Maker record
Fobbi
Fobbi was a French toy-train brand that made simple plastic H0 trains for department stores and other mass-market retailers. Its products included passenger cars and train sets, with a range aimed at a different market from Jouef and Lima. After Jacques Barret established Tredi in 1980, the company produced Fobbi-branded trains. Following CEJI’s bankruptcy in 1985, train sets for supermarkets continued under the name “Jouef par Fobbi” into the early 1990s.
- Founded
- 1978
- Countries
- United Kingdom
- Locations
- Fobbi Store, London, UK · Fobbi Toy Museum, Manchester, UK
- Founders
- Stephen Fobbi
The story of Fobbi
Fobbi made simple plastic H0 trains in France from the late 1970s. Fred van der Lubbe’s survey of French passenger-car makers dates the brand’s start to 1978 and describes its trains as department-store products. A separate account places the establishment of Tredi, the company producing Fobbi-branded trains, in 1980. It identifies Jacques Barret, formerly Jouef’s sales manager, as Tredi’s founder.
Fobbi’s low-cost trains targeted mass distribution and a market distinct from Jouef and Lima. The brand’s products included plastic passenger cars; its trains were also sold in sets. After CEJI went bankrupt in 1985, Barret acquired Jouef and created Jouef Industrie. Supermarket sets continued to appear under the name “Jouef par Fobbi” into the early 1990s. The accounts describe different milestones: the reported start of the Fobbi brand, Tredi’s establishment, and the later continuation of sets under the Jouef par Fobbi name.