20 Mule Team Borax Model Set

Q:         Could you please tell me the value of a plastic model set of a Borax 20-Mule Team? We have an unassembled one we mailed away for when we were kids in the mid 1960s. The wagons are light blue and the animals black. There’s also a paper insert that explains the history of the 20-Mule Team.

A:         Unassembled sets like yours sell for about $20. They aren’t rare. Apparently a lot of kids mailed away for the sets and never put them together. The cleaning brand named 20 Mule Team Borax dates back to 1891 and was named for the teams of 18 mules and two horses that pulled wagons of borax (sodium borate) out of California’s Death Valley in the 1880s. Today the brand is owned by Dial.