Tula Cartridge Works TPZ
The History of Toy Production at the Tula Cartridge Plant
TPZ / Tula Cartridge Works / Tulammo – Soviet Russia
The Tula Cartridge Plant was opened on 16 September 1881 as a private joint-stock company with foreign capital. From the very beginning it produced cartridges. In 1886 a brass-rolling mill and a copper foundry were built nearby, fully supplying the cartridge production.
During the Great Patriotic War, after the successful advance of the Red Army near Moscow and Tula in December 1941, the plant was given the task of quickly restoring the production of ammunition. In the post-war decades the enterprise continued to develop: in 1971 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, and in 1973 it became the first in the industry to master the production of 5.45 mm cartridges for the AK-74 assault rifle.
In addition to its main defence output, the plant also manufactured consumer goods: photo enlargers, vacuum cleaners, grain crushers, furniture fittings and metal toys. It was the “Military Equipment” series of toys that made the Tula Cartridge Plant famous among millions of Soviet boys.
Production of these toys began in June–July 1967 in the 4th foundry shop. The launch was based on a technical order to put the series into production. At that time the shop was making badges and medals, so the toys were initially positioned as souvenir products. The author and designer of the entire series was the industrial designer Viktor Yakovlevich Chernukha.
The toys were made by die-casting from zinc-aluminium alloys. They were painted with protective (olive) nitro paint by spraying — the same paint that was used to colour cartridge cases. Monthly output reached 100,000 pieces, although it sometimes fell to 55,000 because of the load of main military orders.
The series included 19 models of equipment and a set of 12 soldiers in six poses. According to the plant’s own classification there were 31 items in total. Among the models were:
TPZ complete model list
1 . Passenger car GAZ-69 / Автомобиль легковой (ГАЗ-69)
2 . Field gun OB-25 / Пушка полевая (ОБ-25)
3 . Trailer for bombshells / Прицеп для снарядов
4 . Anti-tank gun / Пушка противотанковая
5 . Armored personnel carrier TR 152V / Бронетранспортер (БТР 152В)
6 . Tank T34-76 / Танк (Т34 -76)
7 . Truck with a missile MAZ-537 with an R-14 missile / Тягач с ракетой (МАЗ-537 с ракетой Р-14)
8 . Truck with step deck trailer MAZ-537 with trailer ChMZAP 9990 / Тягач с платформой (МАЗ-537 с полуприцепом ЧМЗАП 9990)
9 . Truck URAL 357 or 377, KRAZ / Автомобиль грузовой ()УРАЛ 357 или 377, КРАЗ)
10 . All-terrain tracked vehicle GAZ 47 / Вездеход (ГАЗ 47)
11 . Truck with Rocket launcher URAL 375 or 377 with M-13 missile / Миномет гвардейский (УРАЛ 375 или УРАЛ 377 с М-13)
12 . Soldiers / Солдатики
13 . Armored personnel carrier with anti-tank Guided Missile BTR 152 with Shmel ATGM / Противотанковая ракетная установка (БТР 152 с ПТРК «Шмель”)
14 . Amphibious armored personnel carrier BTR-60PB / Амфибия (БТР-60ПБ)
15 . Light wheeled armored military vehicle (Scout car) BRDM / Бронеавтомобиль (БРДМ)
16 . Tank T-54 / Танк Т-54 (Т54-3)
17 . All-road military truck GAZ-66 / Автомобиль десантный ( ГАЗ-66)
18 . Rocket launcher OTRK 2K6 “Luna” / Ракетная установка (ОТРК 2К6 “Луна”)
19 . Howitzer M-30 / Гаубица (М-30)
20 . Assault gun ASU-57 / Самоходная Артиллерийская Установка (АСУ-57)
The toys could be connected to one another to form different combinations. They were sold both individually and in sets. The smallest set of four models cost 4 roubles 80 kopecks, a set of seven cost 7 roubles 90 kopecks, and the complete collection in a foam plastic box cost as much as 24 roubles.
In 1967 the magazine New Toy wrote about the new series, and in 1969 the magazine New Goods reported the appearance of two new models — the all-terrain vehicle and the Guards mortar. In the 1980s the series received a bronze medal at the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (VDNKh). It was presented as “a set of models of wheeled and tracked military equipment of the Soviet Army for children aged 6–12”. After this success other factories became interested in the documentation, and similar toys began to be produced in Kharkov, Zaporozhye, Donetsk and other cities.
In 1992 production was transferred to the plant’s branch in Novomoskovsk, to shop No. 29, which specialised in plastic casting. There the howitzer and the passenger car were discontinued because of the complexity of manufacture and the high reject rate. The last issues were painted simply green, without highlighting headlights, stars or stop lights.
Production of the metal toys was completely stopped at the end of 1995. The remaining stock of about eight thousand pieces was sold to plant employees at residual value, and one and a half thousand were written off as rejects.
Thus the Tula Cartridge Plant, which had spent its whole life making combat cartridges, for almost thirty years delighted Soviet boys with real “military equipment” — heavy, all-metal and greatly loved.
Of all the cars produced by the plant, we are interested in the GAZ-69. It is a model in our scale and, unfortunately, the rarest one in good condition.
GAZ
GAZ-69
