ALPS (Shojo) 1948 – present

Generally regarded as being a producer of some of the better quality Japanese toys throughout the post war years ALPS was originally founded in occupied Tokyo, Japan in 1948 by a former employee of CK – Kuramochi Shoten, then the largest pre-war Japanese toy company. Its distinctive trademark / logo has the word ‘ALPS’ superimposed on a triple peaked mountain and makes it toys relatively easy to identify.

ALPS produced a range of tinplate / mechanical toy vehicles, space toys including robots along with numerous animated novelty animals. Many of their early toys had multiple action features which was to set Japanese toys apart from their European / American counterparts and it was this ingenuety which ensured the popularity and demand for Japanese toys in the early post war years. Many of which were either clockwork initially or later battery in operation.

Despite their obvious success in the toy market ALPS decided to abandon all this in the early 1970’s and to concentrate all their manufacturing efforts and expertise into the larger and more profitable consumer and industrial electronics marketplace.

< ALPS Toys Pontiac :

‘Made in occupied Japan’, a very early ALPS product, tinplate, red bodywork finish, white balloon wheels, plated parts, clockwork operation, permanent key, 15cm.

ALPS Toys Cubby the Reading Bear >

Clockwork bear figure dressed in dungarees, raises head and turns over pages of a tinplate book. Originally came in colourful illustrated card box.

< ALPS Toys Picnic Bear :

Seated grey bear on lithographed tin-printed base. Holds plastic cup in one hand and a bottle in the other. Battery operated toy, bottle pours and cup lifts to mouth and eyes light up. Originally came in colourful illustrated card box.

 ALPS Toys Plymouth Belvadere > 

Large scale tinplate battery operated American sedan. Red bodywork with cream panels and roof. Detailed tinprinting to interior, plated parts including hub caps to white wall tyres. Operating headlamps, steerable front wheels, 30cm.

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< ALPS Toys Television Spaceman :

A 1960’s battery operated tinplate and plastic model. Grey with detailed tin-printing, walking action with moving arms. Illuminated mouth piece with rotating eyes. Moving space scenes to chest TV, antenna functions as on/off switch, 38cm. Came in colourful illustrated card box.

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ALPS Toys Mercedes Racing Car >

Based on a Mercedes racing car this large scale ‘Speed Challenger’ racer from Alps was battery operated, tinplate in construction. Red with detailed tin-printing and carried the racing number 1. Plastic windshield and driver, plated parts including hub caps, fitted with rubber tyres and steerable front wheels. On/off switch fitted to side of cockpit. 30cm.       

Charbens Toys – Vehicles

part 1 – Charbens pre-war production

Although Charbens were to produce throughout their history a variety of toys both metal, and later plastic, for this introduction to Charbens and Co. I am concentrating simply on the metal vehicle element of that production.

In part 1 – I am looking at their pre-war production of metal vehicles which will ignore the large horse & animal drawn models which I know are a great favorite of collectors and which I hope to come back to in detail at a later date.

Charbens and Co. was started in the early 1920’s by two brothers Charles and Benjamin (Ben) Reid and its not rocket science to work out where the company name came from. In 1928 the companys address was given as 34 Mitford Road in the N19 district of London, a year later the company had relocated a short distance and the works were now based at Andover Yard, 219 Hornsey Road, Holloway, London N7, an address which was to become the company base for over 40 odd years.

Interestingly that part of London was the home of several toy manufacturers and within one mile of Charbens you could find Britains, Taylor and Barrett, John Hill & Co. and the Crescent Toy Co.

A Charbens advert in a trade magazine of 1928 saw them described as ‘manufacturers and designers of metal and eltro-plated novelties and die-casters’. Included was a mention of various lead toys all of which were based around a farming theme which included not only figures and animals but also scenery in the form of trees, bridges, windmills and other ancillery farming equipment.

In 1929 Charbens were a listed exhibitor at the British Industries Fair (Stand No.C13) as a ‘Manufacturer of Metal Farmyard Models and Novelties, etc, Metal Soldiers, Metal Moneyboxes, Metal Plated Pincushions etc., etc.

Lead figures, it is true to say, were the mainstay of the Charbens production line and although vehicles did feature in their output they played something of a secondary role. Never-the-less for this posting I will limit my comments to that secondary aspect – the Charbens vehicle range.

All Charbens pre-war vehicles were made of lead and ran to a very limited range. Their lead items, more often found marked ‘RD’ but also marked Mimic Toy (which was a brand name they used in the 1930’s) to the underside or Charbens.

It is generally understood that the earliest Charbens motor vehicles were copies of the American Tootsietoy models.

The Mack truck group typically shown above : Searchlight truck, pale green cab and chassis, missing searchlight / Market Gardener’s truck, fawn cab and chassis, maroon back / another in orange and green colourway / Pipe Delivery truck, pale green cab and chassis. Models were somewhere between 2.75″ (70mm) – 3.25″ (82mm) in length and like Tootsietoys had the Mack badge to the front of the bonnet. The range also included a Mack Anti-Aircraft truck (same body as the searchlight truck but with black gun mount and silver gun to the rear) / Caterpillar Tractor in red colourway fitted with unpainted wheels with white rubber tracks and a Renault Tank in either olive brown or dark blue with unpainted wheels fitted with white rubber tracks.

Still pre-war c1934-1936 and following on from these early Tootsietoy copies came several vehicles without any particular theme behind them which included such models as : Large Ambulance – 3.25″ in cream with red cross cast in door / Large Racing Car – 4″ in dark green or red / Coupe – 4″ in dark red / Small Racing Car – 3.25″ in blue, green or red / Blue Bird Racing Car – 5″ in dark blue with crossed flags cast-in to nose / Aeroplane – 4.25″ in green or red with silver tail / Ambulance with man at the rear – 4″ in dark blue, dark green or brown / Armoured Car – 4″ in dark brown or brown/green camo. / Petrol Tanker (shown opposite) – 3.75″ in green, yellow, red or dark blue / Fire Engine – 95mm in red with driver cast in / Car and Caravan – 3.75″ car, 3.25″ caravan. Car comes in red, green or yellow with black wings , caravan in yellow/orange, yellow/green or green/blue / Motor Van – 4.25″ in light brown with green tilt.

Also included in the range were a couple of Police Motorcycles.

Police Motorcycle with seperate Police Rider – 2.75″ unpainted cycle with dark blue rider.

Police Motorcycle with Sidecar – 3.125″ unpainted cycle with dark blue sidecar, passenger and police rider.