Toys Made In China

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TONE had a terrific post in the Hiller Hornet thread concering toys that are Made in China. I'll repeat TONE's post here to get things stared in a thread that's dedicated to these interesting toys:

According to TONE,

" The Chinese tin toys are a topic I would like to know more about. I have been considering them "for collectors" but that is probably because kids' tastes have changed and toy safety laws have become very strict.

Conceivably, the Chinese could have been making tin toys since the 50s and 60s but since the US' relations with the People's Republic had been nonexistent until 1972 (remember the ping-pong diplomacy during the Nixon administration?), nobody here knew about the toys.

The Chinese tin toys were around in the 80s and at least two of them - both airplanes with two propellers #MF-104 and MF-107- appear frequently on line today.

Sky Bus helicopter MS-165 was purchased new in 1987 while the Four-jet Airliner MF-240 (silver/white/red DC-8 Super 61 with pointy nose) was purchased new in 1991. Both were at gift shops and not toy stores or department stores. The Sky Bus was from Australia so it may have been a toy not exported to US.

These toys were current in the 80s and 90s; however, I remember my late aunt, who had been a schoolteacher and supervisor before retiring in 1975, showed me some large magazines that year. They were from "red China," as the US referred to China in those days, as opposed to Taiwan. One of the magazines had some photographs of tin toys made in China so they were in production that early. One of them was a space ship of some sort. Also, when I started collecting tin toys around 1986-87, a local dealer had a "Jet Airliner" that was made in China, and it was already old and play-worn. This battery jet was made using tooling that had first been used in Japan in the very early 60s.

There is a "Tin Toy Robots and Space Toys" forum that I have been perusing for information about tin toy history. One of the posts indicated that "ME" stands for mechanical electric, i.e. battery operated; "MF" stands for mechanical friction (like my airplanes); and "MS" refers to wind-up toys (like the Sky Bus, MS-165). This information is new to me. "

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My first reply: when I check out the MAC Forum, I learn something new every day!

I never knew about or deduced the naming convention that TONE mentions. MF = Mechanical Friction, MS = Mechanical Clockwork (wind-up) and ME = Mechanical Electric (battery-operated). I checked my helicopter/rotorcraft collection and the convention is absolutely accurate.

I currently have 7 toys in the MF series (MF 110 in two versions, possible 715, MF 792, MF 821, MF 957, one unknown without box). I have 9 toys in the MS series (MS 101, MS 116 in two versions, MS 126, MS 134, MS 165, MS 270, MS 881). And, I have 2 toys in the ME series (ME 632, ME 851). All are helicopters or have rotors in their design and fit this naming convention perfectly. By the way, 2 toys could probably be characterized as space toys with rotors (ME 632 and MS 881), and 2 toys are airplane/jet toys with rotors (MS 134 and MF 821).

Also, I know of 8 other helicopter toy variants out there that I don't yet have in my collection.

There are any number of non-rotorcraft, Made in China airplane/jet toys out there - I suppose it's clear to everyone still reading that the Chinese were PROLIFIC toy aircraft producers!

I've seen one Made in China helicopter toy that is virtually identical to a Japanese-made Modern Toys (Masudaya) release, so I agree with TONE that some of the dies/tooling were either shared or copied.

As for the actual manufacturer of these toys, I've always heard that it was the "Shanghai Tin Toy Company" - can anyone verify that?

As to the actual dates of manufacturer for these toys, we'll have to give it our "best guess" until a manufacturer's or distributor's catalog surfaces... My best guess is that the bulk of these toys were made in the 70s-80s based on the design/construction/aging of the toys/original boxes that I've seen. I'm certain they were still being produced as late as the 90s, and even into this century. But, it also wouldn't surprise me to hear that a few Made in China toys were produced in the late 60s. I can't be certain, but for the most part, it does appear that the lower the manufacturere number, the earlier the toy's manufacturer. I'm honestly not 100% convinced that this generalization is true, but it could be the case...

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Here's ME 632. Arguably, it's the most collectible of the Shanghai Tin Toy Company toys.

I've heard it called the "Space Helicopter," although it's simply marked "Helicopter" on the toy and box.

It rolls forward with Stop-N-Go action, the rotors spin, lights flash in front and back and the doors open and close - all-in-all, a pretty cool toy. I doubt it does much for our diehard MACers who are into realism and detail. But, if you see one cheap, I recommend you grab it... the top price paid that I've seen is $850!

Space Helicopter

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A new top price paid for ME 632 on Ebay: $932 including shipping cost!

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The MF 110 helicopter just sold for $337 including shipping on Ebay. Prices for these Chinese toys appear to be climbing.