All Metal Products Company was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 toy

Toy

A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...

 company founded in 1920 and based in Wyandotte, Michigan

Wyandotte, Michigan

Wyandotte is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,883 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 7.6% from 2000. Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and is part of the collection of communities known as...

 for most of its history. It produced inexpensive pressed metal toys under the Wyandotte brand name, and was the nation's largest manufacturer of toy guns for several decades in the 20th century. The company's slogan was "Wyandotte Toys are Good and Safe." To keep costs down, the company used scrap and surplus raw materials whenever possible, often manufacturing their toys from scrap metal obtained from local auto factories.

History

Initially, All Metal Products Company specialized in toy guns, including pop guns, water pistols, and air rifles. Their slogan in the 1920s was "Every Boy Wants a Pop Gun." By 1927 they had become the world's largest manufacturer of toy guns. Wyandotte Toys stopped manufacturing air rifles in 1929, but continued to dominate the toy gun market throughout the remainder of their history by producing pop guns, clicker pistols, dart guns and pistols, cap gun

Cap gun

A cap gun is a toy gun that creates a loud sound simulating a gunshot and a puff of smoke when the trigger is pulled. Cap guns were originally made of cast iron, but after World War II were made of zinc alloy, and most newer models are made of plastic....

s and a variety of plastic pistols. In 1929 the company added girls' toys and toy vehicles, as well as lithographed novelty toys in 1936. Metal toys were banned during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 because the metals were needed for the war effort. The company survived by producing wooden toys and die-cut cardboard "build your own" play sets during the war. All Metal Products also manufactured en bloc clips for the M1 Garand rifle. Clips of this nature will be stamped with "AMP1" on the rear of the clip.

In 1948, die cast and plastic toys were added to the Wyandotte line, allowing it to compete with other companies who sold inexpensive dime store-type toys at lower prices than the Wyandotte pressed metal toys. In 1946, All Metal Products Company bought the Hafner Manufacturing Company

Hafner Manufacturing Company

The Hafner Manufacturing Company was a maker of clockwork-powered O gauge toy trains, based in Chicago, Illinois, from 1914 to 1951. It was formed when its founder, William Frederick Hafner, left American Flyer to create his own company...

, the maker of "Hafner Clockwork" pressed metal toy train

Toy train

A toy train is a toy that represents a train. It is distinguished from a model train by an emphasis on low cost and durability, rather than scale modeling. A toy train can be as simple as a pull toy that does not even run on track, or it might be operated by clockwork or a battery...

s.

In the early 1950s, All Metal Products Company moved from its site on Sycamore and 14th St. in Wyandotte to Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, hoping that closer proximity to Ohio's steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 mills and cheaper Ohio labor would help the company cut costs. The effort was not enough to prevent All Metal Products Company from going bankrupt in 1956, resulting in the sale of part of its product line, including the former Hafner trains, to competitor Louis Marx and Company

Louis Marx and Company

Louis Marx and Company was an American toy manufacturer from 1919 to 1978. Its boxes were often imprinted with the slogan, "One of the many Marx toys, have you all of them?"-Logo and Offerings:...

. What remained of the company attempted a comeback in 1957 but failed.

Collectibles

Today "Wyandotte" toys are highly sought after collectibles, and since they were made mostly of metal many continue to survive today. The toy guns and airplanes produced before WWII were simply constructed from pressed metal and often painted in bright colors such as red, yellow, silver and olive green. Because of their simplicity these toys can often still be found in good condition. Toy guns with a science fiction theme are particularly desirable. These toys are only loosely based on actual guns and vehicles, and are often referred to today based on the vehicles to which they bare the closest resemblance. Wyandotte toys produced after WWII can be easily distinguished from pre War toys by the elaborate lithograph markings that decorate them. These toys were manufactured using much thinner metal, and weigh less than the pre War toys.