Flying Helicopter Toys

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Here are some great free-flying helicopter toys made in Italy (seen in a different post)):

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=922

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And here's a link to another post featuring a Flying Batcopter by AHI of Hong Kong:

search.php?keywords=batman

This Batman inspired toy was also seen in versions for Spiderman, the Incredible Hulk, Planet of the Apes and perhaps others... All very collectible.

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The German firm Dux made some nice flying helicopter toys. In fact, there was a whole line of "Condor" helicopter toys produced by Dux from the 1950s-70s.

Here's the Dux Condor Nr. 200:

Dux Condor Nr. 200

There is a Dux Condor Nr. 201, Nr. 202, Nr. 203, Nr. 204 & Nr. 205. Dux also released a Nr. 220 Rotocopter toy. All work under the same pricipal of having a hand launcher.

[rvrman]

I had at least two Dux Condors as a child. They were superior in the fact that they had a very ingenious rotor head system to put the rotor blades at positive (lift) pitch at high RPM on startup, and as the RPMs decayed, the blades retracted somewhat and went to an "autorotation" mode for a very long smooth flight and relatively easy landing.

Other manufacturers had similar models, but most had fixed pitch rotor blades and did not fly nearly as well. Consequently, the Dux Condor was a bit more expensive, but worth it, IMHO.

On teh Dux Condor, the rotor blades were made of nylon and were weighted at the ends to take advantage of centrifugal forces to move the blade roots in channels within the rotor head to make the pitch changes. The biggest problem, as I recall, was not with the helicopter itself, but with the launcher...either the pull cord would break or the retracting mechanism would not work properly. The helicopter itself was tough as nails. Depending on the launch angle, this little helicopter could do some pretty impressive flights, lifting and turning, etc. before settling into a nice gliding landing. I wish they were still made -- I'd buy one! The vintage ones I see for sale are too dear to risk flying them.

[grwebster]

I had exactly the same experience with them- great toys but that weak winding device sucked. Of course we all pulled the hardest we could.
I recently found two of them from my childhood in their boxes, and can''t wait till my kids are old enough to play with them.
I doubt today they would be considered safe as the blades can rotate quickly just a few inches from a kids eyes. I figure when they are 10 years old their arms will be long enough for safe flights!

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Here's the link to a nice Lark Flying Helicopter I recently acquired:

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1616

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Here are a few more early Made in the U.S.A. variations on the flying helicopter toys:

1) The Strato Flyer Jr. made by the Action Toy Company -

Strato Flyer Jr. by Action Toy Company

2) The BW Molded Plastics Flexware 'Copter, a close copy of the German Dux toys -

BW Molded Plastics Flexware Copter

3) The Baby Jet Helicopter by Flying Toys Inc. -

Baby Jet Helicopter by Flying Toys Inc.

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4) The Hake Flying Toys helicopter, "Molded of Tenite" -

Hake Flying Toys Helicopter

5) The Skyro-Copter by Marxman -

Skyro-Copter by Marxman

6) Whirl-A-Copter toys by Teg Corporation -

Whirl-A-Copters by Teg Corporation

[Tone]

5) The Skyro-Copter by Marxman -

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That's a familiar toy name. Was that part of Louis Marx Co.?

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I've haven't found anything definitive in writing (yet) that makes an iron clad association between Marxman and the Louis Marx and Company.

I've seen where some toy collectors have linked the two.

But, I personally am guessing that the two companies were not associated.

Marxman also made a "Skyro-Plane" toy.

I also found this information on Marxman Pipes Inc. :

"Marxman Pipes Inc., 27 West 24th St. New York 10, NY. Marxman was a brand created by Robert Marx in 1934, in NY, which slogan was "Relax with a Marxman." His most famous pipes were the line of sculpture pipes, namely with faces of actors of Hollywood. Other famous lines were the Four Hundred, very big pipes, and the series Heirloom, with sculptures made by different American artists. The company survived till 1953, when was integrated in Mastercraft."

That same street address, "27 West 24th St. New York 10, NY," also appears on the Skyro-Copter and Skyro-Plane original boxes. So, it appears Mr. Robert Marx may have dabbled in toys at some point in 1950s as well!

By the way, there is newer "Marxman Brothers" company that is reproducing Marx action figures.