AHI - Azrak-Hamway International, USA/Japan

These were simple diecast items from the 1950s and 1960s, manufactured in Japan, about 2 inches long. According to several sources it is thought AHI refers to Azrak-Hamway International Incorporated, a New York firm founded in 1964 by Marvin Azrak and Ezra Hamway. The company had offices at 889 Broadway (on the corner of 19th Street), New York, N.Y., USA and later acquired Remco Industries Incorporated in 1974. Remco was a toy company founded in the 1940s that was best known for toys marketed and sold in the late 1950s and 1960s. Remco filed for bankruptcy in 1971 and was acquired by Azrak-Hamway International then later sold on, in 1997, to Jakks Pacific. Some sources believe AHI acquired Remco so they could improve the quality of the toys they were known for and that this acquisition of Remco allowed them to enter the market for toys based on character TV series and films, e.g. The Monkees, I Dream of Jeannie, Star Trek, Dukes of Hazzard, Karate Kid and Spiderman.

Andrew Ralston believes Azrac-Hamway were probably the distributors, rather than the manufacturer, of the diecast toy vehicle range as identical models can be found in boxes marked “Ace Imp. Co.”. It is also known the models were sold in the US under the Cragstan brand name. Cragstan are also known to have sold Sabra Gamda Koor models under their own band name at about the same time. In Europe AHI models, in their well-known plastic cases, have been found labelled with 'Bandai Baby' on the bottom of the case.

AHI are known to have produced a range of diecast model vehicles, farm animals and metal figures. The figures were released as "Tru-size Metal Miniature Figures" and the animals as "Metal Miniature Animals".

The following tables list items thought to have been released under the AHI brand name. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are either in my collection or have been seen by me in AHI branded packaging.