Maker record
ZTS
ZTS Plastyk was a Polish maker of plastic construction kits and other toys, based in Pruszków. Its model range included aircraft and other vehicles, among them kits of the Łoś, Czapla and Karaś. The cooperative began in 1945 as a maker of school and office supplies, then moved into plastic goods and toys. During the 1970s and 1980s it became a leading Polish producer of aircraft and vehicle kits. Its model production relied on polystyrene and injection moulding; after the 1990s restructuring, an outside business supplied moulded parts for kits assembled and sold by the cooperative.
- Founded
- 1945
- Countries
- Poland
- Locations
- Pruszków, Poland · 1945
- Founders
- Unknown
The story of ZTS
The cooperative that became ZTS Plastyk was registered on 13 August 1945 in Pruszków as Spółdzielnia Pracy Przybory Szkolne, making school and office supplies. It first produced wooden rulers and other measuring tools, then shifted to plastic versions as the material became available. In the early 1960s it bought manual injection moulding machines and began making plastic goods; later investment brought semi-automatic machines. In 1975 its name changed to Zakłady Tworzyw Sztucznych PLASTYK Spółdzielnia Pracy.
By the 1970s and 1980s, the Pruszków cooperative was a leading Polish producer of aircraft and vehicle kits for assembly. Its catalogue included aircraft such as the Łoś, Czapla, Karaś and Jak-1M, and it also made toys, games and figures. Shortages of polystyrene led its technicians to recover material from used food-container mouldings. After 1989, pressure from unsold school supplies and changing market conditions prompted layoffs and the sale of its machinery and grounds. In 1991 the cooperative adopted the name Handlowo-Produkcyjna Spółdzielnia Pracy ZTS PLASTYK. It retained its model-kit moulds and arranged for a private producer to supply moulded parts, which the cooperative continued to assemble into kits and sell.