Most of us love a surprise at Christmas, the thrill of getting something and not knowing what it is, but for 25-year-old Max from Maryland that is nothing further from the truth…
Max really wants to get the same gift, 17 years in a row in fact and whilst it sounds unoriginal and unimaginative, that is exactly what he wants to happen.
During the last several years Max’s sister Cassie Greshel, 30 years old, has given him a Tonka truck, but this is by no means a plain old ordinary Tonka…
What she gives him precisely is a Fire Rescue Hummer, which was made back in 2000, unfortunately, the truck has been discontinued and you can’t get it easily, apart from thorough searching long and hard on eBay, but it’s harder each year!
This Christmas was even harder, she really struggled to find one, and having no luck with finding that truck on eBay, Cassie shared her dilemma on Reddit!
Max is special, and being mentally and physically disabled his pleasures in life are quite specific, he really loves playing with Tonka Trucks!
Cassie used to have no problem finding the discontinued trucks online, but after many years of buying them on eBay, it looked like they were running aground there too now!
She said:
“They used to be really easy to find because we would just get orange ones, and then I made the mistake of finding a blue one on eBay, and now he only wants blue ones”
Max loves his Tonka toys plays with them for hours every day, making convoys of Tonkas!
His sister said that she has tried some other ways, like painting trucks or making resin copies of parts of the truck, but Max knows straight away that it’s not right. She has alerts to her phone whenever a Tonka Hammer is Listed on eBay
Max is registered blind and, for him, that means he is visually impaired… the family tried to give his different models of Tonka that are easier to find, but the model he actually wants, Cassie calls it the “holy grail for a visually impaired kid”, is really hard to get now!
He spends so much time playing with all of his trucks that a few of them are just kept for spare parts now, retired from service!
Cassie got hundreds of replies to his post on Reddit, she had asked if people could put their old Tonkas on eBay, but instead and very sweet, people said they would look for Tonkas for her!
Some people even said that they would send Cassie their own Tonka Trucks!
She wrote on Reddit:
“I’m not sure how Reddit is so much better at finding this truck then I am!”
Not only did good people she didn’t know reach out to Cassie, but they also reached out to Tonka.
Redditors shared all about Cassie’s story and her search to find a specific truck for her brother a Tonka Hummer, they are really excited to help her and her brother.
Jessica Gonzalez, owner of Tonka said:
“As soon as we received the first email, no one at this office batted an eye, and we began searching for the toy immediately”
Jessica said that the task of finding the Hummer would be hard because it was such an old toy, but also that she was positive and very hopeful that after searching the company warehouse in USA and China that they could find something for Max!
Jessica said:
“…we plan on sending her as many of those hummer trucks we can find, as well as some additional Tonka trucks …Since he has special requests like no rubber wheels, action levers, and a need for bright colors (he’s legally blind), we plan on making some custom adjustments to some other vehicles in hopes that he’ll like those as well.”
This Christmas Cassie really isn’t going to have to worry about scouring eBay to find one of these toys for her brother!
The family has an emergency backup, a red hummer hidden in a closet for a backup, this year they really won’t have to worry about Max being let down and disappointed. Either a vehicle from a Redditor or a surprise from Tonka he will at least have one present to open at Christmas!
Cassie said:
“It’s like an all-year mission, but we haven’t failed him yet!”
We hope Cassie, for your brother that you get enough Toys for many Christmases to come and that your brother will really enjoy this special time of year!
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