Plastic Toy Cars of the 1950s & 1960s: The Collector's Guide
Octane, May 2008UK magazineCirculation: unknownFor years overshadowed by their diecast metal and pressed-tin siblings, plastic toys have a naive charm all their own and are picking up in value on the collector market. This picture-laden paperback brings out all their colorful appeal and features many obscure brands, not to mention their often eclectic subjects.I can remember as far back as the early 1950s and playing with a bunch of plastic model cars. This new book on Plastic Toy Cars sure brought back many fond memories.  'Plastic Toy Cars of the 1950s & 1960s' is a collector's guide and as such is a very valuable asset to have if you are into toy cars.  I was impressed by the layout of this book. It is broken down into several of the countries that produced these cars. At the time I was playing with them I wasn't even aware that they came from foreign countries.   As an example of what this book shows, is a background on each manufacturer from each country and is beautifully illustrated with photos of the actual model toy cars. A definite plus is that the current value is listed with each photo. One drawback is that the price listing is in British Pounds Sterling. An easy conversion (in 2007/2008) is to double the price to get the value in US dollars.   I know that plastic manufacturing was in the very early stages in the 1950s but I wasn't aware how far advanced the injection molding process was back then. When one looks at some of the details on some of the cars produced back then, it is amazing. Thinking back to when I had these cars, I kind of wished I still had them as I would be a rich man today.  I would highly recommend this book for its quality (beautiful glossy paper and photographs) and for bringing back the days of when I was a little boy. As a guide it is very important especially when showing the excellent photos of the cars and the current value.