Atlantic (toy manufacturer)
Atlantic was an Italian toy manufacturer based in Treviglio that made model figures and accessories.
Atlantic was founded in Milan in February 1966 and began in 1971 with sets of figures that represented the current units of the Italian armed forces at the time on a 1/72 scale. This was followed by sets on antiquity (Romans, Greeks, Trojans and Egyptians), on the Wild West on World War II, on the political upheavals of the 20th century (Russian and Chinese revolutions, Italian and German fascism) and on science fiction anime. Accessories such as the Colosseum , Temple , Sphinx , galleys , chariots, battle tanks , forts , artillery , etc. followed. The figures and parts of the accessories were also brought onto the market in 1/32 scale (actually figure height 54 mm, but at Atlantic often 60 mm). The quality of the models was unstable. While engraving as well as historical and anatomical correctness often left a lot to be desired, the overall impression of the expressive models hit the topic precisely. The antique series was excellently engraved, the world war figures marked the other end of the scale. From around 1975 the articles were also sold in the Federal Republic of Germany, although the figure sets for the fascist movements were excluded from import due to German criminal law . The German translations of the article descriptions were sometimes entertaining: For example, a field hospital was transcribed as "militarisch Krakenhaus" ( sic ). High play value and a good price-performance ratio made them a classic toy not only in Italy. Despite the educational doubtfulness of war toys, the antique models in particular were an instructive introduction to dealing with the era due to their complexity and accompanying information.
In 1984 Atlantic stopped production and most of the molds were sold to Iraq. The last two Gulf Wars and the embargo against the Hussein regime have so far prevented a new edition. The models are therefore sought after by collectors because of their expressiveness. Parts of the 1/72 forms (e.g. US cavalry and October Revolution) remained in Italy and have been re-released under the label Nexus and Waterloo in recent years. The company Nexus was again taken over by Italeri in 2008 ; Italeri's current program does not include any products from the former Atlantic portfolio.
Atlantic has also made other toys, including a foosball game, board games and railroad terrain ( Vacuform analogous to the other playsets).