My Tin Toys

Good thing I have the box for this toy. Without the box I wouldn’t be able to tell you who made it.

This is a Tiny Giant Antique Bus by SSS International of Japan. It’s a friction powered bus. That means you rev it up by rolling on the floor or table and then letting go once the wheels are spinning.

Dayton made some really cool friction toys in the period 1895-1920, but all the ones I’ve had so far were beat up too badly to keep. Fortunately, these Japanese friction toys are much more common and easy to find in great shape.

When I buy these toys, I always make sure all the hubcaps are there. For some reason most of the toys end up loosing hubcaps.

Anyway, back to this little toy bus. Not really much to say about it. It’s marked “Made in Japan” on the dashboard.

Here’s another picture:

SSS made a whole series of these Tiny Giant friction automobiles. If there are currently any on eBay, links will be below this line.

JAPANESE VINTAGE TOY FRICTION TRUCK CAR LUCKY SSS JAPAN

US $21.00 (15 Bids) End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 13:21:07 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

OLD VTG SSS JAPAN TIN FRICTION TOY GMC TRUCK PIE PACIFIC INTERMOUNTAIN EXPRESS

US $45.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 17:56:46 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Vintage SSS Shioji Moving Van Truck Friction Toy w/ Box

US $199.99 End Date: Monday Feb-06-2012 10:50:14 PST Buy It Now for only: US $199.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Vintage MERCEDES BENZ 220S 4-DOOR SEDAN Tin Friction Toy SHIOJI SSS Japan w Box

US $67.66 (4 Bids) End Date: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 16:25:29 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

VINTAGE SSS TOYS LIVESTOCK S-1007 TINPLATE FRICTION TOY TRANSPORT TRUCK JAPAN

US $13.56 (3 Bids) End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 19:30:08 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

A Vintage SSS Model s 1209 complete Old Timer Car Friction sedan 1929 toy Japan

US $20.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Thursday Feb-09-2012 2:31:34 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

1950's SSS Japan Tin Friction Japanese Degoichi Train 6" C.529 Locomotive

US $14.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Feb-10-2012 21:33:17 PST Buy It Now for only: US $29.99 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

SSS Japan Red Farm Tractor Friction Powered

US $41.99 End Date: Sunday Feb-12-2012 10:58:56 PST Buy It Now for only: US $41.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

1920's Japan Friction Truck, SSS Toys, Boxed

US $39.95 End Date: Sunday Feb-12-2012 16:18:07 PST Buy It Now for only: US $39.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

1920's Japan Friction Ford, SSS Toys, Boxed

US $39.95 End Date: Sunday Feb-12-2012 16:21:58 PST Buy It Now for only: US $39.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

1920's Japan Friction Rolls Royce, SSS Toys, Boxed

US $39.95 End Date: Sunday Feb-12-2012 16:24:11 PST Buy It Now for only: US $39.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

VTG 1950'S 5-1/2" SSS TOYS JAPAN TIN METAL FRICTION TRACTOR TRAILER CAB TRUCK

US $10.49 (2 Bids) End Date: Sunday Feb-12-2012 16:35:27 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

1954 SSS Japan Red Friction Tin Car Trailer

US $20.00 End Date: Tuesday Feb-14-2012 19:52:02 PST Buy It Now for only: US $20.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Beautiful Boxed Tin Friction Greyhound Bus 1950's SSS

US $100.00 End Date: Wednesday Feb-15-2012 6:23:36 PST Buy It Now for only: US $100.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

SSS of Japan Tin Friction Scenicruiser Greyhound Bus

US $85.00 End Date: Sunday Feb-19-2012 6:19:48 PST Buy It Now for only: US $85.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

This is a friction toy car. I think it’s a Rolls Royce. I’ve seen these cars in green with “Rolls Royce” and “LineMar Made In Japan” rubber stamped on the bottom.

This has a friction movement and is just under 7 inches long.

LineMar is Marx Lines Backwards. In the early 1950’s Louis Marx started making toys in Japan. The Japanese toys were marketed under the name LineMar.

I think Louis’s cousin or nephew ran the Japanese manufacturing, but was unable to find any histories online.

Anyway, this toy may date from after Marx quit making tin toys in Japan, or may be a toy made with the same dies, but not made for Marx. There is a smear of black paint on the bottom where the Linemar logo would have been. Looks like it was stampled with “Linemar” and “Made in Japan,” and then the Linemar logo was painted over.

Here’s a bottom view:

LINE'LINE MAR' CLOCK WORK, (WIND-UP), MECHANICAL TIN ROBOT, JAPANESE, NR.

US $199.50 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 10:05:50 PST Buy It Now for only: US $269.50 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Vintage Marx Linemar Japan Remote Control Dump Truck

US $149.95 End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 10:17:11 PST Buy It Now for only: US $149.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

1950s LineMar Tin Litho 6 in Windup Donald Duck Drummer

US $350.00 End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 10:47:08 PST Buy It Now for only: US $350.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Very Rare Antique NYFD New York City Fire Department Tin Truck Line Mar Toys

US $120.00 End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 11:03:28 PST Buy It Now for only: US $120.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Vintage Small Tin Toy USAF Airplane - Japan Line Mar Co.

US $9.99 (1 Bid) End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 11:06:59 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

These little tin litho toy cable cars are common as dirt. I think they were sold in gift shops in San Francisco. They are about O scale size at 7.5 inches long and 3.5 inches tall.

They are letter for Bay and Taylor Streets on one side - note odd placement of “Sts.” before Taylor on roof signboard - and Powell and Mason streets on the other side.

Here’s another view showing the other side:

This is a good item to use as an introduction to how Toy production moved around the world.

There is no makers mark, but they are lettered made in Taiwan on one step. This is visible in the bottom photo. This dates them to the mid 1960s or later. If they were made earlier they would be have been made in Japan. If they were made after 1975 they would probably be made in Hong Kong. Cheap toy production moved around the world to the low cost countries.

This is a fairly easy and USUALLY reliable way to date cheap toys. As the cost of labor and the skills of the workforce increased in each country, production moved to other countries.

Production dates for Asian countries overlap a bit, but they are basically Japan 1946-1970, Taiwan 1965-1980, Hong Kong 1970-1985, Singapore 1980-1995, Macao 1985-today, Thailand 1990-today, China 1990-today.

The movement of production between Asian countries fascinates me. If you have any information about movements among different countries, please drop me a note from the contact page.

Now back to the cable car. This is not a trolley. A trolley runs off an electric motor that receives current from a pole on the roof. That’s where the name trolley comes from. It originally referred to the roof mounted pole. Later it became the name for any small rail vehicle with a pole or pantograph used within cities.

This is a cable car. It doesn’t have a motor in it. The motor is mounted in a building at one end of the line. The motor pulls a cable running just below the middle of the street. The car has a clamp the motorman closes around the cable. The car is basically dragged around on the cable.

Here’s a view showing both ends:

This is a friction toy. That means you spin the wheels by running it along the floor. Once the wheels are moving fast, you let go and it continues to move. The cable car also has a bell that rings when the car is in motion.

These two cars are the same, but the positioning of the passengers is different. I doubt the assemblers paid much attention when they attached the men.

Here’s a last picture showing the “Made in Taiwan” lettering on the step, and a passenger that looks like a cartoon bank robber:

There are similar cable car toys made in Japan. The Japanese cars are lettered a bit differently, and have stamped poles on the open end. The Taiwan cars have steel rods for the poles.

Lehmann Germany Rigi 900E Cable Railway Car, Gondola, Tram, B/O Tin Toy No Res

US $121.00 (34 Bids) End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 10:15:29 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

MERCEDES BENZ 190SL BATTERY OPERATED & CABLE CONTROL TIN TOY CAR "MADE IN JAPAN"

US $65.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 12:12:55 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Japan Alps Tin Cable Station & Car

US $10.00 (1 Bid) End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 6:53:41 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

COLLECTIBLE Vintage 1900's Tin Litho Toy SAN FRANCISCO CABLE CAR Made in Japan

US $14.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 19:00:32 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

VINTAGE TIN MADE IN JAPAN SAN FRANCISCO CABLE CAR BAY & TAYLOR POWELL & MARKET

US $44.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Monday Feb-06-2012 18:58:54 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

In 1935 Lionel introduced the Hiawatha Streamliner. The new 250E Hiawatha loco was the top of the line O gauge engine until the 700E Hudson was introduced in 1937.

The Hiawatha came in both passenger and freight sets, and was the first Lionel loco with a die cast shell. Prior locos had cast frames cabs with sheet metal boilers.

Streamliner toys were big sellers in the 1930s, and most toy manufacturers made toy streamliners. Lionel’s City Of Portland set introduced in 1934 was such a popular seller it helped Lionel emerge from bankruptcy. I am sure Lionel had big plans for the Hiawatha.

In order to build support for the new Hiawatha, Lionel gave away these cheap Japanese friction toys at the toy fair.

Every year in late January or early February the American toy manufacturers gathered together in New York for the annual toy fair. At the toy fair, companies would display their new lines, and take orders from jobbers and large department stores.

The toy fair allowed manufacturers like Lionel to judge demand for their products and allocate production lines. If a new toy wasn’t well received by retailers it might not be produced.

This 1935 Hiawatha friction toy might have been Lionel’s first specially produced giveaway. If Lionel did promo items before 1935, I’ve never seen or heard of one.

Made of lithographed tin with the Lionel name and the number 250 on the side, this cheap friction toy was made in Japan.

After I found the Lionel example shown above, I spent a year buying every similar toy on eBay. I assumed Lionel had custom ordered a cheap toy with special graphics, and was looking for the original version.

As you can see in the photo below, I found the original.

There is no maker’s mark on this cheap toy. It just says made in Japan on the cab. The original toy is blue and lettered for the New York Central. The New York Central was the largest railroad in the heavily populated northeastern corridor. It makes sense that a manufacturer of toys would use a railroad name commonly seen in it’s biggest market.

Here’s another view showing the other sides:

I have no idea who made these toys. I know they are from the mid 1930s based on the introduction of Lionel’s Hiawatha.

I’ll take a picture of the Lionel Hiawatha and add it to this page so you can compare the tin toy with it’s full scale brother.

Here’s a link to see Lionel Hiawatha locomotives on eBay

Here are some Lionel Hiawathas items on eBay:

LIONEL 250E-8 HIAWATHA STEAM ENGINE SIDE ROD

US $5.00 End Date: Saturday Feb-04-2012 21:37:10 PST Buy It Now for only: US $5.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

LIONEL PREWAR O-GAUGE 250E HIAWATHA LOCO 250W TENDER #3145

US $299.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Monday Feb-06-2012 20:30:32 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

This is the car I wanted when I was building custom Volkswagens, but I never found one for sale. Volkswagen didn’t export the Notchback to north America so the real cars are much rarer than the toys.

This is a mid 1960s friction toy. It doesn’t say Bandai or have the “Sign Of Quality” logo on the bottom so it might have been made by another Japanese toy company. The bottom just says “Volkswagen 1500.”

The construction is similar, but just a little cruder than my Bandai Volkswagens. The front window on my beetles fits much better.

Whoever made this it is a neat little car, and a good reminder of my teenage Volkwagen driving years. The car is about seven inches long.

Find out what these cars are selling for on eBay

Vintage BANDAI VOLKSWAGON MADE IN JAPAN TIN TOY

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 17:40:29 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Vintage Bandai Volkswagon Car - mage in Japan - 1960s

US $31.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 17:55:32 PST Buy It Now for only: US $49.00 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

vintage tin volkswagon sedan bandai? vw car beetlebug toy friction near mint

US $49.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 7:11:43 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

BANDAI JAPAN VINTAGE TINPLATE VW VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE 2 DOOR SEDAN RARE VERY GOOD

US $31.60 (6 Bids) End Date: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 12:25:16 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

BUG BITE RENEGADE GOBOT TRANSFORMER VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE BANDAI 1983 X COND.

US $14.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 19:19:01 PST Bid now | Add to watch list