Country of Origin - USA Versus Other Nations

Trade laws have changed over the last 15 years in which Wagon Train Toys' predecessor, DurableToys.com, offered carefully selected items for sale. Sometimes it is hard to know where something is made--a spotter's guide for cars is the first VIN digit; 1-USA, 2-Canada and 3-Mexico. During the many years that Rosemary's uncle, Dave McCusker, Jr., ran DurableToys.com, he received eye-opening firsthand experience with country of origin differences among specific products from several brands. His past career in engineering and manufacturing spanning high end national defense to cost driven consumer items also informed his critique of different manufacturing environments and standards, which he offers below:

“Be aware that volume produced special versions of familiar products may come from different production lines possibly on a different continent. This opinion is free but worthy of consideration: First quality regular production of named brands made in named places don't have a cloud over them.

“Roadmaster tricyles went from USA to Taiwan with bad results. The paint was visibly less bright and the axle retaining cap to axle dimensional tolerances were sloppy--back wheels fell off. The packaging was smaller but less protective; then the whole product line went out of production. We hoarded the last of the USA trikes for years asking a premium for the originals. Roadmaster (now Pacific Bicycles) also made Flexible Flyer sleds which met the same fate. Radio Flyer has more success with transitions of product from USA to China. The biggest negative is spotty availability from weeks long supply outages. An A-B comparision between the vintage USA and newer far eastern made items shows good quality and an obviously different species of source trees. Radio Flyer wagons are an American icon that will never be the same after eighty years of tradition were broken in Fall 2004. Kettler of Germany has a few less exclusive and more mature designs made in Taiwan with high quality driven by internal high standards.

 “Pedal tractors from Ertl were moved to China when Racing Champions merged in - now RC-Ertl. The transition was clearly so smooth that we did not even notice it. Regrettably, our last USA made Ertl pedal tractor was sold before being snagged for our nostalgic collection. Even so, a direct competitor with the same Ertl in the name makes pedal tractors in the same Iowa area. Scale Models / Dyersville Die Cast is part of J. E. Ertl Inc. "American Owned - Family Operated". The USA models of pedal tractors are ISO 9002 certified. This means that we know quality control management and procedures assure that the design and manufacturing intent is upheld.

 “The EU has similar highly respected marks and standards bodies that we really don't understand but wholeheartedly respect. Our interconnected economies at the borders make it hard to pin down some facts completely.  Berg pedal cars are made in Holland but imported through Canada transparently with a shipping point in FL. The products and company are trouble-free. Schoenhut Piano completed a move of production within the USA to meet their goals while retaining a high quality 130 year tradition that bears the founder's name, but in 2004 Schoenhut also started to have most toy pianos produced in China."

Given his experience above, Dave McCusker reached the following conclusion, which Wagon Train Toys also follows as the second generation in the toy business: 

"The conclusion that we reach is that real brands from the USA and Europe are with all aspects considered first rate in terms of maintaining safety and quality, with the rest of North America a close second. Another conclusion is that a major brand has high accountability at stake regardless of product origin. Industry advocacy and other organizations also offer their input and use of identifying marks to indicate various facts to consider. We display the "Powder Coated Tough™" logo to call out the superiority of that product's coating. For plastic products we like to see quality UV protected named variety of plastic and the recycle category marked on the item. We identify the type of synthetic fabric by generic name or trademarked name when it matters. We also simply describe the materials' basic characteristics in the technical materials section. What we fear from no-name and no-place reverse engineered products are consequences of material or process decisions that you would not appreciate. Who is held to account if the paint supplier 7000 miles away changes from the agreed upon spec to something containing lead? Do we reward the theft of intellectual property embodied in patented designs or the exploitation of labor? Would you use food product or generics of medicines or fly in an aircraft from the anonymous? These issues have been left up to the consciences of our company's American owners. We report to you, the customer, first and our maker ultimately.”