LIDO TOY SOLDIERS, FIGURES AND ITEMS IDENTIFICATION GUIDE
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LIDO
From O'Briens book Collecting Toy Soldiers 3rd ed. we learn that;
Lido was formed in 1947 by the nephews (Seymour & Effrem Arenstein) of William Shaland the biggest importer of toys in the country.
1964 Lido was sold to Bala
1965 Bala liquidated remains bought by Gabriel all but 50 molds melted
1973 Seymour Arenstein bought the 50 molds and started JOY TOY
1990 Joy Toy sold to Strombecker
Strombecker owned Tootsie Toy which is why you see ex Lido GIs and large swivel cowboys and Indians in Tootsie Toy header bags.
TIME CONTINUES TO MARCH ON AND NOW WE SEE;
2004 November Strombecker and Processed Plastic merged and the new company took Tootsie Toy as it's name with Processed Plastic as the controlling partner.
2005 February Tootsie Toy sold Durant plant with the Tootsie Toy molds.
2005 July going out of business with all remaining assets to be sold including the Processed Plastic plant.
-Header Card Bag, Wild West, No markings but I think these are Lido pieces. Contents, swivel cowboy (broken swivel), 3/4 inch horse, buffalo, steer & 4 fence pieces.
Lido or Ajax Indian & horse puzzle, HP many color variations. About 30mm in scale.
Lido made and sold many plastic toys and novelties including; bubble pipes, puzzles, cars, boats, knickknacks, cereal premiums and figures. Following is a list of the known figures made by Lido. It can get get confusing as they made and wholesaled figures to Lucky (flats), Ideal and T.Cohn among others.
MINI TRANSPORTATION
Note card on right was sold by Lido successor Gabriel Industries (see logo below) circa 1965/66.
294 Western Wagons, 5 wagons with driver and team. Same wagons as above left but vehicle colors may differ.
Set #254 Racing Cars, blister card with four multipiece Indy race cars.
Set #262 Old fashioned Vehicles, blister card with five multi-piece cars.
Set #268 Vehicles of Yesteryear, blister card with five snap together soft plastic vehicles.
Set #323 Vans Plus Working Traffic Light, blister card with four vans and traffic light.
Set #304 Vehicles of the "Good Old Days", blister card with five snap together vehicles.
Set #2662 Old Time Transportation. 10 Vehicles in 7 models including two fire trucks.
Set #3662 Antique Motorama. 20 Vehicles in 7 models. Rubber bands degraded so use new ones. Large box is 20 x 15 inches.
Set #303 Historic Sailing ships.
Big Dan's Construction Set.
Set #272 Roadway Construction Set, MOC as seen above.
Prehistoric Mammals
There are eight prehistoric mammals that were included as Nabisco cereal premiums and at one time were attributed to Lido. They were not made by Lido. They are early Nabisco premiums were made in silver but Banner ran the mold in candy colors.
Medieval Items
Large 3 inch Knights
Lido made three different three inch knights and two horses. The accessories used are the same as used for the 54mm knights.
Extremely hard to find Lido castle play set box made in 1955. As the box had cut outs to be used in making the castle very few survived.
The best selling line of figures made by Lido were their 54mm knights. Popular enough to be copied by other smaller companies. The knights were sold in small, medium and large bags and blister cards as well as a nice boxed set sold through comic book ads. The factory sometimes put a bit of paint on them
We are unsure if these small1 1/2 inch knights were made by Lido or how they were sold.
Transogram knight picture courtesy Rick Koch.
Mounted Lido copy knight maker unknown. The knights pictured were made by Transogram circa 1956 and was sold with other Lido inspired knights as part of a "Make a Sand Castle" set. To be used at the beach or in a sand box the set had the castle gate, towers, windows, other pieces + knights and horses.
Photo courtesy Jessie Sanders.
AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE FIGURES
This picture shows the six poses and seven colors that Lido made for the Revolutionary War lineup. Blue, red, green & yellow are more common while light brown (tan), gray & redbrown are harder to find.
4-6 Inch Rev War figure with horse.
Photo shows mold catalog shot circa 1964 when Lido was selling off their molds. Picture of actual 4-6 inch Zorro courtesy Eric Johns.
AMERICAN CIVIL WAR FIGURES AND ITEMS
3-4 inch ACW mounted figure.
Photo courtesy Jesse Sanders.
AMERICAN WILD WEST FIGURES AND ITEMS
The early Lido, Ajax & Archer mounted cowboys and Indians were based upon or copied from Bergen Toy & Novelties(Beton) as were their horses. We find it hard to tell who made what so will list all of these early hard plastic mounted figures here. Lido also wholesaled these figures to T.Cohn throughout the 1950s and early 1960s for inclusion in T.Cohns western themed playsets. These figures were also copied in Hong Kong. Other poses certainly exist that did not make the photo.
Early hard plastic mounted western figures;
HARD PLASTIC UNLESS NOTED SP = SOFT PLASTIC. MAY BE by Archer or Ajax ans I can not tell them all apart.
Lido's early plastic wagons had metal tops.
Also early in the 1950s Lido put the above series one foot figures in their sets and wholesaled them to T.Cohn. The number of poses increased form 8 to 10 or 12 by 1953.Other companies may have made them as well. Early figures are in hard plastic while a few later examples in soft plastic exist with the kneeling figures now having bases. Some of these figures seem to have been copied or based upon metal Lincoln Log figures.
Lido also put "metallic" coatings on plastic figures to make them look more like their expensive metal cousins. Fifty years later the survivors are often found much duller than the original bright finish used.
Stagecoach with original box. Hard plastic, MISSING instructions.
In the mid 1950s Lido designed a new more detailed set of western figures (series 2) also about 45mm in size. A few early ones can be found in hard plastic but most are found in soft plastic. Metallic colors were used as Post cereal prizes. This mold survived the 1964 massacre and was used by both Joy Toy (1972-1990) and Tootsie Toys (1990-2005).
Shrewd marketing was one of the keys to Lido's success. Packaging western figures in a space theme sold at two of the popular themes of the late 1950s.
Set #772 Western Space Satellite. Still sealed but shows wear from being 50-55 years old. Very unique marketing.
NONE - Tootsietoy (Strombecker Corp) 1995 reissue of Lido cowboys and Indians.
Premier copied six of the Lido later cowboys and Indians for their western bagged sets. Only the horse and the first two cowboys are their own poses.
Lido made smaller 45mm swivel figures and then larger 3 inch (70/75mm) versions. Each had accessories. The figure molds were saved and were run by both Joy Toys and Tootsietoy.
- Set #541 Western Frontier, swivel action Figures + foot figures, horses, accessories & fencing.
- NONE - Big swivel cowboy fits 6 inch horse.
NONE - Swivel cowboy & Indian blister card, Made in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong expressly for Lido, figure color may different from picture, 2 figures, 2 horses, 4 accessories & 4 fence pieces.
4-5 Inch swivel Indian, MIB.
We believe Beton/Bergen made the first of the running style horses as seen above and was then copied by Lido, Ajax, Archer and others. As this horse was found in the T.Cohn "Superior" western playsets it became known as the "superior horse". The bucking horse also probably originated with Bergen/Beton. Lido then made their own western style horse that was also included in AWI & ACW sets.
The Desert FFL troops got their own "military style" horse and the Arabs got a camel. These were made in the same mold.
Many Lido figures were used as cereal premiums.
Military Items
These first series GIs were made and sold by Lido. They also wholesaled them to T.Cohn (Superior) who sold them in their (Captain Video) Space Port playsets. The figures wholesaled to T.Cohn were made in metallic colors and were unpainted. These date from 1951, and the older ones are hard plastic. Many colors were used as can be seen above. Hard plastic figures may have factory paint
Set #56 Army Mobil Unit, bagged card with all 8 small military items Lido made. Soft plastic.
Pictured actual size, most are copies of Empire/Caldwell planes.
Pictured actual size. I think the first plane represents a Hughes H-1 racer from the 1930s and the fourth plane represents a YFM-1 Airacuda "pusher" airplane, but welcome any information to the contrary.
These were sold by Lido and also wholesaled to and then sold by T.Cohn. In later years after Lido was out of business the mold may have been used by HG or Dimensions for Children in their 1980s playsets.
Jet fighter, lavender HP.
One of the nicer 54mm items Lido made was this pontoon bridge. Sold in some of the early 1960s playsets it was also used in civilian road construction sets as well. Railings are fragile and subject to damage and are often missing.
Picture courtesy of Greg Liska.
The Germans were made in several shades of gray and copied in Hong Kong.
Lido made the above second series 10 GIs without bases in 1957. The first four poses are similar to Marx 60mm figures and the prone figure is hard to tell apart from the Marx version. We suspect the mold maker made figures for both Marx & Lido and reused some master sculpts changing a few details like adding webbing to the Lido helmets. In 1958 Kelloggs had a set of GIs made for cereal premiums and they must of also hired the same mold maker who used his old Lido & Marx master-sculpts to make the toy soldiers.
Lido wholesaled the GIs to T. Cohn who sold them in playsets using green soldiers as good guys and gray soldier as enemy.
The first four harder to find GIs in the picture above were never made by Lido. As they came with "Lido" poses as cereal premiums it was once thought that they were made by Lido. It turns out that a mold maker made figures for both Marx and Lido in the early 1950s and in 1958 when approached by Kelloggs to make a set of GIs to be used as cereal premiums he simply reused master sculpts that had been made for the production of the Marx and Lido molds. The above four poses have never been found in Lido packaging. It is not easy to tell them apart from the ones made for Marx.
TICO copies - - LIDO -
- THE TOY HOUSE -
TICO TOYS, Ray Plastic (Rayline) and others made copies of Lido's toy soldiers. The Toy House was a Midwest distributor who sometime repackaged other makers items under their own name further confusing identification.
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Lido made several series of space figures in different scales. The two larger figures in the photo above are about 4 inches (90mm) in scale and were sold as "Futuremen". The middle size figures about 50-52mm in scale were both sold by Lido in header bags and as cereal premiums and wholesaled to T.Cohn for the space port playsets. The three smaller figures about 40mm in scale were also sold in small header bags among other packaging. Lido would sell the different scales of figures in flat window box sets as well.
54mm Spacemen
- Blue device at waist, rarest Lido Alien mold.
50-52mm Aliens
These were wholesaled in hard plastic (HP)to T.Cohn for inclusion in their Captain Video playset. Also sold by Lido who wholesaled them for uses as cereal premiums.
35mm Space Figures
We find these in blue, white and gray colors.
- Set #552 West Point Cadet card with 5 of the 8 figures it originally came with.
West Point Cadets with shako hats;
Naval Military Academy Midshipmen wearing dress hats with brims
CIVILIAN FIGURES & ITEMS
There are two distinct groups of baseball players (thanks to Rick Koch for sorting them out). The first group was made about 1956 for Nabisco to be used as cereal premiums in yellow and the darker blue as seen above. When making his figure guide Tim Geppert listed them as made by Lido as they looked very similar to other Lido figures. I had the chance to speak with one of the Lido owners and he told me Lido had nothing to do with these figures and the reason they looked like Lido figures was that Nabisco hired the same mold maker used by Lido so ended up with figures that looked like Lido figures. This mold continued in use after the cereal premium offer by various owners with the figures being made in many colors including; gold, silver, gray, waxy white and finally aqua blue and a flatter white as seen above. In addition a variation of the squatting catcher exists with upraised finger . The final reissue of these figures does not include this pose so either this cavity was replaced at some point or there is another mold out there somewhere. The ReMarx company made reissues in the 1990s and thanks to Jim McGough of CTS who acquired one of the ReMarx warehouses we were able to determine that the mold had 36 cavities making two sets of 18 figures in 15 poses. The crouching infielder was in each set four times with four different uniform numbers (4,5,7 & 12). As ReMarx bagged figures still on the sprue as they came off the mold it was found that one set had two number 4s & 5s while the other set had two 7s & 12s. Bill Murphey of Excalibur Hobbies ran the mold in several colors in the 1990s as well. The mold's current location is unknown.
Lido did make a series of baseball figures about 1958. Their figures were sold in bags and on cards. Lido went out of business in 1964 and many of their molds ended up being scrapped. Bill Shalland a toy importer and co-owner of Ajax toys got the baseball figure mold and made reissues in the 1970s. His packaging was marked WSNY (William Shalland New York).
The Lido figures were made with bases (platforms) for better stability. The example of a retail bagged card in the above picture has been provided by Jim McGough. The Lido figures were made in gray and white. Over the years many copies of these figures were made in Hong Kong including perhaps some by former Lido owner Effrem Arenstein's new company Toy Innovations based in Hong Kong that was known for making copies of other toy figures.
There are two slightly different sizes of hockey playser. Lido made at least one of the series and perhaps Ajax made the other as they shared mold makers. Photo of bagged, carded set courtesy Michigan Toy Soldier Co.
FARM ITEMS
Set #565 Farm blister Card, Made expressly for Lido in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, circa 1960, 9 animals (poses vary) & 3 or 4 fence pieces.
Set #459 Farm Animals, headercard bag with 8 animals, circa 1955-60.
Set #551 Old header card, says UNBREAKABLE but some of the white animals are broken. Also includes fence sections and a blue barrel.
Set #Truck, Tractor, Trailer bagged card, with Hauler truck, tractor, trailer & animals.
Tootsietoy 6100. From the 1990s ex Lido, then ex Joy Toys and now Tootsietoy farm animals, 24pc.
In the 1960s Lido made a few playsets including the farm set as seen above. The hard plastic barn seems to have been based upon the Plasticville barn and the implements are the same ones as seen in Marx sets. The chicken coop is a copy of Auburn (Auburn marked the bottom of their chicken coops, Lido did not)and the chicken bar crate is a copy of Hubley (Hubley hard plastic, Lido soft plastic). Set contents seem to have varied.
The fowl are solid but the larger farm animals have hollow insides and are very similar to the series 1B Ohio Art farm animals. Some Ohio Art animals have a number up under the hollow belly while the Lido animals have a letter of the alphabet. The fowl mold seems to have been lost in the mold scrapping but the larger animal mold survived the melt down and these animals can be found in Joy Toy and Tootsie Toy packaging. The fence seems to be a copy of Payton.
The Lido farm implements are the exact same grouping as used by Marx although the Lido pieces are bigger (60mm) and made of soft plastic.
WILD ANIMALS
These were sold on blister cards and in headcard bags + those in silver and gray (and perhaps brown and white) were u8ses as cereal premiums.
Wild Animal Blister Card, About 12 animals.
- Lido Set #564 Jungle Land blister card. Hong Kong.
1950s Lido grab bag with 3 animals including green lion. Used as apremium?
1950s Lido grab bag with 3 animals including green giraffe. Used as a premium?
Hippo, Elephant, Gorilla, Moose, Bear, Camel, Lion, Buffalo, Rhino & Giraffe./b>
A picture from the Lido mold catalog shows their magnet dog. The magnet was placed inside the forelegs and either another magnet or steel/iron ball inside the plastic ball. Pictures of an original boxed example courtesy Susan Davis.
Plug together and interchangeable to make many odd shapes.
We have been informed by Mr. Effrem Arenstein the founder of Lido Toys that these goofy animals were not made by Lido. Greg Plain has identified them as being made by Kenner.
- Set #55 Trucks. Four soft plastic about "HO" scale trucks with rubber wheels with backing card sign cutouts. Circa early 1950s.
Like Empire Plastic, Ideal, Wyandotte, Pyro and other early makers, Lido made small hard plastic sedans. Mold cavity numbers under the cars indicate that there were eight cavities in the mold, but all produced the same car as seen above.
- Old carded set of tools.