Category:Ertl

Toy Brands and Manufacturers
Ertl
1945 -

Ertl (originally the Ertl Company) was founded in 1945 by Fred Ertl, Snr, and used to be considered primarily a manufacturer of diecast agricultural toys, including promotional models and licensed models of agricultural vehicles from some of the major US manufacturers such as John Deere.

Today, Ertl's catalogues are still very much tractor-centric.

The National Farm Toy Museum has an "Ertl Land" exhibition.

Brief history

1960s

Ertl was acquired by Victor, a company that made calculators. This marked the start of a series of complicated company takeovers and buyouts which we will not bother listing.

1970s:

Ertl tried their hand at the plastic model kit market in the 1970s, offering kits of heavy commercial vehicles and agricultural machinery.

1980s:

Although Ertl's own plastic kit sales had been disappointing, their new knowledge of the market led them to feel sufficiently confident to buy the AMT (1981) and MPC (1985) model kitmakers.

During the 1980s, Ertl also produced licensed "Thomas and Friends" tie-in merchandise.

1990s:

In 1999, Ertl became owned by Racing Champions, who produced model racing cars

2000s

The next year, Ertl acquired Britains Ltd, a British company originally associated with lead soldiers, but which had had long association with producing models of British agricultural and garden items.