timpo toyway animal series

does anyone know the toyway timpo models? Are still available?

Sorry, I don't know ... in TAI, we see that Toyway went bankrupt in 2009.

All I can find about Timbo toys on the net is THIS , but as far as I remember they made many unicolour animals models many years ago.

LUCIO wrote:

does anyone know the toyway timpo models? Are still available?

I haven't seen any for over ten years.

About 15 years I saw a range of Toyway Timpo products at a large toy shop in Leicester. This closed and is now accommodated in a department store.

The problem is that in the UK, at least, traditional High Street toy shops don't exist and not having this avenue to sell was an issue for a company like Toyway.

So far I only know, that the online shop Sandspielfiguren in Germany offers some models by Toyway.


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75senta75 wrote:

So far I only know, that the online shop Sandspielfiguren in Germany offers some models by Toyway.


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Thanks Yvette - but these birds are not reissues of Timpo products that Toyway marketed. Timpo never made any of these bird figures. The original Timpo company made their products in Great Britain although for a short period in the late 1940's a branch was set up in Ireland but this didn't last long. Eventually Toyway bought the original moulds and produced replicas in China. I think these are the ones Lucioa is enquiring about. As has been indicated above Toyway also used other manufacturers products and sold them under the Toyway brand. It all gets very confusing.

Many thanks Chris for these helpful informations! I didn't know that before, it sounds very interesting.

75senta75 wrote:

Many thanks Chris for these helpful informations! I didn't know that before, it sounds very interesting.

You are welcome Yvette. Just to add into the Timpo mix they made toy lorries and cars from the late 1940's to the mid 1950's. This very smart petrol tanker was made by Timpo from 1949 until 1952. Timpo then sold off the toy vehicle moulds and concentrated on producing toy soldiers and animal figures.

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Timpo Petrol Tanker by Chris Sweetman, on Flickr

I bought this toy in a worn state and a friend restored it for me.

That´s a very nice car model Chris! The toy lorries and cars are also unknown for me.  

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Timpo then sold off the toy vehicle moulds and concentrated on producing toy soldiers

But I know the Indians, cowboys and knights from the '70s.They were very popular and very appreciated in Germany. My brothers also had a lot of Indians, cowboys and soldiers and knights around 1975.

Here are some example from an German online flea market:
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Timpo vehicles seems to be very, very rare in Germany. I just had a look at Ebay Germany and only
found these few offers from UK:

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Love your cars, Chris!
There's a noticiable border between what is Timpo vintage and the modern Timpo that are basically models from Chinese manufacturers as mentioned before.
Unfortunately, this picture shows the wrong side of the label and I don't have it with me at the moment. Though, the other side reads TIMPO with large letters.
It is just a poor version of the AAA walking fox female - this specific model is sold by a brand called Mamejo Nature but the quality is the standard for an AAA figure. The Timpo model is not marked with AAA logo while the Mamejo Nature is.

75senta75 wrote:

That´s a very nice car model Chris! The toy lorries and cars are also unknown for me.  

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Timpo then sold off the toy vehicle moulds and concentrated on producing toy soldiers

But I know the Indians, cowboys and knights from the '70s.They were very popular and very appreciated in Germany. My brothers also had a lot of Indians, cowboys and soldiers and knights around 1975.

Here are some example from an German online flea market:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Timpo vehicles seems to be very, very rare in Germany. I just had a look at Ebay Germany and only
found these few offers from UK:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thank you Yvette. I am really a toy and model car collector but I became fascinated with Britains again when I noticed the new models I bought for my daughter were different from the ones I played with. Also since being on STS the range of animal figures I found that are available is truly stunning and the number of manufacturers is equally so.

Also thanks for all the website links.

Regarding Timpo vintage why do you think this company was so popular in Germany during the 1970's? I understand that Germany was one of Timpo's biggest markets but have never understood the reasons for this.

Roger wrote:

Love your cars, Chris!
There's a noticiable border between what is Timpo vintage and the modern Timpo that are basically models from Chinese manufacturers as mentioned before.
Unfortunately, this picture shows the wrong side of the label and I don't have it with me at the moment. Though, the other side reads TIMPO with large letters.
It is just a poor version of the AAA walking fox female - this specific model is sold by a brand called Mamejo Nature but the quality is the standard for an AAA figure. The Timpo model is not marked with AAA logo while the Mamejo Nature is.

Thank you Rogério.

Yes, Timpo vintage all made in Great Britain.

Timpo original moulds recast by Toyway and made in China.

Toyway using the Timpo brand to help sell other stuff made for them by third parties all these made in the Far East e.g. China.

This is the way the new order works and sometimes in the case of Toyway it doesn't and the firm goes under.

Chris Sweetman wrote:

Regarding Timpo vintage why do you think this company was so popular in Germany during the 1970's? I understand that Germany was one of Timpo's biggest markets but have never understood the reasons for this.

That´s a good question Chris. Hmm, why were these characters so popular ?

So back in the 70's/beginning of the 80's all the kids in the neighborhood played with these figures.
They were not fragile, not expensive and just looks great for us. There was a large selection and the children could always build new figurines with the "stick-system" (Sorry I don´t find a better word in English).  

Have a look at the photo please.

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In addition, the Cowboy and Indian movies were very popular in those years. For example the Winnetou films. Also Playmobil was unknown to many children and also too expensive. The market launch of Playmobil was in 1974. However, today my brothers regret that they have some years later sold their Timpo toys figures. Oh, I still remember - the Timpo also fitted perfectly to the figures by Elastolin Hausser. Also with the Western houses and the knight's castles.

Example here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Very interesting review, Here in the other side of the world, the soldiers , indian and cowboys

filled with enjoy our chilhood too,

And Those figures were replaced by tin toys from Japan.