Hubley Toys ca. 1930 Cast Iron Bremen Airplane *SOLD*

Hubley Toys ca. 1930 Cast Iron Bremen Airplane

Enjoy this beautiful and detailed rendition of the Bremen airplane ca. 1930.  Hubley Toys made this cast iron plane with nickel-plated details and steel wheels.

Our toy is all original with proper paint and wheels from the factory.

Unique corrugated steel was used to build these, similar to Ford airplanes; so Hubley cast in this undulating detail.  Cockpit and passenger figures are also cast, then riveted, then riveted in place.

Kid play, chipping, and aging is present, but the toy is free of breaks.

A brief history of Hubley Manufacturing Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania:          

1894-Current (Division of ERTL)

Founder John E. Hubley

Specialty: John Hubley first incorporated the Hubley Manufacturing Company in 1894 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Their slogan was “They’re Different”. They were occasionally known as Lancaster Brand Iron Toys which manufactured electric toy train equipment and parts. In 1909, they purchased the Safety Buggy Co. factory and moved to the site. The first Hubley toys appeared in 1909 and were made of cast iron, with themes that ranged from horse-drawn vehicles, fire engines, circus trains, different breeds of dogs, tractors, steam shovels, horses, banks, and cap guns.          

The Hubley Manufacturing Company produced a wide range of cast-iron toys, doorstops, and bookends. Toys, particularly motor vehicles and cap guns, were also produced in zinc alloy and plastic. The company is probably most well-known for its detailed scale metal kits of Classic cars in about 1:20 scale. Starting in 1960, Hubley participated with Detroit automakers for a couple of years as a plastic promotional model maker. Many Hubley toys are now sought-after collectibles. Hubley’s main competition in the early years was Arcade as well as a bit from A.C. Williams.          

By the 1930s autos became the headliners. By quickly converting to cheaper smaller toys during the Depression, they avoided the financial woes experienced by many other toy companies. Iron shortages in WWII and commitments to fill war contracts did stop the toy division in 1942, until after the war.          

As of 2019, Wikipedia tells us, “Perhaps Hubley’s diversification in the 1960s overtaxed its profits, weakening it financially by the 1970s. Hubley was purchased by toymaker Gabriel in about 1969 who continued to make its regular kits and diecast kids’ toys through the 1970s. A series of colorful but rather unexciting generic make diecast toy trucks were available in a variety of forms (dump trucks, tow trucks, etc.) up until about 1980. Gradually, the Hubley name was downplayed in favor of Gabriel.          

Around 1980, CBS Toys acquired Hubley, which later sold many dies to Ertl and Scale Models, both of Dyersville, Iowa. For example, the Hubley Ford 4000 tractor was reproduced by Scale Models, up through the 1990s and perhaps later (Scale Models 2010). In the 1990s, some Hubley vehicles like the school bus were also reissued with minor variations from the original casting.          

Ertl has now stopped production of all of the original toy dies and molds purchased from Hubley. As a result, all remaining Hubley/Ertl metal kits are fairly rare. They can be purchased from auction websites as well as from collectors and older hobby stores.”