Vintage Bandai Vehicles

Even though the Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai began as a distributor of generic metal and plastic toys in 1947, and is probably best known today for its Power Rangers action figures and Tamagotchi digital pets of the 1980s and '90s, some of its most beloved and sought-after products are its tin model cars of the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. Many of these colorful vintage vehicles were propelled across the floors of American living rooms by friction devices, making them favorites of model-car collectors. Later, Bandai cars would zip across kitchen floors and sidewalks alike with the assistance of batteries. While the most collectible Japanese tinplate model cars are the ones that were produced immediately after World War II—they can be identified by the words “Occupied Japan” or the letters “OJ” on their undersides—collectors have long had a fondness for almost anything made by Bandai. Because the Japanese automotive industry had yet to recover from the war, common vehicles include tough U.S. Army tanks, squat New York taxis, and long Greyhound buses, which were still a primary means of transportation before the era of routine jet travel. As for car models, Bandai reproduced lots of Chevys and Fords, including a "pickup" that resembled the Ford Ranchero of 1957. Other American brands that were reimagined on a small scale by Bandai's designers include Plymouth, Nash Rambler, and Cadillac. European brands include Triumph, Jaguar, Renault, and BMW, especially its distinctive Isetta. For the most part, these reproductions were reasonably faithful to the designs of their life-size counterparts. But vintage Bandai vehicles could also be fanciful, as in a "Space Bus" from the 1950s, which married the sausage shape of a Greyhound-style bus with helicopter blades on the roof and tail fins in the back. The graphics on this "Space Bus" were lithographed before the vehicle was assembled, a common practice, while the wheels were turned by a battery. For the most part, Bandai missed the pressed-steel renaissance enjoyed by American toy manufacturers such as Buddy L in the 1920s and '30s and Tonka in the late 1940s through the 1960s. One reason may have been that as an exporter in a nation with limited natural resources, Bandai was probably obliged to make do with tin, which was also lighter to ship than steel. But this limitation has only made the vintage tinplate model cars made by Bandai all the more alluring. As is the case with most collectible toys, Bandai cars and trucks accompanied by their original packaging in good condition command a serious premium over those that were regularly played with.