Polistil

The origins of Politoys as a company are somewhat unclear. The company began as "Politoys APS" about 1960, and started production of 100 plastic cars in 1:41 scale. Some of these were contemporary cars and some were veteran vehicles – like an Alfa racing car from the late 'teens and an 1899 French Gobron Brillie. As the 1960s progressed, some models were produced in fiberglass – tougher than the plastic and less prone to warping. Following trends set by fellow Italian trailblazer Mercury, and Corgi Toys, Dinky Toys, Norev, and Solido, the company changed over to diecast metal vehicles in 1964 or 1965. About 1970, the company name was changed to Polistil, possibly because of the similarity with the name of the British Palitoy. Still, some early toy boxes had the names 'APS', 'Polistil'. 'Politoys', and 'Policar' all on the box simultaneously (as seen on the blue Penny series boxes and in that order).

The company's main research and design center was in Milan. Larger toys for children were produced here, including large trucks and dolls. Most vehicles were made at the Chiari, Brescia manufacturing center which focused on the production of diecast vehicles (Polistil 1975).

Whereas more collector driven lines such as Rio Models or Brumm made the same models sometimes for decades, David Sinclair says that Polistil was more likely to confront market trends more directly – changing model lines every two or three years. As seen below, Polistil kept track of its vehicle lines using sets of capital letters followed by numbers, and not the use of series of numbers only.

By the late 1960s, the M-Series range had expanded to 37 models:

Numbers 526 (Fiat 1100), 535 (Porsche 904), and 538 (Volkswagen 1600 TL) are not mentioned in this data from an original catalog sheet as they were introduced later. The M-Series obviously concentrated on Italian vehicles. For example, 76 percent of this catalog's models were Italian, 37 percent alone being Alfa Romeo. Unique models produced that were not found elsewhere were the Iso Rivolta seen above, a later Chevrolet Corvette Pininfarina Rondine Coupe, and the first Lamborghini – bugeye – 350 GT.

From the start, the M-Series had tremendous competition. During the 1960s, each diecast model company had a unique approach and a unique market. Dinky and Corgi generally had different market areas, but were more popular in the U.S. French Dinky and Solido were more popular in France. Tekno was a Danish mainstay as were Gama, Schuco, and Marklin in Germany. More importantly, the Italian market was full. Mercury had been a leader of the Italian diecast industry for a long time, but no sooner had Politoys brought out the M-series, they were joined by Mebetoys and Edil, the latter only briefly, but the competition with Mercury and Mebetoys – who often offered similar models – was a challenge. Furthermore, Mattel's Hot Wheels diminished the American market after 1967.

Similar to Corgi, Dinky, and Mebetoys, Politoys M used jewels for headlights, while French Solido chose more realistic clear plastic lenses. Still Politoys often had delicately rendered headlight bezel surrounds and other carefully done details. While competitor Solido's niche in the diecast market was offering unique wheel styles for each model, the M-Series’ generic wire wheels were not authentic to real vehicles, but were quite attractive, classy and typical to the look of the time. By 1968, the company had also experimented with plastic wheels on low-friction axles – similar to changes made by Dinky, Corgi, Lonestar and others in reaction to the success of Hot Wheels. These added to the play value but detracted from the realism. As the 1960s progressed, Politoys produced more sports and exotic cars and fewer mundane everyday cars. This was the same tactic used by Solido at the time, but Corgi, Dinky, and French Dinky continued to offer many common sedans.