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Manufacturing Processes

Here is a guide to help collectors understand the terms and the various processes used for the manufacturing of automotive toys and models.

Cast Iron - Simply explained, molten iron is poured into a mold and allowed to cool.  Due to limitations of casting molten iron, toy cars were usually made in two halves, then fastened together with a peened rod.  Replicas are generally easy to spot because they're held together with nut and bolt instead of peened rod.  The process of producing cast iron toys predates die-cast toys by nearly half a century and remained popular even after zamak die-casting was well established. The reason was cost. Cast iron is cheaper to produce. Unfortunately, due to its weight, it's more expensive to ship.

Die-Cast - Zinc alloy, or zamak, used in the die-casting process consists largely of zinc with magnesium, aluminum and nickel added. The molten alloy is injected at high pressure into a hardened steel mold. The cost is much greater for each mold, about $100,000 before licensing and marketing, but the mold lasts through well over a hundred thousand castings. The monetary savings is in the tremendous lifespan of a hardened steel mold. Dowst Company was the first to apply the process to toy-making in 1910 with the introduction of Tootsietoys. The additional fact that zamak is lead-free means safer toys.

Pressed Steel - The process for creating pressed steel toys is similar to tinplate but with heavier sheets of steel instead of tin. The force used is greater as well, and results in the most durable toy possible.

Slush Mold - Old toys from the 1920s and 1930s such as Barclay and Manoil were manufactured by pouring lead alloy into a mold and simply sloshing it around to coat the inside of the mold, then pouring out the excess before it hardens into a solid mass. For obvious reasons, the process was discontinued for toy manufacturing because of the poisonous lead content.

Tinplate - The popularity of tinplate was at its peak from around 1900 until the late 1950s. Tinplate models first originated from Germany and Western Europe, then from Japan in the 1950s. The process involves printing a pattern onto a flat sheet of tin, cutting and stamping the metal into the desired shape, then piecing the components together.

White Metal - The process for making models out of white metal is similar to slush mold but with less lead and more nickel. The process also differs in that the molds are made of vulcanized rubber. Molten alloy is poured into the mold, then spun in a centrifuge (or at the end of a rope) to force the molten alloy into the shape of the mold as it cools, forming an accurate cast of the mold. Because of the softness of the mold, casting is limited to only a hundred or so models, which explains the high price of $80 to 250
for white metal models. White metal models are intended only for adult collectors due to their lead content.

Sand Casting - Another process used to produce toys is sand casting. It uses a zinc alloy with more tin for a softer metal. The molten alloy is poured into a mold made of damp sand. Once the metal cools, the casting is finished by cutting and grinding away the excess metal. The process is used for larger toys such as truck cabs. All-American of Salem, Oregon, uses this process for many of its popular collectible toy trucks.

Injection Molding, Plastic - Plastic toys are produced very similarly to die-cast except that it is molten plastic rather than zinc alloy that is injected into a mold at high pressure.