Liberty Classics 1:24 1954 International Pickup "Sears", "Craftsman"

The Motormax 1:24 Plymouth Pickup mentioned before brings me to another classic pickup in my collection that has lots more details and commanded a hefty price at the time: $32.00, though I got mines on sale for about $22.00.  This one one of a few limited-edition holiday pieces sold at Sears stores in the Craftsman tools area, and all of them were made by Liberty Classics.  This company is like a lot of limited-edition promotional-only company that deal only with promotional products to sell with their client and sometimes will venture out to do non-promotional materials, so their history is little-known until you see one of their castings in-hand, and from what I see they are very close to Franklin Mint or Danbury Mint in quality.

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The truck is the International pickup, which is no stranger here.  Before settling on larger trucks International make pickups, SUV's, and farm equipment for most of the 20th century.  The pickup was an essential tool for the farm to go along with tractors and such.  This 1954 version is a bit puzzling: while most of the International Pickups had a style of their own, this one looks a bit too much like the Ford F-100 introduced around the same time so unless you see the International badging you can mistaken this truck for a Ford!  The pickup is powered by an I-6 engine to a 3-speed manual transmission with floor shifter.  Over time the pickup would evolve like other pickups at the time, merge with AMC motors, and even share its platform with the Scout, but after 1980 International focused more on medium-duty trucks.  As for Craftsman the brand was created in 1927 offering quality products for the working man and sold at Sears and Kmart stores, along with other outlets.  In 2017 Stanley Black and Decker now owns the tool brand as the future of Sears is uncertain at the moment.

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This Internationa pickup is dressed in the Craftsman signature red, black, and silver three-tone paint job with Craftsman logo's on the doors.  The front-end has a large scoop just below the hood, while the Ford-esque grille has round headlights and signal lights  with a silver grille adorning the chrome IH logo.  The hood has one chrome handle on the left side signaling the opening side hood that opens with hinges not doglegs.  Also having hinges are the doors that are exposed and below the chrome mirrors.  The windshield has a nice one-piece design with wiper blades that rest next to the A-pillars for a clear vision of the road.  A coupe of neat areas are the chrome gas cap behind the driver's door and the exhaust tip that exits just ahead of the right-rear wheel.  Out back the tailgate is adorned by the Craftsman logo and has detailed rivet bit along the upper edge, while there is a rear bumper with the year of the release (2008; year of the truck is on the front bumper) and dual taillights.

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The coolest feature is the bed, which is deemed useless thanks to the features of tools with a green rake with brown handle, red gas can, and a red Craftsman lawn mower with lawn clippings bag.  Just below the bed when the tailgate is open is a bank to store change, and underneath the key to unlock the bank is gold and has its own secure slot next to the driveshaft.  The wheels are classy chrome covers with the IH logo with whitewall tires and that includes the spare tire on the left-side of the bed.  Now the hood opens to the side to revel a detailed engine that is a full block and not some tray piece.  The silver block has black spark plug wires and heater hoses that connect to the firewall, the firewall has detailed wiring and air ducts to the heater, air cleaner and carb, oil filter canister, drive belts, fan, and radiator mount.  Even the steering column has enough room to wiggle around.  The base has that 3D look with separate frame, leaf spring and live axles on all four wheels, front steerable wheels, engine block and transmission, driveshaft, exhaust system, and of course the bank just behind the rear axle.

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The doors open nice and smooth without the ugly dogleg peeking out of the dashboard.  The white interior is, really, white with chrome shifter and parking brake handle to separate the monotone look.  The dashboard has a nice curved look with dual gauges, radio and heater controls in the center, and a glovebox.  The 3-spoke steering wheel has realisitc hand grips in the back and proper dash mounting point.  The bench is plain white while the door panels have chrome handles.  It might not have the carpet or additional moving parts of a Franklin or Danbury Mint but it is very close.  This is one nicely detailed casting that is very limited and likely the last good stuff to come out of Sears as of late.

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