#320 GUILOY – MASERATI GHIBLI “FANTÁSTICO” (1986)

The “Knight Rider” was a great success Worldwide. In Spain, the series was renamed “El Coche Fantástico”, and could be seen in TVE the summer of 1985 for the first time.

Toy companies tried to get some revenues out of the TV series, and some launched cars based on Kitt. As far as I am concerned, no Spanish manufacturer got the rights from the creator of the TV-series to produce the “real” Kitt.

Guiloy took the casts that resembled most a Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am and painted it black. It was an old Maserati Ghibli, whose cast was bought from Pilen a few years earlier. To increase the likeness of the model, they added a red sticker on the bonnet of the car, like that light sensors Kitt had.

Just in case, you still had problems to identify the model, Guiloy added two more stickers with the word “Fantástico” in red on the doors. With that, it was very difficult not to recognise Kitt. The stickers were changed for the Portuguese market for “Justiceiro”, because the TV-Series was renamed there “O Justiceiro”. None of the stickers remains in my car.

The car itself can be seen in the pictures. The base of the car is made in plastic, probably to reduce the retail price of this model.

This same car made by Guiloy was also available in other colours and decorations, as I already showed here: http://toysfromthepast.blogspot.com/2011/08/50-guiloy-matra-simca-ref-60152-renault.html

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MASERATI GHIBLI “FANTÁSTICO”
• Alternate Names: “JUSTICEIRO” (Portugal)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1986
• Company: Guiloy (Spain)
• Size: approx. 9 cm

#319 GUISVAL – DATSUN PATROL (1982)

This Guisval model was created for the 1982 collection. It is a very versatile model, since it can be adapted to look in very different ways: the cast comprises the vehicle, but depending on which plastic part is attached to its top, it can be a police car, or an open pick-up, maybe a camper van… This is obviously something that Guisval had in mind when creating the vehicle (other companies did the same before with similar models, for example, Majorette withits camper van).

There were three models released in 1982, although they would be produced during many consecutive years.

Nr. 46 – Patrol Moto Club

Nr. 59 – Camping Car

Nr. 60 – Patrol Jefe Policia

I own four models Datsun Patrol, as you can see in the pictures. Each one is different not only in the colour: they’re three different models and belong to different years. I’ll try to analzyze them.

The oldest car in this group is the “Jefe Policia” version, that’s the black one. The first thing we notice here is that the car chassis is made of metal, as in all models and versions from 1982. The second thing we have to pay attention to are the wheels. These are the oldest wheels for this model.

The second one is the orange model. This one belongs to the “Club” series, that was launched more or less in 1982. This series was a “low cost” version of the standard “Campeón” series, as you can read here.

Since this model was sold with a reduced price, the car came without any plastic hardtop or stickers, but still with metallic base and the same wheel-type. One of the characteristics of the Club series is the lack of interiors, although the first models were already done without plastic interiors and with dark windshield and windows.

The next model is the Moto-Club blue Patrol. This one is more modern as we can notice from the plastic chassis and the alternate type of wheels. My model came with stickers, I remember that, surely I removed them sometime. These are much wider and belong to more modern models from the late 80s, I cannot date precisely when were these wheels used for the first time, but in my catalogue from 1987, there are models with one type of wheels or the other in the same collections. The motorbikes are always red with black wheels, except some rare samples which are the opposite: black with red wheels. These are, as said, very rare, might be a factory error.

And finally, the blue pick-up model is the most recent from all. The chassis is made of black plastic, and the wheels are the most modern from all for. This kind of wheels were used already in the 90s, but I can’t again give the exact year of this change.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: DATSUN PATROL (several versions)
• Scale: Approx. 1:64
• Year: 1982 on
• Company: Guisval (Spain)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

BONUS: A list of versions is displayed here for informative purposes. This list is based on pictures seen on the internet and is, of course, incomplete.

Nr. 46 – Patrol Moto Club

• Blue Asistencia “Fina” decals
• Yellow Asistencia “Fina” decals
• Blue “4” decals
• Yellow “Safari” decals (later)

Nr. 59 – Camping Car

• Red car with light brown plastic canopy. No decals

Nr. 60 – Patrol Jefe Policia

• Black with white or light brown canopy. Sheriff “Patrulla nº4” decals.
• Black with white or light brown canopy. Sheriff “Patrol” decals.

Nr. 57 – Patrol Ambulancia

• White with white canopy. Red Cross decals.

Nr. 92 – Datsun Patrol (Pick-up, “Club” collection)

• Orange
• Red
• …

Nr. 707 – Safari (“Campeón Autopista” series)

• Orange with light brown canopy plus a jail trailer with a lion. No decals.

Nr. ??? – Helicopter transport

• Yellow with black canopy and trailer with helicopter. Undefined decals.

“Campeón 4x4” models

• Versions with white or light brown canopy or with motorbikes. 
• Several (metallized) colours and decals.

No number – Patrol later models

• several colours: yellow, red, blue,…
• several tampographies: totip, sheriff (with an eagle),
• some with canopy other without
• military green ambulance, with green canopy.
• ...

#318 G.I. JOE – LIFELINE KELLOGGS’ MAIL-AWAY (1991)

Many brands have used toys to promote their products. We have already mentioned a few examples in this blog. Toys make products more attractive to children and therefore sell better. I can remember staying in front of all those cereal boxes, trying to choose one among all of them. I liked Kelloggs, but also Chex, so I always checked thoroughly which boxes came with something inside or how many points did I need to get whatever, and then I decided what to buy. My parents didn’t care much, as long as I ate them at home.

One of those times, I arrived to the supermarket, and I saw the boxes there: Kelloggs offered then G.I. Joes! My favourite action figures! Now it doesn’t surprise me at all that Kelloggs offered this product, because those small figures were very appealing to children, and Kelloggs expected with it to sweep competitors out of the shelves. At the time it was a big surprise though. With some research, this promotion arrived to Spain in 1990. In the same promotion, to cover both boys and girls, you could also choose some “My Little Pony” figures.

To get one figure, you had to collect 6 points that could be found in different packets of cereals together with your name, address and so on. The small packets (375 grams) came with one point, while the big packets (500 grams) came with 2 points. I had a hard challenge: I had to eat more cereals than usual. I only got the points with a small “trick”. I had to convince my mother to buy me two packets instead of one when the promotion was already in its last days (the due date was 31^st December 1990). That way, I got my last two points and I was ready to send the letter to Kelloggs.

But which figure to choose? The figures looked great on the box. There were 6 possible choices:

This picture was originally posted by "Croc Master" in "Casa Slaughter"

1. Gung-Ho v2
2. Hardball
3. Astro-Viper
4. Storm Shadow v2
5. Lifeline
6. Lighfoot

 They are numbered GJ.1 to GJ.6. Lifeline does not appear in my picture.

From these 6 figures, Gung-Ho, Astro-Viper and Lifeline belonged to the previous wave, while Hardball, Storm Shadow and Lightfoot were “new”. I guess this fact had a heavy impact in my decision: I finally chose Hardball, don’t know why, but it was a very meditated decision.

I don’t know if you have noticed that the figures depicted do not include almost any weapons… only Storm Shadow was able to keep his sword. This is obviously a decision taken by Kelloggs, not to be accused of leading kids to violence. Gung-Ho has lost his sword, Hardball his super-rifle, Astro-Viper the two laser cannons, Storm Shadow his claw and his bow, while Lightfoot is complete.

These pictures were not only intended for the package. You really got what was depicted there. I discovered that when I received the letter, and the figure came only with its backpack… such a disappointment! I haven’t recovered yet. The figure came in an envelope, maybe “bagged”, I’m not sure anymore, but there was no trace of its blister card, filecard, or whatever.

Back to the figures, one of them had a small difference: Lifeline came only with the briefcase and the backpack, however, there’s something special about this figure. In Spain, I have heard that the figure was the same that was available on cards, but in America, the figure was a variant. This alternative version of Lifeline came with different legs (taken from Frostbite). The reason? Original Lifeline figure carried a gun on his thigh, so Kelloggs probably ordered the figures with this small change.

Mail-away Lifeline - Legs detail

The promotion in America was completely different. It consisted in only one figure (Lifeline) which was available only in Rice Krispies. There’s a single image on the internet of a Rice Krispies box. I found it in http://www.joeaday.com/

There you can clearly see, that there was only one G.I.Joe and one My Little Pony available, but you also got some discounts on toys, unfortunately the resolution of the picture is very poor to read more.

The figure of Lifeline was also available in America in a Mail-Away promo. Most figures which are seen on the internet for sale are not from the Kelloggs promotion, but from Hasbro’s mail-in offers. I think mine comes from the mail-away offer. This second version came bagged and included a small leaflet, which can also be seen here in my pictures. The catalogue is from 1991, and offers a picture of the first 6 figures from the Ninja Force. The figures used in the pictures are clearly prototypes.

This details I give here are only for the promotion in Spain… I am not sure if it was different in other countries. To finish the article, I leave this video from YouTube, with the original TV commercial for this promotion. It's only 5 seconds.

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: LIFELINE "MAIL-AWAY" or "MAIL-IN"
• Alternate Names: DOC (Spain)
• Toy Line: G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero
• Year: 1991
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 11 cms or 3,75’’

#317 OF FABRIKMARKE – KEGELSPORT AUF DEM TISCHE (Around 1930)

This board game was quite a surprise for me. My father bought it for me, and after some checking and reading, we can say, it’s complete and in very good shape. It is surely one of the oldest toys at home, since some Internet websites date it from 1930 or even the 1920s.

This Bowling game consists of 9 bowling pins and a ball. The pins are place on a table forming a square with 3 pins on each side. In the centre of that square it is placed the 9^th pin, which is blue instead of red.

Now, players must push the ball while spinning so that the ball takes kind of a curved direction, and you drop all pins, or a certain combination of pins. I can imagine this game is quite difficult and requires a great skill with the ball. To get that spinning effect, the ball is made of two halves: one of them is made of metal (maybe lead), while the other part is made of a lighter material, wood. There are other versions in which the second half is made of cork.

The game was made by OF FABRIK-MARKE, that’s Otto  Fischer Fabrikmarke, located in Glaubitz, Germany. The game was patented by Rektor Sperl. It was first sold about 1910, and it was available probably up to the 1950s.

To my surprise, I found a page that it’s dedicated exclusively to this game: http://www.mi-me.de/weitere-spielideen-2.html

Here I discovered that the game was made in several versions, and sold in different boxes. Mine seems to be the last one made of this series, and also the “poorest” one. There’s a “Fine” version, a “Luxe” version, and some others, which can be identified by a letter in the cover of the box. Original balls are marked: D.R.G.M. 1020211.

The instructions are depicted in the next two pictures. In one of the sides we can see some of the combinations that brings points to the players, for example: Herz (Heart), Lübeck, Hamburg…

In the box was also included a promotional leaflet for another game by the same company: the famous “Mikado”.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: KEGELSPORT AUF DEM TISCHE!
• Year: Around 1930
• Company: OF Fabrik-Marke (Germany)

#316 BUCKY O’HARE – DEADEYE DUCK (1991)

Bucky O’Hare is a character created by Larry Hama. You’ll probably know him because he was the brain behind the G.I.Joe toyline, as well as a writer for many superhero comics, like Daredevil, Spiderman, the Punisher or G.I.Joe. He worked for Marvel and also for DC comics.

Larry Hama created Bucky O’Hare in 1978 or 1979, and is a green rabbit that commands a spaceship of rebels from the “United Animals Federation” that fight against the Toad Empire. Bucky and his crew belong to the S.P.A.C.E. organisation.

The story reminds a little bit of Star Wars, and probably Larry had in mind the film when he created this story.

The first appearance of Bucky O’Hare on a comic book is from 1986, and a few years later (1991) it became an action figure line, and also a videogame in 1992. Larry also did a second comic book with this character, but it was never published.

I knew the character since it was available in toy shops, so I was very surprised when reading a German Star Wars comic from Ehapa I discovered a character that reminded strongly of Bucky O’Hare. And it was not only the rabbit… other characters include a boy with a grey helmet that reminds a bit of Willy DuWitt. There also a cat character, a woman and an older man. In Buck O’Hare there was a female character which was a cat, but this can be a coincidence.

Here you can see two images taken from the comic. The name of the rabitt is Jaxxon, and the boy, Starkiller-Kid.

Two cartoon samples of the comic depicting the green rabitt Jaxxon and some other characters

I guess Hama lent these characters to Don Glut and Howard Chaykin for their story “The Monster from the Depth” (literally translated from German: “Das Monster aus der Tiefe”), when he was working for Marvel, or maybe this is just a big coincidence. In the wookipedia there’s a lot of info on Jaxxon.

No matter what, Bucky O’Hare is extremely cool. The comic book and (later) the figures were designed in a very funny way: the characters were quite “toonified”, as other toylines like Playmates TMNT did before. The characters themselves are also very funny: A duck, a bulldog, several frogs, a small robot, a young human…

Unfortunately there was only one toy wave ever made. A second wave was never sold in toy shops, although there are some prototypes, drawings, and artwork for it on the internet to see (http://buckyohare.org/unreleased.shtml).

The first and only wave comprised 10 figures plus two vehicles:

• Bucky O’Hare (Bucky’s S.P.A.C.E.)
• Deadeye Duck (Bucky’s S.P.A.C.E.)
• Willy Du Witt (Bucky’s S.P.A.C.E.)
• AFC Blinky (Bucky’s S.P.A.C.E.)
• Toad Air Marshall (Toad Empire)
• Toadborg (Toad Empire)
• Bruise the Berserker Baboon (Bucky’s S.P.A.C.E.)
• Al Negator (Toad Empire)
• Commander Dogstar (Bucky’s S.P.A.C.E.)
• Storm Toad Trooper (Toad Empire)

• Toad Croaker (Bucky’s S.P.A.C.E.)
• Toad Double Bubble (Toad Empire)

The figures were sold in blister cards and the vehicles in boxes. The blister cards are very well done, since they include a small catalogue, a file card with all the data and the history of the characters (Larry Hama already did this with G.I.Joe) and also a short comic story with the start of Bucky O’Hare’s adventures. In just three cartoons, we are told that Willy Du Witt arrives in a parallel universe called the “Aniverse” (from “Animal” and “Universe”), were lots of toads want to destroy him. Fortunately he is saved by Bucky O’Hare and his team. From this point on, you create your own story.

 Filecards are also written with much wit and the characters are quite funny. 

The figures were, as said at the beginning of the article by Hasbro, and distributed in Spain by M.B. Spain/ Hasbro Spain. As far as I am concerned, this series was also released in many other countries, like France, Netherlands, Belgium,

If you want to know more, watch more pictures, visit: http://buckyohare.org/toys.shtml

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: DEADEYE DUCK
• Alternate Names: Patuerto (Spanish)
• Toy Line: Bucky O’Hare (Wave 1)
• Year: 1991
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 12 cm approx.

#315 POLISTIL – FIAT 131 MIRAFIORI POLIZIA and AUDI 100 LS (Nrs. EL76 and EL78) (1977)

This will be another quick entry dealing with two 1:43 cars made by Polistil in 1977. The first one is the Fiat 131, one of my favorite cars ever, as you can read here. I still have this same car model made by Pilen. I hope I can present it soon.

This time, the Fiat 131 is decorated as an Italian police car. The car is blue and has some tampographies on the sides with the word "Polizia", as well as on the roof..

Doors are practicable, but even most interesting are the details on the roof: the siren and an antenna. The antenna has been repaired by myself and it is not the original. I took a the colour that is similar to the original siren, as I could see searching on the internet. The interior of the car is black and as a whole it is quite elegant.

The car is lighter than it seems due to its plastic chassis. On it, apart of the reference number EL 76 appears a 2-77, which indicates the year in which it was manufactured (1977). The number 2 is supposed to mean February, so this car was designed in February 1977 and launched not much later.

The second model is an Audi 100 LS, whose reference number is EL-78, and date 4-77. That's why I put these two together: same year, almost same number, and similar vehicles. The Audi 100 LS is also made in blue. The only detail it has are the rear license plates from Milano.

Similarly to the Fiat 131 above, this car has black interiors and black plastic chassis. Luckily, the designers planned two extra parts of chromed plastic in both models (the front and the rear bumper), otherwise, the cars might have looked much worse.

Both cars present the classic "5R" wheel, common to many Polistil models during these years.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FIAT 131 MIRAFIORI POLIZIA and AUDI 100 LS (Nrs. EL76 and EL78)
• Scale: 1:43 (approx.)
• Year: 1977
• Company: Polistil (Italy)
• Size: approx. 10 cm