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A trip to Coleco Montreal, Canada......


retroillucid

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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 ;) :P :lol:

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 ;) :P

post-11933-0-93801000-1312691402_thumb.jpg

post-11933-0-88498400-1312691424_thumb.png

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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!! ;)

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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 :x

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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 ;)

 

 

Besides,its to damn far away for me to vist :x

 

Yeah, would be a damn long trip!

Maybe one day if you plan to visit Montreal

Edited by retroillucid
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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.

post-21888-0-43355100-1313201043_thumb.jpg

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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 ;) :P :lol:

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 ;) :P

 

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. :D

 

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

post-21888-0-96948000-1313201329_thumb.jpg

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

 

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 ? :ponder:

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  • 3 years later...

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 ? icon_ponder.gif

 

JF, am checking on the status of the building for possible visit by ADAMcon 27 in July 2015. Have been trying to get ahold of the fellow who offered tours of the buildings etc; BUT have not had a reply. Also emailed the mayor of Amsterdam. she DID get back to me and promised ot have Rob get ahold of me............still no contact. ANYWAY, the factory is all but derelict and closed down with no markings to identify it as Coleco; a house Coleco used as a headquarters is still standing and could possible been had for tours, but is nothing like the orriginal.........after all, it has been 30+ years............

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JF, am checking on the status of the building for possible visit by ADAMcon 27 in July 2015. Have been trying to get ahold of the fellow who offered tours of the buildings etc; BUT have not had a reply. Also emailed the mayor of Amsterdam. she DID get back to me and promised ot have Rob get ahold of me............still no contact. ANYWAY, the factory is all but derelict and closed down with no markings to identify it as Coleco; a house Coleco used as a headquarters is still standing and could possible been had for tours, but is nothing like the orriginal.........after all, it has been 30+ years............

Wait a minute... AdamCon 27 will be held in Montreal in 2015? That's news to me! Who's the organizer for next year?

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Wait a minute... AdamCon 27 will be held in Montreal in 2015? That's news to me! Who's the organizer for next year?

No senor...............................mineself is large and in charge. BUT the reply was about Amsterdam NY where the ColecoVision and ADAM were also made. :-D

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