#841 TOYS FROM THE PAST - MUSEUM (IV)

See more of these entries here: http://toysfromthepast.blogspot.com/search/label/TFTP

See you next month!

Important notice: The items on display are NOT for sale.

#449 ROMAN – MOTO FRICCIÓN (V-213) (Around 1979)

This is the third motorbike with friction motor I show made by Román. Román was another classic toymaker settled in Ibi, which had many toys in tin. Motorbikes and cars in several sizes are their most famous and popular toys.

In this case, this is a rather big (23 cm) motorbike with the reference V-213. The same cast was used for different variations:

• V-210 Police Highway Patrol
• V-211 Dunlop (race model) (at least two different decorations)
• V-212 Beppo Big Circus. The pilot is a clown.
• V-213 Police Dept. (very similar to V-210)

Later a completely black model (without decoration) would be released in a more modern type of box. This model was maybe intended to profit from the TV airing of Street Hawk, the TV series with a motorbike in the style of Knight Rider. In Spain this TV series could be seen for the first time in 1986.

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MOTO FRICCIÓN
• Year: Around 1979 (Probably sold during many years)
• Company: Román (Spain)
• Size: 23 cm

#312 ROMAN – MOTO SPRINT FRICCIÓN (V-201) (1978)

HISTORY OF JUGUETES ROMÁN

This company was founded in Ibi in 1969 with the name "Asunción Román Albero". The name of the company was at the same time a name of a woman. Her children, the Valls Román brothers, were the founders of the company that named after their mother. Later (1971) they turned the family business into a share company: Juguetes Román S.A.

Asunción Román Albero produced spring loaded toys, but after the re-foundation of the company, the company started producing tin lithograph toys. With the appearance of plastic, Román also incorporated plastic in their models to spare production costs. They also used some mechanisms in their toys to make them more attractive, like battery operated direction, obstacle cars, friction motors and more.

The family business was located in a small factory in San Isidro street, but since the business was successful, they moved to more suitable and larger facilities in Espronceda street, that they built themselves. This place was later sold and does not exist anymore.

Currently Juguetes Román is placed in Córdoba street, in the outskirts of the city, in one of the industrial areas. We talked about the company which it is today in our previous entry dedicated to this toy company.

In that same entry, we showed a friction motorbike that was a copy of a Japanese toy. If you check that entry, you’ll notice that this motorbike is almost identical to it. And you’re right. The difference between them is the size. This model V-201 is around 50% larger than the first one.

Other differences are that this model is completely made of tin (except the side wheels), without any plastic part and that it was sold in a box instead of a bag. The box is beautifully illustrated and is also very colourful. It depicts one version of the motorbike on each side (references V-201 -Police- and V-202 -Race-). On the sides of the box, there’s a nice illustration of the policeman and the race driver that drive the motorbikes.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MOTO SPRINT FRICCIÓN
• Year: Around 1978 (Probably sold during many years)
• Company: Román (Spain)
• Size: 10 cm

#198 ROMÁN – MOTO RECORD FRICCIÓN (V-100) (Around 1982)

JUGUETES ROMÁN / ROMÁN TOYS

This nice tin motorbike was a present I received as a kid and I have kept it ever since. Just two or three years ago, my father found another one, and bought it in its original package, so I now own two of them: mine and a new (bagged) one.

If we start from the beginning, I have to say that this Román motorbike is really a copy of a Japanese motorbike made probably in the late 60s... The casts are almost the same, but there are a few minor differences, that make me think, that the motorbike is a simple copy. Note that the Japanese model has a few more details than the Spanish model and that “made in Japan” is stated in the exhaust pipes.

Original Japanese friction motorbike

The same motorbike had an alternate decoration as a race-motorbike. Note that the cardboard that "closes" the bag has two sides: in one of them is a policeman, in the other one there's a race pilot, the same cardboard was naturally used for both models.

There seems to be a similar motorbike in a slightly bigger scale that was sold boxed instead of bagged. This other one seems to be more difficult to find than the small one. 

 

By the way, the plastic wheels are originally black, as well as the lower part where the friction motor is fixed, I painted it sometime during my childhood in silver.

 

Juguetes Román - Made in Spain

Román is another Spanish toymaker, one of the most important during the 70s and the early 80s, although not as important as Payá or Rico. The company was also based in Ibi, like the two that I just mentioned, and to my surprise, it seems to be still active and producing/importing toys.

Their factory is located in 15, Cordoba Street, Ibi (Alicante) Pic: Google Maps.

The only difference is that the whole production/import of toys is being made under the brand “colorbaby”. This second company was founded in 1985 (so at some time, both companies co-existed), and now it's specialized in toys, both traditional and inflatable, as well as in gift articles. Colorbaby has licenses from more than 20 international companies, including Mattel’s Barbie and HotWheels!, Disney, Hello Kitty! or F.C. Barcelona and Real Madrid. You can visit them in www.colorbaby.es

Among Román´s most renowned toys, there’s a series of tin cars very similar to those made by “PayáMetal”, also with friction motors, or even cable-controlled. I own one of them that I’d like to show some other time. For girls, Román also produced toy sewing machines, plus many other toys, made of tin, plastic and even wood.

Logos of the company - Pic courtesy of Raimundo Payá (Juguetes Antiguos de Ibi).

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MOTO RECORD FRICCIÓN
• Year: Around 1982 (Probably sold during many years)
• Company: Román (Spain)
• Size: 6,5 cm