From the desk of Paul Vreede:
Since the SST is now more on topic, I've taken some quick iPhone snaps to show the two Boeing 2707-100 toys I have. The large one is a really lovely craft, some 25cm/10in long, and bearing the "USA Supersonic" livery seen in contemporary illustrations. It has friction drive and variable-geometry wings (linked inside so they move together). It doesn't carry any markings at all, but comes in a box from our old friends Hover. The box side has a Salco trademark however (and the nr 319), so presumably Salco is the real manufacturer in Hong Kong.
The smaller diecast SST is from Zylmex and is some 11cm (4in and a bit) long. It's in Panam livery (though the fuselage stickers have gone) and is clearly marked underneath with aircraft type and manufacturer. The wings can be folded out separately, which has resulted in paint flaking off and it's also lost its landing gear. Neither of these toys connects with any other range of toys I'm interested in, but the 2707-100 is a lovely design (sad it never flew for real) and the large Salco/Hover toy is such a beauty that I just couldn't leave it be. :)
I'm currently on the floor having fainted! Wote, you had a Hover SST all along! You tease! It's a cracker. The box is just like the Tarheel Space Glider's! More hybridisation! So, there's chicken and eggs stacking up. Did Century 21 buy the SST off Hover and develop the Probe Force 1 from there? My brain hurts!
ReplyDeleteI guess you guys know Salco is still going? If not just found them here Google , but Blue Box won't even acknowlage eMails asking the type of qustions you'll be wanting to ask (they don't like being reminded of their past piracies!!!) so good luck.
ReplyDeleteYou got the wrong Salco there, Maverick. Salco is a British company see http://www.salcogroup.com/
ReplyDeleteHere’s an extract from the official history:
‘It was established in 1866 when Robert Whyte started a wholesale business in East London, which soon began exporting a variety of toys, gifts and sundry goods to the far reaches of the British Empire. In 1923 Adolf Saalheimer came to England to set up a distributor for his metal toy factory in Germany; he stayed and began importing from other toy manufacturers in Europe and Japan, expanding the range beyond toys in the 1950's with a mousetrap. The various parts of Salco were brought together in the 1960's under the ownership of Hong Kong's Hutchison Group, and were the subject of a management buyout in 1978 with turnover growing steadily to over £20 million a year.’
So Salco was likely the UK importer for this toy not the manufacturer. Question is, was/is Hover a registered trademark of Salco?
Sean
It's not the wrong Salco Sean, Hutchison would have moved it there in the 80's, otherwise it would have been sold to 'Hobby's' along with Matchbuilder. Both Harlow addresses are listed as "Dissolved or strike off pending" with Companies House, so they're not around now!
ReplyDeleteThe link is to what remains of, or inherited the rump/trade mark for the Salco to which you refer.
Your Salco is a home furnishing company, twice as old but less well known to toy collectors!! There is another Salco that made toy soldiers, which confused me for a moment, the thing is Sal...Co. is a common company name comming as it does from Salmon, Sale, Sallope and a hundred other surnames....Doh!
Having said all that...my link might not be right either, and if it is they're not going to know much about the machinations of Whyte,Ridsdale & Co.,Ltd in the 1970's!
I think the Salco I've liked to is correct. Yes, the current company is an importer of mainly household items, but that's not far from its 1960s incarnation, which sold a variety of Far Eastern-sourced goods, both toys and household. That was a common trading mix in the 1940s-1970s as evidenced by other British outfits such as Combex, Codeg, O. & M. Kleeman, and Airfix.
ReplyDeleteAll that said, it's possible that there was once a link between the Salco you mentioned and the British-based one I posted, but I note that the Hong Kong outfit only claims 25+ years of existence, which would put its foundation in the 1980s, long after the 1960s space toys in which we're all so interested.
Sean
"Hong Kong outfit only claims 25+ years of existence, which would put its foundation in the 1980s"
ReplyDeleteWhere it resided after Hutchison moved their operations over there in 1978? Like I said I could be wrong also and I'm not looking for an argument! But we're dealing with Hong Kong toys here and my vote goes to the HK company not the North London furniture store!
The link is Hutchison, a Hong Kong trading combine...and Hong Kong spaceships, boxed and printed in...Hong Kong
No argument, Maverick, just thrashing out some possibilities.
ReplyDeleteSean
I worked for A Saalheimer Ltd. during the years 1958 - 1968. They were Toy and Fancy Goods Importers. In 1958 Adolf Saalheimer used to come into the office and showroom every day and he lived alone at The White House, a block of apartments near Regents Park. Saalheimer's associated company was Whyte Ridsdale and they were based somewhere near Bishopsgate, can't remember the exact address. When I was first there, they were at Wilson Street, E.C.2. and later moved to Shepherdess Walk, London, N.1. before moving out to Harlow in Essex. I remember my time with the company with great affection.
ReplyDeleteID BE INTERESTED TO HEAR MORE OF YOUR TIME AT SAALHEIMERS - CAN YOU DROP ME A LINE AND EXPAND UPON IT ?
ReplyDeleteWOTAN