Rat Fink Ring Info
CLICK HERE IF YOU DON'T SEE BUTTONS ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SCREEN
This page contains the best information I have about Rat Fink Rings. There does not appear be any definitive source of information on the web about the rings, so I am attempting to cobble together as much info as I can.
Rat Fink Rings first appeared in 1965, typically sold in their supplied box (see button on left labeled "Box"), and strategically placed next to the cash register where 8 year old boys could bug mom to buy them.
I first found the finks at small local soda fountain card store. The store had all the good kid stuff of the day, such as baseball and football cards, as well as great old favorites like Odd Rod Stickers and Ugly Stickers. I vividly remember the first time I saw the box next to the cash register. I just had to have one, so instead of getting my usual 10 packs of baseball cards, I splurged and picked up a black Rat Fink Ring. I played with the thing all the time, and I recall I thought it was so cool that I could wear the fink as a ring, and then when I wanted, I could detach the fink and play with that separately.
The rings were produced by a company called Macman Enterprises. Their name and address is found prominently on the box. The full name and address are listed as,
Macman Enterprises
P.O. Box 308
Oceanside, L.I. N.Y.
I have not been able to find out any info on this company. There does not appear to be any references to them on the web, except where they are being noted as the producer of the Rat Fink Ring, or some other toy rings. I found them listed on one web page as having produced some cheap Super Hero rings that sold in a package of 3 for 10 cents.
While Macman appears to have produced the rings, I have come across a toy trade press article that lists a company known as GiGi Sales Company, New York City, as the "representatives" for the line. A person named Charles Gainsburgh was the company representative who spoke of the great success of the rings. CLICK on the button to the left labeled "Article" to see a copy of this trade press article. I was lucky enough to find this article in an eBay auction.
The rings were produced in at least 20 different colors I know of, and at least 8 different eye colors. Initially, they appeared in the typical basic colors, such as red, light blue, dark blue, black, white, green and yellow. Also, there were many different colors of ring bases, and several eye colors such as black, red, white, yellow and silver. There is a huge number of possible color combinations, and I doubt one could ever find a sample of every combination.
As time went on, and the market became saturated with the basic colors, new colors appeared such as orange, teal, white and the cool translucent colors. The translucent colors are by far the hardest to find. Translucent yellow and orange remain some of my favorite colors.
I eventually want to get a database of all possible combinations people have actually seen. If you own some rings, let me know about the colors.
If you have some info about the original Rat Fink Rings, please email me with this info at