Before we all get crazy lost down this wormhole:
1. We need photos from @WT.Co.
2. Minute man sets had 4 cars from 1929 through 1931. Starting in 1932, the set number changed and the set was renamed "NEW MINUTE MAN". With this change, the dining car was eliminated from the set and going forward it only came with 3 cars. The set was no longer cataloged after 1934.
Other things to keep in mind:
-later production versions of these cars tend to be more greenish than blue.
-nameplates began to run out somewhere around 1932 for these cars and you start to see a wide range of substitutions, including all "American Flyer" plates in all locations on the cars (small and large). There are even some out there with decals in some of the plate locations.
-Variations in how the cars were built/assembled, labels and ink used on the undersides, truss rods vs. air tanks, window plastic with/without shades, and even wheel paint color help to date the cars to a more specific time period.
Going strictly by the catalog descriptions (NOT Illustrations) (also with the understanding that possible variations and exceptions might exist as production details changed) :
-1929 you would have gotten an Ives body locomotive and Ives tender(with AF trucks) with 4 AF cars
-1930 you would have gotten an Ives body locomotive with the new AF Vanderbilt tender and 4 AF cars
-1931 you would have gotten the new Flyer die cast "Piper" body locomotive / Vandy tender with 4 AF cars
-1932-34 you would have gotten a Flyer die cast "piper" loco/Vandy tender with 3 AF cars.
Unrelated to the Minute Man discussion, @Greg J. Turinetti 's warrior set is a nice example of a catalog correct 1929 warrior set.
