ZZ Riesenzoo - a rather unknown company

Some more informations now. But I think meanwhile, ZZ figures are not made by Storck perhaps.
I had a look in a register for trademarks and have found these:

  http://de.trademarks.directory/view/DE500000000928617/

Owner of the Company ZZ is  Ingo Roggatz from Hamburg.
He has a very big company and sold a lot of stuff, also toys.

Yurumi also mentioned an article in Figuren-Journal. Here an member wrote, that company ZZ/Ingo Roggatz has made copies from Hausser Elastolin figures in HongKong and sold them for the half price in Germany:

Yurumi wrote:

Some time ago I bought on ebay two models of the company ZZ Riesenzoo, I have heard of this until then nothing. The only information I found here:

http://www.figuren-journal.com/UKFTOjBDwRB9AeJHdHtzGhk7PvuR3J/Index.cgi?action=forum&forum=experts&experts=detail&id=3355&ln=en
After that, it seems slightly different figures from Hausser Elastolin to be.

What means "Riesen" ?

"Riesen" means in Germany "Sehr groß".  So "Riesen" is standing for "Riesen Zoo = großer / riesiger Zoo = very big Zoo.
Perhaps company ZZ has only named his figures "Riesen Zoo" because it´s standig for a very big zoo, children can made with these figures.
Other idea: ZZ has made this package of figures for company Storck and it´s product "Riesen".

Interesting, but fact is that they copied not only Hausser Elastolin but Britains also..., as i have them in my collection, how could this be then...

Pirats...

It is so good to see you here Willy

What a complex mistery! I need to read this topic again to see if I got it.
Yvett, impressive all your effort to find it!

This is a smaller version of the Britains bison i have in my collection;
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These are copies by Riesen of the Britains flamingo's in my collection.
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And this is a copy of the Hausser Elastolin Lioness by Riesen from my collection.
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Kikimalou wrote:

Pirats...

It is so good to see you here Willy

Yes indeed mon ami, thanks, now and then i react on things i was involved...
What about your website Christophe???

Bought today - a selection of ZZ Riesen models:


The animal figures here are mainly copies of Elastolin; pigeons, goat, foal, and Britains; the keepers and pelicans. Not sure about the penguins. Information on the reverse of the header cards is in German but nothing recorded on where they were made.

Treasures.of course.

Very nice Chris. The penguins are originally made by Hausser in 2 sizes. 54 mm and 72 mm.

True goodies !! !!

And now we know that there is also a Riesenfarm

landrover wrote:

Treasures.of course.

Indeed Fernando - not often does a find like this happen.  

WILLYBACOMAN wrote:

Very nice Chris. The penguins are originally made by Hausser in 2 sizes. 54 mm and 72 mm.

Many thanks Willy and you have a nice collection of this range too.  

SUSANNE wrote:

True goodies !! !!

And now we know that there is also a Riesenfarm

Nice to add information to this wonderful site Susanne.

landrover wrote:

Treasures.of course.

WILLYBACOMAN wrote:

Very nice Chris. The penguins are originally made by Hausser in 2 sizes. 54 mm and 72 mm.

SUSANNE wrote:

True goodies !! !!

And now we know that there is also a Riesenfarm

Thanks everyone.

Regarding the debate about the origin of ZZ I am posting a reply from a FlickR contact:

"After seeing the trademark, I think this might be the same "ZZ" company that made those little 1990s tin toy Christmas ornaments that were sold later by various collectible firms such as Schylling.”

I

75senta75 wrote:

have now called simply at the company Storck.
They are very friendly and want to help to find a solution to our question.
I should send them the photos with the ZZ figures by mail.
They will ask their archivist for help and give me an answer soon.

I would like to come back to this interesting topic. Unfortunately, I never received an answer to my request by phone. Perhaps it´s better sending them an e-mail. But nevertheless, there are again some news things to report.

Last week I found at my favorite online flea market an offer about a set with some "old plastic animals" for sale. Yesterday they are coming in. A little parcel with some figures by ZZ. Most are by hartplastic.

Here we start with the rhino. The only one by softplastic. The other animals are by hartplastic.
We know, ZZ has made copies of Elastolin and Britains. So is the rhinoceros by ZZ a copy of Britains. Also the same size.

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Here together with the rhino by Britains. Photo is made by Christophe.

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An other copy by Hausser Elastolin is the polar bear (hartplastic). Not the size but the model. Since now, it was the only model by ZZ in my collection.

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Now back to figures in the parcel. Next ones are all made by hartplastic. Perhaps they are also copies by some brands ? But I don´t know.  Has somebody else has seen these models by other brands in the past ?


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Together with zebras by Reisler Denmark and CollectA
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A particularly impressive specimen is the bison! Although it is badly damaged, it is still very nice. Well, I still have to find a suitable leg.

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Very Interesting,

Many of these animals are copy of other vintage brands

and show us the evolution of the materials.

The plastic, began to give more flexibility in the legs and in the tails

avoiding the break.

Oh Yvette, I really like them
These, made from hard plastic have a special charm and they look unique.
They have wonderful poses and very nice details.
It is very sad, that some of them are broken ..
This Bison looks very nice...wonderful Zebra, baby Elephant..
The Giraffe has great proportions.
And I really really like the pose of the Leopard.
At last, I am in love with the Tiger

Great catch

Landrover wrote:

The plastic, began to give more flexibility in the legs and in the tails

avoiding the break.

That's right, Fernando, they're really very fragile.

Costicuba wrote:

They have wonderful poses and very nice details.

I agree with you Kosta, these poses could be an example for modern brands like Schleich for their figures in the future.

Very interesting figurines :)

They are gorgeous !!!!  Really, really wonderful !!!

For some reason I am totally in lovew with the giraffe, and that baby elephant is perhaps the best I have ever seen

The camel is adoreable, - and the bear And the zebra too is great , - they are all beautyful

Perhaps the best is, that the beautyful, well-proportioned bison has come to your house, where he can have a great time, in spite of his old age problems

They are extremely charming Thanks for sharing! And thanks for the comparisons with the major brands, very helpful!

Just found that thread and I have to add a few more pictures:

a different ZZ bactrian camel that looks like the Hausser one in the example picture from Yvette:
(it is made from soft plastic - like the rhino shown by Yvette. maybe these were the earlier generation? I remember I had such a figure in my early childhood days, almost 50 years ago. Of course it is long lost and I don't know if that one was ZZ indeed. Had a buffalo and a giraffe in the same style then.):

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a hippo made from hard plastic (unfortunately it misses a hind leg, but that flaw is almost invisible on that pose), inspired by Britains:

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A donkey:

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and my favourite ZZ - the wonderful and delicate thompson gazelle:

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maybe there are more ZZ amongst my so far unknown animals, because this ZZ sign is sometimes very hard to spot (did not know that that polar bear shown here:
https://sts-forum.forumieren.de/t18573-zz-riesen-polar-bear?highlight=ZZ+riesen
is ZZ too. Never found the mark...)
But now since I know what I have to look for I will check again.

from the pictures above I especially love the Bison. I hope you will find a complete one one day!

Very interesting Beatrice. Not only the camel, also the gazelle is a Elastolin (And Preiser now) figurine. And the hippo i think is also a known figure. The donkey i dont know.