Modern Play Sets

[MichaelB]

I didn't see a "Airport Play Set" category, so - here we are. I was reading about the various Dinky and Corgi aerodrome GSE pieces with great envy! However, all I have to post are some more recent sets.
As you know these days there are a great number of airport play sets that you can buy. By far the most common are the Daron sets which feature most of the world's airlines and which are sold by same. Daron didn't start this genre, the sets they sold were first made by RealToy - and probably still are - just under the Daron name. As usual the GSE is way overscale for the airplane, and as with all RealToy product the airplane is mostly plastic, although it looks good and the various markings are done well.
I am adding their Continental 757 set here as an example.
That said the next frame shows an oddly similar packaging with similar GSE but from the middle '90s. This is a Tomy (Tomica) airport play set and I can assure you that the 747 is a beautiful piece - all metal - and a world better than the RealToy and Daron pieces! They also made a set with an L1011.
I'll post these before moving on...these Tomica planes are very nice!
So, is this just a case of copying a successful package, or did RealToy and Daron simply acquire and expand on the Tomy sets? ...probably the latter. The Daron issues of these play sets are diverse and offer good play value, although the airplane itself is of little interest to us. Naturally, this very common Continental issue is now of more interest since that airline has disappeared into UAL!

[Tone]

Don't forget Remco, Welly, Summer, Motor Max and those no-name Chinese brands that have also issued play sets, always with the jet liner far too small in scale for the ground service equipment.

We also need to do some historical research for "Daron" - I think the firm started out in the early 90s selling Wooster snap models at airline collectible conventions. Of course Daron also sells NYC memorabilia such as taxi cabs, police and fire vehicles, and public transit vehicles.

[MichaelB]

Yes, you are correct about Daron. I met it's owner, Ron Marks, at the MAC show I attended at EWR in 1996 or so. They now have a huge marketing empire selling to the airlines, toy stores and more. Their retail shop is The Airplane Store (based in NJ) and they carry just about everything including lots of OEM goods.
The old Real Toy and similar sets now all come with Daron stampings. Like I said, the aircraft are all right, but nothing to be excited about. I was engaged when I saw where the very high quality Tomy 747 set had morphed into the current Daron line.
I regret that you can no longer find sets like the Tomy, and it's only been in the last 10 years that this entire little genre has come to be dominated by one company.
Presently I am thinking of "modern" play sets; I don't really want to go too far back. There certainly was a golden age for airport play sets, but that all went into decline in the '80s.
...just an observation.
More to come...

[Tone]

Here is one that many might not remember.

It is from a famous maker, Remco, and sold at K Mart in the early 1990s.

The 747's upper fuselage is die cast metal. The 747 is fairly large scale, about the size of an Aero Mini. The accessories are plastic.

[MichaelB]

Note the add on set with the 747 and MD11 as well as the "Red" prefix on the sets. RedBox

Yeah, wow...no...don't remember that one. Since it's TWA it would have to be pre 1996...which is now almost 20 years ago!
That looks like an especially crappy 747...
DynaFlites/Red Box/MotorMax didn't make very many "Airport" play sets. They had a number of "sets" of airplanes but nothing that was especially them, if you know what I mean. They did have a number of Aircraft Carrier Play Sets.
The one I know best is from 1999 which featured an AA 747. It's special because the ship wasn't ever in the line, wasn't their "old" 747 but did carry an "Axxx" number. Also shown was an MD-11 which I have never found.
Rare, but not exceptional, is the case when the "set" carries a "special" aircraft not featured in the line.