Collecting Collectoys

by Douglas R. Kelly

Louis Marx is never far from my mind. I didn’t know the man, but his company made so many cool and wonderful toys in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s that his name appears on my radar screen pretty regularly, at in-person toy shows and in online toy searches. The product line included tinplate toys, battery-ops, playsets, action figures, and model trains. But for the most part, Marx stayed away from the die-cast toy car market.

Fortunately for today’s collectors, the company made an exception in 1958. Linemar, a subsidiary of Marx, reached an agreement with the Japanese manufacturer Kuramochi Shoten Ltd. to produce a series of die-cast model cars. Collectors of tinplate toys are familiar with Kuramochi, or “C.K.,” due to the models the company produced before World War II, such as an 11-inch Chrysler Airflow that was a very accurate replica for the time.

The name of the new line was Collectoys, and most were based on cars of the 1958 model year. Marx used one size of box for the Collectoys, so the scale varied somewhat from model to model. The average scale was around 1/55, so they fell squarely between the smaller Matchbox cars and the larger Dinkys and Corgis. I don’t know if the models had a standard retail price, but several boxes for the Ford Delivery Wagon have been seen with a price of 32 cents stamped on them, and that would have made them competitive with the Matchbox 1-75 cars. They came with friction motors, which added play value but which also must have increased material and production costs substantially.

In fact, the motors were too large for several of the models, resulting in bodies that were too tall. On the Jaguar, they extended the baseplate downward to fit the friction motor, which caused a large gap in the front wheel wells. It makes the front end look more like a tank than a Jaguar. But Linemar did get it right with some of the Collectoys.

A lot of classic car people think that 1958 was an “off” year for Buick, with cars that had uninspired styling. Linemar included a ’58 Buick in the Collectoys lineup anyway, and the front end is excellent, with the distinctive checkerboard of small chrome-plated squares. The overall body shape is pretty good, other than the roof looking a little “squashed.” It’s a somewhat general representation of the ’58 Buick, and it could be said to be based on the Century, the Riviera, or the Roadmaster.

The Ford Delivery Wagon was the only commercial vehicle in the Collectoys range, and it was also one of the more accurate models. It was a station wagon based on Ford’s 1957 sedan delivery wagon, and it included Ford’s trademark hooded headlights and inwardly sloping grille. The rear side windows were filled in, and the model came in several different liveries: along with the Materne Bakery version shown here, there were French Cleaners, Keystone Appliance Co., Linemar Toys, Lumar Service, Ritz Florists, and possibly others.

The box for the Ford wagon was unique in the series. But Linemar should have proofread the box artwork more carefully: On the bottom right side of the Ford box’s long panel, it reads, “Linemar Best By For.” Fortunately, they corrected the mistake, making it “Best by Far,” in time for the boxes for the rest of the series.

The Pontiac Bonneville also was a nice-looking model, and pretty accurate until you get to the rear overhang, which is too short for a ‘58 Bonneville. But the four “chevrons” on the front wings (just behind the wheel wells) and the ribbed rear deck lid are great Bonneville details.

The Collectoys charmed my socks off from the start, so I’ve put together a small collection of them over the years. Linemar probably produced the series only for a short time. Low sales probably were the reason, and the varying accuracy of the models couldn’t have helped. Also, some surviving examples suffer from metal fatigue, so the Collectoys are among the rarest of all American die casts. When one appears in excellent or better condition with its box, it generally will change hands for anywhere from $150 to more than $300.

 

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Douglas R. Kelly is the editor of Marine Technology magazine. His byline has appeared in Antiques Roadshow Insider; Back Issue; Diecast Collector; RetroFan; and Buildings magazines.