Taniwha wrote:... Have you seen their website http://www.funhotoys.co.nz/ there are plenty of pictures there. ...
Cheers,
Gavin
Thanks Gavin, a great site that contains everything one wants to know about Fun Ho! thorough history, the quantities produced for each model, the time span produced.. and also the Museum. Amazing!
The bulk of the information ( and the Museum itself) are the work of Barry Young who worked for the Underwood company for many years. Over his time there he collected all sorts of information on the history/manufacture of each toy (and many other New Zealand brands) and when the banks decided they were to foreclose, he was gifted a lot of the paperwork relating to the toys before the banks could dispose of it (as they would have just dumped it at the local rubbish dump in those days). Barry then set about "building" the museum and its collection in earnest and he opened the first museum in the basement of the original Underwood factory. It was later relocated to the empty Post Office buildings where it remains to this day.
I have had the privilege for meeting Barry once and of corresponding with him on several occasions - he had a wealth of information on old NZ toys and toy companies and I don't believe all of the stories have come out yet - much will still be hidden away in the paperwork he amassed and I doubt if the Museum has ever taken the time to go through it all or sort it out in any way.
I should add to what Ian has said above and note that the museum in Inglewood, New Zealand is well worth a visit. Much of the original equipment used to make the toys is displayed. You can also buy examples of the toys made with the original dies in short collector runs at the museum. In the early days of the museum when it was in the original factory, old stock from the original runs was still for sale - sadly, this has all gone now! Here are the two models I got when I visited the old factory around 15 years ago - from the old stock left when the factory closed:
Not sure if this belongs here, but I sold this little trio to a guy from Oz a while ago. I can't remember but I think these were a mix of unbranded Fun Ho! and branded Streamlux.
johnboy wrote:Not sure if this belongs here, but I sold this little trio to a guy from Oz a while ago. I can't remember but I think these were a mix of unbranded Fun Ho! and branded Streamlux.
The fact these are all chromed/plated models means they were all made by Fun Ho! - even though early versions of the bus still carried the Streamlux manufacturer's marks on the base... Streamlux never released plated versions of its toys - the Streamlux version of the bus was always painted as were the other vehicles in its range.
The bus was based on a Commer Avenger - below are photos of the real buses used in Australia:
