Is folding a Toyo difficult?

[SParis]

I got a minor case of GAS and started looking on eBay at Toyo 45A and 45A II.
There seem always to be several of them being sold "as-is" because of damaged bellows (usually a severe crunch right behind the front standard, but it varies)
Even examples that are otherwise fine often show minor folds and creases somewhere in the bellows. There are quite a few of them for sale now, and I'd guess that 70% or so have some bellows damage.

This week, anyway, other brands don't seem to be consistently damaged in this way. (Maybe next week it'll be different.)

I've never handled a Toyo. Is there something especially tricky about folding one up?

[Peter De Smidt]

No, but you have to check that the bellows are positioned properly before closing the camera. It takes a second or two to do.

[Jim Noel]

The plastic models are bad about the base cracking if put on a tripod.

[DG 3313]

+1

No, but you have to check that the bellows are positioned properly before closing the camera. It takes a second or two to do.

[MBrooks]

Not particularly, no. You have to visually check and line it up slightly before closing, but I always found the 45A(II) to be quick and nimble to set-up/fold.

[Peter De Smidt]

The Toyo field cameras are very straightforward to use.

[Merg Ross]

No, but you have to check that the bellows are positioned properly before closing the camera. It takes a second or two to do.

Exactly; this is good advice. I purchased mine twenty years ago new, and it has performed well. I'm not sure that the referenced minor folds and creases are more than cosmetic, but worth noting.

[SParis]

Ok.
All the suggestions here are pretty much the same as for any folding camera.
Anybody have a theory about why there are so many badly damaged ones on eBay?

[Bob Salomon]

Ok.
All the suggestions here are pretty much the same as for any folding camera.
Anybody have a theory about why there are so many badly damaged ones on eBay?

Not following the instructions!

[Tin Can]

Some folding field cameras are very difficult to fold

Patience is needed and even some odd maneuvers

I have a 1/2 plate Made in Japan wood camera that is odd, but does fold to very small, if I relax

In the field with rain, a person may get hurried and ruin it

My 8X10 KMV folds far easier and faster than a Deardorff

[Peter De Smidt]

The bellows are flexible. That's good for movements, but it means that the folds can become inverted fairly easily, and if the front standard isn't move all the way back to the rear standard, the bellows will tend to deform. If one closes the camera with the bellows like that, then they will get creased. As Merg says, it's likely just cosmetic, but as many have said, all it takes is a second or two to make sure everything is where it should be for closure, and there's no inverted pleats.