#348 ELASTOLIN – ROMAN SOLDIERS (Around 1960)

Elastolin is the trademark used for figures made of plastic and other materials by the company O & M Haußer.

This company was founded in Ludwigsburg, Germany in 1910, when the brothers Otto and Max Haußer took over an existing warehouse called Müller and Freyer and started with the production of board games and figures. Most figures were initially soldiers and military figures, made of a mixture of sawdust, contact glue, a protein named Casein and a clay mineral named Kaolinite. These figures were similar to those made on lead, that were very popular during the past centuries. Once the figures were ready, they were hand painted.

The name Elastolin would extend to all figures of its kind, even if they were made by other companies.

The name of the company was changed to O & M Haußer in 1912. Since 1910, they kept the name of the old warehouse they had taken over. After the First World War, in 1925, they released one of their first successful products: a card game named “Elfer Raus”, which still nowadays can be found in toy stores. Shortly afterwards, in 1930, started the production of figures, which saw a great increment in sales during the 30s: from half a million units sold in 1930 to more than 3 million in 1939.

 Roman musicians: Trumpet & Horn

During those years the company changed their site/factory from Ludwigsburg to Neustadt bei Coburg, where a much bigger factory was bought from another company, where up to 1000 people worked daily. The production of toys was stopped during World War II.

In 1946 or 1947, the production of toys would start again. Their composite figures were leading the market, since the materials were more stable, resistant as well as easier and cheaper to manufacture. These were hand painted.

 

 4 different Roman spearmen

 
In 1955, hard polystyrene plastic was introduced, although the composite described above was still being used, and both materials were used in parallel. From these years are the popular Vikings, Romans and Normans figures.

In 1969, the production changed to another type of figures, made of different parts of unpainted plastic (no longer composite), which assembled together gave the impression of being (at least partially) painted. This way, the costs of hand painting the figures were spared almost completely. Still some parts of these plastic pieces were painted to give the figures more realism, although this was very rare.

These figures followed the trend established by Timpo Toys. This kind of figures is called in German “Steckfiguren”.

 Roman swordmen

Unfortunately, Hausser went bankruptcy in 1983, and the company was closed after so many years of producing many great figures in different materials and sizes. Some possible explanations for that, is that figures were already a bit old in comparison with new articulated figures like Playmobil, and children were not attracted anymore to them, another reason could be that war, soldiers, weapons and everything related to them were turning more and more unpopular in Germany, so the sales just kept on decreasing. Additionally, the prices of plastic were on a high at the beginning of the 80s.

The trademark was bought by Paul M. Preiser and it is still used for collector’s figures and accessories. “Elastolin/Preiser” is the current brand, and can be found in specialized retailers.

 Roman centurion and swordman

I think this figure belongs to the medieval series, sorry!

These are some pictures I took in a Lego diorama, Maybe it is not the best you can find, but it is cool to take pictures with the macro function of the camera.

See more Elastolin figures HERE.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: Various Romans soldiers
• Year: Around 1960
• Company: Elastolín (a.k.a. Hausser) (Germany)
• Size of the figures: 4 cm

#347 HOLLY/ RINDEI (POLISTIL) – BRABHAM BT45B (Around 1982)

I haven’t been able to find any reference to this hongkongese die-cast manufacturer. It is listed on a Wikipedia list of die-cast manufacturers and I found some pictures of other vehicles on the internet, but unfortunately without any information about them.

I got this car a few weeks ago in a big lot of cars, that surprisingly, included many “made in Hong Kong” cars with pull back motor from the early 80s. This is one of them. It is based on the Brabham BT45B, which raced in the year 1977.

The car doesn’t give us much information either: “Made in Hong Kong”, “Scale: 1:43”… and a big logo with the word Holly making part of a formula1 seen from the front. The car is quite bulky (because inside it is the pull back motor, otherwise the F1 should have been much flatter, but it is still a decent piece of casting: the main part of the body is made of Zamak, but it has a plastic driver and a chromed plastic simulated motor. The chassis is made of plastic, and has plastic tyres over plastic hubcaps. These wheels have great grip, something very important in pullback motored cars. Axles are thick and resistant… in other words: it is a durable toy. Maybe not the best cast I have ever seen, but still an unique model, and a rarity.

What bothers me at most is the scale, 1:43. Really? The car is slightly larger than the classic 1:64, but it is still much smaller than the classic 1:43 scale. It has around 8 cms. I guess the real car was very small, that would explain it.

Also worth mentioning are the paper stickers, which are different among all the models I have seen.

Other models by Holly include nice sport cars, as well as concept cars from the early 80s, like the Ford Mustang or the BMW M1, but all of them in this big, bulky style.

UPDATE: I just bumped into an ebay auction that is selling this car boxed... Interestingly, it was sold under the Polistil brand, don't know if it had exactly the same base with the "Holly" logo, because there is no picture of the lower part of the car. I leave the picture here in case you want to investigate more about the "Racer" line Rindei by Polistil. It seems Polistil reselled the models from Holly Hong-Kong in Italy and maybe in other European countries.

Pic: eBay / Seller: patb_it

UPDATE2: I found one of the most interesting cars made by this manufacturer under this brand. It is a car I didn't know it existed, and therefore it is the only reproduction of it that I know of. DOME-O. The DOME-O is made by Playwell!

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: BRABHAM BT45B and DOME-O
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: Around 1982
• Company: Holly (Hong Kong)
• Size: approx. 8 cm

#346 BBURAGO – FERRARI 308 GTB RALLY and OTHER 1:43 SCALE MODELS (40xx and 41xx SERIES) (From 1984 on)

Preliminary note: this article does not consider the early 1:43 scale models (mostly trucks) that were manufactured during the 70s, they belong to another category.

The series made in 1:43 scale by Bburago are some kind of exception in the history of the company. Bburago had many other series in bigger scales that were intended for adult collectors and car lovers. Due to their size and their detail level, those other miniatures were not cheap.

That all changed in the 1:43 series. Bburago wanted to make a series of cars that were closer to toys than any other miniature made by Bburago in those years. The scale was not so strange for the Besana family, since Mebetoys had produced 20 years before beautiful models with great detail level. The new 1:43 models, however, are completely different: fewer details, fewer parts, it had to be cheap to sell as many units as possible, and they also needed to be attractive. These small cars had very nice colours and stickers that made the cars look really nice. Something that clearly indicates this, is that all models can be hand assembled, there is no rivets to fix the chassis to the body, and there are also no axles, the wheels are directly attached to the chassis (and though no suspension of any kind).

Chassis without rivets and axles

After their launch, this was one of the most profitable lines of the company. The cars were available at every toy store and even newsagents. It has also been one of the most durable lines in the history of Bburago, since these models were available since the very end of the company in 2005 and beyond, since May Cheong still sell 1:43 cars under the Bburago brand. At some point around the year 2000, the line was renamed “Street Fire” (references 41xxx), but it can be considered as a continuation of the original 1/43 line. “Street Fire” was actually identical (many models were the same old ones with new decorations or even with identical decorations).

The land rover in this picture has a very distinctive hubcap model, that tell us that it belongs to the Street Fire collection, although it is identical to the models sold in the late 80s, just with minor diferences in the stickers and the colours.

Additionally to the 40xx, 41xx and 41xxx references, which were available boxed, this type of cars were also available in two packs (42xx), five packs (43xx) and later also in three packs (47xx), single blister packs (48xx) and kits (49xx).

If you zoom on this picture, you'll be able to read some of the first references available 41xx

The most amazing thing about this scale is the huge number of different references and models made. I include as a “bonus” the pages of an old catalogue I own since 1990 showing the cars in this scale from that year.

If you’re interested in this particular brand or this scale, please take a look at this book and visit also this website, where almost every single Bburago reference in 1:43 scale is pictured:

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FERRARI 308 GTB RALLY (4148), FIAT PANDA 45 (4025) and LAND ROVER AZIZA
• Scale: 1:43 (approx.)
• Year: Around 1988
• Company: Bburago (Italy)
• Size: approx. 9 cm

BONUS: 1990 Bburago catalogue

#345 M.A.S.K. – PIRAHNA with SLY RAX/ STILETTO (1985)

M.A.S.K.’s FIRST WAVE:

M.A.S.K.’s first wave was launched in 1985, and consisted of several vehicles and a base/headquarters. Unlike other similar collections that came later (for example, Dino Riders or Starcom), this series didn’t originally include blister packs with figures. This means, to get your favourite characters you were forced to buy the vehicle that included that particular figure, and this way, it may take a while until you have enough characters to create your own M.A.S.K. stories.

This marketing “flaw” was of course corrected in the second wave one year later.

 
All characters available in wave 1 were main characters, those who virtually appear in every TV episode and comic book. Matt Trakker, the most important character in the series, was available with two vehicles: the Thunderhawk and the Rhino.

 It is very interesting, that the accessory masks for most figures were modified after the line was on sale. This means: there are two versions of each mask for "completist" collectors to find. The first version’s masks (1985) are smaller masks that fitted in the head of the figure, while later models (1986) have a portion that fits over the chest, the back or both. The reason for that change is unknown.

Copyright notice: CPG Products Corp. 1985 Kenner Products Cincinnati Ohio 45202.

The list of the first wave is somehow classic, with the forces of evil “V.E.N.O.M.” being clearly outnumbered by the good guys from “M.A.S.K.”

M.A.S.K. vs. V.E.N.O.M.

• 7 vs 3 characters (I am not counting Scott Trakker and T-Bob)
• 5 vs 3 vehicles
• 1 vs 0 playsets

As other action figure toy series, M.A.S.K. started with one big playset, plus 2 big vehicles (a truck rig and a big plane), several medium sized ones (vans, big cars), and then some other small vehicles (motorbikes) to cover the whole price range.

M.A.S.K.

• BOULDER HILL with ALEX SECTOR and BUDDY HAWKS
• CONDOR with BRAD TURNER
• FIRECRACKER with HONDO MACLEAN
• GATOR with DUSTY HAYES
• RHINO with MATT TRAKKER and BRUCE SATO
• THUNDERHAWK with MATT TRAKKER
• T-BOB with SCOTT TRAKKER

V.E.N.O.M.

• JACKHAMMER with CLIFF DAGGER
• PIRAHNA with SLY RAX
• SWITCHBLADE with MILES MAYHEM

 
Vehicles came with a small poster/catalogue, showing all vehicles with their transformations and pilots/drivers in one side, and on the other side, an illustration of a battle between both factions. Check albertpenello.com to see this posters.

The box shown in this entry is the European model, which is different from the American version. The second one has in the back of the box a picture of the toy showing all its features, as well as a picture of the driver with its mask. In the European version, both front and back are the same, but the texts are written in different languages: One side: English, French and Dutch, the other side: German and Italian. We explained this in a previous entry #270.

To finish this article, I'll publish more pictures of the "beach diorama" you already know from entry #311

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: PIRAHNA with SLY RAX/ STILETTO  (Ref. 37350)
• Toy Line: M.A.S.K. (Wave 1)
• Year: 1985
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the vehicle: 5’’ or 13 cm
• Size of the figures: 2½’’ or 6,5 cm