The Toy Of The Week: The Materiology of Toys

There was a time when toys were little more than miniature versions of the real thing. It takes very little searching online to uncover antique examples of tiny toy tools, wood fired miniature stoves, or steam engines. I actually touched on this phenomenon in my old blog, but there is one byproduct of these form-follows-function toys that deserves further examination. The fact that the toys were made to function like their full-size counterparts also meant that they had to be made from the same materials as the real deal. It could have been cast iron, brass, wood, or steel. Eventually, factors, like fear of litigation and climbing production costs, made toys like this dwindle into non-existence... to a degree.

The fact is, today, there is perceived value in toys with a tactile experience that is only offered by manufacturing them in prototype-correct materials. Nowadays, these sorts items are not really marketed as toys but instead as "adult collectibles." Some companies like T-Reproductions and Retro 1-2-3 (now out of business) have built businesses around making all-metal toys that mimic the look of classic examples except they pump up the detail level and usually the cost, too. It doesn't matter though: nostalgia-prone adult collectors snap up these high-end replicas at high-end prices.

There are also die-cast metal models which are a bit of a compromise area because the most detailed examples usually have many parts rendered in plastic. These usually cost a bit less than the ultra-limited retro metal toys, but some examples (usually large construction cranes or mining shovels) can still cost hundreds of dollars.

In my collection, that tactile experience of a metal toy is important. I must confess that I have bought toys in the past just because they had a pleasing feel to the hand. It may be a vehicle, a robot, or a miniature tool or steam engine, but there is something exquisite about a toy that is cold and heavy.

Fine and detail-oriented craftsmanship is also important. My inner engineer has made this one of the top criteria for selecting a toy for my collection. While I appreciate the pop-art immediacy of a limited urban-vinyl toy, I find the intricate engineering and material-conscious fabrication to be an equally important facet to The Toy of the Week.