Wooden Railway B.A.R.T???

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That little mention doesn't add a lot to the search.
Nothing on YouTube turned up any new theories or evidence as well.
On a different thread, Fred Pelhay said this:
[Image: capture.png]
Train it, plane it, you name it!
I highly doubt that it's a custom. To try and create (at least) 2 almost PERFECTLY SIMILAR models, to mould a plastic container, to factory-accurately attach said plastic to the cardboard, among MANY huge other challenges. Not to mention BARELY documenting it, as well as the only source of it being a Wikipedia image, a platform that is designed for documented facts.
Obviously this wasn't a Learning Curve item, but it certainly was a purchasable item.
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  • GreatGordonFan
@GriffinrailsOfficial, I have a couple of things to say:

I agree that it looks too good and official to be a custom. However, I think this may not neccesarily a purchasable item. Like I said previously, this may have been given out somewhere as a reward or as a gift.

It may somehow be learning curve.

Someone on youtube claims they saw the bart packaging IRL, although there is no evidence to prove or disprove this.
[Image: bart-box.png]

How about contacting the author of the bart photo on wikipedia?
Train it, plane it, you name it!
I'm not sure how this discussion is still going on, to be honest, every piece of evidence points to this being a one-off custom.

Why would a custom maker make an original box? Because it's funny? It's not hard to take the card from the back of a box, scan it into your computer, edit it, and print it out? People selling customs like Tom Moss do it all the time? They didn't make a custom plastic forming mold or anything, they probably took the plastic bubble off a real toy.

How does the image upload date or location confirm that it is a limited edition or that multiple were sold? I see no logical connection between it being uploaded in Quincy, CA in 2005 to saying that it is a limited edition toy or that several were sold or even made.

Who or what is PEP? It's probably just the initials of the guy who made it, and he thought it was funny to edit the Learning Curve logo to have his initials instead.

As Fred Pelhay said, it's a well-made custom. To say you couldn't make two near-identical ones... fair enough, but there's only one? It's just the same toy in and out of "box"? You don't need to mold a plastic bubble to fit the toy when you pop down to Toys R Us and buy the toy to customize because it comes in plastic packaging that will fit it? And resealing toys like Hot Wheels or the ERTL toys is not all that hard to do, although from the resolution of the pictures it's possible they just balanced the plastic bubble in front of the custom printed cardboard backing and it was never resealed anyways.

Wikipedia is for documented fact, sure, but it's open for anyone to edit - I can make any page say anything I want, many without even logging in, and unless another user or admin catches the error, it will stay there forever. For example, ever heard of the Aboriginal god Jar'Edo Wens? Or journalist John Seigenthaler's involvement in the Kennedy Assassinations? The fact that the wooden BART is no longer on the BART Wikipedia page stands as testimate that an editor somewhere along the way spotted that it was not factual, and removed it.

The furthest Learning Curve was involved in the production of this toy was manufacturing the original BoCo or whatever character the customizer bought to turn into the BART and the accompanying packaging. We know what promotional Learning Curve boxes look like, and its nothing like retail packaging
[Image: Learning-Curve-Cargo-Car-Box.jpg]
[Image: Special-Edition-Thomas-Track-Rider-Value-Pack-Box.jpg]
[Image: Promofor-Coupon-Book-Box.jpg]
I have a website where I have been writing about and photographing many of the sets and pieces that I find interesting.
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  • chrisjo, TrainsRawesome
(08-30-2021, 02:48 PM)DuckGWR Wrote: I'm not sure how this discussion is still going on, to be honest, every piece of evidence points to this being a one-off custom.

Why would a custom maker make an original box? Because it's funny? It's not hard to take the card from the back of a box, scan it into your computer, edit it, and print it out? People selling customs like Tom Moss do it all the time? They didn't make a custom plastic forming mold or anything, they probably took the plastic bubble off a real toy.

How does the image upload date or location confirm that it is a limited edition or that multiple were sold? I see no logical connection between it being uploaded in Quincy, CA in 2005 to saying that it is a limited edition toy or that several were sold or even made.

Who or what is PEP? It's probably just the initials of the guy who made it, and he thought it was funny to edit the Learning Curve logo to have his initials instead.

As Fred Pelhay said, it's a well-made custom. To say you couldn't make two near-identical ones... fair enough, but there's only one? It's just the same toy in and out of "box"? You don't need to mold a plastic bubble to fit the toy when you pop down to Toys R Us and buy the toy to customize because it comes in plastic packaging that will fit it? And resealing toys like Hot Wheels or the ERTL toys is not all that hard to do, although from the resolution of the pictures it's possible they just balanced the plastic bubble in front of the custom printed cardboard backing and it was never resealed anyways.

Wikipedia is for documented fact, sure, but it's open for anyone to edit - I can make any page say anything I want, many without even logging in, and unless another user or admin catches the error, it will stay there forever. For example, ever heard of the Aboriginal god Jar'Edo Wens? Or journalist John Seigenthaler's involvement in the Kennedy Assassinations? The fact that the wooden BART is no longer on the BART Wikipedia page stands as testimate that an editor somewhere along the way spotted that it was not factual, and removed it.

The furthest Learning Curve was involved in the production of this toy was manufacturing the original BoCo or whatever character the customizer bought to turn into the BART and the accompanying packaging. We know what promotional Learning Curve boxes look like, and its nothing like retail packaging
[Image: Learning-Curve-Cargo-Car-Box.jpg]
[Image: Special-Edition-Thomas-Track-Rider-Value-Pack-Box.jpg]
[Image: Promofor-Coupon-Book-Box.jpg]

1. On the image description of bart, it says this:
[Image: limited.png]
2. The image size was edited and description box under the image was also edited. on the web archive look at the difference in image size in 2005 and 2007.

3. If it was an error, then why was it on wikipedia until 2008 and not to mention it was clearly edited several times?

It may be a custom, it may not be, I don't know
Train it, plane it, you name it!
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  • GriffinrailsOfficial
(08-30-2021, 02:48 PM)DuckGWR Wrote: I'm not sure how this discussion is still going on, to be honest, every piece of evidence points to this being a one-off custom.

Well said DuckGWR. I hope this thread can be knocked on the head (very hard) now.

GreatGordonFan - it's good practice to resist the temptation to quote an entire long post when making a response.
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I could add a picture of any customized toy - a picture of anything, really - to any Wikipedia article, and say anything I want about it, and if nobody who looks at the page is a. knowledgeable enough to recognize it as incorrect information and b. willing to edit the page, it will stay there for years.

[Image: Screenshot-20210830-153606.jpg]
Percy toy. One of these very limited edition toys is known to exist in Detroit, Michigan.
Completely factual, but that doesn't mean its a rare event giveaway. I've just chosen to describe it as limited edition -it is limited edition, it is very limited, to one, and is a special version, but someone customized it to be that way, it didn't come out of a factory. The original uploader of the image is almost certainly the creator, and it was probably resized by a random Wikipedia editor who was told to decrease file size of images to save space on Wikipedia's servers or something and was not knowledgeable in the slightest about wooden toy trains or even the BART. It probably took several years for someone versed enough in wooden toy trains to read the BART Wikipedia page - I certainly never read it before.
I have a website where I have been writing about and photographing many of the sets and pieces that I find interesting.
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You all raise very fair points, but if anything this just arises more questions. Why would the owner take so little photos of BART? Are there any other images of BART?

Although I'd say that this whole escapade is pretty much over, there could be a possibility that this was a bootleg in some Chinatown perhaps. You know all of those TOMY bootlegs that Leokimvideo has? All of them come from ONE store in Sydney, Paddy's Markets. I've been there, and I even bought this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujrrcof3...eokimvideo
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  • GreatGordonFan
Custom or not, it's interesting as to why there is no info on this toy.
Train it, plane it, you name it!



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