A model car, or toy car, is a miniature representation of an automobile. Other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even ATVs, etc. are often included in this general category. Because many miniature vehicles were originally aimed at children as playthings, there is no precise difference between a model car and a toy car, yet the word 'model' implies either assembly required or the accurate rendering of an actual vehicle at smaller scale. The kit building hobby became popular through the 1950s, while the collecting of miniatures by adults started to gain momentum around 1970. Precision-detailed miniatures made specifically for adults are a significant part of the market since the mid-1980s.
Ertl is a former American manufacturing company and current brand of toys, best known for its die-cast metal alloy collectible replicas of agricultural machinery. Other products manufactured by Ertl include cars, airplanes, and commercial vehicles.
A die-cast toy is a toy or a collectible model produced by using the die-casting method of putting molten lead, zinc alloy or plastic in a mold to produce a particular shape. Such toys are made of metal, with plastic, rubber, glass, or other machined metal parts. Wholly plastic toys are made by a similar process of injection molding, but the two methods are distinct because of the properties of the materials.
Maisto is a brand of scale model vehicles introduced in 1990 and owned by May Cheong Group, a Chinese company founded in 1967 in Hong Kong by brothers P.Y. Ngan and Y.C Ngan. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the brand has its offices in the United States, France and China. MCG also owns other model car brands, such as the former Italian brand Bburago and Polistil.
Sieper Lüdenscheid GmbH & Co. KG, mostly known by its trade name Siku, is a German manufacturer of scale models headquartered in Lüdenscheid. Some of the products sold by Siku are model cars, figurines, model aircraft, model commercial vehicles, and model agricultural machinery. Traditionally, production was centered in Lüdenscheid, but diecast models are now made in China, the Philippines, Poland, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Tomy Company, Ltd. is a Japanese toy company. It was established in 1924 by Eiichirō Tomiyama as Tomiyama Toy Manufacturing Company (富山玩具製作所), became known for creating popular toys like the B-29 friction toy and luck-based game Pop-up Pirate. In 2006, Tomy merged with another toy manufacturer, Takara, and although the English company name remained the same, it became Takara Tomy in Asia. It has its headquarters in Katsushika, Tokyo.
Lone Star Products Ltd. was the brand name used by the British company Die Cast Machine Tools Ltd (DCMT) for its toy products. DCMT was based in Welham Green, Hertfordshire, north of London.
Majorette is a French toy manufacturer which mostly produces small Die-cast scale model cars, commercial vehicles, aircraft, and other vehicles, particularly in 1:64 scale. This is a normal 2.5–3 in (64–76 mm) size, thus Majorette has sometimes been called "the Matchbox of France". Traditionally, production was centered in the urban area of Lyon, but diecast models are now made in China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Tomica is a line of die-cast toy vehicles produced since 1970 by Takara Tomy Co. of Japan. Ostensibly, Tomica diecast were an outgrowth of Tomica World, an autonomous toy line of motorized train accessories that Tomy had created based on Plarail and produced since 1959. Similar in concept, Tomica can be thought of as the "Japanese Matchbox", but focuses mainly on Japanese brands.
Husky was a brand name for a line of business die-cast toy scale model vehicles manufactured by defunct company Mettoy Playcraft Ltd. of Swansea, Wales, which also made the larger Corgi Toys. Husky Models was re-branded "Corgi Junior" in 1970, and a further range called "Corgi Rockets" was developed to race on track sets.
Playart was a toy company owned by Hong Kong industrialist Duncan Tong (唐鼎康) that specialized in die-cas toy cars, similar in size and style to Hot Wheels, Matchbox or Tomica. Cars were well done, but were often diecast seconds from other companies like Yatming or Tomica. Cars were made from 1965 to 1983 at the factory in San Po Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Plastic cars and trucks of 1:43, and 1:24 scale were also made, while trains and other theme toys also appeared.
The 1:64 scale is a traditional scale for models and miniatures, in which one unit on the model represents 64 units on the actual object. It is also known as the "three-sixteenths scale" since 3/16 of an inch represents one foot. An average human is approximately 1+1⁄16 inches (27 mm) tall when represented in 1:64 scale.
The pancake motor, as used in slot cars, is a type of electric motor, which has a flat commutator and vertical shaft. It was a feature of the highly successful Aurora HO slot cars of the 1960s and 1970s. The motor was not a separate unit; instead, its individual elements - magnets, armature, commutator and brushes - fit into recesses in the blocky chassis. The power was carried by a chain of spur gears along the top of the chassis, to a pinion which drove a crown gear at the axle. Like most slot car motors, the Aurora pancakes ran on low voltage direct current.
The Aurora Plastics Corporation was an American toy and hobby manufacturing company. It is known primarily for its production of plastic scale models of cars, airplanes, and TV and movie figures in the 1960s. Its principal competition in modeling were various other plastic modeling firms like Revell and Monogram.
Gama is a German maker of toys, usually cars and trucks, dating from before World War I. The company is headquartered in Fürth, Bavaria, near Nürnberg, a traditional German toymaking center. Other German companies that competed with Gama Toys were Schuco Modell and Conrad Models.
Holland Oto is a Dutch manufacturing company based in Weert that produces diecast scale model cars and trucks. The company was established in 1959 in Heerlen as "Bestbox", then changed its name to "Efsi" in 1971, and "Holland Oto" in 1996.
Morris & Stone, Ltd., which later changed its name to the more well-known Budgie Toys, was a British die-cast toy distributor turned manufacturer, based in London. The company first specialised in horse-drawn carriages and coaches. It later made a wide variety of miniature cars and trucks.
Fun-Ho! Toys were a brand of diecast toy cars and trucks manufactured and distributed by Underwood Engineering Co. Ltd. of Inglewood, New Zealand. Production was started by Jack Underwood about 1935 and continued until 1982. Since this time reproductions have been made also in Inglewood (Taranaki) at the Fun Ho! Toys Museum. Currently toys are occasionally cast as museum memorabilia using original molding plates and boxes. The name was always portrayed with the exclamation following Fun Ho!
Round 2 is an American manufacturing company which produces scale models including die-cast, plastic, slot cars, and other hobby products. The company is based in South Bend, Indiana. The company was founded in 2005 by Thomas E. Lowe who previously owned toy company Playing Mantis. Round 2 holds several hobby brands, most of which were acquired and relaunched by Round 2 under the original brand name. Brands sold under Round 2 includes long-running model kit and diecast brands, including AMT, Hawk, Johnny Lightning, MPC, and Racing Champions.
