[@Scotty_in_Ohio]

I had the "BIG BIG BIG LOADER" around 2000 as well - bought for my kids (who was I kidding - it was mostly for me) and set it up usually around the holidays when people would setup a train set around the Christmas tree. As I recall this was pretty darn fiddly even when almost new and some parts were pretty easy to break. The BIG BIG and the BIG BIG BIG LOADER sets did include more track and things like an elevator (lift), etc....

[@adamminchinton]

Awesome fix, I had one of these as a kid, loved it!

[@hockleyj]

Had one as a kid too we lost all the little balls which took the fun out of it. But my mind loves working around these things and seeing that it uses a planetary gear for forward and reverse was interesting

[@jasonbucy]

Never seen one of these before, but I really enjoyed the video!

[@ColossulTitan]

Love it gonna have to keep my eyes out for one of these for the wee man, very clever wee toy alright, if only half the toys now were as well made,brilliant content as always mate, keep safe all of you

[@Recordology]

Awesome channel!!! I remember these!!!

[@sprintertrueno1985]

Vince, holy moly, you're a ducking genius!!!!

[@g2emedia1977]

So satisfying to watch

[@Foxfatherracing]

Vince keep up the great work, I truly enjoy your channel.

[@catherinemorgan2741]

wow excellent job i think you don't give yourself more credit your so dam good and smart prob better than most repair men

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

I really like this toy. I had loved that as a kid.

[@nevetsnosivad]

This was also a toy from my childhood. They were making Thomas the Tank Engine branded ones in the 90's. What a nostalgic video.

[@ianforfun1]

Yes OK, this video is 3 years old but I am doing some catching up on the videos. I want a BIG LOADER CONSTRUCTION TOY SET even though I'm age 72½. Sadly these toys do wear out and you do a great job with so many spares.

[@AcornElectron]

I had one! Slope for the plastic bearings was yellow on mine. I’d say I got it in about 1979. Haha, old school man.

[@MichaelBritt23]

For the late 70's, this is a very clever toy. I really like how it has to go back around to turn itself backwards to dump off the balls at the top. I never had this when I was a kid, but it sure would have been a lot of fun to watch.

[@MiisterShane]

Legend. I miss my Thomas the Tank Engine Big Loader 😄 Catching some floor noise in these vids, could be reduced with Audacity reasonably easily but it's no big deal in a setup like this. You've been an inspiration for years now, thanks a bunch!

[@ablemagawitch]

Its amazing how much the internals of these haven't changed over the years (1970's, the 1980's and into the 2010's with Thomas the Tank Engine, and/or John Deer Themed sets). Minus a real switch instead of sliding a metal bar on to grommet holding the battery terminal in place to complete the circuit, they the pretty much the same gear set up. The gear slips on the motor, to help protect kids, if their hair gets caught in it and doesn't keep pulling, the slippage occurs when a safety torque limit is hit. Might find set you have there, as I grew older the set had different amusement, as you started to understand patterns and how one small "bogie vehicle" was doing each piece in more technical way. This simple and complex toy has way of sucking people into just watching it repeat. Luckily you won;'t have the risk of your mom vacuuming up the Balls and lower what you have in your set to play with. By the way, What did you call your set's little Balls, were they Rocks, Stones, Coal, or Boulders?

[@welshtony1]

Nice fix as always Vince, I remember these to but dont think I had 1, I think a friend had 1 of these

[@daw7563]

I have exactly this (except the box). My son born 2009 have played a ton with it too. I had to lubricate the motor, but thats it. However I wonder if it was from 1977, I was born 1975 and probably got it in 1980-81. And I'm certain it was new out of the box. But of course it might have been sold for years. Brilliant toy that works for all smaller kids regardless of generation! And yeah, it should run smooth, not jerking. OK, commenting before Iv'e seen the whole video. The marbles on mine is black, not blue. So they obviously sold this toy for years. Your´s final restoration is running MUCH faster than mine, I might need to do some restoration to mine, however the gears is not worn out.

[@nimerjosetorresquevedo3153]

Nice... good job Vince

[@utkf16]

If anyone was curious as to the song played it was Dear Moon by Velvet Moon.

[@No1BRC]

I wonder if these types of mechanic toys are still on the market? As a kid I loved these. One time I had a toy with that had an air compressor on which you could could connect all types of construction tools. Thats how I learnt how pneumatic tools work 😮

[@bricago2302]

Great video. Not a knock on the procedure here, but I’ve learned that researching documentation can be very useful. In this case, step 9 of the Big Loader instructions explains that the guide pins retract so you can play with the chassis by itself on your floor. That’s one less question mark hovering during the disassembly and repair. Also, for anyone whose chassis can’t make it up the hill, check the rubber traction ring around the wheels. They engage with the roughed up strip on the track. Worn out ones won’t grip. Those rubber traction rings are removable and can be replaced.

[@paulkeegan4421]

Hi Bricago. Any idea where you can get replacement traction rings?

[@bricago2302]

@@paulkeegan4421 the only place I know is salvaging them from other tires.

[@paulkeegan4421]

@@bricago2302 Many thanks for your prompt reply.