#658 BLUE BOX - TRANSPORT TRUCK and FORK LIFT (Around 1970)

The communist takeover of China in 1949 also brought a lot of refugees travelling to the nearby colonies of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau or Singapore. That meant very cheap labour to work in factories and this fact brought economic growth to all these regions.

One of the goods manufactured was plastic toys. Starting as early as the 1950s, these cheap toys would arrive to Europe and America and would put in serious trouble other traditional toymakers.

Many of these Hongkongese toys were copied from British and American models. In a high percentage, they are not marked other than "Made in Hong-Kong", so identifiying them is quite difficult. The brand name and logo was shown often in the box, but, as we know, very few boxes survive after 10, 20 or 30 years. In addition to this, most manufacturers were rather small, and some didn´t even used a brand name. Instead, they worked for some foreign distributors that would sell these items under their own brand.

This distributors were sometimes the ones that took the toys to Hong-Kong and asked the local manufacturers to copy them. Some british distributors that produced toys in Hong-Kong were: Telsalda, Clifford Series, Fairylite, OK, Emu Series, Laurie Toys... Classic toy manufacturers created second brands for cheap toys, like Cragstan from the US and Woolbro, the cheap brand for Woolworth markets.

Some European makers had to leave out plastic toys, that were not profitable anymore and developped more complex toys. Apparently the paradigmatic example of this is Tri-ang, that started producing slot cars.

Some of these small manufacturers actually progressed to become independent, most notably Lucky Toys and Blue Box.

There are not much details about this brand. Most companies that have survived to the present day try to hide their humble origins. Blue Box was founded in 1952 by Peter Chan Pui. They started making dolls but soon they started producing toy cars, most of them copied from Matchbox, Corgi and the rest of major European manufacturers, only in plastic.

The rest of the story is already known, European and American makers would finally start their own factories and facilities in Asia, to save costs over the years. Now it is not Hong-Kong anymore, but China.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TRANSPORT TRUCK and FORK LIFT
• Scale: Around 1:55 and 1:100
• Year: Around 1970
• Company: Blue Box (Hong Kong)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#657 ASS - FAMILIE FEUERSTEIN QUARTETT und SCHWARZER PETER (Nr. 662) (1967)

The Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken AG (short: ASS) made this beautiful deck of cards around 1967. The copyright from Hanna-Barbera dates from that year, so I guess it was probaby manufactured around that year.

The deck consists of 36 cards (6 families) and one extra card to play Schwarzer Peter. Each familiy tells a story in 4 cartoons with some text in the lower part of the card. These stories deal with different situations like a car race, flying an airplane or hunting a dinosaur.

The most interesting fact about this deck is to observe how the cartoons are not made by the original artist from Hanna-Barbera, and these are not taken from the TV series or anywhere else. They have been remade by another artist, and you can tell that these are not the original Flintstones, but a little bit of a fake. Despite this, ASS apparently got the copyright, so it is a legal "reinterpretation" of the original characters.

The game comes with the cover card and another one with the instructions printed on it. The cover card, on its back side has a monochromatic cartoon depicting all 7 main characters with their names in German. Everything comes in an oversized box, much deeper than it is actuallz needed. A common practice, to make the deck/game look more than it actually is.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FAMILIE FEUERSTEIN QUARTETT und SCHWARZER PETER (Nr. 662)
• Year: 1967
• Company: Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken AG  (West Germany)

#656 HUSKY - SEVERAL TRUCKS (From 1964 to 1966)

 

Husky is a brand from the Mettoy Company, the makers of Corgi model cars. We have talked about both Corgi and Husky before. Husky models were all in 3 inches size ("1:box" scale) and originally made exclusively for Woolworth´s in Great Britain, Canada and the United States. They were available in that supermarket chain between 1964 and 1969. However, some models were available in other countries from 1966 on. In 1969, after the Woolworth contract expired, the line was renamed "Corgi Juniors". Many models are available in two different versions that differ only in the logo on the base. Corgi was very popular in 1:43 scale, selling better than Dinky and other contemporary brands.

 

The bases of the different vehicles are mostly made of chromed plastic, although some were made in more robust metal, and originally with plastic grey/greenish wheels. These wheels were later modified for more durable metallic wheels with plastic tyres (see Guy Warrior Milk Tanker, Nr. 17-B2). Most models include windows and interiors, which is fine. The casting is quite good, but the durability is not the best. Another weak point is the suspension based on a plastic flap (in the plastic based models).

 

In 1969, shortly after Mattel´s Hot Wheels and the rename from Husky to Corgi Juniors, the "Whizzwheels" were introduced only in some models, which were more expensive than the "ordinary" series. The "fast" models were included in a series called "Corgi Rockets" that also included some tracksets, but from 1970 on, Corgi decided to mount Whizzwheels in all models, and shortly afterwards, the Corgi Rockets series was discontinued and the models released in the Corgi Juniors series.

 

The competition by Corgi to Hotwheels was successful and they got their own piece of cake. Hot Wheels lost a lot of market share and also started downgrading some features to be able to sell cheaper and cheaper.

 

10-A1 Guy Warrior Coal Truck

25-A1 S & D Refuse Truck

 

 

 

 

17-A1 Guy Warrior Milk Tanker (Oval)

17-B1 Guy Warrior Milk Tanker (Squarish) (only model with 2-component wheels)

 

 

11-A2 Land Rover Forward control

29-A1 ERF Truck (Cement Mixer)

 

 

 

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: 10-A1 Guy Warrior Coal Truck, 11-A2 Land Rover Forward control, 17-A1 Guy Warrior Milk Tanker (Oval), 17-B1 Guy Warrior Milk Tanker (Squarish), 25-A1 S & D Refuse Truck and 29-A1 ERF Truck (Cement Mixer)
• Year: 1964, 1965, 1966
• Company: Husky (Great Britain)
• Size: Around 7 cm
• Scale: Around 1:100 (trucks)

#655 MATCHBOX - VARIOUS SUPERFAST MODELS (1973)

A few Matchbox models, all of them marked 1973. A good year!

 

N°3d Monteverdi Hai

 

 

 

N°6e Mercedes 350SL - orange model, pictured with Lamborghini Countach and Hot Rocker.

 

 

 

 

 

N°21e Rod Roller

 

 

N°27e Lamborghini Countach – two versions

 

 

N°28e Stoat (Rolamatics) – two versions

 

 

N°33d Datsun 126X

 

 

N°47d Beach Hopper (Rolamatics)

 

 

N°65d Saab Sonett III

 

 

 

N°67c Hot Rocker (Rolamatics) - green model, pictured with Lamborghini Countach and Mercedes 350SL

 

UPDATE 1 (May/2017) Added second Beach Hopper with metallic base.
 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MONTEVERDI HAI (Nr. 3d), MERCEDES 350SL (Nr. 6e), ROD ROLLER (Nr. 21e), LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH (Nr. 27e), STOAT (Nr. 28e), DATSUN 126X (Nr. 33d), BEACH HOPPER (Nr. 47d), SAAB SONNET III (Nr. 65d) and HOT ROCKER (Nr. 67c)
• Scale: Approx. 1:64
• Year: 1973
• Company: Matchbox (Great Britain)
• Size: Around 8 cm