Tin Toy Airplanes: Constellations

The Constellation was a verystreamlined and well-engineered airliner that originated as a World War Two transport. Examples served in airline and military service into the early 1970s.
A Constellation's chief recognition feature was its tail, which included three oval vertical stabilizers. Four Wright radial piston engines provided power. This power increasedas the plane design evolved into the Super Constellation and then the Starliner.
Toy designers chose this plane as a subject often because it was graceful and luxurious. The examples below, some favorites from my personal collection, were made in Western Germany and Japan from the middle 1950s through the early 1960s.

In the late 1950s West Germany's Arnold made one of the nicest looking Super Constellations, with a 19 1/2" wingspan. The above example is KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, but a variety of other airline colors can be found. It features tin body and wings with plastic propellers and rubber tires.

Tipp and gepany of West Germany producedSuper Constellations with 19 1/2" wingspans. These could be friction or battery powered, with or without wing lights. Both toys have tin bodies and wings, and rubber tires. The Lufthansa plane has a die cast nose wheel strut and plastic engine pods.

Japan's Alps Shoji issued this very pretty Northwest Super Constellation with an 18" wingspan, friction powered, with wing tip tanks. The body and wings are tin; the tires are rubber.

Above left: This Japanese-made Eastern Air Lines "Constellation"is an adaptation of another toy airplane. It has a 15" wingspan and twin friction motors. Its body, wings and props are all tin; the tires rubber. At right, a smaller sized Eastern Constellation has a 12" wingspan. Once again, even the propellers are tin. The manufacturer was Japan's Nikko Gangu Kogyo in the 1950s. Note the grossly oversized nose wheels. This example is a friction toy. A battery example existswith jet engines below the wings! This feature was purely imaginary.

Tomiyama of Japan issued these very nice Super Constellations in the middle 1950s. They are tin with rubber tires. The wingspan is just under a foot.

Above left: Trans World Airlines referred toits Starliner model of the Constellation as the "Jetstream." Japan's Yonezawa issued this rather smallTWA Jetstream, with a 10" wingspan, around 1960. It is tin with plastic propellers and rubber tires. Many toy manufacturers attached tail wheels to friction toy planes for better balance during "revving." The tail strut and wheel is missing from this example. At right: the US Air Force's RC-121D early warning Connie used the same mold. Note the radome attached to the upperfuselage, amidships.