Italian company established in 1960 as Politoys in Milan. Models were made first of plastic, later (from 1965) of diecast metal. In 1971-72 company has a short-loved involvement if F1 sponsorship when Politoys asked Frank Williams to build it a Formula 1 car in 1972 in order to advertise the company. The new car was late arriving and when it did the prototype chassis was destroyed almost immediately by Henri Pescarolo. In1970s company was renamed as Polistil probably to avoid confusion with the British firm Palitoy. By the late 1980s, Polistil had released over 500 different vehicles including at least 45 Grand Prix and Formula 1 cars. In 1988 Polistil was taken over by the American firm Tonka. Tonka itself was acquired by the giant Hasbro company in 1991. In 1993 Tonka dropped Polistil brand and its Italian production. In 2014, the Polistil was relaunched by the May Cheong Group from Hong Kong which also owns Bburago and Maisto brands.
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