Tin toys had been made in Japan before the Second World War, but they reached new heights of realism in the 1950s. The postwar American occupation of Japan gave Japanese toymakers ready access to the lucrative American toy market, and as a result most of the tin toy cars made in this period were based on American vehicles like Cadillacs, Chevrolets, Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Packards. Like the real things, these tin toys were big. A small one would be around eight inches long, with some of the largest stretching to eighteen inches. As such, tinplate was the ideal medium to capture the look of American styling of the 1950s, a period when size mattered, and car manufacturers tried to outdo each other with the extravagance of their designs, the size of their tailfins and the amount of chrome. During this era of consumerism, Japanese toy production was at its peak, with exotically-named manufacturers like Marusan, Bandai, Yonezawa and Alps turning out vast quantities of tin toys. It proved to be a short-lived phase in the history of toy production. By the early 1960s, tin toys were falling out of fashion for various reasons: their sharp edges gave rise to safety concerns; die-cast models were becoming increasingly realistic and sophisticated, with many action features that appealed to children; the development of plastics in the toy industry made tin toys look increasingly old-fashioned. Half a century later, there are very few surviving examples of these magnificent playthings. Bruce Sterling of New York has devoted years to seeking out the very best examples of Japanese tinplate cars and has built up what is probably the world's finest collection of these toys, every one of them in pristine condition, complete with their original boxes which are works of art in themselves.This book showcases 150 examples of the very rarest Japanese tin toy cars, many of them never having been pictured in books or magazines until now. Almost every major American motor manufacturer is represented here, together with a selection of commercial vehicles and a significant number of European cars, too. All are illustrated in full colour and described in detail, and fascinating insights are provided into both the real vehicles and the companies that modelled them, together with a guide to rarity and current values. This is a book that will be treasured, not only by specialist collectors, but by all who are passionate about vintage toys and classic vehicles.

The leaping deer from the range of wooden toys from the Seiffen region is an international symbol in the gleaming eyes of children and collectors alike. It was designed by Max Schanz (1895-1953), who as a teacher and director of the Spielwarenfachschule [Technical College for Toys] informed the production of toys in the Erz Mountains. His designs were implemented through the division of labour in family-oriented cottage industries, achieving the standards set by the Werkbund [German Work Federation] for attractive aesthetic and professional production: from small carol singers to six-meter-high Christmas pyramids, all basic components were turned on the lathe and thus display the design idiom typical of Seiffen. Spielzeug Gestalten im Erzgebirge portrays a significant chapter in German design history, from the late Empire, through the Weimar Republic and National Socialist rule, to the early GDR.

Chess, one of the world's most popular games, has inspired artists for hundreds of years. Though apparently offering a limited canvas - each set has 32 pieces, each board 64 squares - sets have nevertheless been designed in countless ways, using almost every imaginable material: from precious metals, to ivory and rock crystal. They have taken many forms, from figural to abstract, and used many diverse themes, from the historical and political to the beauty and variety of the animal kingdom. This book brings together some of the most beautiful and unusual chess sets ever made. Over hundreds of years, from five continents, they are culled from private collections and museums, including: 200 year-old sets made by nameless Indian craftsmen; sets by Peter Carl Faberge; sets from Soviet gulag prisoners; and sets by leading artists of the 20th century, like Max Ernst. Each set has been especially photographed for this book, with detailed insights provided by an exceptional group of experts: Dr. George Dean, Jon Crumiller, Larry List, Barbara Drake Boehm (senior curator of the Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art) and William Wiles (Dezeen), with an introduction by the book's editor, Dylan Loeb McClain, (former New York Times chess columnist).

It has now been over a century since Frank Hornby invented a toy to amuse his sons and called it Meccano, coining a word which has entered the dictionary as a term in common usage and is now known all over the world. Hornby's vision of an educational toy became the basis of perhaps the most successful British toy business of the twentieth century. Meccano has amused generations of children, encouraging many to become successful engineers. Roger Marriott here explores the long history of Meccano, charting the development of the various sets and components, which for decades have been interchangeable, and explains the endless fascination of this iconic construction toy.

In 1902, the world went teddy bear crazy when Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt refused to shoot a captive bear while on a hunting trip. His immortal words 'spare the bear!' inspired the making of toy 'Teddy's bears' throughout the world, and these soon developed into the well-loved toy we know today. This beautifully illustrated book documents the fascinating history behind the phenomenal success of everyone's much-loved childhood companion, and charts its rise as a highly-prized collectible. Michele Brown examines the distinctive styles and history of the most influential teddy bear companies, as well as the real stories behind the creation of famous teddy bear characters such as Paddington, Winnie-the-Pooh, Sooty and Rupert Bear. We also meet some famous bears and their companions, including Aloysius, star of "Brideshead Revisited", and the teddies belonging to Barbara Cartland, the Marquess of Bath and John Betjeman. With tips for enthusiasts and collecting advice, this invaluable little book will enthral and delight all those with an interest in the last hundred years of teddys.

Plato said God invented dice. This we learn from one of Ricky Jay's fascinating essays in a delightful small volume that takes us from the earliest forms (astragalithe heel bones of hoofed quadrupeds, four of whose six sides were used for gaming) to the myriad types of "loading" and other means of cheating with dice in the modern era. Along the way we discover that Augustus, Caligula, and Nero were all inveterate players, that Queen Elizabeth issued a search and seizure order against the manufacture of false dice in 1598, and that dice made from celluloid, invented in 1869, remained stable for decades, and thenin a flashbegan to decompose. These are the dice of Rosamond Purcell's luminous and seductive photographs, images which transform entropy to an art form. Jay and Purcell give us a dual meditation on dice that will educate us and amuse us at the same time. 13 color photographs.