Gama Toys

Gama is a German maker of toys, usually cars and trucks, dating from before World War I. The company is headquartered in Fürth, Bavaria, near Nürnberg, a traditional German toymaking center. Competition for Gama Toys were Schuco Modell and Conrad Models.

According to Edward Force, Gama is the acronym for Georg Adam MAngold, who started the company in Fürth in 1882 making tinplate mechanical toys (Force 1990, pp. 127: Rixon 2005, p. 34). Most toy production up through World War II and up until the late 1950s was lithographed tinplate.

In the early 1940s, 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 1940s, production was started again under the auspices of the U.S. which controlled this sector of the country. Gama made tinplate or pressed steel trucks of various sizes (8 and 14 inch sizes were common), and they were often stamped, "Made in U.S. Zone Germany".

Gama also made tin friction and plastic cars through the 1960s, like the 1950s Auto Union look-alike which was not very clever in form - having a 'flattened' driver stamped into the metal. Later tinplate vehicles like the 1950s Cadillac and Aston Martin were fairly accurate compared to the real cars. Trucks and motorcycles were also made - usually around 10 inches long, but many were smaller. One example made around 1950 was a 6 inch long motorcycle ridden by a chimp in a circus suit. Many were wind-up/clockwork in operation. Other more traditional toys, like a donkey ridden by a clown - or more fantastical, like spaceships, were also produced.

In the early 1960s, the company moved to plastic injection, which increased the ability to reproduce realistic detail, but reduced durability. Plastic friction powered cars like the well-rendered Ford Taunus 17M two-door station wagon were very nicely proportioned and detailed (Gardiner and O'Neill 1996, pp. 14–15). Though the bodies were plastic, bases remained pressed tinplate, or pressed steel.

Like Schuco, remote control models were common, both cars and trucks, and some were made even as large as 1:12 scale. Both companies made F1 vehicles, like Gama's 12.5 inch long Matra F1 car with wavy 'spaghetti'-like exhaust pipes flowing backward over the rear engine. In the 1960s and 1970s, several slot cars were made called "Gama Rallye". These were unique in that they could do a 180° spin and drive on in opposite direction. They were not interchangeable with other slot car tracks, and featured a special hook that would keep them affixed to the track. Scales of the slot cars were 1:24, 1:32, and 1:40. Cars in the Gama Rallye series were the Opel GT, Porsche C6, Porsche 910, Porsche Carrera RSR, Ferrari GTO, McClaren CanAm, Matra and other Formula One selections.

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