Mikro'67

Mikro'67 is a Bulgarian manufacturing company based in Razgrad, that produces and commercialises basketball backboards, outdoor recreation goods, toys, and scale model vehicles (mainly cars and trucks).

In 1990 there were 96 toy manufacturers in Bulgaria, including producers' co-operative societies and factories. Thirteen of them formed the State Economic Group "ДСО МЛАДОСТ" / "DSO Mladost"). Nowadays there is only one toy manufacturer left - "МИР"/"MIR" (from the communist era) to "МИКРО" / "MIKRO" a.k.a. "МИКРО'67" / "MIKRO'67" (post-communist era). Nowadays both the Mikro and Mikro'67 names are used interchangeably.

The factory

In 1952 in one of the workshops of TPK (producers' co-operative society) Metalik differentiated team of workers for toys manufacturing. With a great effort and ambition the first toy was handmade - a wind-up chain tractor. The production list was growing - trucks, dumpers, diggers, a cannon, a car, a rocket and more. The volume of production and the number of the workers were growing; these were factors for the creation of a new independent factory.

On January 1, 1967, it was established and independent producers' co-operative society for toys manufacturing with chairman Petar Petrov. A question then arose - how was the new manufacturer to be named? With a number of opinions and suggestions, the most adequate of them was "Peace", because peace means joy and carefree childhood for children all over the world.

In 1971, the workers moved into a new building. Introduction of new technologies had then begun. Typical for that time were battery-operated toys - machine guns, telephones, SAU tanks and more. The range of toys produced widened.

Matchbox

After making a deal with the Matchbox company in 1983 the factory initiated the production of the first five Matchbox Superfast models and the first few Superking models. The pearl-colored paint on the models was not very durable, although this problem later improved. The wheels sets were imported. Today it is very hard to find mint condition models from that time—even in Bulgaria. Up until 1989, seventeen Superfast models and seven Superking models were introduced. Although all of the models had minor variations, they were essentially alike. Importantly, there was one primary condition for leasing the dies to the Bulgarian manufacturer - all the models produced were intended to be sold only to the Bulgarian market—with no exports permitted. Around 100,000-150,000 pieces of each casting were made. Additionally, after using the new dies, the factory was expected to return them.

In 1991, after the Cold War had ended, production began on the "second wave" of Superfast models. In the beginning there were again limited variations, but some of the early editions have the decals and the colors of the original models. After a few years, business relations soured between the Matchbox company and their Bulgarian partner. It seemed that after opening the borders, many of these Bulgarian models were sold abroad and some were very popular. The Matchbox company eventually broke the contract with Mikro, but they were unable to get back the dies for some models. The results of this split are that nowadays Mattel does not recognize Bulgarian models as authentic Matchbox and that there are thousands of new variations by color, stamps, and wheels.

At the end of the 1990s Mikro'67 began offering advertising graphics for their models. Customers who wanted to personalize cars with a name, brand, or a graphic could get a manufacturing deal for customized Bulgarian Matchbox models. There was a condition - the customer had to order 100 pieces or more, although the models were allowed to be different. This marketing tool was used by local companies to promote products targeting children and adolescents and other companies related to auto care and auto parts. International Matchbox and other diecast model clubs also got some limited edition models for their members during special events. The quality of the models has slowly degraded. This, the uniform production list for more than 15 years, and the higher prices and other issues are all factors for lower production numbers nowadays. From time to time, shortages of certain parts cause new wheel variations to appear - sometimes even non-Matchbox models receive Matchbox wheels and vice versa.

founded	1967
hq location city	Razgrad
hq location country	Bulgaria
products	Basketball backboards, outdoor recreation goods, sie-cast scale model cars, trucks
website	mikro67.com

The factory

Matchbox

Gama

Schuco

Other models

Media

External links