#871 PIATNIK - AUTO-QUARTETT (Nr. 298) (1963)

What an amazing deck of cards I got! This is now one of the oldest car quartetts I own.

The game has 9 families, some of them are car types (oldtimers, trucks and racing) while other are countries (Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain, U.S.A. and a mixture of other countries).

Each car or vehicle is drawn, not photographed, over a (one or two) solid color(s) background. The result is amazing, a real design from the 50s and early 60s.

These set came in a plastic box and is a reedition. Aparently there are earlier versions from 1958 and 1961, I guess the earliest, if not both, came in the cardboard box. Note that in the “Racers” family, there are two models that indicate 1963.
According to Quartett-Blog, there are nine different set for this reference number:

• 1959-1962: Auto-Quartett, with red Citroen ID 19 (4 different sets)
• 1963-1967: Auto-Quartett, with yellow Citroen ID 19 (5 different sets)

Some (very few) cards seem to be different from one set to the other, but unfortunately, I have only this one, so I cannot compare.

The back of the cards show a tyre.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: AUTO QUARTETT (Ref. 298)
• Year: 1963
• Company: Piatnik (Austria)

#160 MATCHBOX LESNEY – MILK DELIVERY TRUCK, LYONS MAID ICE-CREAM MOBILE SHOP and TV SERVICE VAN (Nrs. 21c, 47b and 62b) (1961 and 1963)

These three vans or small trucks are three of my best Matchboxs, I bought them last Christmas boxed, and are in a relative good condition, they have a couple of chips, but since they are very old models and hard to find, I guess they’re ok like that. These vans were released in the early 60s: the Milk Delivery Truck was released in 1961, while the other two were released in 1963. They were discontinued in 1968.

Milk Delivery Truck or Commer Bottle Float:

The first model, the Milk Delivery Truck (number 21, or sometimes referred as well as 21c) was available with the old grey metal wheels, and with black plastic wheels. Mine is the later version. There are many different variations of this model, including different colours for the bottles’ load, windshield and the decals (at least two types of decals). The colour of this van has slight variations in a pale shade of green, and the decals on the doors show a cow (like mine) or a bottle of milk.

On the base it is labelled as “Commer Bottle Float”, which is another common name for this vehicle.

Lyons Maid Ice-Cream Mobile Shop or Commer Ice Cream Canteen

The second model, the Lyons Maid Ice-Cream Mobile Shop, or as labelled in the base: “Commer Ice Cream Canteen” is another great model from 1963. It has again a few colour variations: at least two shades of blue and light brown, and again, several different decals (at least this one –Lyons Maid- and Lord Neilson). This one seems to be the most common. It is a very nice van for children, since kids love ice-creams and the seller inside of the cabin is a very nice detail. I guess it was massively sold. Curiously, some other brands like Majorette have also produced die-cast ice-cream vans…

TV Service Van:

The last model presented in this entry is the TV Service Van, available in light brown only but with two different decals: “Rentaset” or “Radio Rentals”. My model is the first of these two, and is complete, something very rare in this model. It came with a few accessories attached to a plastic “tree”. I also have the tree with three televisions, butthe ladder and the antenna have been removed from it. If the model is complete, it is quite expensive to buy it. It was also available with grey wheels.

As you can see in the pictures, the antenna and the ladder are placed at the top of the van, while the televisions can be kept inside of the van. It has a practicable door that opens up andcloses down.

I have to mention, that matchbox models made in these years have a problem with the paint and the lacquer, and if they have been played, or uncorrectly stored, they present great paint loss, as well as rust. It is also important to mention that they can also suffer from sun damage. Some variations in the plastic part or in the body colour can be produced by a long sun exposure in the past, so be careful before you acquire some “ultra-rare variation”. Decals are also rarely complete, always partly missing.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MILK DELIVERY TRUCK, LYONS MAID ICE-CREAM MOBILE SHOP and TV SERVICE VAN (Nrs. 21c, 47b and 62b)
• Alternate Names: COMMER BOTTLE FLOAT, COMMER ICE CREAM CANTEEN.
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1961, 1963 and 1963 (all discontinued in 1968)
• Company: Matchbox Lesney (G. Britain)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#136 CORGI – VW 1500 KARMANN GHIA (Ref. 239)(1963)

This german car was one of the most popular Corgi models from 1963, having sold around 730.000 units in 5 years (to 1968). It was released with the number 239, and sold like any other simple model in a cardboard box.

This ivory version with red interiors is the most common, but there are other colours available: gold, light red, orange and burgundy red. There are also some variants in the interior.

This model came with many features, which are maybe the reason why this model got to sell so many units; according to the box: opening bonnet, opening boot, opening engine cover showing engine, spring suspension (glidamatic), seats, steering wheel. Additionally (not mentioned in the box), we could say: shaped spun hubs, spare wheel, luggage, silver cast base and windows.

Often missing!

The luggage and the spare wheel are probably the most interesting points in the list above. They are tiny pieces that can be removed from their places, and therefore, very likely to be missing. A very nice detail with the spare wheel, is that once placed in the boot (at the front part of the car), it can be seen from below.

Engine glass cover

The next amazing feature of this model is that in the bonnet, the engine is located under a glass cover that separated the engine room from a kind of second boot. The luggage can be placed here or in the boot.

About the real car, it is interesting to mention, that the Volkswagen 1500 (or later 1600) has had many different versions through its history. A completely different VW 1500 was shown in this enty.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: VW 1500 KARMANN GHIA (Nr. 239)
• Scale: 1:46
• Year: 1963 to 1968
• Company: Corgi (G. Britain)
• Size: approx. 9 cm

#104 BIELEFELDER SPIELKARTEN - KLEINE TIERWELT (1963)

This nice deck of cards was first published in 1950 with 36 cards (9 families of 4 cards each), and reedited in 1953, but this time with only 24 cards. These first and second editions were sold in the same package used for “Eroberung der Luft”, only in green, instead of grey. The version depicted in the following pictures dates from 1963, and was sold in a plastic case. For this reason, this version includes an extra card with the “cover” illustration originally included in the box. A card with instructions is also there, what makes a total of 26 cards.
The complete set of cards is shown in this entry. The “small animals” are distributed in 6 families: Snails, Toads and Frogs, Grasshoppers and Crickets, Bees and Wasps, Ants and Beetles. The names are written only in german.

The Bielefelder Spielkartenfabrik was a card manufacturer that was founded around 1950. In 1972 it was took over by ASS (Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkartenfabriken), together with the German Spielkartenmuseum. Despite of this takeover, products under the name Bielefelder Spielkarten were still sold at least until 1980.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: KLEINE TIERWELT LUSTIGES QÜARTETTSPIEL (Entwürfe Heinz Osthoff) (REF .1042)
• Year: 1963
• Company: Bielefelder Spielkarten G.m.b.H. (West-Germany)

#47 NOREV – VOLKSWAGEN 1500 and FORD ANGLIA (Around 1963)

Norev was founded by the Veron family in 1946 not very far from Lyon (France). This family has already appeared in this blog (#10) because they are the same that later founded Majorette.

In 1946, the production started with a small garage with a few 1:87 plastic cars, as well as other plastic toys. Joseph Veron worked at that time for the plastic industry (firm Rhône Poulenc/ Rhodia). This company had developed a plastic composition called Rhodialite, ideal to produce cheap toys in the post-war days.

The scale car production starts much later, in 1954 and after the great commercial success that Dinky Cars were having, Norev manufactures the first 1:43 scale cars, made all of them of plastic. The first model was a Simca Aronde. This first model had a plastic chassis and a sticker informing about the Rhodialite. Plastic was a great advantage, as it was very cheap to produce, much cheaper than Dinky models. Norev tried to point out the pros of plastic compared to metal: the car is not painted, so it will remain always that colour and good looking. This was not true, since the plastic could decolorate if it was left if contact with plastic of other colour. It is a coincidence that these two cars are light blue, there were more colours available.

Those first models were mostly French cars that were very common those years, and all of them could be found with friction motor, or without it. From 1957 onwards, a collection in 1:87 scale (“500 series”) was included in the catalogue

In 1961, the Veron family created Majorette, to compete in the 1:64 scale market with other brands like Matchbox or Siku.

The models shown in this entry were made around 1963. The range had scalated quickly (from 12 models in 1956 to 96 in 1964), and Norev was now able to offer almost any French car in the market, plus a wide variety of foreign cars. The cars with red hubs are a few years older (from the early to mid 50s) than the one with black or silver hubs. Those more modern cars were also equipped with windows. Gradually the colour of the tyres changed from white (older models) to black.

The production of plastic cars would still continue a few years. In 1971, Norev launched a new series of die-cast cars known as Jet-car, although in the first years of existence of this series, some plastic models were still being produced. The history of this new die-cast series will be told in another entry sometime.

Also interesting to mention, is that the numbering of Norev cars in 1:43 scale was never stopped, from the first Simca Aronde (Nr. 1) to the Volkswagen Golf Rally (Nr. 899), regardless of the scale or type. These two are numbered Nr. 63 (Volkswagen 1500) and Nr. 67 (Ford Anglia). Note in the following picture, that not every model was numbered in the chassis (Ford Anglia is not numbered)

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: VOLKSWAGEN 1500 and FORD ANGLIA (Ref. Nrs. 63 and 67)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: Around 1963
• Company: Norev (France)
• Size: approx. approx. 9-10 cm