Mettoy Toys

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Mettoy Toys

    Yesterday, I was looking at toys on E-Bay, when I came across a toy manufactured by Mettoy. The name sounded familiar so I searched my posts, but didn't find even 1 item on a search list. So naturally I decided to select this British manufacturer for today's post.  The Mettoy Co. Ltd. was registered as a privately-he;ld company on August 31, 1932. It was founded by 2 Jewish partners by the names of Mr. Phillip Ullmann, and Mr. Authur Katz. Phillip Ullmann had originally set up the company in Germany as Tipp. & Co. in Nurenberg, Germany. Authur Katz was related to Phillip through his mother being a cousin to Phillip, and migrated to Germany from South Africa. In 1933, with  Nazism spreading its ugly head, the pair moved to London, thanks to the assistance of Lord Marks, of Marks & Spencer.  

There's lots of interesting history adter WWII, which can be found at a great website by the name of the V & A Museum.  Some of the highlights are that the company expanded many successful lines such as the Aurora plastic model kits, and most-famously - Corgi.

Please click to be redirected to the great history story of Mettoy 

Please click ths sentence to be redirected to Bertoia's fine website

Like most toys of the time, these Mettoy toys appear similar to other manufacturers toys of the time. However, Mettoy went a bit further. Notice a separate driver and an actual steering wheel, the nickel-plated grill, and the balloon tires that are different on each toy model.

The 2 last jet toys are the same. I used the 2 just to illustrate the nice features of the Mattoy jet, a toy that was still being made by the company in the 1960's.. The company had lasted a long time, but eventually would be purchased by Mattel, and as the old saying goes - the rest is history.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great part of the day,

wherever you may be.

Stacey