A pictorial history · 1980 to today
One AA battery, four-wheel drive, and knobby tires that climbed anything. This archive preserves one collector’s twenty-year photographic record of Schaper’s little truck and every company that carried it on.
Minneapolis toymaker Schaper launches the battery-powered 4x4 that started it all.
28 photos
Original Schaper one-speed Stompers, still sealed on their blister cards — the way they hung on toy-aisle pegs in the early 1980s.
99 photos
Loose one-speed Stompers from across the first production runs, photographed body by body.
89 photos
The second generation added a two-speed gearbox — plus the big rigs: Stomper semis and trailers.
26 photos
Schaper's Hill Hustler line, built to climb.
39 photos
A focused look at the Dodge and Nomad body styles through their many paint schemes.
33 photos
The competition: LJN Rough Riders, Super Climbers and the other 4x4 toys that chased Stomper's success.
106 photos
Scanned pages from Schaper's dealer catalogs — the trucks as the toy trade first saw them.
Tyco acquires Schaper in 1986; Stompers carry on under Tyco and later DreamWorks Toys.
Peachtree Playthings picks up the brand and puts its own spin on the little 4x4s.
Tinco Toys brings Stompers back for a new generation — and marks the truck’s 25th anniversary.
30 photos
The revival line as it arrived: new releases from Tinco Toys.
193 photos
The webmaster's own Tinco shelf, photographed piece by piece.
111 photos
Early looks at the Tinco line, courtesy of Rex — including the original TV advertisement.
14 photos
The revival's big rigs.
21 photos
Tinco releases that reused the Peachtree-era body styles.
6 photos
The limited-edition van celebrating twenty-five years of Stompers, with certificate and packaging.
The Inventor
He invented his first toy aboard a submarine in the Pacific during WW2, and went on to create hundreds more — including the little 4x4 that became the Stomper. Read his story, in his own words.
Read the bioStompers were never just shelf queens. Collectors raced them, pulled with them, modified and repainted them.
285 photos
Scenes from organized Stomper pulling — sleds, tracks, trophies and the trucks that earned them.
33 photos
Competition trucks built beyond stock: weighted, geared and tuned to pull.
146 photos
Custom paint, chrome and body work from collectors — including the webmaster's own first attempts.
91 photos
Curiosities that don't fit anywhere else — prototypes, oddballs and one-offs.
Galleries submitted by fellow collectors over the site’s first decade online.
43 photos
Individual photos sent in by visitors from around the world.
129 photos
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Beyond the trucks: press clippings and the webmaster’s other archive.
