One of the categories in this website is tin toys. In the early decades of the 20th century, Germany was the leading producer of tin toys in the world. German tin toys were innovative and well made. They dominated the market up to the outbreak of World War II. When peace returned, toy makers everywhere had a great deal of lost ground to recover. However, once the toy industry was back in full production, Japan assumed the lead and began to control the market with the addition of many new novelties. Not just wind-up and friction driven, some Japanese tin toys were powered by batteries and able to provide flashing lights and sounds. In the 50's and early 60's, Japanese had flooded the market with many appealingly designed tin toys and a large part of them were aimed at USA with items familiar to Americans only. But despite the initial resurgence of tin toy popularity in the post-war era, tin toy manufacturing was faced with steadily increasing difficulties. They included changing consumer demands, new safety regulations and competition from plastic toy makers. By the 70's, Japan had reduced the tin toy output so dramatically that many factories had ceased production altogether.

China began to produce tin toys in the early 20's. They were primitive and poorly made. After Japanese tin toy manufacturing was in decline, China assumed the role of the leading tin toy maker in the world. In the early stage, Chinese toys were noted for their cheap prices, which often reflected in their quality. Nowadays they are made to a much higher standard, yet retain the edge of being very affordable.

With your gracious support over the years, we have become the leading distributor of tin plate toys. We hope you enjoy this web site which features many fascinating new items. Please bookmark it to find out the new items in the future.