fall inside a hole
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Other toys
Who Made Who
A page with some basic information about the years and activities of most of the toy companies that are mentioned on these webpages here.
Toy Catalogues
Scans of many of my toy catalogues can be found here.
Other Tomy toys
Tomy was founded as the Tomiyama Toy Manufacturing Company in February 1924 by Eiichiro Tomiyama. The company produced many friction-drive and tin toys throughout their first 30 or so years until the rise in the use of plastic in toys throughout the 1950s. In the late 1950s Tomy began producing plastic toys. In addition to their toys for the Japanese market, Tomy has exported or otherwise collaborated with distributers in many other countries as well as under their own international brands for many decades. For Plarail-related Tomy exports, see the Export Plarail page.
| Year |
Set name |
Description |
Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early 1960s | Shuttle Train | Tin "shuttle train" toy from the Tomiyama era sold by AHI. Battery-operated train runs back and forth up and down and performs a coal loading and unloading operation |
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| 1968-1973 | Magic Skyrail | Space-themed vehicle toy with tracked space crawlers that can go upside down and around. Exported as Gripidee Gravidee |
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| 1969 | Motorized Shuttle Train | Produced by Tomy and sold by Child Guidance in America, some units were also sold in Japan as Action Plarail and imported to Spain by Geyper as Tren Minero |
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| 1970 | Mini-Car Factory | Designed by Child Guidance and manufactured by Tomy, Tomy also sold a オートファクトリー Auto Factory version in Japan |
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| 1970 | Giant Crane | Large (over 2 feet tall) motorized crane toy with four motors controlling the arm, block and tackle, and claw with accessories to pick up and maneuver, produced for Sears |
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| 1972-1979 | Highway Police Chase | "Plahighway" export sets for Sears with police cruiser chasing a red car around a highway interchange with controllable junctions |
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| 1972 | The Little Engine That Could Train Set | American "Freerail" export set sold at Montgomery Ward's with a "puffing" steam locomotive and flexible, cuttable track |
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| 1970s-2000s |
Dead Heat
Game デッドヒートゲーム |
Series of downhill racing games with motorized lifts and multi-lane raceways |
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| 1970s | Shuttling Ferry-Boat | "Shuttle" ferry set with bus that rides a ferry back and forth between two observation towers. Sold in Japan by Tomy and distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Woolworths, also had a Geyper version in Spain |
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| 1977 |
Big Loader | Construction site automaton turned toy released and rereleased many, many times |
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| 1979 | Atomic Arcade Pinball | Motorized portable pinball table with motor, lights, sound, and score reels; one of the best "portable" toy pinball tables |
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| 1980 | Stunt Car Race Set | Motorized truck stunt show with friction-drive racers that go up on two wheels and race around |
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| 1994 | Big Big Loader | Two-level Big Loader with elevator that can be connected to the original Big Loader |
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Toy Town/Toybox
Toy Town was a brand associated with Tomy and the Toy Town industrial park in Mibu Town, Tochigi Prefecture. They produced a range of toys that were sold domestically and overseas primarily in the 1970s, with many of Toy Town's toolings being used for toys under the Toybox or TOYBOX brand from the 1980s to the early 2000s.
| Year |
Set name |
Description |
Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 |
Sky Plane お空のヒコウキ |
Initial Japanese version of the Flippity Flyer motorized stunt-plane toys with toy plane that takes off and flips around |
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| mid 1970s | Flippity Flyer | Sears export of the more advanced "New" Sky Plane with much more involved flipping stunt show |
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| 1976 | Flying Stunt Loco | Toy Town export of the Aerial Tank Engine flipping, climbing train toy |
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| later 1970s | New Speed Circuit | Rerelease of an earlier Toy Town downhill racing set with motorized lift and four different cars |
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| 1978 | Adventure Boy Surprise Car | Expanded version of the "Aerial Tank Engine" with additional stunts |
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| 1982 |
Space Flight Space Ranger 宇宙飛行スペースレンジャー |
Space Shuttle-themed version of the Flying Stunt Loco with flipping, racing shuttle |
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| 1983 |
Sky Jumbo お空のジャンボ Flippity Flyer |
1980s Toybox rerelease of the New Sky Plane with updated jumbo jet with flashing light |
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| 1984 | Working Robot Busy Robot Factory | Big Loader-type toy that cycles balls up and down a multi-layer course - the chassis is based directly on Big Loader's |
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| 1996 | Mountain Railroad Chip and Dale Acorn Rolling Set | Toybox Mickey Mouse-licensed Mountain Railway set with Chip and Dale that loads and transports acorns |
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| 2002 | Thomas the Tank Engine Mysterious! Transfer Station | Thomas the Tank Engine licensed version of the Toybox mysterious transfer station train toy |
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Child Guidance Toys
Child Guidance Toys was a Bronx, New York toy company that started in 1953 as a toy division of Archer Plastics and by 1956 all of the company's plastic production was going into toy production. Throughout the 1960s and 70s they sold the popular Child Guidance Railroad series as well as other children's development, vehicle, and doll play toys. Around 1967 the brand was sold to Questor with original founder and inventor Robert Genin continuing to design products until the early 70s. In the late 70s Questor was bought by CBS Toys who sold some Child Guidance products under the Gabriel name before it was phased out in the 1980s.
| Year |
Toy name |
Description |
Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Musical Railroad | Large battery-powered locomotive that strikes metal notes to produce a tune like a xylophone when running |
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| 1963 | Child Guidance Highway System | System of road, overpasses, cars, and accessories that worked with Child Guidance Railroad and Guidancetown |
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| 1963 | Guidancetown U.S.A./Constructive Thinking | Series of plastic walls, roofs, cars, and other accessories for building small towns, large towers, and other buildings |
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| 1969 | Child Guidance Shuttle Train | Advanced shuttle train type toy with operating turntable and whistling locomotive that can select from multiple cars to load and unload |
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| 1970 | Mini-Car Factory | Motorized car factory that can assemble small plastic cars from three colors of chassis, body, and roof. Manufactured by Tomy and sold under the Questor name |
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| Other Child Guidance toys and info | More information about other Child Guidance toys that I do not currently own like Child Guidance Highway and international Child Guidance variants |
Child Guidance Railroad
Child Guidance Railroad was an early and long-lasting Child Guidance toy that first appeared in America around 1961. In the 1960s some sets included motorized locomotives produced by Tomy but the majority of sets used a series of smaller plastic push-trains. The brand and rail standard spread to Europe and Australia and even into Japan.
Rokenbok
Rokenbok is a construction toy system that combines plastic beams, chutes, plates, and other snap-together pieces with remote control vehicles to produce not only a buildable and operational but also fully remote-operable construction site or city or production line or monorail empire. One of the coolest toys that hardly anybody seems to know about.
LEGO
LEGO is a classic brick-based building toy. At some point, I would like to cover a handful of the interesting older LEGO kits I have come across.
Meccano/Erector
Metal beam-based construction toys with similar construction techniques that eventually merged. Great for building bridges, buildings, cranes, vehicles and more with battery-powered motors.
Playskool
Originally part of a lumber company, Playskool bought several other toymakers in the 1950s before becoming part of Milton Bradley in 1968 who were acquired by Hasbro in 1984. The Playskool name is still used a variety of preschool toys
| Year |
Toy name |
Description |
Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Son Premier Train Boite 1 | French train set based on the Tot Railroad standard with interlocking plastic track and wooden train |
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| 1988 | Playskool Alphabet Roadway | Motorized trackway set with small bus that travels around reconfigurable road sections shaped like letters, sold in Sesame Street and generic versions |
Disney toys
Although I would not really consider myself to be much of a fan of Disney, I have come to own a few Disney licensed toys as part of or as an aside to some of my other collections.
| Year |
Toy name |
Description |
Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Walt Disney Character Fold-A-Way Play World | Unfolding plastic Disney World playset from mostly unknown Intoport Development Co. with train that operates rides and Disney characters and graphics |
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| 1982 | Mickey Poppo | Plarail American-style steam locomotives based on the Disneyland Railroad engines, released in several variations over the decades |
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| 1986 | Disneyland Play Set | Disney licensed playset with many figures and a battery-powered train that powers different amusement park rides as the train goes around |
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| 1990 |
Mickey Poppo Set | Plarail set that includes a variant of the Mickey Poppo, Disney station, and "it's a small world" ride |
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| 1996 | Mountain Railroad Chip and Dale Acorn Rolling Set | Toybox Mickey Mouse-licensed Mountain Railway set with Chip and Dale that loads and transports acorns |
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| 1998 | Doll Play Mickey Mouse Train & Colorful Rail Set | Disney licensed set with colored rails and several doll figurines which can be placed in the train or around the set |
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Illfelder Importing Company/Illco
The Illfelder Importing Company began in New York in 1861 as the American branch of a German pencil and stationary company that rose to some prominence in the 1970 and 1980s as a toy importer and seller. In the mid 1970s they marketed the "Squirmles" worm-on-a-string toys and sold a range of Mickey Mouse, Peanuts, Sesame Street, and other licensed character toys in the 1970s and 1980s under the Illco name - including some that were direct copies of toys from other companies that Illco had replicated by their overseas manufacturers. In 1992 Tyco bought Illco and expanded their Sesame Street and Muppet Baby toy lines, eventually leading up to their success with Tickle Me Elmo and subsequent acquisition by Fisher-Price.
| Year |
Set name |
Description |
Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| late 1970s | Mickey Mouse Fun Castle Roller Coaster | Motorized downhill racing-style set with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy on a "roller coaster" track |
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| ~1979-1980s | Mickey Mouse Loop the Loop | Variation on the Toy Town Aerial Tank Engine toy with Mickey Mouse riding a "loop the loop" roller coaster |
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