Schucho mechanical toys - Collectible toy cars - 1Earth Antiques and Appraisals Magazine

Heinrich Muller, founder and guiding personality behind Schuco, was very much a child of this age. Born in 1887 and educated to be a businessman, he nonetheless gravitated toward the burgeoning field of technology. Early on he proved himself to be resourceful, imaginative and practical.

By the late 1920s Schuco toys were recognized throughout the industry as both well designed and well built. Furthermore, to the satisfaction of parents, Schuco toys promised years of contented play.

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It was Mullers clever mechanical designs, together with his rigorous attention to the details of graphics, that made Schuco toys enduring favorites.

One writer has described Schuco toys as always assuring an Aha effect. When the first cars were introduced in the mid 1930s they were both technically revolutionary as well as artfully detailed.

Competing toys of the time, while also well made, had none of the style of the Mullers models.

A Schuco car had a tailpipe, a functioning steering wheel, a reverse gear or a remote control devise. They were the wonders of their age and, as examples of design and detailing, remain ageless.

By 1939 Schuco had revolutionized the toy industry. Schuco was allowed to continue operation during World War ll in order to generate foreign currency from sales to neutral countries.

Following the war, the company was also able to obtain license to operate from the occupation forces, albeit toy production was combined with the manufacture of more practical and much-needed items.

In 1949 Schuco returned to toy manufacture full time. In many ways the 1950s were the golden age for Muller and Schuco. He expanded facilities, reintroduced pre-war favorites and rededicated the company to marketing a new model every year.

Now in his 60s, Muller was at the peak of his powers. Stories persist of his rigorous testing standards, as well as his propensity to work around the clock, restlessly redrawing the designs for his latest model.

His employees called him The Ever Changing Muller, for in his quest for perfection would often change details of a design within just days of the introduction date.