1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

[jaygon]

Does anyone remember/have any information about a 1980's toy brand/manufacturer called 'MyKids'? They were US based but some of their products were available here in Europe.

At least, I think they were available over here....it could be that there was a UK/European distributor that marketed the toys under a different label outside the US, meaning that the 'MyKids' label may not have been on the European market. The toys themselves were certainly available in the UK and Ireland. It's just a question of the label/branding.

I know that they produced toys like the vintage musical wind-up tvs. Their toys were quite similar to Fisher Price merchandise. Can't find any record of the company online.

[CrystalBall]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

Probably not a US company. I think they were a Hong Kong concern that produced cheaper versions of Fisher Price toys, a bit like Blue-Box toys which were copies of Lesney Matchbox die-cast in the 1960s/1970s. This was rife at the time, particularly copying British toy cars - some of these were actually very good. The irony is that they are often worth more than the originals now (if in good condition and preferably boxed) as they were cheap toys which were soon discarded, so survivors are rare. By the 1980s toy production was outsourcing from the US and Europe to Asia so there was plenty of scope for copy-cat products to be made by local companies.

[jaygon]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

Thanks for the reply CrystalBall. I've been trying to track a particular toy (which I have done through ebay) There were a few of the toy available but all either in the US or Canada which led me to assume that MyKids was possibly North American in origin. There were also a few other MyKids toys (not many and all similar) listed on the US and Canadian Ebay sites. Interesting that it was more likely someplace like Hong Kong. I've ordered the toy so when it arrives I'm sure it will have a marking from the country of manufacture.

The reason I was querying is that I wondered if in fact this was the toy (same brand, I mean) that I once had. It looks identical (right down to the colour) but I'm in the ROI and wondered if perhaps the MyKids brand was only available in the US and if we had a similar (but separately manufactured/branded) toyline over here. I only wonder because I am obviously trying to trace the toy for sentimental value.

[moogleymog]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

Crystal Ball is correct, the company was founded in 1984 in HK.

https://www.companybooknetworking.co...00000662815679

[jaygon]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

Thanks for the info Moogleymog! Looks like they are actually still in business too : Now the only question that remains is as to whether their toys were available in the UK in the 1980s (probably) or if the toy I had was an identical model produced by a European label.

[moogleymog]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

Thanks for the info Moogleymog! Looks like they are actually still in business too : Now the only question that remains is as to whether their toys were available in the UK in the 1980s (probably) or if the toy I had was an identical model produced by a European label.

I have a My Little Pony wind up animated tv from the 80s which is made by MyKids (just checked it) so they obviously sold officially licensed toys in the UK.

[jaygon]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

That solves it : The toy in question was another of the Musical TV batch (not My Little Pony) Thanks :-)

[moogleymog]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

That solves it : The toy in question was another of the Musical TV batch (not My Little Pony) Thanks :-)

Glad to help!

Interesting fact: The tune the animated TVs play appears to be random. My MLP TV plays "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" but I know other MLP TVs exist that play "It's a Small World After All" and "London Bridge is Falling Down".

[moogleymog]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'



Mine is the one that is loose and the boxed one belongs to a friend.

[jaygon]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

The one I just ordered/remembered played 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. I remembered the tune well which is what helped me find the toy. I wonder was it a TV Animated show?

[moogleymog]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

It looks as though there were both nursery rhymes and licensed including "The Smurfs", "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "London Bride is Falling Down".

Pic not mine (found on Pinterest).

.

[jaygon]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

Yes, so perhaps my one was simply 'Mary had a little lamb' (as in the Nursury Rhyme) rather than a licensed product. Though I used to think the picture/tv story was very similar the animé series 'Katri, girl of the Meadows' or 'Heidi'

[CrystalBall]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

Glad that this has been solved. Often difficult to tell with toys from the late 1970s/early 1980s onwards as a lot of production was outsourced to third parties (usually in the Far East) and the same toy can appear under different brand names. There were also companies producing clone products and what appears to be the name of a manufacturer may just be the importer/distributor, the actual toy being made by someone else. A good example from this era is Airfix model railways, which were mostly made in Hong Kong by a company called Sanda Kan. This is the same concern that Hornby turned to when they moved production from Margate in the late 1990s, although by this time Sanda Kan were manufacturing in mainland China.

[Richard1978]

Re: 1980's Toy Brand 'MyKids'

I can remember 1 or 2 toys with the name of one maker on the box, but another name moulded into the plastic.