Unknown Toy

[MichaelB]

Can anyone ID the maker of this piece?
And obviously, not a bomber...a C-97.
http://flic.kr/p/aqPr6N

[grwebster]

The C-97 is interesting to me for a variety of reasons, mainly I used to fly in them as a 10 year old cross country on Northwest, and secondly because they were the commercialized version of the B-29 which after Boeing got the major engine problems solved served a long time as good transports for the military and the airlines.
There were three similar sized C-97 toys made in the USA in the 1950s, two in sheet metal - one by All Metal Products with a 13 inch wingspan {usually found with a wobbly vertical stabilizer} marked as MATS, another by Wyandotte of the same wingspan usually with the red tail of Northwest airlines that used them almost exclusively, and the third in plastic by Thomas Toy, I believe {85%}, the one with the bomb release. This is the one in your ad. I have never seen any with the bomb.
There were some also made in tin by Japanese firms but they were bigger. Also Renwal, I believe, made an 8 inch wingspan one in die cast metal which is hard to find..

[fliegerii]

I found below link.

The plane is in fact made of plastic....

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/3352442

[Tone]

I agree - that is the Thomas Toy C-97 "bomber."

Isn't the "All Metal Products" MATS C-97 the same brand as Wyandotte? The pressing is the same. It is #219 whereas the Wyandotte Twin prop American Airways plane in red/yellow is #220. (Oh, I remember now! All Metal Products was the official firm name and Wyandotte was the brand name, after the city in which the firm was located).

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=281&view=unread#unread

Most Japanese tin toy Stratocruisers were larger than the Thomas Toy and Wyandotte but let us not forget the little Masudaya Universal Airlines plane with just 8" wingspan.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25

[MichaelB]

Thanks everyone - it does clearly say "Metal Bomb"!

[grwebster]

Michael, it probably was able to fire a single cap, too!

BTW Tone has put a photo of the All Metal Products/Wyandotte pressed steel C-97 here
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=281&p=5520#p5520

[ramseyd]

My Thomas toy has a three bladded prop, whereas the Wyannote MATS metal is four bladed. And I need one three bladed prop and a wheel for the Thomas toy, if someone has an extra.

[grwebster]

Dennis try Ravenrose on ebay, I'll pm you his email address. He usually has small parts for all types of aircraft toys, and they are generally originals taken from discarded or damaged ones.