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Tin & Lithograph Toys Manufacturers
A curated directory of 63 makers of lithographed tin toys — clockwork, friction, and battery-operated marvels of the tinplate era. Every maker below has a full profile covering its history, founding, notable toys, and collecting notes.
63 manufacturers listed.
Alps Shoji Ltd.
Alps was one of Japan's premier producers of battery-operated and clockwork tin toys for the American market. Much of the output w…
Aoshin Toy (AS)
Aoshin produced colorful battery-operated and friction tin toys for the American export market in the 1950s and 1960s. Their tin p…
Arnold Company
Arnold is a venerable Nuremberg toy house that produced tin clockwork toys in the early 20th century before specializing in the hi…
Bandai
One of Japan's most powerful entertainment companies, Bandai began with tin toys and grew into a global giant through anime and to…
Brimtoy / Wells Brimtoy
Brimtoy produced affordable tin and later die-cast vehicles for the British market. After merging with Wells Toys in 1932, the com…
Burnett, Ltd.
Burnett produced colorful lithographed tin vehicles including famous London omnibus models popular in Edwardian England.…
Chad Valley Toys
Chad Valley was one of Britain's most beloved toy companies. It held a Royal Warrant as toymakers to the Queen from 1938, and prod…
Citroen (toy division)
The Citroen automobile company produced an authorized line of scale model tin and die-cast toy cars of their own vehicles as promo…
Courtland Toy Co.
Courtland produced inexpensive lithographed tin friction and wind-up cars and trucks sold primarily through five-and-dime stores. …
Cragstan
Cragstan was an American importer and distributor of Japanese tin toys, particularly from Alps. The Cragstan brand appears on some…
Distler (J. Distler & Co.)
J. Distler produced high-quality lithographed tin clockwork and battery-operated toys including cars, gas stations, and mechanical…
Dux (Merzig Toy Co.)
Dux produced German construction toys and tin novelties. Their Astroplast construction kit — an early flexible plastic rod-and-soc…
Einfalt (Gebruder Einfalt)
Gebruder Einfalt (known by the trademark 'Technofix') produced colorful lithographed tin clockwork toys including roller coasters,…
Ernest Lehmann
The founder's name was Ernst Paul Lehmann, not Ernest, and this record describes the same firm as the Lehmann (Ernst Paul Lehmann)…
Fernand Martin
Fernand Martin was the foremost French maker of whimsical mechanical tin toys. His double-action clockwork figures depicting every…
GAMA (Georg Adam Mangold)
GAMA was a significant Nuremberg-area tin toy manufacturer known for high-quality lithographed tin clockwork cars, trucks, and tra…
Gebruder Bing
At its peak, Bing was the largest toy company in the world, employing thousands in Nuremberg. The company produced extraordinary l…
Gebruder Fleischmann
Fleischmann has been producing model trains for over 130 years. Known for exceptional HO and N scale craftsmanship, Fleischmann tr…
Gebruder Maerklin / Märklin
Märklin is among the most prestigious toy companies ever founded. Its 1891 sectional-track clockwork railway established the idea …
George Carette
Georges Carette, a Frenchman operating in Nuremberg, produced some of the finest tin toys of the Edwardian era. His clockwork auto…
Gescha
Gescha produced lithographed tin and later die-cast toy vehicles in the postwar era, with a particular emphasis on German car mode…
Gibbs Manufacturing Co.
Gibbs Manufacturing holds the distinction of being one of the longest-running toy companies in the United States. Its lithographed…
Girard Model Works
Girard produced lithographed tin wind-up toys and toy trains. Their toys were eventually made under a production arrangement with …
Hafner Manufacturing Co.
Hafner produced affordable lithographed tin toy trains, competing in the lower-price segment of the market against Lionel and Amer…
Haji (Mansei Toy Company)
Haji produced colorful lithographed tin friction and battery-operated toy vehicles primarily for the American export market in the…
Ichiko
Ichiko was a major Japanese producer of friction and battery-operated tin toy cars and trucks. Their large tinplate models of Amer…
Ichimura Toy (TM)
Ichimura produced friction and battery-operated tin toy vehicles for the export market in the 1950s and 1960s. Their tin cars and …
Ingap (Industria Nazionale Giocattoli Automatici Padova)
Ingap was the leading Italian toy manufacturer of the early-to-mid 20th century, producing beautiful lithographed tin clockwork ca…
Ives Corporation
Ives was one of America's earliest and most important toy manufacturers, producing clockwork mechanical toys, cast-iron horse-draw…
J. Chein & Company
Julius Chein produced colorful lithographed tin mechanical toys sold through Woolworth's and five-and-dime stores. Chein made soph…
J.L. Hess
One of the oldest toy companies in Nuremberg, J.L. Hess produced clockwork tin trains and pull-along toys across more than a centu…
J.W. Sutcliffe
Sutcliffe produced clockwork tin toy boats and ships for some six decades, until original production ended in the early 1980s; the…
JEP (Jouets en Paris)
JEP was one of France's most important toy manufacturers, producing fine lithographed tin clockwork cars, trains, and mechanical t…
Joustra
Joustra was a significant French tin toy manufacturer producing lithographed battery-operated and friction vehicles, robots, and n…
Karl Bub
Karl Bub was a long-running Nuremberg toy company known for high-quality lithographed tin toys including clockwork cars, trains, a…
Kellermann (CKO)
Kellermann (known by the brand CKO) produced delightful lithographed tin clockwork novelty toys including motorcycles, cars, and a…
Kuramochi & Co.
Kuramochi produced battery-operated tin toys and robots for the export market. Their 'CK' trademark — not the 'KO' mark, which bel…
Lehmann (Ernst Paul Lehmann)
Ernst Paul Lehmann produced delightfully whimsical tin clockwork toys exported worldwide, known for clever mechanical actions and …
Linemar (Marx Japan)
Linemar was Louis Marx & Company's Japanese subsidiary, producing battery-operated and friction tin toys for the American export m…
Lines Brothers (Tri-ang)
Lines Brothers was Britain's largest toy company, trading under the Tri-ang brand. They produced an enormous range including tin c…
Louis Marx & Company
Louis Marx built the world's largest toy company by producing affordable, high-quality toys sold through Sears and Woolworth's. Ma…
Marusan
Marusan produced a wide range of tin toys and character figures for the Japanese and export markets. Their tin cars are collected …
Meier (Johann Philipp Meier)
Johann Philipp Meier was a prolific producer of the beloved 'penny toys' — tiny, inexpensive tin toys sold for a penny at fairs an…
Mettoy Company / Mettoy Playcraft
Mettoy produced tin toys and later die-cast Corgi toys under the Mettoy Playcraft name after 1956. The Corgi brand launched in 195…
MT (Masudaya Toys)
Masudaya (Modern Toys) is legendary among tin toy collectors for producing some of the most imaginative battery-operated tin toys …
Nifty (Nifty Toy Co.)
Nifty produced lithographed tin clockwork toys in the 1920s and early 1930s. Their Charlie Chaplin and other comic character wind-…
Nomura (TN Toy)
Nomura Toy (TN) produced a wide range of battery-operated tin toys for the export market, including cars, space ships, and robots …
Occupied Japan (various manufacturers)
The 'Occupied Japan' mark designates toys and goods exported from Japan during the Allied Occupation (1945–1952). Items bearing th…
Ohio Art Company
Ohio Art began as a picture frame company before entering toys in the 1920s. The company is most famous for Etch A Sketch, invente…
S.G. Gunthermann
Gunthermann produced high-quality clockwork tin toys for nearly a century, becoming one of Nuremberg's most distinguished toy hous…
Schuco
Schuco (Schreyer & Co.) produced some of the most sophisticated clockwork tin toys ever made. Their miniature cars with working st…
SH (Horikawa Toys)
Horikawa (Showa) produced colorful battery-operated tin robots and space toys that are among the most beloved examples of the genr…
Strauss Manufacturing Co.
Ferdinand Strauss was a pioneer of the American tin toy industry. Louis Marx learned the toy business working for Strauss before f…
Structoys (Structo/Coleco)
Structoys was an early Structo product line, not a separate company, and is listed here because the name is encountered on its own…
Taiyo Kogyo
Taiyo Kogyo was a prolific Japanese producer of battery-operated tin toys and later radio-controlled plastic vehicles. Their batte…
Technofix (Gebruder Einfalt)
Technofix was the trade name of Gebruder Einfalt, producing some of the most charming lithographed tin clockwork toys of the postw…
Tipp and Company
Tipp & Co. produced lithographed tin toys including military vehicles, aircraft, and ships widely exported before and after WWII. …
Unique Art Manufacturing Co.
Unique Art produced colorful lithographed tin wind-up toys sold through five-and-dime stores. Their animated figures of Li'l Abner…
Wolverine Supply & Mfg. Co.
Wolverine produced colorful lithographed tin toys focused on domestic, beach, and novelty play. Their famous Sandy Andy sand toy h…
Wolverine Toy Company
Wolverine produced colorful tin lithographed toys focused on domestic and novelty play. Their Sandy Andy sand toy was an iconic be…
Wyandotte Toys
Wyandotte produced affordable pressed-steel and tin toys sold primarily through Woolworth's and Kresge stores. Their colorful lith…
Y / Yonezawa (STS/Yone)
Yonezawa produced exquisite battery-operated and friction tin toys primarily for the American export market in the 1950s and 1960s…
Yoshiya (KO Kogyo)
Yoshiya (KO) produced battery-operated tin robots and space toys that are among the most colorful and creative of the postwar Japa…