The history of Dinky Toys, Corgi Toys and other makers of diecast metal cars has been covered in great detail in many books and magazine articles; by contrast, information on plastic toy cars is much harder to come by. Yet collectors are taking an increasing interest in plastic cars, particularly as the rise in the value of early diecast and tinplate models has put many of these out of reach of the average enthusiast. For the first time, this book aims to provide a systematic introduction to the vast number of plastic cars made during the 1950s and 1960s. Years of research have enabled the author to uncover many fascinating facts about the companies who made these toys. Some were major players in the toy industry, like Tri-ang and Brimtoy in the UK, Norev and Minialuxe in France, Gama and Siku in Germany and Ingap in Italy. Many others, though, were more obscure, and some only modeled one car before disappearing without trace.More than 250 photographs of these toys are included, with the emphasis being on the most colorful and realistic examples, all of them based on real vehicles of the period. In many cases, the toy is pictured alongside its original box, the presence of which can often double the value of the item to a collector. Readers will also find a handy glossary listing the names of many of the companies who were active in this field in the 1950s and 1960s, together with some evocative period advertisements and catalogue illustrations. If you though that a model car had to be made of diecast metal to be worth collecting, this book might change your mind...With 250 colour photos, extensive appendices and identification aids, this is a must have for any collector or dealer.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction [Subheadings: plastics in the toy industry; plastic in the collectors market; how much is it worth?]; Chapter Two: Great Britain. Chapter Three: France; Chapter Four: Spain; Chapter Five: Italy; Chapter Six: Germany; Chapter Seven: USA; Chapter Eight: Hong Kong; Chapter Nine: other countries; Glossary: listing major manufacturers of plastic toy cars; Bibliography.

About the Author

Andrew Ralston received his first Dinky Toy car, a Riley, when he was about five years old, and ever since has been passionately interested in anything to do with cars. He has built up an extensive collection of models, with a preference for the more unusual items, and has written many articles on the subject for magazines in Britain and the USA. Educated at the Universities of Glasgow and Oxford, Andrew is a teacher by profession and has also published numerous textbooks on the English language. He lives in Glasgow with his wife, Hazel, and daughter, Miranda.

Reviews

I can remember as far back as the early 1950s and playing with a bunch of plastic model cars. This new book on Plastic Toy Cars sure brought back many fond memories. 'Plastic Toy Cars of the 1950s & 1960s' is a collector's guide and as such is a very valuable asset to have if you are into toy cars. I was impressed by the layout of this book. It is broken down into several of the countries that produced these cars. At the time I was playing with them I wasn't even aware that they came from foreign countries. As an example of what this book shows, is a background on each manufacturer from each country and is beautifully illustrated with photos of the actual model toy cars. A definite plus is that the current value is listed with each photo. One drawback is that the price listing is in British Pounds Sterling. An easy conversion (in 2007/2008) is to double the price to get the value in US dollars. I know that plastic manufacturing was in the very early stages in the 1950s but I wasn't awa