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Budgie Toys history
The origins of Budgie really stem from Sam Morris and a Mr Stone who formed Morris and Stone Ltd, a wholesale toy distributor. They decided to have their own exclusive range called Morestone. Production was mainly undertaken by Modern Products of north London (toy producers in their own right), although others involved included R. Smith (Diecastings) Ltd, partly owned by Rodney Smith, one of the founders of Lesney.In addition to Morestone, the company also produced the 'Esso' series (with boxes to resemble petrol pumps) as a challenge to the Matchbox '1 - 75' Series, albeit these were rather crude, and larger size 'Trucks of the World'.
The name of Budgie Toys was introduced in 1959, although the initial releases were re-issues of earlier Morestone or Modern Products toys. Production remained with Modern Products even after Morris and Stone were taken over in 1961 by the toy form S. Guiterman and Co Ltd. In 1966 Guiterman failed, but Modern Products managed to continue the Budgie name, although much of the tooling was sold for scrap.
Nevertheless certain items did remain and these were produced for a company called H. Seener Ltd, specialising in the London souvenir trade.
London Routemaster bus
Perhaps the most famous Budgie Toy is of the London Routemaster bus. The original Budgie version was later distributed by Seener. Later Seener's Routemaster closely resembled the Corgi version, but to a smaller, 1/76th scale. This Routemaster is now produced by Oxford Die-Cast Ltd.
Other Budgie Toys were varied and included an FX4 taxi, a Scammell Scarab, a Motorway Express coach, and a futuristic Supercar.
