Working as foundry operators since 1930, we have extensive experience in pressure die-casting....
The toy production at the foundry started in the period between both World Wars with the manufacturing of lead soldiers, followed by cow-boys and Indians after the end of the World War II. In those days, all toys were hand-painted at home, in the neighbouring villages (the company was then employing a dozen of women painters working from home). At the time, Henri ROGER would regularly design new models in order to follow the evolution of toy trends.
The first miniature cyclist figurines were manufactured in zamak (a Zinc alloy) in the 1950's by the grandfather of our company's current representative. These cyclists were initially produced with a separate base, which quickly turned out to be a problem because the base could be lost and the cyclist would then no longer stand up on its own and become unusable. This issue was resolved through a modification of the dies which allowed a single-block casting of the cyclist and its triangular base.
At that time was also produced a cyclist figurine that is nowadays very sought after: a cyclist with a central square base that could be used as a piece on a board game.
In the mid-1960's, several hundred thousand miniature cyclists were produced each year and sold in France, Italy and Belgium. When he retired, Henri ROGER (1960) entrusted his son Pierre ROGER (hence the brand P.R.) with the task of carrying on the production of miniature bicycle racers. At the time, Pierre ROGER was mostly interested in industrial markets but he resumed this manufacturing activity with good grace. Miniature following cars branded PR (Waterman and Le chat) were created around 1965.
After this propitious period, the production volumes dropped progressively year after year for 2 reasons:
The market ran out of steam as new toys came out and the production became increasingly uncertain; the company's evolution no longer allowed for home work. Women went to work in factories because the consumer society generated ever-increasing needs, which required higher revenues from households, and at the same time, it brought about numerous new jobs: it was the beginning of rural depopulation.
From 1975 on, the production stagnated at around 10 to 15,000 cyclist figurines per year. Issues related to their painting did not allow greater volumes.
In the 1980's, the cyclists were painted with unequal quality by inmates in prisons (poorly painted figurines, mixing of metal and plastic paints, etc.).
In the second half of the 1980's, home-based painting resumed: the company rehired a former employee who could handle about 20,000 cyclists per year.
This was followed, starting in the 1990's, by a particularly grim period: the company could not fulfill its orders and the cyclist figurines were sold in very small quantities.
In 1998, the enthusiasm and support of collectors rekindled some hope and eventually led to resuming the production of miniature figurines.
Since 2002, the painting-related issues have been resolved for the most part and all orders can now be fulfilled.
Today, 3 sales representatives distribute our miniatures to toy stores and specialized stores. In addition, the Internet has allowed many collectors to get back in touch with us.
The current collection still comprises the same models:
- The "R" cyclist in the round, an all metal figurine made of zamak,
- The "D" cyclist, plastic rider, metal bicycle, 4 different models (winner, water bottle, flat racer and sprinter)
- The flat « P » cyclist, a metal figurine entirely made of zamak, 2 different models (climber and sprinter)
- The board game cycle, 3 different models (flat racer, sprinter and standing pedaling) created in the 1990's for a board game
