Martoys was founded by the Besana brothers, Ugo, Martino, and Mario, who sold their first well-known brand Mebetoys to Mattel (Gran Toros website).
Mercury had been a leader of the Italian diecast industry for a long time, but no sooner had Politoys brought out the M-series, they were joined by Mebetoys and Edil, the latter only briefly, but the competition with Mercury and Mebetoys - who often offered similar models - was a challenge.