"The Chronicle of the Lincoln Regular: From Cyclops Mold to the Landmark Wham-O Lawsuit"


CYCLOPS TOYS CYCLO-O FLYING SAUCER

Model: Cycl-O Flying Saucer (Item No: TD11, branded as Cycl-O by Cyclops)
Original Manufacturer: Cyclops Toys (Cyclops & Lines Bros (Aust.) Pty. Ltd.), Sydney, Australia                                      Subsequent Manufacturer (Alliance): Lincoln Industries Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand
Era / Lifespan: Launched as a new product ("NEW!") around 1963–1964. Remained in production and available for sale until at least 1966, after which the mold was transferred to New Zealand (1967 onward).

Key Historical and Industrial Findings:

 
  1. Dating and Lifespan:
    Catalog research reveals the precise timeline of the disc in the 1960s. The catalog featuring the disc as "NEW!" can be accurately dated to 1963 or 1964 (based on the cover's claim of "over 50 years" since the company's founding in 1913, and the introduction of the T.T. Motorbike tricycle). In the comprehensive 1966 double-page catalog, the "NEW!" banner has been removed, proving the disc had become an established staple by then. Cyclops Toys Through the years, no information about Cycl-O can be found in the book.
  2. Material and Quality:
    The catalog markets the disc under the "LIFETIME TOYS" segment with the tagline "HYGIENIC UNBREAKABLE". This serves as direct industrial-historical proof that the brittle early-1950s plastics (polystyrene/acetate) had been replaced with the new-era tough high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene (PP).
  3. Origin: Knock-off vs. Licensed Product:
    The Cyclo-G was a high-quality but unlicensed adjusted copy (knock-off), not an official Wham-O product. Cyclops Toys designed and produced their own proprietary mold in Australia and freely used the generic term "Flying Saucer", as Wham-O was heavily focused on protecting its new Frisbee trademark in the US. The solar system theme engraved on the disc (Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Sun, Pluto, Uranus, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth) was directly inspired by Fred Morrison's original space concept but executed in Cyclops' own graphical style.
  4. The 1966 Changing of the Guard:                                                                                                                 Although the Australian company Toltoys acquired the exclusive official Wham-O license in 1965, factory production was delayed by over a year. Toltoys did not complete its own Regular model until November 1966. This delay occurred because the production of Regular models had only just begun at Wham-O itself in 1966. The manufacturing history was also heavily influenced by the molds used. The Regular models were manufactured by modifying the old Flying Saucer molds, whereas the No Mold and Reverse 2A models used completely new molds. This lengthy production delay allowed Cyclops Toys to continue selling its unauthorized Cycl-O disc until the very end of 1966 without direct market competition.

  5. Mold Transfer and the Trans-Tasman Alliance (New Zealand)                                                                          Upon establishing full production under the license, Toltoys eliminated its local competition by purchasing the production tooling of the Cyclops saucer. Instead of scrapping this high-quality Cycl-O mold, Toltoys formed a strategic alliance agreement (sub-license) with the New Zealand-based company Lincoln Industries Ltd, located in Auckland.


This alliance triggered an extraordinary twist in industrial history:

Logistical Advantage: Toltoys expanded its market reach into New Zealand without incurring expensive shipping costs. Instead, they collected royalty revenues from Lincoln Industries' local production.

From Bootleg to Official: The former bootleg mold shipped to Auckland was transformed overnight into an authorized production tool. Lincoln Industries used the exact same mold to press discs that were now legally sold under the official Wham-O Frisbee brand in the New Zealand market.

The picture shows a Cyclops Toys catalog from either 1963 or 1964. In the picture on the right, Cycl-O can be found in the lower left corner.

The Cycl-O can still be found in the 1966 catalog. It is circled in red.

The only picture found of Cycl-O.

TOLTOYS REGULAR AND THE REVISED MOLD TIMELINE

Model: Toltoys Regular (Re-evaluated 1st Style & 2nd Style)
Manufacturer: Manufactured by Tip Top Plastics for Toltoys (Alex Tolmer and Associates Pty Ltd)
Country of Origin:  Preston, Melbourne, Australia (Blanch Street Factory)
Era: Toltoys officially launched Regular Frisbee to the Australian market in November 1966, with factory production commencing at Tip Top Plastics.

Who Molded Australia's First Frisbees?

While Alex Tolmer and Associates Pty Ltd (Toltoys) was the brand, marketer, and holder of the official Wham-O license in Australia, the exact physical birthplace of the discs has long been shrouded in mystery. New industrial-historical findings now prove that Toltoys did not mold the discs in-house, but instead utilized a highly specialized subcontractor.

The true manufacturer behind the discs was Tip Top Plastics, a family business originally founded in North Melbourne in 1952. The company relocated to Preston and purchased its first heavy-duty plastic injection molding machine on January 29, 1965—the exact same year Toltoys was negotiating the exclusive license with Wham-O.

When Wham-O's original test molds (the Regular No Mold and Reverse 2A) arrived from the United States in late 1965 and throughout 1966, they were installed directly into Tip Top Plastics' brand-new machinery at their Blanch Street factory in Preston. This explains the long delay before production finally launched in November 1966, as calibrating the new technology and the fine aerodynamic Headrick lines required extreme industrial precision.

Tip Top Plastics was renowned for its high quality, later securing manufacturing contracts with automotive and consumer giants such as Holden, Toyota, and Ford. Their Preston facility served as the literal cradle for Australia's official Wham-O Frisbees throughout the golden era of the 1970s.

This study challenges the nomenclature presented on the Flying Disc Museum website and proposes classifying the molds as follows:

1. REVISED CLASSIFICATION: Toltoys Regular 1st Style (None Mold Pat. Pend.)

Both analyzed variations share an identical diameter (22.2 cm) and structural base; they originate from the same master mold.

  • Technical Fingerprints: The disc features 33 outer and 14 inner flight rings. The script on the bottomside of the disc is of the same dimensions (12.2 cm wide; 3.0 cm high for the top four lines). Distinguishing features include a large, slanted exclamation mark (!) and the absence of a period after the words "San Gabriel."
  • Tooling Modification: The test run lacks the Wham-O branding. In the final Toltoys production run, the name "Toltoys" was added in raised lettering to these blank spaces on both the top and bottom of the disc.

    • 2. REVISED CLASSIFICATION: Toltoys Regular 2nd Style (Reverse 2A Pat. Pend.)

    This mold represents the improved, coded subsequent version produced by Wham-O and sent to Australia later to support full mass production.

  • Industrial Logic: The stamped code 2A (2 = second version, A = Australia) serves as definitive proof of a later, fine-tuned tool, making it chronologically the 2nd Style.
  • Technical Fingerprints: The disc features 33 outer and 14 inner flight rings. The script on the bottomside of the disc is of the same dimensions (width 12.5 cm, height 2.7 cm). The typographical flaws of the None Mold were corrected: the exclamation mark (!) was shortened to match the text line, and the letter "G" was redesigned. The period after San Gabriel remains missing. Clear typographical variations exist in the word Frisbee (specifically the letters S, R, and B) compared to the 1st Style.
  • Tooling Modification: The archival test piece features the Reverse 2A marking. The final Toltoys production run was retrofitted with "Toltoys" on the front and "Toltoys / Made in Licence" on the bottom.

    • LINCOLN REGULAR

    1. Transfer of the Mold to New Zealand: When the Australian company Toltoys acquired the official, exclusive Wham-O license in late 1965, they eliminated local competition by purchasing the Flying Saucer production tooling from Cyclops Toys. Instead of scrapping this high-quality Cycl-O mold, Toltoys secretly entered into a sub-licensing agreement with the New Zealand company Lincoln Industries Ltd (Auckland). Lincoln immediately began modifying the old Cyclops mold, enabling them to launch their own Regular copies in New Zealand that very same year.

    2. Mold Modifications: When the Cyclops mold was transferred to New Zealand, Lincoln Industries had to alter it significantly to match Wham-O's official design. To assist with the process, Toltoys sent Lincoln sample Frisbees manufactured by Wham-O, specifically the Regular No Mold and possibly also the Regular Reverse 2A mold. Using these physical samples, Lincoln's engineers knew exactly how to rework the old Australian mold:

  • Removal of manufacturer markings: All references to the Cyclops company were milled off the original mold. The text CYCL-O BY at the top and the large CYCLOPS branding at the bottom were removed.
  • New branding: Following the design of the sample pieces, new text was engraved into the cleared areas: the manufacturer's name LINCOLN at the top and the official FRISBEE name at the bottom. The text FLYING SAUCER, which ran through the center ring, was ground completely smooth.
  • Replacing planets with Headrick lines: The most significant and technical change was made to the profile of the disc's top surface. The raised names of the planets (such as Saturn, Uranus, etc.) surrounding the center of the original Cyclops mold were completely removed. In their place, dense, concentric rings—known as Headrick lines (the aerodynamic grooves patented by Ed Headrick)—were machined to match the Wham-O models. The disc has 12 inner flight rings and 32 outer flight rings. These rings gave the Lincoln disc its recognizable Regular Frisbee appearance and improved its flight characteristics.
  • Flight instructions and removed addresses on the underside: Modifications to the bottom surface of the mold were highly targeted. Lincoln copied the underside text directly from the 1966 Regular No Mold sample piece sent by Toltoys. The iconic Wham-O/Morrison flight instructions ("PLAY CATCH – INVENT GAMES...") were left in the mold exactly as they were. However, the American manufacturer line below the instructions (WHAM-O MFG. CO. SAN GABRIEL, CALIF.) was milled away entirely. In its place, a new curved text was machined at the top of the underside: LINCOLN / MADE UNDER LICENCE. The text utilized the Commonwealth (British) English noun spelling LICENCE (with a "c") instead of the American license spelling. This licensing mark later served as powerful legal evidence for Wham-O, proving that Lincoln was fully aware of the original copyright ownership.

    • 3. Production Development and Trademark Dispute: Lincoln manufactured and sold Frisbees in New Zealand under the official sub-licensing agreement during 1966 and 1967. Following the expiration of the original contract at the end of 1967, production temporarily ceased. However, the immense potential of the market prompted Lincoln to take new, unauthorized actions:

    4. Trademark Hijacking and the Launch of Unauthorized Production (1973): In 1973, Lincoln noticed that the American parent company, Wham-O, had failed to register the FRISBEE trademark in New Zealand. Lincoln capitalized on this opportunity and registered the FRISBEE name under its own name in New Zealand. Backed by this secured trademark, they restarted the manufacturing and sales of Regular discs completely independently, without the permission of either Wham-O or Toltoys. Between 1973 and 1980, Lincoln managed to sell a total of up to 340,000 of these unauthorized Frisbees.

    5. Wham-O's First Intervention (1976): News of Lincoln's unauthorized production eventually reached America. For the first time, in 1976, Wham-O formally complained of trademark and copyright infringement. Lincoln, however, denied the allegations, relying on the trademark rights they held within the country, and continued selling the discs.

    6. The Lawsuit and Final Judgment (1979–1984): Wham-O initiated legal proceedings against Lincoln in 1979. This lengthy and complex legal battle became an internationally renowned landmark case for industrial design and copyright law, unfolding across two distinct judicial levels:
    The High Court Ruling (1981): The New Zealand High Court delivered the first major judgment in 1981, scrutinizing the exact mold modifications Lincoln had performed. The judge ruled that the aerodynamic flight rings designed by Ed Headrick were based on Wham-O's technical drawings. Modifying an industrial mold based on another company's proprietary design was deemed a direct copyright infringement.
    The Legal Trap of "Made Under Licence": Lincoln attempted to defend itself by relying on the local 1973 trademark registry. However, the court used Lincoln's own vintage discs against them. The text LINCOLN / MADE UNDER LICENCE engraved on the underside proved to the judge that Lincoln had historically acknowledged they were manufacturing the product under a licensing relationship.
    The Court of Appeal and Final Verdict (1984): Lincoln appealed the 1981 decision to the Court of Appeal. The final landmark ruling was handed down in 1984, with Wham-O winning the case on all counts. Lincoln's FRISBEE trademark in New Zealand was invalidated, all rights were restored to Wham-O, and Lincoln was ordered to pay substantial damages and permanently cease production using the modified mold.


    I believe this is a Regular model manufactured in 1973 or later. Since Lincoln considered itself the owner of the name in the country from 1973 onwards, it created a completely independent brand identity for the product, stripping away all references to California and Wham-O. In addition, the name Lincoln International refers to the company's later phase of expansion and its toy export operations, which were at their peak in the 1970s. In the mid-1960s, the company still operated on a more local scale under the name Lincoln Industries.

    7. Details of court proceedings: Although we do not yet have access to the complete court records, the details most fascinating from the perspectives of history and frisbee collecting can already be found in publicly available document excerpts. These findings offer a unique glimpse into the sport's early years and the hidden history of the molds.

    Official New Zealand court documents regarding the case: Wham-O MFG Co v Lincoln Industries Ltd [1981] 2 NZLR 628 (High Court) and Wham-O MFG Co v Lincoln Industries Ltd [1984] 1 NZLR 641 (Court of Appeal).

    How did Wham-O's lawyers prove the modification marks on the Cyclops mold?

    In the courtroom, Lincoln initially attempted to claim that their mold was entirely their own independent design. However, Wham-O's lawyers shattered this defense by utilizing metallurgical investigations, microscopic analysis, and plastic injection molding markings. They proved the modification of the mold through the following points:

    1. "Ghost markings" on the plastic surface:
    When old text (such as "CYCL-O BY CYCLOPS") is ground or milled off a steel mold and new text ("LINCOLN FRISBEE") is engraved over it, microscopic flattening marks are always left on the metal surface. Wham-O's lawyers brought expert witnesses to court who demonstrated that by using light and shadow, it was possible to detect the exact areas on the surface profile of the Lincoln discs where the original raised Cyclops lettering had been mechanically removed before the new flight rings were machined.

    2. Mechanical toolmarks on the grooves:
    The original Wham-O molds were manufactured in the United States using high-precision factory machinery. Wham-O's lawyers demonstrated that the flight rings (ribs) on the Lincoln discs had been added later by lathing into an existing mold cavity. Because these rings were machined by hand into a pre-existing steel mold in New Zealand, the edges of the grooves and variations in their depth revealed microscopic toolmarks that did not exist on official Wham-O molds. This proved that they were dealing with a modified, "foreign" mold.

    3. Location of ejection pins and gating (Ejection pins):
    Every plastic injection mold utilizes mechanical pins to push the finished, cooled plastic object out of the mold cavity. The locations of these pins leave small, circular marks on the underside of the disc. Wham-O was able to demonstrate that the casting marks from the ejection pins and the injection point (gate) at the center of the Lincoln discs matched the geometry of the mold structure used by Cyclops one hundred percent, rather than Wham-O's own American mold design.

    Legal Evidence: Sculpture vs. Engraving

    The court records list two historic rulings that defined how industrial design is protected under copyright law. The court divided the protection into two distinct categories:

    The Wooden Prototype and the Plastic Frisbee as a "Sculpture": A major debate arose in court over whether a mass-produced plastic toy could qualify as a "work of art" under copyright law. The court famously ruled that the original wooden models (prototypes) crafted by Wham-O were legally considered sculptures. Because the final plastic Frisbees were direct three-dimensional reproductions of these models, the plastic discs themselves enjoyed copyright protection, despite being functional industrial objects. Lincoln broke the law by copying this shape.

    The Steel Injection Mold as an "Engraving": Wham-O demonstrated that prior to the creation of the final product, technical drawings must be made, leading to the creation of a metal mold into which the flight rings are cut. The judge accepted the argument that the steel injection mold—and specifically the Headrick lines machined into it—legally constituted an engraving. Since the law protects engravings, Lincoln infringed upon Wham-O's copyright by modifying and using this steel mold without authorization.

    Final Judgment (1984): In light of these two principles, the New Zealand Court of Appeal found Lincoln guilty of copyright infringement on all counts: they had made unauthorized copies of Wham-O's sculpture (the Frisbee disc) and had illicitly utilized Wham-O's engraving (the injection mold).