Timpo figures sometimes get a mention on MC, so I thought readers might be interested in a very good reference book on their plastic figures that I bought a few years ago.
I got my copy from Amazon UK before they stopped shipping to NZ. Well worth getting if you are a fan of these figures.
Timpo Model Toys - The A to Z of Timpo, Third Edition, by Michael Maughan, 2015. ISBN 9781514315040. No publisher given, only printed by Amazon, so I assume privately published. Softback, 126 pages, full colour. There is now an expanded Fourth Edition, 2020.
The price on Amazon UK seems very high, but it is actually cheaper on Amazon US, plus postage of course. It may also be possible to find second-hand copies.
The book starts off with a history of Timpo, or Toy Importers. The company was founded in 1937 by Ally Gawrylovitz (later shortened to Ally Gee), a German who had fled Nazi Germany.
He was soon making toys, rather than just importing them. Post-WW2 the company made metal toys, but soon moved on to plastics. They were best known for their multi-piece, multi-coloured plastic figures. I had some of these in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and preferred them to the Britains toys of the period.
The book then looks at the figures produced by Timpo. These are covered in alphabetical order by type, rather than in straight chronological order. In some cases early figures were replaced by new mouldings of the same type.
American War of Independence (British and American), WW2 Americans, Apache Indians, Arabs, WW2 Australian infantry, WW2 British, Captain Scarlet, Castles, ACW Confederates, Cowboys, Crusaders, Eskimos, Farm figures (animals are not included), modern French Foreign Legion, Forts, WW2 Germans, British Foot Guards, Horses, Indians, Jousting Knights, early WW2 figures which were generic rather than specific to each country, Medieval Knights, Mexicans, Romans, more Knights, Train Sets, Wild West Trappers, US 7th Cavalry (or ACW Union troops), Vikings, Wild West Buildings and Vehicles.
Followed by several pages of final notes.
Depending on the range, there are a mix of foot and mounted figures (mostly on horseback, but the Arab figures also came on Camels). Multi-figure sets - usually on a common base, artillery pieces, boats, wagons and chariots, buildings, vehicles, and various accessories such as tents, totem poles, and even an igloo.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
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ReplyDeleteIt will be Amazons print-to-order scheme, a bit like Blurb, which means it can be expensive
ReplyDeleteI adored Timpo cowboys and Indiand and Knights as a kid and I like the look of this book and the author has laid it out well. I take it its vanity published as it used to be called. I've done two books like this through Blurb and they are ridiculously expensive to buy! I hope this one isn't.
ReplyDelete