#194 REDONDO – BRABHAM REPCO F1 & BRM H16 F1 (PENNY KNOCK-OFF) (around 1970)

JUGUETES REDONDO - REDONDO TOYS

It is almost impossible to find information about the toymaker Redondo, what makes this article a bit of a challenge. We know however a couple of things about them.

Redondo was a Spanish toymaker founded by the end of 1949. It was based in Aldaya a small town in the province of Valencia (Aldaia in Valencian language). The factory was located in 5, Avenida Miguel Hernández, but it doesn’t exist anymore. Before that factory, they were in Fleming Street without number.

By the middle of the last century, the town developed rich industrial activities with furniture, brick, hand fan and toy factories. The population back then was around 6400 inhabitants, but grew quickly and today it has around 30.000 inhabitants.

Redondo catalogue from 1970 (taken from an auction listed in todocoleccion.net)

The toy factory was, of course, Redondo. Redondo was never one of the “top” toymakers in Spain, but somehow “second class”. This would explain why there is not so much information about the company on the internet. Please let me explain that “second class” does not mean that Redondo built worse quality toys, but less quantity. Most of the times, the toys were cheaper, since smaller companies couldn’t afford advertising campaigns and the only way to compete against much more popular toy lines was offering them at a lower price. 

I remember when I was a kid in the 80s, that toys I used to see in the city where I lived were not the same that I saw in summer when I came to visit my grandparents. In small towns, where people had (in average) less money, cheaper toys would fill local toy stores, and that’s where Redondo had its business. The same applies to local festivities, where street vendors needed cheaper toys to offer. In such a festivity it’s where I bought my only Redondo toy ever… a plastic robot, something between Mazinger Z and a Transformer. I still have it with most of its accessories, so I’ll try to review it as soon as possible.

The company, as said before, was founded in the year 1949, so, to my surprise, my father also kept one toy made by Redondo, and it was the car I am presenting here. Unfortunately it was not in its best shape, so after playing with it, it finished in the state your seeing now. The grey car I am presenting was found in a flea market many years ago. I can estimate how rare Redondo cars are, because it is the ONLY Redondo car I have seen in flea markets in more than 20 years (and I visit flea-markets very often).

 

It is unclear how many models were manufactured by Redondo (from the 15 original Penny models), but here’s a list of the known references. Apart from these F1s, other cars by Penny were also manufactured, mostly the lower 200 references, for example nr.204 OSSI BISILURO, nr.205 FERRARI P4 or nr.206 FERRARI DINO (read comments below).

1-Ferrari-F1

2- Honda-V12-F1

3- Brabham-Repco-F1

4-Lotus-Climax

5- Cooper-Maserati-F1

6-BRM-H16-F1

7- McLarenFord-8V-F1

8- Eagle-Westlake-F1 
10- LOTUS BRM H16 F1

12- McLaren-Serenissima-F1 
13- BRM F1
15- FERRARI 36V F1
16- Ferrari 12V F1 

All cars were available in the following colours: red, yellow, gold, blue and turquoise, and available in cardboard box or jewel case.

The company also manufactured other types of toys, most notably metal-casted guns (most of them with powder capsules), key-chains (some of these formula1 were also available as key-chain! –in blister cards-), plastic robots, metal-casted planes and spaceships (in the Transformers-style) and other plastic items, for example a toy magnifying glass, an acrobatic motorbike. Most of this items can still be seen in auction sites.

 

At least one of the pistol models was forbidden and recalled, after a child died in 1983. In this article fromthe 31st May 1983, it is also explained, that Redondo exported the bigger part of their production. If you ever find one of these toys in its package, you’ll find that the instructions are often marked in three languages: Spanish, English and French.

The company definitely closed in November 1996, although it seems, that it continued in the toy industry, as it was absorbed by the Hasbro Iberia group.

UPDATE: Other Redondo die-cast models, pictures from the collection of Coro Naro from the Netherlands.

nr.204 OSSI BISILURO
nr.205 FERRARI P4
nr.206 DINO

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: BRABHAM REPCO F.1 & BRM H16 F1
• Scale: 1:66 (approx.)
• Year: Around 1970
• Company: Redondo (Spain)
• Size: 6 cm