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The toys initially produced were a crude scaled down image the life sized thing consisting of basically a cast piece of metal dunked in paint. This base coat provided a background to the detail artists that tediously hand-finish the art work. As the industry progressed, so did the level of detail in the toys. Functional doors, locks, wheels and other moving parts refined the piece and the product industry as a whole. Cast iron toys were made as a decorative piece, made to be played with, or created to be functional like storing your coins.

American manufacture of cast iron toys began in the 1870s. They replicated items like house hold items such as safes and stoves to vehicles (horse and buggies, automobiles, …) and soldiers. These were just miniature versions modeled after the real things. Most cast iron toys developed were of vehicles and this still makes up the majority of what around today. The industry peaked around 1920.

Toy soldiers
These cast iron toys miniaturize soldiers from the Civil War and World War I. Some, like those depicting a Cavalry Soldier have the officer mounted on the horse. What good would producing toys for kids be if you only created one side of the fight. Cowboys and Indians, Union and Confederate, Allies and Central Powers were all opposing forces and created by the toy companies. Some manufacturers even honored African-American soldiers with their own line of toys. The product lines of soldiers considered cast iron toys even distinguished the varying branches of military service.

Cannons and Other War Machines
Artillery guns and cannons were also sold. It’s hard to fight an imaginary war without the supporting machinery! Occasionally the soldier was paired with the weapon such as a bi-pod mounted machine gun. Some were designed to mock-fire through the use of small flash-powder caps or more elaborate firing mechanisms.

Vehicles
This is by far the most produced type of cast iron toys. Just about anything is available – and not just those vehicles on wheels. Aircraft and maritime ships can be found. Though this sub-section exists, land-based transports make up the highest percentage of items in this category. Trucks, cars, horse and buggy, train cars, tractors, and motorcycles were produced.

Value
For collectors the value of pieces can be the reason to hold or sell an item. Here’s just a small sample of the potential iron toy’s value. Of course there are various factors that go into valuing a piece like condition, manufacturer, and its age.