Superior - Sunnyside
Producers of a wide and varried range of school buses as well as vintage style transit buses. Common construction traites include: diecast metal body castings, clear plastic windows, pull back and go action motors at the rear wheels, full interiors, opening doors (generally at least two), and free rolling wheels riding on rubber like tires. The brand logo is a large capital S with lines streaking out of the backside as if the S was speeding past, this logo can be found cast into most if not all toy base plates. Base plates are plastic and generally have the item number preceeded by SS cast into the frame.
Note: Variation designations where listed were decided arbitrarily.
SS 9853 - 1:50 O Scale - Old Look Transit Style Bus Series
Superior brand model 9853 buses appear to be based on the GM "Old Look" Transit Buses produced from the late 1940's thru the 1950's. There are two primary production types, one that features a metal roof with four red clear plastic marker lamps. The second type used a plastic roof with no top marker lamps. The plastic roof reduces the toys overall weight by about 2.5 ounces and allows the pull back action motor to propel the bus faster and farther than the earlier buses. Unfortunately the second style models just don't have the same look without the marker lamps. In addition the plastic roof looks much poorer in comparison to the metal roof and also tends to look buldged out on the back side of the bus. Another difference between the models is the pull back motor. On the first version body the motor is quite loud and almost seems to shake a bit. Conversely the second style body motors are much quieter and seem very smooth, but seem to be less powerful. All variations feature opening front doors (most are plastic, but I do have at least one example with metal front doors) and emergency side door (metal), chrome wheels with rubber tires and a full interior. These buses are about O scale (and were marketed as such by K-Line). Favorites include the School Bus and Sheriff Bus variations. It appears that these buses are sold loose, or in packs of six.
First Style Bodies:




















Second Style Bodies:






SS 985x - 1:45 O Scale - International School Bus
The 9852 & 9855 school bus series models are based on the International conventional style school bus. This particular casting is sold as 1:45 scale but the models have been marketed as O gauge by K-Line. In a similar fashion to the 685x series there is a high quality variation and a lower quality variation of the 9852.














SS 685x - 1:64 S Scale - International School Bus
There are two models in this series, the SS6851 and the SS6856. Though virtually identical there are numerous small differences. SS6851 is considerably nicer in many respects. It features real molded multiple piece crossing lights on the front and rear of the bus. SS6851 also features a very realistic looking grille with the word International written across the top. SS6856 has printed crossing lamps, a generic black plastic grille, plastic front side door, and a little extra detail groove on the hood. In addition the front above the windshield and rear above the rear windows no longer have a reliefed area where the crossing lamps were installed (I would presume to facilitate the graphics printing). This in itself detracts heavily from the overall authentic look of the toy and is added to by a change in the plastic mounting tabs on the windshield (bottom tabs now off center and of uneven sizes that are distracting when viewed). Bus 6851 can also be found in a minor variation that features a unique grille (pictured below).







