The beginnings

SCHUCO’s early history was associated with Heinrich Müller who as a 17-year old developed ideas for toys. He registered numerous patents. The name of SCHUCO was given to the toy company which had been founded nine years earlier in 1921 by Heinrich Schreyer from “Schreyer und Co“. It had been setting new trends from the beginning with mechanical tin toys, such as the most popular toy of the time (20 million sold), the “Pick Pick“.

Establishing the legend

The mid-30‘s saw toy cars which are still well-known today such as the radio, commando and tumble car which does not fall off the table, and the legendary Silver Arrow become best sellers.

Worldwide reputation

After the Second World War, Schuco toys were relaunched – initially these were produced solely for the American market. With the rebuilding of the factory in 1952, SCHUCO became the largest toy factory in Nuremberg with 800 employees. The sale of more than 100 million toys underpinned the impressive worldwide distribution.

The downturn

In the 60‘s and 70‘s, tin was superseded by die-cast metal and plastic and resulted in the bankruptcy of the former world brand in 1976. The new owner, the English company DCM, also had to file for bankruptcy in 1980. Many tools and moulds were dispersed throughout the world and some were even scrapped.

The rebirth

In 1980, the SCHUCO name was acquired by GAMA, a former competitor, which re-issued the Silver Arrow racing car from that time. In 1993, GAMA merged with TRIX, Schuco had its own management structure and the brand was revived. Three years later SCHUCO became independent again.

Legendary and modern

When the Mangold family, who owned the firm, withdrew from the toy industry, the brand was sold to the Sieber family in 1999. SCHUCO became a company within the SIMBA DICKIE GROUP, which is now one of the largest in the industry. In recent years new standards have been set in terms of detail and quality thanks to innovative and creative product policies and as a result our position in the collectors’ market has expanded. Ranges such as Edition 1:87 and Schabak have been relaunched with extremely successful results.