The term
die-cast toy here refers to any toy or collectible model produced by using the
die casting method. The toys are made of metal, with plastic, rubber, or glass details. Wholly plastic toys are made by a similar process of
injection moulding, but the two are rarely confused. The metal used is either a lead alloy (in the first toys), or more commonly
Zamak (or
Mazak in the UK), an alloy of
zinc with small quantities of
aluminium and
copper.
Lead, as previously so widely used for cast metal toys, or
iron are impurities that must be carefully avoided in this alloy, as they give rise to
zinc pest. These alloys are also referred to casually as
white metal or
pot metal, although these terms are also confused with the lead toy alloys. The most common die-cast toys are
scale models of
automobiles,
aircraft,
construction equipment, and
trains, although almost anything can be produced by this method.