My Favorite Things About Angelfire
LIDO
From O'Briens book Collecting Toy Soldiers 3rd ed. we learn that;
Lido was formed in 1947 by the nephews (Seymor & Effrem Arenstein) of William Shaland the biggest importer of toys in the country.
William Shaland was also the father in law of Harry Sternberg who formed AJAX PLASTIC who made mostly copies of other firms figures. Went out of business 1967-71 and I have seen their space figures in JOY TOY header bags. 1964 Lido was sold to Bala
1965 Bala liquidated remains bought by Gabriel all but 50 molds melted
1973 Seymor 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 Stombecker 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 assests to be sold including the Processed Plastic plant.
Prehistoric Mammals
There are eight prehistoric mammals that were included as Nabisco cereal premiums. We think they were made by Lido but are not certain. They are usualy found in silver soft plastic.
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.
We have found a few variations (pictured below) in which a star/sunburst logo has been added to the figure. We do not know if these were a special order or copies.
Knight by unknown maker influenced by Lido. NONE IN STOCK
Fort Lido wall.
AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE FIGURES
AMERICAN CIVIL WAR FIGURES AND ITEMS
There are several shades of both blue and gray. Some figures MAY have a bit of red paint.
4 Inch ACW Cavalry. NONE IN STOCK
AMERICAN WILD WEST FIGURES AND ITEMS
The figures found in the early Superior western playsets are though to have been made by Lido. The western horses in these sets are actually marked LIDO! Then AJAX either copied or also got figures from the same molds. The above picture shows you some of the figures that can be found in Superior sets. At some point soft plastic versions were made with the kneeling poses having bases. Lido sold some of these figures with metallic coatings.
ABOVE are the early hard plastic figures. These were used in Superior playsets as well as Lido sets. AJAX either used them or copied them as well.
The above picture of 13 about 45mm poses may be complete but we are unsure. These figures were sold under several brands names such as Lido and Superior so it is hard to say what is what. Metallic colors were used as Post cereal prizes.
Lido western Accessories were made in two sizes.
Several companies made horses that look very close to that used by the Superior toy company.
Bucking Horse
Desert Camel.
Military Items
Picture courtesy of Greg Liska.
Picture courtesy of Greg Liska.
The German figures below are about 50mm. They have no markings. They may be original or old copies
Lido made as many as 20 different GIs but only the above 10 are seen with any regularity. The first four poses are copies of Marx 60mm figures and the prone figure is hard to tell apart from the Marx version.
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3-4 Inch GIs
The above picture shows 6 of the 8 West Point Cadets and all 8 Naval Academy Cadets. We find these in blue, white and gray colors.
The oldest Lido baseball figures are in white and gray. They came as cereal premiums in blue, yellow and gold. It is also possible that some of these were made by Ajax whose owner was a cousin to the Lido owners. In the picture LD21Q is missing the base that should be attached to the right foot.
We are pretty sure the slightly larger off white figures are Lido but the blue and red figures may have been made by family relative AJAX.
Lido Alien, blue. NONE IN STOCK
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.
Old card w/ about 12-13 animals. NONE IN STOCK