19 replies to this topic

[retroillucid]

For quite some time, Junior (ColecovisionZone) and I were planning to go at the Coleco Montreal Plant
Last friday, that's where we were heading!

I did not expect too much by going there 24 years after Coleco Industries closed its plant in Canada
In fact, I did not expect to find some cool stuff hidden or simply by tribute...

Here's a little background story of the building itself:

Built in 1882 by the Merchants Mills & Co in order to make bleached fabric, this industrial building of 500,000 square feet
Was purchased in 1903 by Dominion Textile, which provided employment to over 3000 people in textiles manufacturing.
Later purchased by Eagle Toys, the famous creator of the Rod-Hockey tables

In 1968, Coleco acquired Eagle Toys Ltd
Coleco employed 800 people and closed its doors in 1987.

The building will remain abandonned until 1999, when someone bough it and restore it
Today, there's about 200 commercial lofts, mainly all creative company



That was very exciting going there, I could feel the Coleco vibe there, I could even smell some Coleco secrets
I was not wrong in the end, Junior and I did find some DUSTY and very well hidden stuff!
I found a (broken) Rod-Hockey goalie part, a bowl mainly for CPK , 5X Unpainted Smurf head (for their Smurf Ridding Cycle horn) and also 5X handles wich I've not identify yet ... and 4X 1978 Inventory Ticket report + some really dirty and SMELLY stuff

OK, nothing really super exciting here, except maybe for the December 31 1978 Inventory Ticket report and the Smurf Heads

Also found some "flyers" to use when wrapping Pool accessories
Apparently, Coleco did made Pool accessories for Sears and also Sevylor

So here's some photos of Coleco Montreal and one of the 1978 Inventory Ticket report I found there
Will have a complete coverage on Coleco Industries.com

Enjoy!

+1

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[Pixelboy]

Cool stuff! The building looks quite nice.

[Yurkie]

I'm confused, how do you find old items in a restored building?

Edited by Yurkie, Sun Aug 7, 2011 7:48 AM.

[Trent555]

Very nice building.

[retroillucid]

Yurkie, on Sun Aug 7, 2011 7:47 AM, said:

I'm confused, how do you find old items in a restored building?

I guess that's because the building is not 100% restored
Those who were supposed to do the clean up did not do their job right....

[retroillucid]

Here's one of the Unpainted Smurf head I found there
This part were used for a horn on a Smurf Ride-on

And here's one of the "handle" I also found there


Anyway, that was alot of fun going there, and next I'm going there, I'm going to shot a video of the whole area

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[tz101]

What goes on in there now? Stuff like flea market-type sellers?

[retroillucid]

tz101, on Sun Aug 7, 2011 1:26 PM, said:

What goes on in there now? Stuff like flea market-type sellers?

There was some flea market-type in the 90s .... unitl the building was bough in 1999
Today, there's only commercial lofts for renting (all rent already)
But ALOT of space are unused though

Now, I want to contact the new owner of the building to ask him if he would be willing to make a dedicated Coleco Museum in there (there's more than enough space!)
There's a Coleco "museum" display, 5" x 5" .... with nothing much interesting (see photos I posted)
Now the question is, do the owner of the building really care about Coleco?
I would be up to display my whole collection in there and taking care of the museum

Another possibility is, looking for somewhere in USA (Connecticut, Hartford, Amsterdam NY).... but it would be alot more complicated for me in that case....


Well, that's my plan in the end..... a real Museum
Oh! ... and a Coleco book of course!!

[retroillucid]

While I was looking at the unpainted smurf head, I felt like: Shit! Thats look like Michael Myer Smurf! ... The Haloween Smurf!
Now, I wonder if its in the new Smurf movie?

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Edited by retroillucid, Sun Aug 7, 2011 11:28 PM.

[oldjd]

retroillucid, on Sun Aug 7, 2011 6:11 PM, said:

tz101, on Sun Aug 7, 2011 1:26 PM, said:

What goes on in there now? Stuff like flea market-type sellers?

There was some flea market-type in the 90s .... unitl the building was bough in 1999
Today, there's only commercial lofts for renting (all rent already)
But ALOT of space are unused though

Now, I want to contact the new owner of the building to ask him if he would be willing to make a dedicated Coleco Museum in there (there's more than enough space!)
There's a Coleco "museum" display, 5" x 5" .... with nothing much interesting (see photos I posted)
Now the question is, do the owner of the building really care about Coleco?
I would be up to display my whole collection in there and taking care of the museum

Another possibility is, looking for somewhere in USA (Connecticut, Hartford, Amsterdam NY).... but it would be alot more complicated for me in that case....


Well, that's my plan in the end..... a real Museum
Oh! ... and a Coleco book of course!!

That was very neat to see those pictures.
Its always amazing to me,when you can vist a "building" that at one time housed something special from the past.
My expierience has usually been that those type buildings are long gone.
I also think your idea about a museum,while interesting,would probably fall on deaf ears
Its obvious the new owners have done a very nice rehab,but I suspect they wouldnt have any special feelings about the history,and a short one at that of "Coleco"
Besides,its to damn far away for me to vist

[retroillucid]

For those who are as curious as I am, here's the Smurf Ride-On, where the unpainted smurf head come from, you can clearly see it from this picture

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[retroillucid]

oldjd, on Sun Aug 7, 2011 11:38 PM, said:

I also think your idea about a museum,while interesting,would probably fall on deaf ears
Its obvious the new owners have done a very nice rehab,but I suspect they wouldnt have any special feelings about the history,and a short one at that of "Coleco"

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too .... but who ask nothing, get nothing , so I'll try to ask at least...

On the other hand, I always have colecoindustries.com .... and the book

oldjd, on Sun Aug 7, 2011 11:38 PM, said:

Besides,its to damn far away for me to vist

Yeah, would be a damn long trip!
Maybe one day if you plan to visit Montreal

Edited by retroillucid, Mon Aug 8, 2011 12:06 AM.

[retroillucid]

I'm also taking this opportunity to ask you all, that if you've ANY complete in box Coleco toy(s) that you're willing to donate (I'll cover the shipping) or sell, please contact me


Thanks for your support, your patronage is much appreciated!

Edited by retroillucid, Mon Aug 8, 2011 12:53 AM.

[Vic George 2K3]

Paint a Guy Fawkes moustache and soulpatch onto the unpainted Smurf face and you'll have the Smurf version of V For Vendetta.

[Colecovision Zone]

retroillucid, on Sun Aug 7, 2011 10:40 AM, said:

Here's one of the Unpainted Smurf head I found there
This part were used for a horn on a Smurf Ride-on

And here's one of the "handle" I also found there


Anyway, that was alot of fun going there, and next I'm going there, I'm going to shot a video of the whole area

I found a picture of the tobogan with the orange handle.

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[Colecovision Zone]

retroillucid, on Sun Aug 7, 2011 11:51 PM, said:

For those who are as curious as I am, here's the Smurf Ride-On, where the unpainted smurf head come from, you can clearly see it from this picture

It can also come from this Smurf Toddler Train.

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[Colecovision Zone]

retroillucid, on Sat Aug 6, 2011 10:35 PM, said:

For quite some time, Junior (ColecovisionZone) and I were planning to go at the Coleco Montreal Plant
Last friday, that's where we were heading!

I did not expect too much by going there 24 years after Coleco Industries closed its plant in Canada
In fact, I did not expect to find some cool stuff hidden or simply by tribute...

Here's a little background story of the building itself:

Built in 1882 by the Merchants Mills & Co in order to make bleached fabric, this industrial building of 500,000 square feet
Was purchased in 1903 by Dominion Textile, which provided employment to over 3000 people in textiles manufacturing.
Later purchased by Eagle Toys, the famous creator of the Rod-Hockey tables

In 1968, Coleco acquired Eagle Toys Ltd
Coleco employed 800 people and closed its doors in 1987.

The building will remain abandonned until 1999, when someone bough it and restore it
Today, there's about 200 commercial lofts, mainly all creative company



That was very exciting going there, I could feel the Coleco vibe there, I could even smell some Coleco secrets
I was not wrong in the end, Junior and I did find some DUSTY and very well hidden stuff!
I found a (broken) Rod-Hockey goalie part, a bowl mainly for CPK , 5X Unpainted Smurf head (for their Smurf Ridding Cycle horn) and also 5X handles wich I've not identify yet ... and 4X 1978 Inventory Ticket report + some really dirty and SMELLY stuff

OK, nothing really super exciting here, except maybe for the December 31 1978 Inventory Ticket report and the Smurf Heads

Also found some "flyers" to use when wrapping Pool accessories
Apparently, Coleco did made Pool accessories for Sears and also Sevylor

So here's some photos of Coleco Montreal and one of the 1978 Inventory Ticket report I found there
Will have a complete coverage on Coleco Industries.com

Enjoy!

+1

It was great to see JF smiling like a kid in a candy store .... or should I say, like a 10 year-old JF in the Coleco warehourse in 1982.

Here is a photo of a display in the building in 1981.

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[retroillucid]

Colecovision Zone, on Fri Aug 12, 2011 8:10 PM, said:

It was great to see JF smiling like a kid in a candy store .... or should I say, like a 10 year-old JF in the Coleco warehourse in 1982.

Sure I was! ... or should I say "Sure I am!"

What a blast from the past!

[xybot67]

Too bad that you didn't find one of these!

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[retroillucid]

xybot67, on Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:01 PM, said:

Too bad that you didn't find one of these!

Would have been nice indeed...

But there's nothing much left in the building now..... wish I could go there in 1989 when Coleco did close the plant .... I heard that SO MANY stuff were trashed ....
Friend of a father's friend was a trucker back then, I remember that he bring ALOT of Coleco toys including, colecovision,Starcom, rod-hockey and CPK .... surely other stuff too


Does someone here knows what happen with the Amsterdam, NY Building ?