fall inside a hole
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Other toys
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 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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| 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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| 1972 | Highway Police Chase | Larger "Plahighway" export set 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 | 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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| 1975 | Highway Police Chase | Smaller Sears police chase set without the toll booth or remotely-operated junctions |
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| 1977 |
Big Loader | Construction site automaton turned toy released and rereleased many, many times |
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| 1994 | Big Big Loader | Two-level Big Loader with elevator that can be connected to Big Loader |
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| Big Loader Directory | More about different color and box variations of the different Big Loaders |
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 | 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-operatable 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 toy with similar construction techniques that eventually merged. Great for building bridges, buildings, cranes, vehicles and more with battery-powered motors.
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 Red | Plarail American-style steam locomotive based loosely on the Disneyland Railroad |
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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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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. In 1992 Tyco bought Illco and expanded their Sesame Street and Muppet Baby toy lines.
| Year |
Set name |
Description |
Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mickey Mouse Fun Castle Roller Coaster | Motorized downhill racing-style set with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy on a "roller coaster" track | ||
| Mickey Mouse Loop the Loop | An early variation on the Toy Town Ariel Tank Engine toy with Mickey Mouse riding a "loop the loop" roller coaster |