Chris KnoxThe history of Schuco can be traced back to the birth of Heinrich Muller in 1887. Muller had begun making his own toys as a teenager, and he soon joined the Bing Company. In 1912, he left Bing and, together with Heinrich Schreyer, a local merchant, formed the toy company Schreyer & Co., which in 1921 became known simply as Schuco. The company began by making small felt and plush covered mechanised figures and animals. One very famous Schuco toy, which was first produced in the 1920s, was the Pick-Pick Bird. An incredible 20 million were made in a production run that lasted until the 1960s. It was in the mid-1930s that Schuco came up with its Schuco-Patent-Motor-Car. As early as 1946 Schuco toys were appearing in American stores and the boom was about to begin. Sadly, by the mid-1960s, the writing was on the wall and the end of the tin toy was not far away. Diecast metal and particularly plastics were the new high-tech materials, which had begun taking over as early as the late 1950s; tin was perceived to be slightly old-fashioned. There was also the so-called 'safety issue' of tin toys with sharp edges and small children. The company did not turn to plastics until the early 1970s; by then it was very much a case of too little to late. By 1976, Schuco had gone out of business. This informative and beautifully illustrated book is an absorbing record of the history of this internationally famous mechanical toy producer. Anyone interested in collectable toys will be entranced by the illustrations; anyone who is interested in the history of transport will be fascinated by the changes that this century has seen.