Hong Kong Toys Vintage Plastic Fantastic and Identification Tips

VINTAGE HONG KONG TOYS: FUN FOR ALL THE GIRLS AND BOYS

Grok and I agree, this would be my toy factory.

's

These are a good example off a quick production run of 17 Jewel kid's toy novelty Hong Kong Watches. The imprint of "HONG KONG" can be seen on the back. They are flexible bendable plastic sloppily done but to a ten-year-old in the1970's, stunningly beautiful.  You can see if you look close, some uncut plastic parts, as they were molded hastily and not really quality checked for perfection. For Sale at RetroChalet.etsy.com

Not many people today might actually realize that Hong Kong produced so many wee plastic novelty items and charms.  Everything now is made in China. but it's important to note, and if I could give them a title, I would crown Hong Kong "The Original Kings of Trinkets and Charms". 

Things Made:

• Gumball Machine Prizes
• Charms of all Kinds
• Barbie and Fashion Doll Accessories from tiny suitcases to doll combs
• Toy Cars and Trucks, Planes and Trains, Boats and Ships
• Plastic Whistles 
• Gag Gifts, bugs, etc.
• Little Plastic Toy Puzzles 
• Little Army, Military, Police Figures
• Small Miniature Pinball Machines
• Plastic Animals
• Pencil Erasers and Pencil Toppers
• Carnival Prizes and Novelties
• Play Make Up Sets 
• Dress Up Accessories and Jewelry (like the watches above)
• Play Food Sets 
• Halloween Decorations
• Christmas Decorations
• Valentine's Day 
• Knock-Off Character Toys

The three wise men were in a package and came with the tag Made in British Hong Kong.  It is rare to find the original tags like this.  This is a hard plastic.  For sale at RetroChalet.

The list goes on and on.  In the 1960s Japan was making a lot of tin toys, which transitioned into Hong Kong's plastic of the late 1960's and early 1970's. Hong Kong, at that time, were under British rule which continued up until 1997.  Most of their novelty toys stopped coming into the US by the mid to late 1980's when China started producing. I wonder what happened to all the toy factories. Where are they now?

As a kid growing up in the 1970's into the early 1980's, I was living the dream of buying the cute little trinkets with my allowance. A dime bought me some really nifty retro things! I grew up on a small street called Dale Avenue in Baltimore County, Maryland.  My elementary school was right next door to my home, and my mom enjoyed making me often walk to the top of the street to the market with my friend Kelli (older, and more like a chaperone to me back then) to get her something by foot. For me it seemed like a long way, but in reality, it was two blocks or so and I had to do two steps to Kelli's one. 

The coffee set, above, is an example of the marking on the package.  Adorable little trinkets. The picture and item are from LongAndDrew on Etsy.  A real bargain today for $14.95 for the vintage plastics collector.

In between Jack's Market and my home, used to be a tiny candy and toy shop. run by a very lucrative couple who lived there. I'm pretty sure you've seen this type of set up, where there's a two-story house and the bottom is a business window and entrance. It was not by chance or by accident that the owners soon realized to put this set up to good use. All of the neighborhood kids who went to school there would be walking around the neighborhood and word quickly spread that they had the goods we wanted. 

An Example of the doll accessories, in RetroChalet.  Note the "mold lines" and excess plastic on some of the bottles, sloppy glue, discoloration, etc. 

I always made Kelli stop so I could go in and she hated it. She wasn't a candy or plastic girl, so I had to make selections quick. I remember trying to collect all the toy car erasers they had. When they heard the bell on the door, (I can still remember the jingle just like it was yesterday), the couple would come down from upstairs to wait on us. They had ice cream, sodas, candy (from Pop Rocks to wax cigarettes), 1980's rock band buttons, trading cards, baseball cards, school supplies, chips, popcorn, and a crap ton of Hong Kong novelty toys.  It seemed like such a huge store back then, but in reality, it was the size of a large living room cramped by the drink coolers and freezers that lined the walls on the right side, and massive toy shelves on the left. They had a counter and a push button cash register.  

I probably should blame them for my early love of all things plastic, and I probably was considered a valued customer. For just five to ten cents, I cleaned up on junk. They knew, when my allowance came, I would be back. I was going to buy them out of their Hong Kong toys.  So they kept getting fresh stock.  They had the whole neighborhood hooked. 

Now some of the things were just going to break over time like kites, or little plastic whistles.  However, the small "bugs" and "spiders" lasted the stomping on when you scared your friends.  Good for multiple uses, so I figured it was a good investment in some of the items.

These are the bugs I was telling you about. Source: My Pinterest, was in my shop.

Here's a few things you can really notice about Hong Kong toys when identifying them: 

• MOLDING LINES PROMINENT - Anything plastic from Hong Kong, has really prominent molding lines.  They must have made them fast, and cheap, and rightly so as back then they didn't cost very much. The five and dimes needed stock and needed it quick, as did corner stores, toy stores, and the carnival booths. Every time something new came out, the trinkets and novelty items from Hong Kong would come pouring in. 
• NOT SPOT ON, LOOKALIKE - Items that look very much like a character, but something is off.  Most every carnival prize was a really cute Hong Kong Toy. One of the ones I can specifically remember was a "knock off" Snoopy.  It was actually a Lucite plastic. I've found one on Etsy and am listing their pictures here.  Many times, the character didn't look exact or quite right, and you could tell it was a knockoff.  This was in the time before iPhone and WWW so no kid at a carnival was going to call the Snoopy people and complain about such a thing as a knockoff toy (the nose was too long, etc.)  I really don't think that the Hong Kong toy companies did this on purpose, I just think some of them were very bad artists. 
• OFF CENTER, AWKWARD - Even the words "HONG KONG" when stamped in the back can look awkward or out of alignment. The faces on the 17 Jewel watches above are a bit off center.  Toys will look funny or awkward (as if they had to meet a million-toy deadline by the morning so they just let the machine do its own thing.).  I bet that exactly what happened. 
• HARD PLASTIC, OR SOMEWHAT PLIABLE, ONE EXTREME OR THE OTHER - I can distinctly remember two types of toys. The first being hard plastic, like a lot of the small dolls, whistles, little figurines were more of a hard plastic, toy pellet guns, etc., much like this Nativity Set below. Today when you find them, they have a very hard feel and almost as if you are scared to drop it and it will crack them.  The other end of the spectrum was very soft pliable toys. If you have ever seen a "record player" made for Barbie dolls, it is a small plastic record player and has little plastic records.  Many times, the record is hard plastic that which we are speaking of, but the player is bendable, and on the underside, you can read HONG KONG. More pliable items included toy car erasers, and pencil toppers, plastic insects and slightly bendable items.
• HONG KONG will be embossed on most things with usually raised lettering or indented, and sometimes even the words "HONG KONG" are all out of whack. Not perfectly straight, or printed offset.  If you don't see any marks, then there would have been original labeling on the packaging or box, such as the small tag insert letting you know it was made in British Hong Kong such as the nativity set above.

This picture demonstrates how characters resemble but look "off".  This Snoopy knockoff is from 20thCenturyStuff on Etsy, and currenly little Snoopy is for sale there.

These little boats are awkward, they open but what did they hold? Made in Hong Kong. Find them at RetroChalet.etsy.com

Now NOT ONLY were they manufacturing, but they were working for other companies. For instance, TYCO had moved production to Hong Kong in the 1970's and they were producing toys for them.  If you are interested in seeing a few more tidbits:  

Here is a great article I found showing dolls inside a Hong Kong factory:  HERE.

Here is another good two-minute read showing the inside faces of a TYCO toy Lab HERE.

Thanks for reading about vintage plastic.

I really appreciate you!

Please support my shop!

This article was last updated on December 29 2025

Rosbro Plastics Company

These Rosbro Items Are Featured in this lorafbee Ebay Store. 

Welcome to The Wonderful World of Rosbro!  

I recently uploaded my Valentine's Day Podcast Episode, on Living a Vintage Life Podcast, which is below if you haven't already listened, but Ed and I talked a little about Rosbro.  I hadn't even heard of this company before this podcast, so as a plastics lover I wanted to investigate more.  As it turns out I had indeed come across their toys before, but never paid attention that it was them.  I'm sure you have too, if you love vintage plastics as much as I do! 

Simply put, they made quaint little molded plastic toys, from little duck baby rattles, to vintage bunny rabbit candy containers for Easter.  You may find unusual picks that would have went into a flower arrangement or into a cake as a decoration.  They did a lot of candy containers, sometimes you will find a little dutch looking boy and girl couple, with indents to hold the candy. All of their items are so cute, and so vintage looking.

Here's why finding them gets a bit confusing. The Rosbro company was a family owned company owned located in Rhode Island originally started in 1946, so most of these candy containers and toys that I am mentioning here are indicative of 40s to 60s designs. Rosbro was owned by Harris Rosen, who owned the School House Candy Company and the E. Rosen Company!   I am truly unsure if this is the same Harris Rosen who is involved in hotels? Does anyone know? I am certain sooner or later a reader will tell me. A side note: many old vintage Valentines Day cards are also marked with an artist named Rosen, and I am unsure if this was also a division of their creations! Ephemera found by searches has listed the EE Rosen Company in Providence RI, yet their molding machines as stated by Beregar below, were circa 1998 in Pawtucket.  If you are familiar with Rhode Island, simply put Pawtucket is in Providence County, but if in fact these were two difference places, such as a corporate office and a factory, you are talking a distance of 5-6 miles maybe not a huge stretch. 

Although the structuring is a bit confusion, it is not uncommon for many companies with owners who created parent companies.  I am unsure if this was done for marketing purposes or because as a plastics molder they wanted to keep the candy division separate. The information I see specifically states injection molding and blow molding, which encompasses these toys. 

 According to a report by Bill Bregar, the molding factory (was then in Pawtucket R.I.) was closing in 1998 and at that time had employed 53 people.  Later I found filings in 1997 about Rosbro, but the reports showed inactive.  I lost them after that. 

This Rosbro Pull Horse is featured in Etsy shop Life Hearted Vintage.

What About the Toys?

They molded them in a lot of various colors, mostly pales or brights.   They did a lot of Valentine's Day, Easter and Halloween, even small plastic pumpkins.  As of early 2022, prices are subjective, Etsy and Antiques experts know what they have found and you can expect to pay anywhere from $25-$200 for a mint set based on condition and rarity colors.  Ebay is loaded with Rosbro waiting for your high bid, and smaller more popular Easter Containers sometimes can be had for $10-$15 if you are lucky.

As for the more rare and coveted of toys I've even seen pull toys which seem to be a bit more pricey, such as a pull toy horse with cord, which was also a candy container!   There is even mention that this molder did banks such as the rare Old King Cole bank for a different company, Harret Gilmore. It is not uncommon for molders of to run plastics for a customer, and the molder's name will not be on it, but only the customer's name who commissioned the item.  Therefore, finding these specialty items are rare.   Expect to pay $50 easy for a toy bank, and upwards of $60 for pull toys.  These prices are what's trending in February 2022 and not indicative of what may happen when more and more of these toys become obsolete.  I can only imagine they will be coveted by holidays collectors as well as plastics collectors and candy collectors!.

Big G Design on Etsy has this lollipop ephemera which clearly states it was MFD for the E. Rosen Company in Providence. RI.

How to Identify:

For identification, know that most pieces are not marked, but the characteristics are there and once your eye is trained to see and identify Rosbro, you will start to notice. 

 They will be 

1) older looking plastics mostly hard molded plastic

2) pale or bright colors

3) have visible seams on some small containers

4) sometimes have visible glue where people have fixed them

5) have simple features, such as one color dots in the eyes, or outline of one color on the mouth. Example: red plastic horse with black dots in eyes.  I don't want to say the word sloppy, but somtimes this is how it looks, albeit does not detract from the cuteness. 

6) are simplistic and sometimes only one color\

7) Tags or packages say EE Rosen, Rosbro, or School House Candy Company 

I truly love Rosbro and hope to add a few pieces to my ever growing plastics collection. For the rest of you, thanks for visiting Melmac Central where I try hard to put free information out there for the reader, at no charge. You can thank me by listening to my vintage podcast to keep me talking and writing!

Happy Collecting!

You may enjoy my Vintage Valentine's Day Collecting Podcast

References: 

ROSBRO-CLOSING-IN-JUNE | Plastics News

Vintage Plastic Dolls of Nations Kewpie Barbie

Set of Kewpie dolls for sale at retrochalet on Etsy

Children everywhere have been enthralled with the idea of dolls. Most dolls are plastic. The ones above were made in Taiwan and China, circa 60s to 70s.   Before the cushy feel of rubbery plastic, dolls were molded much harder, out of a hard plastic that often would crack or break when they were dropped. Much like the little party favors of yesteryear, the dolls below were hard circa 1950's.

These dolls in the original case, are from stefbodie on Etsy

However, one did not seem to care, as they were bought in the five and dime store probably for less than $1, or used as carnival prizes.  These above would have surely been priced at .29 cents to .49 cents and would have been a nice little doll to keep your tiny one occupied.  Something like this would never be allowed today, due to the fact it would be way too easy to break the arms and legs, which were then held together with rubber bands and/or mere string,

This doll of nations states it's a display only, not a toy, available at VintageCliffs on Etsy

I distinctly remember wherever my grandmother went, she brought me back a doll "Of nations" they were called. Basically these dolls represented "the wives" of different nations, and were all dressed differently. They were meant to never play with she said, but to display proudly that you were such a recipient of some pretty little doll.  Each were molded hard plastic, some with joined arms and legs, others with only jointed arms, and very pretty glasslike (but plastic) sleepy eyes.  They were in gift shops all over, luring grannies like mine to buy them for their adorable grandchildren, or for themselves to collect in a curio.

This rubber cupie doll on Etsy is frm LaVintageBy Miss PJ55

Rubber dolls like the one above were cute,  and often contained squeakies in them. Certainly these were more for the dogs than kids, because over time rubber was not used as much as molded or hard plastic.  Even so, where would we be without plastic dolls?  Plastic dolls are still being made today.

Without plastic, these would be the mere possiblities:

WOOD!

From Etsy shop ThisandThat4U is a wooden carved doll with cloth body!

PORCELAIN!

Vintage Porcelain Doll from Etsy shop Via Dei Navigli

METAL!

German Minerva Doll from City Different on Etsy

So what do you think?   Just not the same as our loveable dolls of yesterday, being wood, metal, or porcelain, now is it?  If you think plastic is not essential in toy making, then how could you look Barbie in the face and tell her that her reign is over?

Vintage Barbie wouldn't look the same in porcelain, would she? Courtesy of Dusty 061996 on Etsy!

What was your favorite plastic doll growing up?  Let me know!

You May also want to  visit my new Retro Chalet wordpress blog to keep up with my latest Retro Finds!