Solido

Ferdinand de Vazeilles, manager of the Nanterre precision foundry, began making metal toys using the foundry’s pressure-injection expertise. The first reported object was a Gergovia spark-plug advertising miniature. De Vazeilles patented a toy design in 1932, and the Solido brand followed in 1934. Early products were multi-part toys designed to be dismantled and reassembled. The Major 140 and Junior 100 series began in 1933; the Baby 80 series followed in 1936. Their subjects extended beyond cars to include tractors, agricultural vehicles, cannons, aircraft and military toys.

De Vazeilles’s son Jean joined the business in 1943. From the 1950s, Solido increasingly made miniatures based on real vehicles. In 1955 Ferdinand passed control to his children Jean, Charlotte and Colette. The Series 100, launched in 1957 with a Jaguar Type D, established 1:43 scale models in the catalogue and included working suspension. During the 1960s the range gained opening doors and bonnets, while articulated metal tracks became a feature of military models. The M47 Patton tank, introduced in 1962, became a major seller. Solido also produced construction and public-service vehicles, including Toner-Gam ranges.

The company moved its factory to Oulins in the 1970s. The Vazeilles family left Solido by 1978, and the brand joined with Heller in 1981. Subsequent ownership changes included Majorette and Smoby; in 2006 production moved to China after the Oulins factory closed. Simba Dickie became Solido’s owner, and in 2015 appointed the French model-maker Z Models to manage the brand. Solido’s ranges expanded to include 1:18 scale models as well as its established smaller miniatures.