1949 Hoch and Bechmann Musical Swirling Airplane-Go-Round in Orig Box
Unused, unopened, and untouched! I recently purchased this awesome lithographed tinplate Swirling Airplane-Go-Round, manufactured by Hoch and Bechmann, West Germany, from the son of the original owner. His father was a U.S. toy importer in the late 1940's through the 50's. Before I touched it, it had never been out of the box. This toy touches on several important toy-collecting characteristics. First is its impeccable ultra-high grade. Then, there's the toy itself, which is so beautiful that it looks fantastic even while standing still. And lastly, I've never seen it before. That doesn't necessarily mean it's rare, but after several hours of research I couldn't find a single thing about it. In my opinion it comes down to two possible manufacturers; Hoch and Bechmann or Distler. Based on its style, design, color, quality, and box I thought it was closer to an H&B toy rather than Distler. If you have any other thoughts please let me know. It has an unusual and very eye-catching design. From top to bottom including the center column it was lithoed with embossed, dark red, blue and green rings. Contrasted against these colors are swirls of dazzling white. Several rings are raised in height and the frequency of these embossing increases as they get closer to the center. The underside of the canopy and base are solid white. It has no identifying marks. Three brass finished chains hang from the canopy. From each chain dangles an embossed tin litho twin engine passenger plane with intense orange lithography, white highlighted details and landing gear polished to a mirror-silvered finish. The toy works like an old time hand-held top. The red finial (or handle) is pulled up. When it's pushed down a twisted metal rod connected to an internal gear linked to the canopy starts it spinning. And it's musical! As the canopy spins a loud plink-plink music box sound is produced! Everything that the toy was designed for works beautifully. However, it has never completed a single rotation. Every airplane merry go round toy I've ever seen always has a series of scratches on the center column. They're caused by the wing tips which strike the column as it slows down. They're unavoidable. This particular airplane merry go round toy is the first one I've seen which did not have these marks. Again, it does work, but I haven't freely spun the mechanism. The box is a European style pressed fiberboard. It's marked "Made in West Germany" on one end panel. Besides a numerical hand written pencil notation on the cover there are no other identifying marks. The box has an overall yellow color. It still contains all of its original packing paper. In fact, if you look at the last box photo you'll see that these papers still retain the shape of the toy. Size: 8½". Sold: Nov. 2008
Price Sold: $ 191
