Reamsa
Reamsa is a defunct Spanish plastic toy brand that was active from 1951-1978. The figures of this brand are representative of plastic toy soldiers that were a favorite of Spanish children in the 1960s. They are well distinguished from other similar ones because they carry the logo at the base.
History
This small company was acquired in 1944 by two young entrepreneurs: Joan Llopart and Enric Riera. With the availability of plastic in the 1950s, the company expanded the range of its products and introduced in its catalog sanitary and household products. This then led to the figures of plastic toys decorated by hand.
Reamsa was a medium-sized business with about thirty people directly employed, but the most significant was the large number of families - several hundred - who made the miniatures painted in their private homes. Its location on Avenida Mistral very close to the Gran Vía de Barcelona, where it is traditionally placed during the week of Reyes a series of toy stalls, selling directly to the public. The quality in the design of its toys made it a success and figures were also exported.
The main part of those toy soldiers were created by the designer George Erik in the period 1960-1970, who also worked for other companies like John Hill & Company (Hilco) as well as Marx and the series "Dan Dare" of Kentoys among others. Also collaborates with Britains and Timpo in the design of the decoration of the figures.
The decoration of the figures was done in private homes.
There is a substantial hobby devoted to collecting old toy soldiers, with an abundance of small manufacturers, dealers, and toy soldier shows. There are published articles of these figures in some magazines, such as Plastic Warrior Magazine,[1] and there are also published books totally or partially devoted to these figures.
These figures are displayed in some toy museums.[2][3][4]
References
- "Plastic Warrior Magazine". Plastic Warrior Magazine. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
- http://www.museojuguete.com Museo Valenciano del Juguete de Ibi (Alicante)
- "Museo de Figuras de Juguete Antiguas de Sepúlveda". Museo de Figuras de Juguete Antiguas de Sepúlveda (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 September 2017.
- "Un museo diferente y mágico". Página web de pruebamuseourrea (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 September 2017.