Remco was an American toy company. Founded in the 1949[1]asRemco Industries, Inc., it is known for toys integrating technology and innovation from their inception.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, they produced the 'Johnny Reb Cannon', 'Mighty Matilda Atomic Aircraft Carrier', 'Remco Voice Control Kennedy Airport' (which featured model airplanesofAmerican, TWA and United Airlines, a record player and an album which played a voice giving landing and take-off instructions) and the tethered 'Electronic Falcon Plane' that "flies itself".
Starting in the late 1960’s through the 1990’s Remco was known for licensed products from major brands like Star Trek, Superheroes from Marvel and DC comics, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and creation of the wrestling action figure with their AWA Remco Action Figure line.
The company's slogan in its early TV commercials was, "Every Boy Wants a Remco Toy...And So Do Girls!"[2]
As of July 2024, the Remco brand name is owned by Buzz IQ, LLC.[3]
History
[edit]Caravelle electronic transmitter / receiver, c. 1962.
Remco was founded by two cousins, Isaac "Ike" Heller and Saul Robbins. Armand Daddis soon joined the two as the company gradually moved from simple 'walkie-talkies' to a variety of sophisticated remote control toys. The name Remco comes from the two words "Remote Control". Originally located in Newark, NJ, the company later moved to nearby Harrison, New Jersey.
The boxes and toys were printed with just the company name and the city on them, but there were a few more clues as to the company's physical location on packaging. A street address listed on the back of the 1960 Light Bulldog Tank box is "113 North 13th Street, Newark 7, NJ." The address on the instruction sheet for factory service return of the 1966 Lost in Space Robot is "Cape May St., Harrison, NJ." The Harrison location is now occupied by the Red Bull Arena, while the Newark location is now occupied by a furniture outlet.
Remco Motor Action Kit Toy Phonograph
In the mid-1960s, Remco acquired several licenses for popular culture groups and TV shows and proceeded to make a variety of toys. Some of these were the Beatles, the Monkees, Lost In Space, The Munsters, Batman and Star Trek. However, the company often paid little heed to faithfulness to the property. For example, the merchandise Remco released for Star Trek was usually generic toys from previous unrelated lines and had decals of the series simply placed on them, which is a technique called "label slapping."[4] One popular toy in the early 1960s was the 24 inch long functioning scuba diver with mask, knife, utility belt, rifle, walkie-talkie, air tanks, and floating location buoy.
From the 1980s through the 1990s, Remco made a variety of generic diecast and plastic trucks and other vehicles, usually made about four inches long. Vehicles were attractive and sturdy, though not uniform in scale, and included a tanker truck, fire truck, delivery van, cherry picker truck, skid steer, Jeep, and many more. A few vehicles were larger, like the seven inch long "Tuff Ones" "Recyclable Waste Management Corp." truck with opening side doors for "cans", "glass", and "paper".
Remco filed for bankruptcy in 1971 and was acquired by Azrak-Hamway International, Inc. (AHI), a toy company, in New York City in 1974.
The company is known by toy collectors for their many Universal Monsters figures produced during the 1980s. These figures were a continuation of the license and figures first produced by AHI during the 1970s.
In 1997, Jakks Pacific acquired Remco and AHI's Child Guidance from Azrak-Hamway.[5] Under Jakks Pacific, the brand was absorbed into its other products.
As of July 2024, the Remco brand name is owned by Buzz IQ, LLC.[3]
1959 Coney Island Penny Machine (Combination crane game and coin bank)[7]
1959 Flying Fox Airliner
1959 Little Red Spinning Wheel
1959 Movieland Drive-In Theater (consisted of cars, a drive in board with car spaces, a place to list "Featured Movies" along with blue and white double-bill cards that slid into the marquee; the "movie" was a film strip that projected by a battery operated light bulb onto a 4"x6" screen that attached to the drive in. Titles included Heckle and Jeckle, Have Gun Will Travel, Mighty Mouse, Farmer Al Falfa)
