Question
Those Spare numbers stamped under some Fun Ho! Toys...What are they for? [ G & N]
Response from Barry Young
Thanks for your enquiry. I believe I can throw some light on the matter.
It may help you to understand the following if you look up "http://www.funho.atoyholic.com" click Fun Ho! CAST TOYS and read how castings are made. Also click Fun Ho! FEATURES and read the article 'Fashioning Fun Ho! toys.'
During casting, each moulding plate used will have a set quantity of shapes of the toy to be made. If toys are small, there would be more shapes than for a larger toy, i.e. your #530 Truck was made from three moulding Plates.
-
One for the cab...4 cabs per plate
-
Another plate for the tray...three trays per plate
-
And a third moulding plate for the shovel...six per plate
So if we need 100 only #530's we would plan as follows... The Lowest Common Multiple is 108...
-
27 only cab plates (27x4 = 108 cabs)
-
36 only tray plates (36x3 = 108 trays)
-
18 only shovel plates (18x6 = 108 shovels)
Upon finishing the 'run' of 108 x #530s, we discover that 10 of the 108 cabs are faulty...and we have to find out which one of the four cab shapes on the plate are causing this problem.
To make it easier to trace faulty castings, each casting shape was given a number, usually single stamped on the underside of each shape, according to the number of shapes on the plate, numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. These 'Plate Numbers' are extra and separate from the Toy Number.
On examination we find a corner of the cab skirt has been broken off shape #2, so we can now repair the moulding plate that was faulty. We would then need to make a short 'run' of 3 only cab plates (3x4=12) to replace the ten faulty ones.
In the case of a smaller toy, say, #204 Small Austin A90, there would probably be, say, 16 shapes on the plate, all the same, and each would be marked from 1-16 for plate identification purposes.
Most Fun Ho! cast toys have both Plate and Identification Numbers stamped inconspicuously, but to add to the confusion, some have no identification number, and some don't have a plate number! #530 has, I think, from memory, a #162 tray and a #516 Shovel!
Good Collecting and Fun Ho!........ Barry Young copyright Oct 2004 A.R.R., E & O.E.