HOME
*





Fun Ho! Toys
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! Early years The earliest Fun Ho! race cars made in the late 1930s were mostly generic midget, sprint, and salt flat cars of simple casting with two axles, and four rubber wheels (sometimes the rubber was white). The first cars were made out of lead. Most of the cars had a driver that was part of the casting. Only a couple, like the Cooper and Mercedes Streamliner were replicas of real cars. Early diecast Fun Ho! cars were a Ford Model A, a 1949 Ford, a Packard Roadster, an Austin Healey 100, a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Inglewood, New Zealand
Inglewood is a town in the Taranaki Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is southeast of New Plymouth on New Zealand State Highway 3, State Highway 3, close to Mount Taranaki, and sits above sea level. The town services a mainly dairy farming region. History The settlement was founded in 1873 and was originally called Moatown. The name was then changed to Milton, before ultimately being renamed to Inglewood in 1875 to avoid confusion with Milton, New Zealand, Milton in the South Island. The railway reached Inglewood in 1877, connecting it with New Plymouth as part of the first extension of what is now the Marton–New Plymouth line. Until 1991, Inglewood was home to the Moa-Nui Co-operative Dairies factory (which was the fourth largest dairy factory in New Zealand) before it was shut down in favour of centralised processing near Hāwera. From 1949 until the late 1980s, Inglewood was home to Fun Ho! Toys, a manufacturer of collectible die cast metal toys and one of New Ze ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Auburn Rubber
The Auburn Rubber Company was a rubber products manufacturer best known for its line of children's toys. It was probably the largest producer of rubber and vinyl toys in the world, though Norway's Tomte Laerdal, Finland's Plasto, and Sweden's Galanite were major European producers. History The Double Fabric Tire Company was started in Auburn, Indiana, in 1913. At the outset, Double Fabric made tires for the Auburn Automobile Company. In the 1920s, the name was changed to the Auburn Rubber Company. It phased out its production of tires and introduced new products such as rubber sheets used to sole shoes. In 1935, it began making rubber toys, including a variety of toy cars, trucks, tractors and animals. Most vehicles were four to eight inches in length and cast in a variety of colors. During World War II, the company continued to make soles – now for combat boots – and also gaskets for so-called " jerry cans." Vehicles Toys were made in many different styles, models and si ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Zamac
ZAMAK (or Zamac, formerly trademarked as MAZAK) is a family of alloys with a base metal of zinc and alloying elements of aluminium, magnesium, and copper. Zamak alloys are part of the zinc aluminum, zinc aluminium alloy family; they are distinguished from the other ZA alloys because of their constant 4% aluminium composition. The name ''zamak'' is an acronym of the German language, German names for the metals of which the alloys are composed: (zinc), , and (copper). The New Jersey Zinc Company developed zamak alloys in 1929. The most common zamak alloy is zamak 3. Besides that, zamak 2, zamak 5 and zamak 7 are also commercially used. These alloys are most commonly die cast. Zamak alloys (particularly #3 and #5) are frequently used in the spin casting industry. A large problem with early zinc die casting materials was zinc pest, owing to impurities in the alloys. Zamak avoided this by the use of 99.99% pure zinc metal, produced by New Jersey Zinc Company, New Jersey Zinc's us ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lesney
Lesney Products & Co. Ltd. was a British manufacturing company responsible for the conception, manufacture, and distribution of die-cast toys under the "Matchbox" name. The company existed from 1947 until 1982. History Lesney was founded on 19 January 1947 as an industrial die-casting company by Leslie Smith (6 March 1918 - 26 May 2005) and Rodney Smith (26 August 1917 - 20 July 2013). The name "Lesney" was an acronym from both partners' (which were not related by blood) names. They had been school friends and served together in the Royal Navy during World War II. Shortly after they founded the company, Rodney Smith introduced to his partner a man named John "Jack" Odell, an engineer he had met in a previous job at D.C.M.T. (another die-casting company). Mr. Odell initially rented a space in the Lesney building to make his own die-casting products, but he joined the company as a partner in that same year. Lesney originally started operations in a derelict pub in north London ( ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Budgie Toys
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. The company marketed its products under the brand name ''Morestone''. Some models were manufactured by a separate company called "Modern Products". Vehicles were about Matchbox car size, though still slightly smaller and simpler. History ''Morestone'' got its name as a contraction of "Morris" and "Stone" who started distributing the toys in the 1940s. Vehicles were somewhat similar to Dinky Toys in concept, but other toys were also marketed, like a "dulcimer" xylophone and a toy drum. Some vehicles, like the mechanical road sweeper were equipped with clockwork motors. Often Morestone vehicles were made by the company Modern Products, thus "A Modern Product" or simply "Modern" would be state ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Holden
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last three years, it switched entirely to importing cars. It was headquartered in Port Melbourne, with major industrial operations in the states of South Australia and Victoria. The 164-year-old company ceased trading at the end of 2020. Holden's primary products were its own models developed in-house, such as the Holden Commodore, Holden Caprice, and the Holden Ute. However, Holden had also offered badge-engineered models under sharing arrangements with Chevrolet, Isuzu, Nissan, Opel, Suzuki, Toyota, and Vauxhall Motors. The vehicle lineup had included models from GM Korea, GM Thailand, GM North America. Holden had also distributed GM's German Opel marque in Australia in 2012 and 2013. Holden was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Mobil
Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. A direct descendant of Standard Oil, Mobil was originally known as the Standard Oil Company of New York (shortened to Socony) after Standard Oil was Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, split into 34 different entities in a 1911 Supreme Court decision. Socony merged with Vacuum Oil Company, from which the Mobil name first originated, in 1931 and subsequently renamed itself to Socony-Vacuum Oil Company. Over time, Mobil became the company's primary identity, which incited another renaming in 1963, this time to Mobil Corporation. Mobil credits itself with being the first company to introduce Pay at the pump, paying at the pump at its gas stations, the first company to produce jet aviation fuel, as well as the first company to intr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Hot Wheels
Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then owner of Matchbox. Many automobile manufacturers have since licensed Hot Wheels to make scale models of their cars, allowing the use of original design blueprints and detailing. Although Hot Wheels were originally intended to be for children and young adults, they have become popular with adult collectors, for whom limited edition models are now made available. History 1968 The original Hot Wheels were made by Elliot Handler. Handler discovered his son Kenneth playing with Matchbox cars and decided to create a line to compete with Matchbox. Hot Wheels were originally conceived by Handler to be more like " hot rod" (i.e. customized/modified or even caricaturized or fantasy cars,often with big rear tires, Superchargers, flame paint-jobs, outlandish proportions, hood blowers, etc.) cars, as c ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Matchbox Toys
Matchbox is a popular toy brand which was introduced by Lesney Products in 1953, and is now owned by Mattel, Inc, which purchased the brand in 1997. The brand was given its name because the original die-cast "Matchbox" toys were sold in boxes similar to those in which matches were sold. The brand grew to encompass a broad range of toys, including larger scale die-cast models, plastic model kits, slot car racing, and action figures. During the 1980s, Matchbox began to switch to the more conventional plastic and cardboard "blister packs" that were used by other die-cast toy brands such as Hot Wheels. By the 2000s, the box style packaging was re-introduced for the collectors' market, such as the 35th Anniversary of Superfast series in 2004 and the 50th Anniversary of Superfast in 2019. Products currently marketed under the Matchbox name include scale model plastic and die-cast vehicles, and toy garages. History Early years: Lesney, the origin of the Matchbox name and the ''1-75' ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tomica
is a line of die-cast toy vehicles (mainly model car, cars) produced since 1970 by Tomy, Takara Tomy Co. of Japan (formerly known as Tomiyama and Tomy Kogyo Incorporated). 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 (brand), Matchbox - but focuses mainly on Japanese brands. History Tomy Co. of Japan was founded in 1924 by Eijira Tomiyama in Tokyo. The company has produced a variety of toys, but in 1970 started production of the Tomica line of diecast vehicles as a result of the surge of interest in the global market in toy cars which was led mainly by Matchbox and Mattel's Hot Wheels. Although models of various scales have been made, the name "Tomica" normally refers to the 3-inch sized mainstream vehicles most commonly produced by the company. Originally, the name "Pocket C ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Die-cast Toys
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. Process The metal used in die-casting is either a lead alloy (used early on), or more commonly, Zamak (called ''Mazak'' in the UK), an alloy of zinc with small quantities of aluminium and copper. Lead or iron are impurities that must be carefully avoided in Zamac, as they give rise to a deterioration of the metal most commonly called zinc pest. The terms white metal or pot metal are also used when applied to alloys based more on lead or iron. The most common die-cast vehicles are scale models of automobiles, aircraft, military vehicles, construction equipment, and trains, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Toy Companies Of New Zealand
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include Toy block, toy blocks, Board game, board games, and Doll, dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pets. Toys can provide utilitarian benefits, including physical exercise, cultural awareness, or academic education. Additionally, utilitarian objects, especially those which are no longer needed for their original purpose, can be used as toys. Examples include children building a fort with empty cereal boxes and tissue paper spools, or a toddler playing with a broken TV remote control. The term "toy" can also be used to refer to utilitarian objects purchased for enjoyment rather than need, or for expensive necessities for which a large fraction of the cost represents its ability to provide enjoyment to the owner, such as luxury cars, high-end motorcycles, gaming computers, and flagship smartphones. Playing with t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]