Mighty Tonka Dump Trucks 1983 - 1997
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What changed from 1982 to 1983: Basically, the only things that did not change and carried forward to the new look Mighty Dump were the exhaust stack, the Mighty balloon XMB-975 tire, the tire hubs and the axle cap nut. |
| 1983 - 1988 #3901 Mighty Dump |
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| 1989 - 1991 #3901 Mighty Dump |
1992 - 1994 #93901 Mighty Dump |
What changed from 1988 to 1989: After running unchanged, except for packaging, for six years and millions of Mighty Dumps, the spokes on the tire hub were recessed. This engineering change served two purposes; less material in the hub (material cost reduction) and a minor safety issue was resolved.
What changed from 1991 to 1992: To identify where Hasbro's ownership took over, the model number changed from #3901 to #93901. The Mighty balloon XMB-975 tire was replaced with a new SUPER-WIDE blow molded tire. The chassis and cab wrap graphics changed from yellow/orange/red shades with "Tonka" in red letters to black/red/green shades with "Tonka" in white letters.
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| 1995 - 1996 #93901 Mighty Dump |
1997 #93901 Mighty Dump |
What changed from 1994 to 1995: The SUPER-WIDE tires changed back to the old school Mighty balloon XMB-975 tire without white roll coating. A green tinted "glass" windshield and side windows replaced the clear. The twin exhaust stacks were replaced with a single stack. (material cost
reduction)
What changed from 1996 to 1997: The cab wrap graphics changed from black/red/green shades to black/white/red/yellow shades with "Tonka" still in
white letters. The "glass" changed from green tint to smoke tint. The sides of the steel cab wrap were removed. (The area that the cab graphics used to stick to) The steel chassis was deleted and replaced by a new plastic chassis that included the front bumper/grille. And they are now made in China.
The Mighty Tonka Dump was manufactured in the USA from 1964 to early 1997. Preproduction pilot runs were done to work out the bugs and prove the
manufacturing process for the newly re-engineered 1997 Mightys viable before Tonka El Paso locked it's doors and shipped all supporting equipment for
Mightys including molds and dies for plastic and steel, sub assembly and final assembly support equipment, even the paint lines were disassembled and
crated to be shipped to China. (labor cost reduction) Sounds like the mirror image of a move that took place in 1982 - 1983 doesn't it.
If you want to learn more about the other Mighty models, visit companion website www.MIGHTYTONKA.com