To mimic the original wagon’s rounded corners, Mangum split a length of large pipe four ways and welded a piece in each corner. He made a foldable black tongue with a handle that extends 12 feet above the ground. Mangum got the idea to build the wagon from a couple in Alaska who built a fiberglass, two-seater version based on a small truck chassis. Mangum wanted his to accomodate more passengers, so he started with a 1987 Ford ambulance equipped with a police package.
We researched 25 stroller wagons and chose 11 to purchase and test extensively. The Radio Flyer Discovery performed surprisingly well given that it is one-fourth the cost of some wagons we tested and half the price of most of its 2-seater peers. More important than the longevity of the souvenirs themselves, though, Pasin had indeed ensured the lasting popularity of his full-size product. In any case, the company was performing admirably in the midst of the Great Depression, churning out 1,500 wagons per day on average through a Ford-like assembly line process. The Radio Flyers and several other brands were marketed towards both boys and girls—a rarity—and eventually adults, since the wagons could serve just as well for gardening and other yard work.
These were meant for putting on a shelf more than playing with. The Hero Wagon redesign came about largely because the two organizations began to hear how hospital staff were customizing the wagons themselves to fit their razor ride ons needs, says Pasin. So Radio Flyer assembled a team of designers, researchers, and engineers to visit children’s hospitals and conduct interviews with nurses and families to learn firsthand about the user experience.
Radio Flyer now also offers additional toys such as a bounce house and a child walker as the company expands further into the toy market while remaining true to its wagon roots. Now that our kiddos are older and we’ve transitioned razor ride ons to “sports parents”, the stroller wagon is the perfect fit for our family. It can still go from farmer’s markets and park dates with us, but it can also hold a ton of gear, and then become a bench seat when we get there.
It also can’t be overstated how much I absolutely love the “no drop” technology of the pull handle that keeps it upright and makes it so the pull handle never touches the ground. Even if you simply drop the pull handle without warning, it just springs back up, out of the way and ready to grab if you need it. A big thank you to Radio Flyer for sending us a custom-designed Radio Flyer Stroller Wagon for us to love and adore. No other form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this rave review. Radio Flyer has been making wagons and wheeled toys forever so I wouldn’t question their engineering. However, the axel assembly doesn’t include ball bearings like most of the other wagons.
Choose a classic radio flyer wagon or one of our contemporary folding wagons for kids. Whether you’re hauling gear across the yard or giving the little ones a ride to and from the park, you’ll find the kids wagon you need at Blain’s Farm & Fleet. The plastic red wagon can be used as a walker, as the handle locks into place. The handle can also be adjusted into a pull position so that the toy can be used in a fashion similar to that of the original wagon.