Schuco is a German brand and former manufacturing company founded in 1912 by Heinrich Müller and the businessman Heinrich Schreyer in Nuremberg, popularly known as Germany's toy capital. The company's specialty was making toy reproductions of cars and trucks in tin, plastic and die-cast. The company went bankrupt in 1976 but was reorganized in 1993 and then totally independent again by 1996 before its acquisition by the Simba Dickie Group in 1999.[1]
Some of the products currently commercialised by Schuco include die-cast scale model cars, aircraft, ships, and commercial vehicles.
History
Originally named Spielzeugfirma Schreyer & Co, the company changed its name to the more succinct Schuco in 1921 (likely a derivation of Schreyer und Company. At its beginnings, the company made unique clockwork tin toys. Some of these were clever in that, instead of using a key, one would wind an arm or another feature.
In the 1920s Schuco introduced its famous Pick-Pick bird (over 20 million were made up until the 1960s). A wind-up mouse, a dancing mouse and trotting dog wearing a cape were other popular offerings. Before World War II there were also a number of 'gnome'-like wind-up figures and soldiers sometimes called blacksmiths – finished in creative colorful attire.