MONTH OF THE UNKNOWN
I have a few interesting toys that I have been collecting over the years from which I know nothing at all. They cannot be identified since they have no manufacture marking. Despite searching the internet, I couldn´t find anything about them, so I changed my mind, and thought it may be better if I publish them now, and people reading this could help me identifying them.
There will be 11 toys (all 11 entries from January 2017), but I warn you: it is not an easy task to identify them. Are you ready for this challenge?
If I get hints and information, I´ll be updating the posts to add information about them. Thanks!
If you like the challenge, there are other toys in this blog waiting to be identified, click here to see all unidentified toys.
This toy was acquired very recently. The title on the box ist self-explanatory: a locomotive and three carriages (wagons) with wheels. It is hand painted and made on metal (die-cast, they are hollow).
The box is marked TM – Made in Japan, where the TM is placed inside a diamond shape. I have checked tin toy websites, but couldn’t find the brand.
What I have found is that the toy is quite common (so, not a rarity) and that it was used as a cake topper. Or at least somebody recalls having decorated a cake with it.
Some boxes are also marked with a sticker indicating “Shackman, New York, N.Y. 10003”. Note that the two wagons at the end of the row have different colours in the box than in the toy. This is common to all pics I saw on the internet. The passengers coach is kind of orange, while in the box is yellow and the coal wagon is yellow instead of red.
So the toy is not rare, nor expensive, but still beautiful, colourful and in a rare scale for vintage toys. A precursor to Micro Machines.
Additional info: In the box, there is a date marked with pen but difficult to see. It says: 3.X.1986. That’s 3rd October 1986, I guess, but what does it mean? was it really bought that day? If yes, was it new or second hand?
FACTS AND FIGURES:
- Name: OLD FASHION LOCOMOTIVE AND THREE CARRIAGES (Hand Painted Metal Miniature with Moving Wheels)
- Scale: Unknown
- Year: Around 1970
- Company: Unknown Manufacturer (Japan)
- Size: approx. 7 cm (all 4 pieces in a row).
Gog . . . there are several of these sets, and they are usually credited to AHI or Cragston (as importers), IMI was another one (all US) but obviously in other contries you are looking for other names? Would Peya (? Spell?) be the local suspect, over here it would have been Tri-ang, or Chad Valley, Fairylite or someone like that.
ReplyDeleteThe TM logo in the diamond should give you the Japanese maker - with a bit of digging!
H
Hi Hugh,
DeleteMany thanks for the comment!
That´s it, I am after the japanese manufacturer, the one with the diamond logo. The importer could be many, as you say, and different in each contry or area. I was looking for Japanese toy manufacturers´ logos, but this in in particular I couldn´t find it.
Surely a small company.
Cheers!
Juan
Hello Juan. What do you mean by you are looking for the Japanese manufacturer with the diamond? Isn't that the Japanese manufacturer with the diamond?
DeleteHi, yes. The logo is a diamond with the letters T and M inside, but which company made it, I mean, what is the complete name of the company, did they made any other toys? We do not know yet. Many Japanese toy manufacturers had a diamond shape as a logo (or other geometric shapes) with different letters inside, so besides the biggest and most famous ones, it is difficult to find the answer to these questions. Cheers, Juan
Deletehttps://get.google.com/albumarchive/103785251805492468121/album/AF1QipNhsRoeKadlgUdlrbulz3TINjEj62ub4cVk5T-0?source=pwa
ReplyDeleteThere's even a TM, but not the right one! Useful resource though...
H
Oh! Very nice site, I bookmark it for future references.
ReplyDeleteThank you!