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Ertl

Ertl
Model Kit & Die Cast Car Manufacturer

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Official Site: Ertl.com Wikipedia: Ertl Company Page Sections History Merchandise

A manufacturer of model kits & die cast cars. Ertl is most often known as the parent company behind other more visible brands, such as AMT and American Muscle, but some products were released directly under the Ertl brand.

History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Ertl Company page on 15 September 2018, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The Ertl Company is an American toy company best known for its die-cast metal alloy collectible replicas (or scale models) of farm equipment and vehicles. The company is based in Dyersville, Iowa, home of the National Farm Toy Museum.

Ertl has been producing farm toy replicas since 1945. For over 60 years, the company has produced farm toys for industry brands such as: John Deere, Case IH, New Holland, and AGCO. Ertl has also, on different occasions, acquired the licenses to produce die-cast vehicles and figurines as well as model kits for Looney Tunes, Garfield, Thomas the Tank Engine, Tugs (TV series), Super Mario Bros. DC Comics, and Star Wars. In 1999, Ertl was purchased by Racing Champions. Ertl is currently a brand under the RC2 Corporation umbrella.

In the late 1970s, Ertl offered a series of plastic model kits of heavy commercial trucks, over-the-road trailers, tractors, plows, and farm wagons. Although these kits never achieved the hoped-for popularity, they led to the acquisition of AMT. In 1983, AMT was purchased by Ertl from Lesney, and renamed AMT/Ertl. AMT/Ertl then had a 24-year relationship until AMT was sold in 2007.

In the early 1990s Ertl started the American Muscle line up of diecast collectible cars and trucks. These were 1:18 scale replicas that quickly found a dedicated following of baby boomers. Limited editions of 2,500 were especially sought after. Many of the earliest releases have fetched upwards of $500. The most popular and desirable is the 1957 Chevy Bel Air known as Peggy Sue.

Merchandise

Type & Item #	Name	Details
Promotional Model - 6566	1992 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1	1:25 scale, Black
Promotional Model - 6256	1994 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1	1:25 scale, Admiral Blue Metallic
Promotional Model - 6668	1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1	1:25 scale, Torch Red

Model Kits

Item #	Series	Name	Scale	Notes
8014	Blueprint Replica	International PayStar 5000 Logger	1:25
8025	Blueprint Replica	International TranStar 4300 Eagle	1:25