What Is a Die-Cast?
Many pre-fab model cars, airplanes and other vehicles are often called "die cast." The term refers to the process that made the toys and the toy itself. Since the 1990s, the most common application of die casting in the toy industry is to produce high quality replicas of automobiles, particularly NASCAR model cars.
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History
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Die casting is a method of forcing molten metal into a mold called a "die," and it was initially used to cast metal parts for industry in the mid-1800s. The metals were originally alloys of tin and lead, but by the 1930s, zinc and aluminum, and magnesium and copper were the standard. Die casting was at first a low pressure process, but by the 21st Century, forces equaling 4,500 pounds per square inch were possible.
Variations on Spelling
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The North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) spells the term as two separate words without hyphenation, i.e. "die cast." Similarly, the organization refers to the process as "die casting." However, in marketing, written discussion and packaging of toys, the term is sometimes hyphenated as "die-cast" and frequently written as one word, "diecast." In the latter case, it is most often used to refer to collectible toy cars. In any case, all refer to the same thing and are interchangeable in common parlance for either the process or the product.
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Toy Origin
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The first die cast car was created in 1906 when the Dowst Brothers Company produced a Model T Ford under the name of "Tootsie Toys." However, early die cast toys were crude, relatively fragile and remained less popular than tin toys through the 1930s. Over time, die casting processes, molds and alloys improved. Die cast cars began to catch on with the public after World War II.
Matchbox Cars
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The Lesney Toy Company of England began making die cast toys in 1947. In 1953 the company produced what would become a landmark toy line, the Matchbox 1-75 cars, so named because the collectible series had 75 cars. Matchbox cars were the first widely available, inexpensive toy autos mass produced by die casting.
Hot Wheels
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In 1968, the American company Mattel, launched a line of small die cast cars to compete with Matchbox known as Hot Wheels. Whereas Matchbox produced common, real world vehicles, Hot Wheels produced custom and specialty cars as well as race track sets. By 1971, Hot Wheels had more models than Matchbox, which could not keep up. Matchbox was eventually sold to Universal Toys in 1982 and again to Tyco in 1991 as its market share declined. Mattel bought Matchbox in 1996 and as of 2010, Mattel had produced more than 200 models under the two brand names.
ERTL
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The Ertl Company began producing die cast farm equipment in 1945. Best known for its reproductions of John Deere tractors, it also produced a variety of other die casts including the popular Thomas the Tank Engine line.
Racing Champions
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The die cast market exploded in the early 1990s with the introduction of a line of highly detailed NASCAR die cast replicas by a company called Racing Legends. These cars became so well identified with NASCAR that when people speak of "a die cast," they usually have a NASCAR replica in mind. The company became the largest North American die cast maker in 1999 when it acquired Ertl.
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References
- Photo Credit yellow car image by Rade Cojbasic from Fotolia.com
