COPIES & CLONES

Anonymous for THRIFT TOYS

Thrift Toys was a brand owned by The Toy House from St. Paul, Minnesota. According to the USPTO it was first in use in 1959, registered 1968 and expired 1992. Whereas The Toy House used its own branded packaging*, the Thrift Toys brand was simply added to existing packaging by stapling on a cardboard rider as shown on these pages, or with an even simpler sticker if the packaging didn't allow stapling. Toys offered were cheap, mostly rack toys where the manufacturer offered packaging without any trademarks of their own. Examples I've seen include a small plastic dartboard and a rubber stamp set.

The actual manufacturer of the Space Vehicles series isn't stated on the pack, nor is there any indication of what other vehicles may have been in the series. The copy of the Spacex MEV-2
I have is identical to the original toy except for one added detail, which makes me wonder if McArthur's moulds may have been used, maybe even by McArthur themselves. The last three digits of the product number could also fit in with the product numbers that were moulded onto a few Spacex toys, but maybe I'm reading too much into that fact. :)

Click on images to see details

The rear of the added cardboard rider. I've seen another where "Made in Hong Kong" was exchanged for "Japan".

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*: The Toy House repackaged toys made by LP amongst others. Use your browser's Back button to return here. back to text