Tyco Toys is an American toy manufacturer. Since 1997 it has been a division of the Mattel toy company. Mantua Metal Products was a Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, metalworks business founded in 1926 by John Tyler and family. In the 1930s Mantua began to manufacture HO scale model trains of die-cast metal, and became a leading hobbyist brand. From 1942 to 1945, production of model railroad products was suspended as the company participated in manufacturing of precision measuring and mapping equipment for the U.S. Army and Navy in World War II. The company received the Army-Navy ‘E’... Award for Excellence in Production in 1945. After the war, they converted the plant back to production of model railroading equipment. In the 1950s Mantua pioneered "ready-to-run" HO-scale model railroad kits under the TYCO brand. Many TYCO and Mantua die-cast products, such as steam engines, are collector's items today. In the 1960s, TYCO changed its focus from train kits to ready-to-run trains sold in hobby shops and also added HO-scale electric racing, or "slot car" sets. By the 1970s, TYCO shifted sales and marketing to a consumer-oriented, mass marketing focus.
more