Lone Star Products Ltd. was the brand name used by the British company Die Cast Machine Tools Ltd (DCMT) for its toy products. DCMT was based in Welham Green, Hertfordshire, north of London.
Company history
Starting as early as 1939, DCMT manufactured die cast toys for children. The 'Lone Star' name was chosen because of a demand at the time for toy guns and rifles popular in the Western films in cinemas all over Britain. Eventually, the company also made tie-in toy guns licensed from the James Bond films and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. TV series.
Toy soldiers
Harry Eagles, one of the sons of Henry George Eagles who co-founded Crescent Toys had been known by the nickname of Harvey.[1] When Crescent moved to South Wales in 1949, Eagles remained in London where he started the Harvey Toy Company, producing figures in hollowcast metal. Eagles sold his trade name and designs to Lone Star where a variety of plastic soldiers were sold from 1955 to 1976,[2]
Vehicles
Competition with Dinky and Corgi
Interpreting the base of a Lone Star vehicle can be difficult. Some of Impy Toys read: "Lone Star Road-Master Impy Super Cars".
To keep up with competitors such as Corgi and Dinky, Lone Star began producing Corgi-sized diecast toy vehicles in 1956 with its Road-Master series (later spelled without the hyphen). Castings on the earlier vehicles, though handsome, were a bit cruder than the competition. For example, the double-deck bus had its casting line, for its two halves, right down the centre of the roof. Also, most earlier Lone Stars have simpler bumper, grille and body detail than Corgi or Dinky.
The Impy Series
Much changed with the introduction of the Impy line in 1966. Bright new packaging was introduced while the older, larger, Road-Master series was discontinued (though the name "Roadmaster" was still used). The new cars were a smaller three and a half inch size, similar to Mini-Dinkys, and were advertised as the "cars with everything". For example, the 1963 Chrysler Imperial was not offered by any other diecast maker and featured opening doors, hood, trunk, working steering and jewelled headlights.
Trains
The company started producing (OOO scale), 2mm to the foot, British and American outline model push-along-trains in 1957. These used 8.25mm gauge metal track and a range of diecast station buildings. This line was designed by long term Lone Star employee Stuart Goss, and followed in 1960 by "Treble-0-Lectric" electrically powered working models of two British diesel locomotives: The Class 24 Sulzer Type 2 diesel, the Class 23 Napier Type 2 "Baby Deltic" diesel, an American Baldwin 0-8-0 Steam Locomotive and an F7 US Diesel Electric which was available in both US and Canadian liveries.[5] These were accompanied by track, British & Continental outline rolling stock, scenic items and other accessories, such as the "Gulliver County" range of rubber moulded buildings in 2mm scale. Vacuum-formed bases were available to form "instant" scenic layouts and these could be purchased separately or in sets.
Legacy
Intellectual property of the 'Lone Star' name is owned by the Heinrich Bauer group and toy guns are still sold under the Sohni-Wicke Armforces und Spielwarenfabrik division of the company.[6]
References
- Norman Joplin. The Great Book of Hollow-Cast Figures New Cavendish Books, 1993^
- Richard O'Brien. Collecting Foreign-Made Toy Soldiers Krause Publications, 1997^
- Tuf-Tots Cars glocalnet.net, retrieved 18 January 2022^