Gama German Tin Tank Windup Toy *SOLD*

Vintage Gama German Tin Tank Windup Toy

This Gama German Tin Tank is a great shelf display with original treads.  This said, it does not work for us.  Wheels and treads move, it rolls a bit when you scoot it backwards, but the mechanism doesn’t catch when wound.

Still, treads are original and the tin lithograph is in very good to excellent condition. Machine gun turret doors are still intact. There is light scuffing on the front of the tank body. Gun Barrel has scuffing on the top.

A brief history of Gama Toys of Fürth, Germany:

Toys like this were some of the first Post WW2 toys to come out of Germany.  The lithography and detail was very good and very evocative of the war effort.  In fact, this potentially was made just before the war, as soon the German toys paid tribute to US tanks with US stars, and American references.  Ours is more German home-front in style from 1940 or so.

According to Edward Force, Gama is the acronym for Georg Adam MAngold, who started the company in Fürth, Germany in 1882 making tinplate mechanical toys. Most toy production up through World War II and up until the late 1950’s was lithographed tinplate.

In the early 1940’s, toy tanks were popular and offered in various sizes including 3.5 and 7 inches in length. The destruction of World War II disrupted production as with other German makers such as Märklin and Schuco. In the late 1940’s, production was started again under the auspices of the U.S.