| Miniaturas Buby | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Toy Collecting |
| Founded: | 1956 in Ranelagh |
| Founder: | Haroldo Mahler |
| Hq Location City: | Ranelagh |
| Hq Location Country: | Argentina |
| Products: | Scale model automobiles |
| Owner: | Haroldo Mahler |
| Brands: | Buby |
| Num Employees: | 250 |
Miniaturas Buby was an Argentine company that manufactured die-cast scale model automobiles and trucks. The company, created by Harold Mahler, was notable for having produced scale model replicas of most of the vehicles manufactured in the country during four decades, such as Fiat 600, Renault 12, Ford Falcon, Citroen 3cv, Renault Fuego, Peugeot 504, among many others.
At its peak, the company produced 1,000 vehicles per day.
The company was founded by naval engineer Haroldo Buby Mahler, starting production at his own house in the city of Ranelagh of Greater Buenos Aires in 1956. At the beginning, Mahler (who was a collector of Dinky cars, imported from Europe by then) produced 200 models which he offered with no success until a manager of a toy store bought him 144 cars, a part of giving him a list of potential clients.[1]
The first models were assembled with parts produced by other companies, but Buby soon controlled the total of the production process. By 1964, Buby produced 210,000 models per year, using 2 tons of zamak per month.[2]
In 1968, the company launched the "Mini Buby" series (1:64 scale). The business, named "Miniaturas Buby" was notable for its replica scale models of some of the most renowned automotive brands, commercialised under license of their respective Argentine subsidiaries. At its peak, Buby produced near 1,000 models per day.[3] [4]
As the Mahler's residence could not fulfil the increasing demand for the model cars, the company established a manufacturing plant in Villa General Belgrano in Córdoba Province, where most of the production process was carried out. The 1:43 scale vehicles were sent to Ranelagh, where they were finished and packaged. The Ranelagh plant also assembled some model cars imported from France, after an agreement with Solido, another model manufacturer. Nevertheless, the successive economical crisis in Argentina caused Buby closed its plants in late 1970s.[5]
In 1982, Mahler revived the Buby brand opening a plant in Don Torcuato, a city located 40 km from Buenos Aires. More than 400,000 models were produced there until 1995, when the company closed definitely.[5] Since 1988, most of the models produced were exported.[6]
For over three decades, Miniaturas Buby produced replicas of most of the real life cars produced in Argentina.[5] [4] The following is a list of those products.Note: Products are listed in alphabetical order
(Known as the "Mini Buby" series):thumb|The Renault 12 was one of models of the "Mini Buby" series
thumb|The Argentine version of the Ford Falcon was one of the few models produced in both scales
Buby is regarded as one of the most emblematic model car manufacturers of Argentina and a pioneer in the industry of die-cast toys.[3] [1] [5]
The exhibition "Buby, un sueño sobre ruedas" (Buby, a dream on wheels) was held in the Golf Museum of Berazategui from July to August 2015.[7] [8] It was declared of Legislative Interest by the Chamber of Deputies of Buenos Aires Province.[9] The exhibition was attended by Mahler himself.[1]
In 2022, Buby models were part of an exhibition that paid tribute to several companies or products that made significative contributions to the toy industry in the country.[10]