Autogiros

[alas]

What a beauty! where do you find these rarest of the rare, ( and he $$ to buy them:D)

[Tone]

The tail on the aircraft depicted on the box art differs from that of the toy.

Early Japanese toy boxes I have seen are plain corrugated board with labels glued to them, but I suppose there must be exceptions to that rule, as seen here. It's certainly a 1930s toy and not postwar.

One source I read on the "Danefield" robot site stated that Japanese toy production ended in 1938. If that is true than your Autogiro could not have been made in 1940. If R-39 is inspired by a real Pitcairn Autogiro dating from 1940 and not a coincidence, the robot site poster is mistaken.

[hovermd]

The tail on the aircraft depicted on the box art differs from that of the toy.

Early Japanese toy boxes I have seen are plain corrugated board with labels glued to them, but I suppose there must be exceptions to that rule, as seen here. It's certainly a 1930s toy and not postwar.

One source I read on the "Danefield" robot site stated that Japanese toy production ended in 1938. If that is true than your Autogiro could not have been made in 1940. If R-39 is inspired by a real Pitcairn Autogiro dating from 1940 and not a coincidence, the robot site poster is mistaken.

It really is tough to date these toys as there often seems to be inconsistencies when looking at the clues. Here's one more bit of info an enterprising reader may be able to use: There is a printed price tag on the box from the "Sprouse-Reitz Co. Inc." that is also marked "10¢" to show the price.

Here's what Wiki has to say:

Sprouse-Reitz is a defunct chain of five-and-dime stores based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The Sprouse-Reitz Company was founded in 1909 in Tacoma, Washington.[3] At its peak it had more than 300 stores in eleven states in the Western United States.[1]

Around January 1989,[3] the declining retailer tried to revive its business by rebranding its stores "Sprouse!".[2] In December 1993, Sprouse-Reitz Inc. liquidated and closed its remaining 84 stores after failing to find a buyer. The company estimated that the last stores would close in February.[4] As of late February 1994, the last stores were scheduled to close on March 20.[1]

References:

1. Hamburg, Ken (February 26, 1994). "End nears for Sprouse-Reitz stores". The Oregonian. p. D1.
2. Baker, Nena (September 22, 1991). "Tripp hopes to steer Sprouse-Reitz Inc. clear of troubled waters". The Sunday Oregonian. p. K1.
3. Moscow-Pullman Daily News - Jan 11, 1989 - Sprouse-Reitz Changes Name, Unveils New Look - Google News
4. "Sprouse-Reitz Decides to Go Out of Business". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. December 22, 1993. p. D6.

Did five and dime stores use adhesive-affixed price tags in the 1930s? Wiki says retailers were using price tags as early as the 1870s...

Or, is this more in keeping with a 1940s date of manufacture, perhaps post-war? If that were the case, should the box be marked "Made in Occupied Japan?"

This is why I personally value printed toy advertisements so much - they help remove some of the guesswork on when a toy was produced and distributed.

As for this R 39 autogiro, I tend to think it has to be from the late 1930s, to 1940, or possibly very early in 1941 before the war. It's a tough call until a toy ad pops up that lends more clues.

[Tone]

I noted this on-line auction this evening and I wondered if it were authentic:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-OLD-TIN-PE ... SwnKFYRgpY

This is the only example of an autogiro "penny toy" that I've seen.

The toy is unmarked and is in the same style as a number of both German and Japanese pre-war airplane penny toy examples.

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it was made in Japan simply because it features an early piece of plastic tube that suspends the main rotor above the fuselage. I'm not sure the Germans would have incorporated plastic into the design.

I have two examples with different paint schemes. They're the only ones I've ever seen.

penny toy autogiro.jpg

[hovermd]

I noted this on-line auction this evening and I wondered if it were authentic:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-OLD-TIN-PE ... SwnKFYRgpY

This is the only example of an autogiro "penny toy" that I've seen.

The toy is unmarked and is in the same style as a number of both German and Japanese pre-war airplane penny toy examples.

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it was made in Japan simply because it features an early piece of plastic tube that suspends the main rotor above the fuselage. I'm not sure the Germans would have incorporated plastic into the design.

I have two examples with different paint schemes. They're the only ones I've ever seen.

penny toy autogiro.jpg

I think it's definitely legit. The two I mentioned earlier in the post came out of South America as well. I still maintain that they're likely Japanese-made. But, it sure seems like they were primarily distributed in/around Peru and Argentina. Very interesting!

[hovermd]

Here's my best aquisition of 2012: the C.K (Kuramochi) / E.T.C.O. (Tomiyama) R-674 clockwork autogiro airplane. It's definitely rare; one of the five variants those companys partnered to produce in the 1930s (that I am aware of). Based on my experience, this is the second most rare of the C.K / E.T.C.O autogiros...

The attachment C.K Kuramochi E.T.C.O. Tomiyama R-674 autogiro.JPG is no longer available

It's taken 5 years, but I finally found the R-674 K.3's far more rare counterpart: the Pitcairn No. 19 autogiro toy. As you might guess, the toy is also made by C.K (Kuramochi) / E.T.C.O. (Tomiyama) and is very close in design to the R-674 K.3 example. The most noteworthy difference in manufacture is the clockwork motor set-up. The fixed wind-up key drops vertically below the toy, and the landing gear is redesigned to accommodate this feature. I like this design better than the R-674 - it looks much more realistic to me, thanks to the angled wheel struts.

As I mentioned before, I believe this Pitcairn No. 19 is actually the most rare of the five C.K (Kuramochi) / E.T.C.O. (Tomiyama) autogiros known to me. In fact, I've talked to a few prominent collectors, and this is actually the only known example any of them have encountered so far.

I would LOVE to hear from anyone who has seen or owns the toy.

C.K / E.T.C.O. Pitcairn No. 19 autogiro

[Tone]

That is very beautiful!

[hovermd]

Here's the Sanson/Rico La Cierva autogiro made in Spain with original box (pictured earlier in a photo by Alas):

Sanson Rico autogiro