For the first time, the story of the automotive toy is told from its initial inspiration by Henry Ford's mass production of the Model T to the present day. It is a story of the rise and fall of household names and the value added to tiny toys, as they become collectors' items.
From Strauss's pre-war inventions in the US, and Penny Toys in Europe, which flooded the world's markets, the exciting story of the automotive toy is propelled chronologically through the turbulent world stage of the twentieth century. Told in an exciting narrative and through amazing pictures, many from Christie's archives, many unseen before and sourced from collections worldwide, the fascinating development of the automotive toy is chronicled in all its forms and materials. From diecast metal, wood and lead, revolutionised by plastic, to the finer materials of the eighties and nineties only to revert to original diecast metals as the manufacturers sought to keep market share through manufacturing models for collectors rather than toys for children.
There are names to conjure with as companies rose and fell - Marx, Jouets Citroen, Tootsietoy, Tri-ang - competing in the early part of the century for an increasingly demanding consumer market. Ertl, Wiking, Victory, Corgi and Matchbox joined the fray only to be out-manufactured and out-marketed by the hungry Far Eastern imitators who invaded world markets.
It is a story that never fails to fascinating, as the toys of yesterday become the valued collector's pieces of today. This is truly a book to treasure.
