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Fun-Ho! Toys were a brand of diecast toy cars and trucks manufactured and distributed by Underwood Engineering Co. Ltd. of Inglewood, New Zealand. Production was started by Jack Underwood about 1935 and continued until 1982. Since this time reproductions have been made in Taranaki at the Fun Ho! Toys Museum (Fun Ho! 2015). Currently toys are cast using original molding plates and boxes. The name was always portrayed with the exclamation following Fun Ho!

Early years

The earliest Fun Ho! race cars made in the late 1930s were mostly generic midget, sprint, and salt flat cars of simple casting with two axles, and four rubber wheels (sometimes the rubber was white). The first cars were made out of lead (Jordan 2015). Most of the cars had a driver that was part of the casting. Only a couple, like the Cooper and Mercedes Streamliner were replicas of real cars (Fun Ho! 2015).

Early diecast Fun Ho! cars were a Ford Model A, a 1949 Ford, a Packard Roadster, an Austin Healey 100, a Studebaker saloon, a Humber Hawk, an MG TD roadster, a Jaguar XK 120 convertible and coupe, the above mentioned Mercedes Streamliner and an interesting early 1950s 'High Boy' hot rod that looks suspiciously like the design that Auburn Rubber toys used in their inventory. A caravan house trailer was also available. A Morestone-like motorcycle with sidecar and single motorcycle with rider were also offered.

A couple of tractors were also offered and more were added into the 1950s. Again, some were generic while newer models were a Fordson, a Massey Harris, a couple of Fergusons, and a swept fender Oliver. A few farm implements, like a disc harrow, plow, and trailers were made. A number of fire engines were also offered, along with a number of trucks, buses and construction vehicles. There were also a couple of fighter aircraft and a train with several cars.

Most vehicles were of a small 'Matchbox' or 'Tootsietoy' size, but a few were larger 'Tonka' like dump trucks, tractors and other construction vehicles.

Typical of an early diecasting firm, also made were sundry diecast buildings, road signs, doll house furniture pieces and yard working shovels, pitchforks, rakes and other implements.

Use of Matchbox and Budgie tooling

The Fun Ho! Midget Scale Model series was introduced in the mid 1960s with other models introduced later by Underwood into the 1970s (Jordan 2015). There were at least 46 models in the series. A first step in producing a new line of toys was based in the acquisition of nine models made in Melbourne, Australia by Streamlux. Streamlux had made these models in the late 1950s and sold the tooling to Fun Ho! in 1962 (Daw 2014). These models included a tractor, Holden FE sedan, VW bug, BOAC double deck bus, VW Transporter, Austin tipper truck and a simply cast Mercedes Streamliner, These models formed the basis of the Midget Scale Model Series of Fun Ho! (Daw 2014).

Later, the company acquired dies from both Lesney and Budgie in England. At least 15 models were former Matchbox numbers like the 1964 Chevrolet Impala (nee 'taxi' as a Matchbox), Dodge wreck truck, Jaguar XKE, Jaguar Mk. 10, Ford Zephyr, Morris pickup truck, Scammell dump truck, and the bulldozer and excavator (Midget Scale no date). Though Matchbox mad a Merryweather Marquis fire engine, Fun Ho!'s model seems to have been a Budgie casting (Ragan 2000, 77).

Several other trucks and buses were also seen and may have been Budgies in former tooling life. Austin trucks, a tanker, Hillman Imp, and several articulated trucks all seem to have had Budgie origins.

The origin of the tooling of a few Holden models and other Utes is uncertain, as was the inclusion of the MGB which is not seen elsewhere in 'Matchbox' size (Ragan 2000, 56). Two different car trailers and a farm trailer were offered (Ragan 2000, 41, 81). Several of the Midget series including the Road Roller, two different Excavators, and Road Grader were offered in dark green military livery along with a Jeep, Half-track and trailer.

Some dies later arrived in Australia and were produced under the name Message Models. These were apparently the Jaguar Mk 10, Ford Thames Ute, Holden HR Ute, Holden HR sedan, and Chevrolet Bel Air (Johnson 1998, 80).

Marketing and packaging

The logo for the company showed Fun Ho! in a script like form within an oval that included an odd portrait of a clown-like face that looks kind of like a laughing child with a beanie cap...or...a yelling oriental martial arts specialist. The riddle is solved when looking at a company catalog (leaflet) that zooms out showing a clown complete with ruffles and a tall pointed hat and carrying a Fun Ho! sign (Jordan 2015). The logo was probably OK from the 1930s through the 1960s, but as an advertising gimmick, the clown probably would not work well with children today.

Some of the early cars and trucks were offered in plastic bags stapled to attached to red cardboard pegboard punched hangers marked with the Fun Ho! logo.

Midget Toy boxes were very similar to earlier British Budgie Toys with red and yellow alternate colors on sides - and also in that the Midget Toys logo was portrayed in 'portrait' style with box stood on end. The box ends were red and had a line drawing illustration of the vehicle inside with model number. Boxes said "New Zealand made" on the sides.

Cessation and the Museum Factory

Into the early 1970s, Fun Ho! produced up to one million vehicles a year. By the late 1970s, however, import substitution practices supporting national production changed and more toys were imported from abroad (Jordan 2015). The pressures of competition increased and toy production ceased in 1982. The factory officially closed in 1987 (Jordan 2015).

References

• Daw, David. 2014. Streamlux page. Toyzine.com website.
• Fun Ho! Toys. 2015. Company and museum website. [1]
• Johnson, Dana. 1998. Collector's Guide to Diecast Toys & Scale Models. Padukah, Kentucky: Collector Books, a Division of Schroeder Publishing. ISBN 1-57432-041-6
• Jordan, Richard. 2015. Fun Ho! History. From the Fun Ho! Toys Museum website. [2]
• Midget Scale Model Series. No date. Leaflet single page Fun Ho! catalog with 46 models. Inglewood, New Zealand: Underwood Engineering.
• Ragan, Mac. 2000. Diecast Cars of the 1960s. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing. ISBN 0-7603-0719-9

Category:Die-cast toys Category:1:43 scale models Category:Toy companies of Italy