Respectable public: if we had to write a history of the Mexican toy, it would undoubtedly be written on burr. For some this word means nothing, but for others it is a memory that lives on in figures of animals, monsters and superheroes. Before wrestlers such as El Santo, Cavernario and Blue Demon became the protagonists of la composición de Pedro OcadizThese gladiators of the ring were the first action figures for many of us. This is a tribute to those plastic wrestlers that made our childhood happy.
These figures, omnipresent for some decades in the toy boxes of Mexican children, are now an indelible reference in the popular culture of Mexicans. But we cannot talk about them without mentioning the creator of the legendary plastic wrestlers, don Mario González (†). To learn more about the history of these toys, we visited his son Fernando, who keeps alive a tradition of more than seven decades.
CDMX toys par excellence
From his workshop in the colonia IndustrialFernando continues to manufacture wrestlers and other figures whose molds were made by his father. With more than 300 toys, his collection is a journey through the pop culture of the last 70 years. There are, for example, Batman, Robin, Bart Simpson, Memín Pinguín, Robocop, the Thundercats and even Marilyn Monroe. All of them are hand-painted in a style that immediately takes us back to our childhood.
Fernando has been working in this workshop since he was thirteen years old. He does everything: he makes, packs and even delivers the toys. There is nothing he does not know how to do and that is reflected in the mastery of his work, which, as he says, is something that runs in his family.
Fernando remembers playing with most of these products. In fact, he boasts that he was the first child to play with toy wrestlers. Laughing, he tells us that sometimes he would take some figures from his father's workshop. He would choose the ones he liked the most and slip them into his clothes without anyone noticing. She remembers that one of her favorites was a Tarzan that came with different jungle animals.
There are many of us who, like him, play with these plastic wrestlers that were born as a wooden sculpture. Don Mario, Fernando's father, began as a manufacturer of saints for churches. With the help of his friend, sculptor Carlos Arreola, Mario began to create his legendary toys from a wooden sculpture. As you can imagine, this was not an easy task, especially since they modeled by hand. He didn't know it at the time, but these toys would end up being the joy and obsession of millions of Mexicans.
Plastic wrestlers: from wood to burring
Fernando also tells us that to get to the final mold made of zamac -an alloy of zinc with aluminum, magnesium and copper- or aluminum, the wooden figure must first be replicated in plaster. And from the plaster comes the metal piece that will be used to produce the toys. Once poured in plastic, the molds must be polished and rectified so that the figures are impeccable.
Once the toys are demolded, they go through a process called burring, where, with the help of a sharp razor, they remove the excess plastic that comes out of the corners of the mold. As Mario explains all this to us, we realize that referring to these pieces as "burr fighters" is not entirely fair. At least not for Mario's, as he personally makes sure to polish all the details.
Special mention should be made of the painting of the pieces, as it depends on it that the toys retain their vintage essence. In fact, the decoration of the garments is very similar to that used by the wrestlers at the time. In Fernando's words, "El Santo did not pose for the figure, but one manages to make it as faithful as possible".
The struggle to collect
According to Don Mario, he did not sell wholesale "because the figures are handmade". Unlike the burr wrestlers at the tianguis, the figures from the Gonzalez workshop are more detailed. Fernando points out that the plastic of these figures is not of the best quality. If we compare the texture of an original figure with that of one purchased outside the Arena Mexico, we will notice differences in roughness and texture. The figure of the Santo, which is the most imitated, has suffered adaptations even in the colors of the mask.
But that doesn't seem to bother the master toymaker. He knows that his customers appreciate him for the quality of his work. That is why it should not surprise us that he is not sought after by toy wholesalers, but by collectors. The latter even ask him for unpainted figures to make out-of-the-ordinary customs. One of these custom artists is Enrique Martí, who even sews his own mini-masks.
We, who are also somewhat collectors and crazy about toys, could not resist the plastic wrestlers. In addition to a set of the top 10 wrestlers from the Gonzalez workshop, we took home an astronaut made from pieces of various toys. Now we can boast that we have a little piece of CDMX toy history at home.
If you want to add something like this to your collection, we recommend you to send a message to Toys Lucha y +where Fernando will attend you personally. And now, take off the padlock! poke him in the eyes! pull his hair! get him out of the ring!
