Ertl (formerly, the Ertl Company) is an American former manufacturing company and current

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

of toys, best known for its die-cast

metal alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...

collectible replicas (or

scale model A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...

s) of

agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that ...

. Other products manufactured by Ertl include

cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, people in ...

, airplanes, and

commercial vehicles A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. The United States defines a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to t ...

. The company was based in Dyersville, Iowa, home of the National Farm Toy Museum.

History

Ertl has been producing farm toy replicas since 1945. For over 60 years, the company has produced farm toys for industry brands such as:

John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

Case IH Case IH is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. It was created in 1985 when Tenneco bought selected assets of the agricultural division from International Harvester and merged it into its J.I. Case Company (IH then became Navistar).T ...

, New Holland, and

AGCO AGCO Corporation is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in 1990 and with its headquarters in Duluth, Georgia, United States. AGCO designs, produces and sells tractors, combines, foragers, hay tools, self-propelled sprayer ...

. Ertl has also, on different occasions, acquired the licenses to produce die-cast vehicles and

figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with clay ...

s as well as model kits for

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his hum ...

Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas the Tank Engine is an anthropomorphised fictional tank locomotive in the British ''Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher, published from 1945. He became the most popular and famous character in the series, ...

, Tugs (TV series),

Theodore Tugboat ''Theodore Tugboat'' is a Canadian children's television series about a tugboat named Theodore who lives in the Big Harbour with all of his friends. The show originated (and is set) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada as a co-production between th ...

, Super Mario Bros.

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

, and

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

. In 1999, Ertl was purchased by Racing Champions. Ertl is currently a brand under the RC2 Corporation umbrella.

Timeline

Important Dates in Racing Champions/Ertl Company History *1945 - The Ertl Company is founded by Fred Ertl Sr., in Dubuque, Iowa *1959 - The company moves to larger facilities in Dyersville, Iowa *1967 - Ertl is acquired by Victor Comptometer Corporation *1971 - Ertl acquires Carter Tru-Scale *1973 - Ertl begins manufacturing plastic model kits *1974 - Ertl acquires Structo Stamped Steel *1977 - Kidde, Inc. acquires Ertl with purchase of Victor Comptometer Corp *1981 - Ertl acquires AMT model kit companyAMT history
on Round2.com *1985 - Ertl acquires MPC model kits *1986 - Ertl produces ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'' licensed toys *1987 -

Hanson plc Hanson UK, formerly Hanson Trust plc, is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company HeidelbergCement since August 2007, and was formerly listed on the London ...

purchases Kidde. Ertl acquires ESCI model kit company *1989 - Racing Champions is founded by Bob Dods, Boyd Meyer and Peter Chung *1990 - Ertl releases the first Precision Series farm toy replica *1991–92 - Racing Champions obtains

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

license *1992 - Fred Ertl Jr. & Robert J. Ertl retire *1995 - Hanson plc consolidates its U.S. companies to form U.S.I. (United States Industries) *1993 - Ertl begins the Wings Of Texaco die cast airplane collection *1996 - Racing Champions introduces its Mint line of non-racing vehicles. Racing Champions Corporation is formed *1997 - Racing Champions completes its initial public stock offering (RACN on NASDAQ) *1999 - Company produces a commercial version of the

Eternity puzzle The Eternity puzzle is a tiling puzzle created by Christopher Monckton and launched by the Ertl Company in June 1999. It was marketed as being practically unsolvable, with a £1 million prize on offer for whoever could solve it within four years ...

*1999 - Racing Champions acquires The Ertl Company *2000 - Ertl acquires Britains Limited *2003 - Racing Champions Ertl acquired Chicago-based Learning Curve International, Inc. *2004 - RC2 Corporation acquired Playing Mantis assets and ''

The First Years The First Years ( nl, Brugklas) is a Dutch mockumentary series, sometimes described as a "scripted reality" series, about students at a junior high school. The first episode aired on May 26, 2014 by NPO Zapp NPO Zapp is the Dutch children's ...

Inc.'', while the ''Thomas & Friends'' range was discontinued. *2008 - Round 2 LLC signs licensing agreement to produce and market AMT, MPC, Polar Lights, and 1:24 and 1:18 scale diecast *2009 - Ertl celebrates 50 years in Dyersville, Iowa *2010 - Ertl celebrates its 65th Anniversary *2011 - Tomy acquired RC2; maintains control of Ertl, Racing Champions and Johnny Lightning tooling *2012 - Round 2 LLC acquires full rights to AMT, MPC, Polar Lights tooling *2013 - Tomy discontinues Johnny Lightning brand *2015 – Round 2 LLC obtains the rights to use Racing Champions, American Muscle and ERTL Custom and Premium tooling *2016 – Round 2 LLC obtains the rights to use Johnny Lighting tooling *2018 – Ertl sells Die-cast Promotions (DCP) company to First Gear Inc. *2020 - Tomy reintroduces Johnny Lightning brand

Products

Plastic model kits

In the late 1970s, Ertl offered a series of plastic model kits of heavy commercial trucks, over-the-road trailers, tractors, plows, and farm wagons. Although these kits never achieved the hoped-for popularity, they led to the acquisition of AMT. In 1983, AMT was purchased by Ertl from Lesney, and renamed AMT/Ertl. AMT/Ertl then had a 24-year relationship until AMT was sold in 2007.

Movies and TV franchises

Ertl Company, KITT, 1 to 25 scale toy model, 10

In the 1980s, Ertl got licenses to produce and commercialise model cars from movies and TV series, such as KITT from the '' Knight Rider'' and the Batvehicles from the '' 1989 Batman'' film.

American muscle diecast

In the early 1990s Ertl started the American Muscle line up of diecast collectible cars and trucks. These were 1:18 scale replicas that quickly found a dedicated following of baby boomers. Limited editions of 2,500 were especially sought after. Many of the earliest releases have fetched upwards of $500. The most popular and desirable is the

1957 Chevy The 1957 Chevrolet is a car that was introduced by Chevrolet in September 1956 for the 1957 model year. It was available in three series models: the upscale Bel Air, the mid-range Two-Ten, and the One-Fifty. A two-door station wagon, the ...

Bel Air known as Peggy Sue.

Airplanes

Ertl has also produced a number of die cast airplane models over the years, including some promotional items for

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started ...

and others.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Toy cars and trucks Die-cast toys Companies based in Iowa Toy brands Toy companies established in 1945 Dyersville, Iowa American companies established in 1945 1945 establishments in Iowa