Vintage Horikowa (S.H) Tin Lithographed Battery Op. “Old Timer Car” in Black with Box Japan Toy *SOLD*

Vintage Horikawa (S.H) Tin Lithographed Battery Op. “Old Timer Car” in Black with Box

This is a 1960’s black and silver tin lithographed battery operated “Old Timer Car” with original box manufactured by Horikawa Toy Industrial Co., Ltd. (S.H) of Tokyo, Japan.  This touring limousine toy is battery operated and when put in to gear by the lever located to the left of the driver’s seat the car it goes forward with a mystery bump’n go action. It makes “engine sounds” and both lanterns light up. As the box says it is supposed to smoke as well. While we did put batteries in and test it, we did not run it very long so we cannot say for sure if the smoking feature works or not. The other features of the car work great. The battery compartment is corrosion free, but we do see some scaling (also on the tire) most likely due to humidity that may come off with a good cleaning.

The car comes in a black with silver detail lithographed exterior and a detailed lithographed interior and dash. It has blue tinted plastic windows and a blue tinted plastic windshield. It has the Horikawa Toy Industrial Co., Ltd. “S.H.” trademark on the rear driver side trunk area. While it could use a little cleaning this piece is in excellent all original condition with no restorations, repairs, or touch ups. The lithos are in great condition with the usual patina, scratches, scuffs and chips that are seen with age and display.

The box is in great condition. The art work is strong and the box has no corner tears. We did notice some writing and nicks out of the bottom corrugated cardboard box. The box touts its “4 Big Actions” which are “It mystery actions”, “It smokes”, “It lighted lanterns”, “It real engine sound”. The box has the Horikawa Toy Industrial Co., Ltd. “S.H” trademark in a diamond shape.

The car is approximately 10 ½” x 5 ½” x 5. We encourage you to examine the photographs to further determine condition and quality.

A brief history of Horikawa Toy Industrial Co., Ltd. (S.H) of Tokyo, Japan:

Horikawa Toy Industrial Co., Ltd. was founded in of Tokyo, Japan in 1959 and operated until the late 1980’s. Their trademark was an “S.H” in a black diamond. Horikawa was a major Japanese wholesaler and one of the most successful of all of the post-WWII Japanese battery operated toy makers. They were so popular from the 1950’s to the 1980’s that their toys can be found in many unique variations. Horikawa specialized in battery operated robot and space toys, and vintage style vehicles. However, they never garnered the respect of collectors that some of the other major toy makers of the time did.

By the 1960’s, Horikawa competed with other successful Japanese toy manufacturers such as Yoshiya, Nomura, and Yonezawa. However, by the late 1980’s Horikawa closed its doors. Metal House      (established 1943 to present) then took over in 1989, and melded with Horikawa. Horikawa manufactured many works for Metal House. So many, that a great majority of people mistakenly believed that Metal House manufactured the toys themselves. Many of Horikawa’s designs were later replicated and reproduced by Metal House which now makes these replicas in limited quantities.

One of the many designs to be carried over from Horikawa to Metal House includes the Super Space Giant and the Star Strider, both of which are still being produced today. The Star Strider is most notable for being Horikawa’s last all tin toy robot design. During the transitional period from the closing of Horikawa to the opening of Metal House, both companies’ names appear on the boxes of some of their toys.