Identifications for Tin Aircraft in COLLECTING TOY AIRPLANES

[MichaelB]

Love to see it, Tony....
This genre is lost on me...so your guide and identifications are of much help...and I just love these toys!
I knew I should have bought that B-36 about a decade ago when I saw it...but I didn't have $1k free at that time

[Tone]

We'll finish up analyzing the "blanks" on Pages 96 and 97.

T 140 Pan American Ron Smith did not know how to identify the plane, and I don't either. It is a generic airplane with four propellers that a child could imagine was a B-17, a Stratocruiser or a DC-7. The mold originated in occupied Japan around 1950 and could be finished in a variety of schemes, all hard to find today. Maker is Alps Shoji, span is 12 1/4". The registration number on the example I have, N1025V, and the name Clipper Southern Cross suggest that the toy wants to be a Stratocruiser. The USAF insignia on the wings of a civilian plane was a commonly-found feature of Japanese tin toys in the 50s. There is an interesting B-36 in this series, assembled correctly, or with six tractor props; either way, the intakes are lithographed on the wing's leading edge. GR has posted a photo before.


Alps brand Pan American Southern Cross Airliner.

T 141 Pan American Constellation Japan. Eastern Air Lines variant has either Hadson or Nikko Gangu trademark; Pan American variant has Nikko Gangu and Toys Nomura trademarks together. A Connie with lighted jet engines replacing the props in the two outer positions is absolutely weird. Power "friction" is incorrect for the toy shown; it should be battery-operated. This toy did come as a friction toy, but with four propellers. Span is 12".
T 142 Pan American DC-7C Japan (Yonezawa). Span is 23 1/2". T6 and T132 are multi-action battery versions of this toy in American and Northwest colors respectively.
T 143 Pan American DC-6 Japan (Momoya). Span is 15". See also T124, USAF MATS Transport.
T 144 Pan American 707 (Japan). Wing span is 18." Maker is Nikko Gangu-Toys Nomura. The toy appears to have an unusual feature to distinguish it: a speaker phone atop the rear fuselage. The upper and lower fuselage parts are joined higher than usual; the seam is visible near the crown. Not visible in Mr Smith's photo is the clear plastic flight deck windows. This toy does look like the large Line Mar Pan American 707, except that that one has neither a clear flight deck nor the fuselage speaker. The shape, size, and lithographed finish are identical. There is a later, Chinese-made #ME-087 "Battery Operated Jet Airliner" made from the same tooling that maintains the plastic flight deck but, like the Line Mar version, does away with the punched-out holes in the upper body.
T 145 Pan American DC-8 Japan (Asahitoy). Power is friction, span is 19". There is also an Air Canada DC-8 and a Pan American 747 in this series.
T 146 P-40 Curtiss Warhawk (Marx; battery-operated, photo courtesy Gerald Shook) The airplane in the photo does not look like a lithographed tin toy. Marx had at least two different P-40s, one of which Smith has catalogued as T94. Span unknown, please help!
T 169 Stuka Ju87 (JeP, France, 1940s) This is a well-known toy with an interesting story: the German manufacturer Dux was required to give the molds to the French manufacturer Jouets en Paris (JeP) after World War Two as war reparation. Additionally, my references identify the toy as being assembled from a construction kit à la Meccano. Dux produced other construction kit planes, too, including the twelve-motor Dornier DOX. Unpowered, span is 12 1/4"
T 174 Temco TT-1 Japan (Yonezawa). This is one great-looking toy. Span is 9".
T 175 Tokyo #101 Robin This is one of the tin toy planes made with a glass bottle as a fuselage. It likely was a candy container in the 1930s, and might have been named in honor of the Curtiss Robin, which first flew in 1928, though the container does not resemble this plane. I have seen US-made airplane candy containers that still contain the original little pastel-colored balls of candy. Once a kid had finished eating the candy, he could play with the package. While not realistic, it is certainly charming and scarce. Span unknown, please help!
T 180 United Mainliner Japan (Line Mar). Smith is correct in hesitating before identifying this plane with any particular real model. While the toy model looks like a DC-6, the markings near the tail read "Mainliner Stratocruiser." The lithography is exactly the same as that seen on the true United Stratocruiser even to the small misprint on the nose shield, "AIRLINR" instead of "AIR LINES." He identifies his example of the "Mainliner" as battery-operated, but mine is fitted with a friction motor. It is found as a remote-controlled toy, and in Northwest, Pan American and Trans Canada Air Lines colors. Span 12 3/4".


Line Mar Toys - "United Mainliner Stratocruiser" with 12 3/4" wing span.


For comparison: Nikko Gangu United Stratocruiser.


Both of the above toy planes have the words AIR LINES misspelled as AIRLINR.

T 182 USAF Prop Jet The small toy has swept wings and a transparent plastic canopy. It is one of several novelty toy airplanes that feature transparent plastic engine compartments, with moving parts. It is fitted with a two-blade metal propeller. Length is 9", span unknown. The box identifies the toy as a "Sparkling Friction Airplane" and "George Wagner Imports" in a globe-shaped trade mark.
T 183 USAF 4 Engine Jet Japan (possibly Mitsuhashi). Though this toy has wing-mounted engines like those of a KC-135, the mold was also used for a Caravelle. Not only are the tail stabilizers located midway up the vertical fin; there are outlines of jet engines on the fuselage near the tail, where they would be on a Caravelle. Span is 12 1/2".
T 184 USAF VERTICAL TAKE OFF Japan. This fantasy toy is somewhat like the Doak 16 experimental VTOL plane in its format, but it is not the same toy. Power and span are unknown. Please help!
T 189 XF4D-1 Douglas Skyray (Japan) This is a fairly common, small toy. Span unknown, please help!
T 190 X-36 USAF (Japan) This toy is a small twin-prop plane. Span unknown, please help!

[Tone]

#T-104 "Heinz Burger Blaster" that Smith shows in his book is an extremely rare 1950s salesman's sample? I thought this was from the 1980s?

Here is the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BATTERY-OPERATE ... 1e6cb543b6

Here is the 1986 advertisement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URqV5Eqb ... re=related

[brucebramhill]

Hello, I was given a Tomiyama SAS Super Viscount S1751A as a gift some 55 years ago when I was a little boy. I broke it around 30 years ago and over the past few weeks I have put it back together. Everything is working correctly and it is wonderful to see this very special toy leap back into operation.

Now I need some assistance - the nose wheel is missing and I also need to obtain the slotted rubber belt that carries the Hostess thru the Cabin.

Is there anyone out there who could assist me with these two items.

I look forward to hearing back from someone soon.

Cheers & Kind Regards

Bruce