Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Toys-Part 2 (Die cast Toys)

Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Overcast with some sun
-4 C 24 F


Toys -Part 2
Die-Cast Toys




The term die-cast toy here refers to any toy or collectible model produced by using the die casting method. The toys are made of metal, with plastic, rubber, or glass details. Wholly plastic toys are made by a similar process of injection moulding, but the two are rarely confused. The metal used is either a lead alloy (in the first toys), or more commonly Zamak (or Mazak in the UK), an alloy of zinc with small quantities of aluminium and copperLead, as previously so widely used for cast metal toys, or iron are impurities that must be carefully avoided in this alloy, as they give rise to zinc pest. These alloys are also referred to casually as white metal or pot metal, although these terms are also confused with the lead toy alloys. The most common die-cast toys are scale models of automobilesaircraftconstruction equipment, and trains, although almost anything can be produced by this method.



History:



Diecast (or die cast, or die-cast) toys were first produced early in the 20th century by manufacturers such as Meccano (Dinky Toys) in the United KingdomDowst Brothers (TootsieToys) in the United States and Fonderie de prĂ©cision de Nanterre (Solido) in France. The first models on the market were basic, consisting of a small car or van body with no interior. In the early days, it was common for impurities in the alloy to result in zinc pest; the casting would distort or crack for no apparent reason. As a result, diecast toys made before World War II are difficult to find in good condition. The later high-purity Zamak alloy avoided this problem.
Lesney began making diecast toys in 1947. Their popular Matchbox 1-75 series was so named because there were always 75 different vehicles in the line, each packaged in a small box designed to look like those used for matches. These toys became so popular that "Matchbox" was widely used as a generic term for any diecast toy car, regardless of who the actual manufacturer was.
The popularity of diecast toys as collectibles developed in the 1950s as their detail and quality increased. Consequently, more companies entered the field, including the Corgi brand, produced by Mettoy, which appeared in 1956 and pioneered the use of interiors in their models.
In 1968, Hot Wheels were introduced in the United States by Mattel to address the complaint that they had no line of toys for boys to balance their line of Barbie dolls for girls. Because they looked fast and were fast (they were equipped with a low-friction wheel/axle assembly), Hot Wheels quickly gained an important niche in the diecast toy market, becoming one of the world's top sellers and challenging the Matchbox 1-75 series in popularity.
Although this practice has been used by Meccano (Dinky Toys) as far as 1934, during the 1960s various companies began to use diecast vehicles as promotional items for advertising. The idea that children can play a large part in a family's decision as to what products to buy came into wide circulation. In addition, by the 1980s it was apparent that many diecast vehicles were being purchased by adults as collectibles, not as toys for children. Companies such as McDonald'sSears RoebuckKodak and Texaco commissioned toymakers to produce promotional models featuring their names and logos or licensed their use. One early example was an American Airlines London bus produced by Matchbox, an idea some other airlines quickly copied.*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die-cast_toy*

All of the toys below are Tootsietoys - an American company manufactured them. It's name was Dowst Manufacturing Company that was located in Chicago, Illinois (USA). THese toys were manufactured in the 19209's and 1930's. Most of these toys are about 3 inches long.Becuase of their small size, the name Tootsietoy was used, with "tootsie" being used to describe something small.




Copyright © 2016              Stacey Bindman
Please do not copy without my written permission

Thanks for dropping by,
and as always,
Have a great part of the day or night
wherever you may be.

Stacvey Bindman
toysearcher@gmail.com

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