Toy History Question

[Street Worm]

When did plastics start being (one of the) major materials of choice in toy making?

question stems from this (very, very cool) Ebay link EQ sent me-

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...911929386&rd=1

what do you think these guys are made of?

[Peter Peeker]

dunno, but those are pretty friggin' cool.

[StV]

...my guess would be shortly after WWII. Much of the materials used to make toys, was diverted to the war effort, as well as the factories that made them. So, toy production fell off sharply during war time.

...after the war, they searched for alternatives to the metals normally used in toy production. Especially, since these materials were scarce at this point and needed for more important things than toys.

...what, more important things than toys?!

...yes, like for buildings, ships, planes, trains, automobiles, household appliances and many other things.

...makes sense, doesn't it? [img]eek.gif[/img]