Lone Star Tuf-Tots Mercedes 280SL

The name says it all: Tuf-Tots were practically indestructible diecast toy vehicles, designed for very young children to play with.

Made by Lone Star, a name synonymous with toy guns, cowboy figures and other ‘Wild West’ items, Tuf-Tots were by no means the company’s first venture into the toy car field. Lone Star had already produced Roadmasters, comparable in size to Dinky and Corgi Toys; and Impy Super Cars, which fitted in somewhere between these and the smaller Matchbox Series.

By 1969 all these ranges were becoming increasingly sophisticated but Lone Star still felt there was a market for something more basic that could undercut the competition. The Tuf-Tots, sold via Woolworth’s stores, retailed at just 1s 3d each (just over 6p today). Almost half of the 27 variations made consisted of different bodies on a US Ford N600 truck chassis – perhaps with an eye to potential sales across the Pond.

More interesting were the four 1:86-scale open cars – a Corvette Stingray, Dodge Dart, Mercedes 280SL and Citroën DS, initially with plastic drivers and racing numbers, and later with plastic hoods in the closed position. Harder to find now are the various Playsets, which combined vehicles with a building or accessory such as a windmill, bridge, frontier post or garage ramp.

Tuf-Tots were still listed in 1980 but, after the closure of Lone Star’s Hatfield factory, some of the tooling was reused in the ’90s to produce the short-lived ‘Mokes’ series of garishly coloured vehicles, supplied with stickers, mini-comic and a card game.