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Why did tin/pewter toys fall from popularity?

S

sonambulo

Diamond Member
From my understanding, at one point tin and other metal toys were basically the only toys out there and were extremely popular. So what happened?

I could only come up with two potential reasons:
1. Usability. PVC can be used to make a lot more shapes with a lot more flexibility.
2. Cost. Tin toys cost several dollars each to make whereas PVC toys cost pennies.

Any other ideas? Perhaps folks with real knowledge of the toy industry could chime in?
 
They deform and break more easily, and usually have sharp edges, or edges that could become sharp through breakage.
 
#1 profit margins; they rather sell you a plastic piece of crap that has no workmanship.

#2 safety; people are way too paranoid about safety; one reason why the world is overpopulated. lets keep the weak people around that would otherwise have died.

the real reason is profit margins; the corporations have gotten greedy to the utmost degree.
 
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xaeniac said:
#1 profit margins; they rather sell you a plastic piece of crap that has no workmanship.

#2 safety; people are way too paranoid about safety; one reason why the world is overpopulated. lets keep the weak people around that would otherwise have died.

the real reason is profit margins; the corporations have gotten greedy to the utmost degree.
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most of the world's population is in China.

are you really going to argue that China's safety standards are too high?
 
Kids throw shit. Pewter will hurt or break, plastic won't do as much damage without more weight or speed.
 
Pewter traditionally uses lead in the alloy. Most have switched to lead free mixes, but I wouldn't trust the Chinese. You can hide a lot of crap in molten metal.
 
Metal toys are still around. I used to collect the Thomas the Tank Engine die casts when I was little. Still got them. Some are valuable. Found out the Flying Scotsman is going for $100 on Amazon Marketplace.

I think production cost is key to their disappearance. Plastic injection moulding doesn't involve molten metal or specialized equipment. Plastic toys are easier to mass produce with fewer skilled workers.
 
xaeniac said:
#1 profit margins; they rather sell you a plastic piece of crap that has no workmanship.

#2 safety; people are way too paranoid about safety; one reason why the world is overpopulated. lets keep the weak people around that would otherwise have died.

the real reason is profit margins; the corporations have gotten greedy to the utmost degree.
Click to expand...

jesus christ, can we stop with the "corporations are greedy" crap. If you don't like it, start your own tin/pewter toy manufacturing company. Otherwise, shut the fuck up, or at least take you tin foil hat off.
 
sonambulo said:
From my understanding, at one point tin and other metal toys were basically the only toys out there and were extremely popular. So what happened?

I could only come up with two potential reasons:
1. Usability. PVC can be used to make a lot more shapes with a lot more flexibility.
2. Cost. Tin toys cost several dollars each to make whereas PVC toys cost pennies.

Any other ideas? Perhaps folks with real knowledge of the toy industry could chime in?
Click to expand...

You just answered your own question.
 
CPA said:
jesus christ, can we stop with the "corporations are greedy" crap. If you don't like it, start your own tin/pewter toy manufacturing company. Otherwise, shut the fuck up, or at least take you tin foil hat off.
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ok mr. corporate;
 
xaeniac said:
i nver said this. one should be watching their kids if one is not taking care of their responsibilities it is neglect.
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part of "taking care of their responsibilities" includes buying their kids safe toys.

plastic is safer than pewter, so parents "take care of their responsibilities" by buying plastic toys.

pewter toy sales plummet, causing pewter toys to fall from popularity.
 
I had a tin soldier or two. It was very nicely made and detailed but very delicate. Outside of the lower production costs and faster production speeds, I can see plastic as being more desirable just from a durability standpoint.
 
CPA said:
jesus christ, can we stop with the "corporations are greedy" crap. If you don't like it, start your own tin/pewter toy manufacturing company. Otherwise, shut the fuck up, or at least take you tin foil hat off.
Click to expand...

That's kind of what I'm trying to do. I've been researching just about every kind of toy manufacturing out there and this is merely an extension of that research. Tin is basically my 'final frontier' before I get a little more serious about this.

Fritzo said:
This and cost is pretty much the main reason.
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Seems to be. Tinsmithing is an extremely labor intensive task. Most production plastic toys can be made by unskilled workers once the tooling is complete. I'm really trying to avoid PVC because it is so toxic yet the more eco-friendly plastics are still pretty crappy.

Overall it's hard to decide. I am aiming to produce high-quality toys in small batches for the adult enthusiast (read: serious toy collector) market. Not looking to become a millionaire but if I could make enough money to pay off equipment and supplies I would be quite happy.

PVC is probably the best choice overall and it's easy to see why it's so popular. Once you understand proper tooling you can make PVC do pretty much anything you want. It's also extremely cheap. The main drawback is that I do not yet fully understand the regulations to working with PVC in the US and I know they are rather strict. I was initially concerned about it's toxicity but there are additives to make it biodegradable without compromising quality and from what I understand the recycling process has become rather refined.

The whole appeal of tin, for me, is that it is almost completely unexplored in modern toy making. The designer scene hasn't (won't?) touched it yet and there is just tons and tons of potential there. Unfortunately it is very labor intensive and the raw materials to make a tin toy are very expensive. It's also going to be a much, much harder sell to toy collectors since it's so unestablished.
 
Why didn't you say all that in the OP? Tin toys look great, and have retro appeal. Make copies of old classics from the early-mid 20th century, and you'll have buyers as long as you do a good job. Plastic looks like shit for just about every purpose. It only looks decent when it's new, but it ages poorly, and looks like ghetto trash. Metals age very well, and the defects become character marks that can add to the visual appeal.
 
@guyver Die-casting is still very widely used in industry. Unfortunately the price to get started is far, far too rich for my blood.

lxskllr said:
Why didn't you say all that in the OP? Tin toys look great, and have retro appeal. Make copies of old classics from the early-mid 20th century, and you'll have buyers as long as you do a good job. Plastic looks like shit for just about every purpose. It only looks decent when it's new, but it ages poorly, and looks like ghetto trash. Metals age very well, and the defects become character marks that can add to the visual appeal.
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TBH, I wasn't sure the discussion would take the kind of turn so that's why I didn't mention any of that. However I would argue the opposite about plastics. I, and many others, feel that well-crafted plastics can look amazing. Vintage Japanese toys still look beautiful in my eyes.
 
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sonambulo said:
TBH, I wasn't sure the discussion would take the kind of turn so that's why I didn't mention any of that. However I would argue the opposite about plastics. I, and many others, feel that well-crafted plastics can look amazing. Vintage Japanese toys still look beautiful in my eyes.
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Are they plastic, or bakelite? I'm not familiar. While bakelite is plastic-like, it has retro appeal due to it's limited production run, and probably also the fine detailing. Celluloid is the same way, It looks like shit, but since it's use was locked into a certain period of history, it has retro appeal. It just wouldn't be the same if you made them new. The exception to that is 1930s style bakelite, but not so much for toys, as radio cabinets, and other household items. If you went with that approach though, they would have to be faithful, overbuilt creations like they originally were, and use the same styling. It's a combination of the material, and the style that makes them attractive.

Think of all the toys you see in the store now. They're pretty much all plastic, and they're pretty much all junk. They scratch, discolor, and break. After a year or so, they look like they belong in the $1 bin at the flea market. There'll be collector value for /some/ of the toys, but you'll have to wait 30 or so years for the pay off.
 
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