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  • Made in America?

    Excluding individuals and "cottage industries"; what companies are still (sort of) mass-producing toy cars and trucks (notice I didn't say diecast) in America?

    Off the top of my head there's:


    PLASTIC

    American Plastic Toys (a continuation of Gay Toys); whose wheeled offerings mostly include construction equipment. They also have some nice boats that fit 3 3/4" action figures.

    https://americanplastictoys.com/prod...ehicles-boats/

    TimMee Toy (a continuation and trademark of Processed Plastics). Seems they sell a mix of old stock; and are using some old TimMee and Processed Plastics molds for new production. Been meaning to pick up a few of their items; especially the firefighter set.

    Made in the USA Tim Mee Plastic Toy Soldier Figures, Vehicles and Playsets.



    Green Toys. Lots of cars and trucks, but the designs are too childish for my interests.

    https://americanplastictoys.com/prod...ehicles-boats/


    DIECAST

    Winross. Given how out of date (not only in layout, but events that took place in 2011 are still "upcoming") and broken their website is; seeing how most issues on the secondary market are 15-20 years old at least (both of mine are from the late 1980s); and that an eBay seller has listed lots of raw Winross castings; I thought they were out of business, but Outback Toys is listing a 2019 release for the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Thus, they've got to still be in business.



    Penjoy. Unsure if still in business; same as above. They have a web store on the site that does not work, due to the site handling their eCommerce being defunct.




    Scale Models; which was started by Joe Ertl. Unsure if still in business.


    https://scalemodltoys.com/
    Last edited by cody6268; 10-27-2019, 09:19 AM.

  • #2
    Scale Models is still active and in business. They supply the 1/8 scale tractors for the PA Farm Toy Show that Outback Toys handles. I've found my best source for them is local farm toy auctions. Finding newer models is a challenge as I've not seen any real online presence from 3rd party dealers that sell new stuff. Implement dealers in my area such a rural Massey Ferguson get in new diecast from Scale Models.

    https://riverbottomtoys.com/ They're a newer company focusing on 1/16 attachments for tractors. They have a tractor pulling sled which to my knowledge is the only such example in 1/16. They are pricey but each piece is hand built and welded.

    https://smittytoytrucks.com/index.htm Smith-Miller still makes new 1/16 semi trucks on the west coast. Super pricey with some models in the low four figure range. For the adult collector/investor only. I see these sold at local auctions for good money with a mix of older models from the 50s through newer issues.

    https://www.mooresfarmtoys.com/ Stretching the term mass market but Moores does offer custom 1/64 scale pieces for ag related purposes. All their custom made product line are made in Ohio.

    Precision Engineering produces primarily 1/16 scale 4x4 tractors from the 70s-00s along with some other vintage stuff. I've only seen one person at auction this year and I bid on it and quite after it went for $300+. Company is based in Urbana, Ohio.

    There's got to be a few more but right off top of my mind this is what I came up with. SpecCast was still making toys in Iowa up till the late 90s. The latest copyright date from anything MADE IN USA from ERTL that I have is 1995. Their factory in Dyersville might have still produced toys till 1996 before they moved production to Mexico. Scale Models was the only major large scale toy company to keep production of ag related toys in Iowa.

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    • #3
      Good question! The only I could think of proved a dead end...after some minutes researching I finally got a good shot to find out they were made in China too...like everything else these days it seems!

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      • #4
        Remember when toy cars were made just about everywhere except China, the US, Canada, European countries, and of course Japan don't even seem to produce much in toys anymore, and maybe only some specialized diecast collectibles as mentioned.

        The most recent thing I have that's made in America is a 1/64 Penjoy semi truck I ordered from a diecast club I belonged to with their logo on it, I remember it was kind of expensive at $45, and that was 15 20 years ago, so don't know if Penjoy is still around, and not sure if I even still have the truck, as I had a friend sell some stuff back during the recession and forget all what I got rid of.
        Doug

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Douglas
          Remember when toy cars were made just about everywhere except China, the US, Canada, European countries, and of course Japan don't even seem to produce much in toys anymore, and maybe only some specialized diecast collectibles as mentioned.
          Spain, Bulgaria and maybe still Brazil...those are the only places left I think that still make their own diecast, even if the Bulgaria and Brazil models are "under *expired* license."

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          • #6
            Aren't some Sikus made in Poland?

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            • #7
              bottom line...people wanted cheap diecast so the manufacturers went to the cheap places to get it made.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by pegers
                bottom line...people wanted cheap diecast so the manufacturers went to the cheap places to get it made.
                I will put it in another way. The manufacturers wanted to maximize their profits and went to the cheap places to get it done.
                http://bulgariancollection.com

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