Lintoy, Corgi, Ertl 1970s die cast airplanes - great stuff!

[grwebster]

One of the popular die cast lines of aircraft in the 1970s was the series created and manufactured by Lintoy, in Hong Kong {later on, production was transferred to Singapore}. These Lintoy produced aircraft were soon distributed by Bachmann, Corgi in the UK and Ertl in the United States. It was about this time that I started seriously collecting toy aircraft and while my focus was on the early Tootsietoys and Dinkys, the Lintoy airplanes were marvelous.

Unusually, some of the planes they produced were never offered before as die cast toys. Who else produced the A-20 Havoc {called the Boston in RAF service}?

And what about these? The DH Comet Racer {a 1930s design also produced during that period by Dinky Toy}.


A Me-262 {the early toy was the prototype Me-262 with a tail wheel! Later versions had the standard nose gear.}.



A canon equipped Me-410. …and even a Saab Draken.

Their toys were great, beautifully painted, with all metal, operating landing gear.







There are several versions of some of the aircraft which collectors require, all silver, camo, and sometime navy blue versions appeared.

They also produced a wide variety of Boeing and Douglas civil transport aircraft { even a Vickers VC-10} in many different airline markings,! Sorry can’t offer many pics of these as I didn't collect civil aircraft much. I hope Michael has a solid collection of these.

Some of the first versions of the P-51, Piper Cherokee, and the DH Comet Racer, the Jaguar had moving control surfaces. This feature {thankfully- I felt it distracted from the quality of the castings and finish} was soon eliminated.



Lintoy moved production to Singapore and later in the 1980s the molds were taken over by a variety of Asia-Pacific toy makers and the quality and finish changed drastically.

[Tone]

The United "DC-8" and TWA TriStar have been in my collection since 1980. I should remove the TriStar and throw away the damaged blister pack. Several of the toys on the orange cards came from the estate of a fellow local toy club member who had been a POW in the Korean War. He pencilled the date "1989" on the backs of the cards. This must have been the date that he bought them second hand, or from old store stock, because they were out of production "as Lintoys" by that date. The Phantom was from another club member who died two years ago. The rest came from assorted toy shows.

[Tone]

WWII Fighters.

[Tone]

Jet Fighters.







I also have several of the "Flyers" range from Road Champs. I remember in 1986 thinking "Those are crude reproductions of Lintoy planes" but thankfully my mom saw one in a grocery store and bought it anyway. It is an Air Canada DC-8.

[MichaelB]

Lintoy would stay around for a long time. The airliners were on the market for an especially long time, as airliners were always hard to find. My last Lintoy airliner was the DC-9 - one of the better molds with a distinctive outline and a reasonable model. I last found it under the Tak-A-Toy line in the drug stores in 1998. Swissair marks along with a companion 727.
The DC-10, 747, 727 and DC9 were also in the Woolworth issues, dating from the early '90s, as Flyers. I suppose I am reluctant to mention the 707/DC8 in here...apparently it was just too awful for even Tak-A-Toy to issue!
Excellent pics fellows, but only a start on all the variants from Lintoy, Bachmann, ERTL, Magic, Hobbycraft, Flyers, Road Champs and the other reissuers!
For my son, growing up in the early '90s, there was an special fondness the various fighters, including the wonderful Me262.
My pieces are well down in the pile...I'll get to them one of these days!
Thanks!
Michael