#1095 DINO RIDERS - TYRANNOSAURUS REX with KRULOS, BITOR and COBRUS (1988)

I still have many Dino-Riders toys to be published. I am still missing the Pachyrrhinosaurus, the Edmontosaurus and, of course, the Brontosaurus, as well as a few loose figures. But I have all the other toys, and I will be publishing them some time in the next few years. Today, I want to show the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the biggest and most impressive toy in the first series from 1987, and maybe the most iconic reference of the whole toyline. As a matter of fact it was the model used to create the dinosaur character in the Toy Story movies.

It took some time to get it complete. I had some parts from a flea market, then I bought more parts on the Internet, and finally, I bought the dinosaur with almost every part of the armour, and with all these, I made a complete set. The plastic parts have become fragile and they break easily, so if you have the toy, do not try to remove or separate any parts from each other. The cannons pointing to the back are usually broken (the two that move up and down and the other two that move left to right). I repaired the two attached to the pink part in a way that it cannot be noticed.

The dinosaur also shows the pass of time, as the rubber bands in the wheels below its feet are worn and broken. I guess there are ways to repair it, but I have to find them out.

According to the comic, the T-Rex is the first dinosaur that the Rulons capture by using the brainbox. They prepare a trap on the top of a rock, and when the dinosaurs comes close, they drop the brainbox on its head. Since then, Krulos and the others can control the beast at their will. 

Krulos, of course, is the leader of the rulons, the most important character on that faction. The other two are secondary characters of the Antmen (Bitor) and Snakemen (Cobrus). Even though all evil characters in the series shared three heads (the Sharkmen are not represented in this set), these two are the most appealing one, due to their combination of red and black paint with some details in yellow. The colour scheme recalls somehow the eruption of a volcano or lava or something like that.

Krulos as a commander of the Rulons took for himself the upper position in the dinosaur. He stands in some kind of tribune of pulpit with two small cannons. A bit too exposed to the shoots of the Valorians, but we know from the cartoons, that these were not very good shooters. 

The body of the dinosaur is quite protected with big shields covering torso (or whatever it is called in a theropod) and legs. A central harness holds two cannon nests on the sides, very well covered (as opposed to the pulpit on top) with two shields in the shape of a cubic box. 

The front part has another position for a figure which seems to control two mechanic claws whose utility is uncertain: What are they good for? 

The tail is also heavily protected and has many cannons to cover the attacks from behind. A huge platform has space for another figure and a big shields hangs from that point down.

The last part to be commented are the two pieces that attach to the legs to pretect them, which have the nice detail of carryying a circular saw.

Amont the non protective parts, we can observe a very big motor (I guess all those lasers have to be powered somehow) over the pink platform, partially covered by the top plate, that also covers the two gunner´s seats at the sides. This last part (the "roof", so to speak) is the most fragile in the whole set, and the one it took me longer to find in an acceptable shape. The hinges of the parts exactly over the side cannons can be broken, and also the part that fits in the motor may have some wear or can be broken.

The dinosaur is battery operated and moves its legs in a way that the dinosaur walks. It is one of the fastest dinos (or, at least, faster than the other I have seen in action). The dinosaurs stands by using its tail, in the way that dinosaurs were depicted before the 1990s. Since Jurassic Park, theropods are represented standing on two legs and using the tail to keep balance when moving or running.

All in all it is one of the greatests toys from the 80s, a nice addition to any collection, although it takes quite a lot of space.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: TYRANNOSAURUS REX with KRULOS, BITOR and COBRUS
• Toy Line: Dino-Riders (Wave 1)
• Year: 1988
• Company: Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Scale of the dinosaur: 1:24
• Size of the figures: 2½’’ or 6,5 cm

#1094 FIGURAS EN ACCIÓN (F.E.A.) Nr. 33

 

Well, here's the last issue of Figuras En Acción, the magazine I currently direct and that regularly appears every May and every December since the end of 2009. I don't know or recall any other publication, podcast or video series that lived longer that that.

Our commitment is to bring articles and information about toylines which are not so well-known or popular, and to talk about topics which are interesting but about which there is not so much information on the internet.

This time we talk about COPS n' Crooks by Hasbro, Xena: Warrior Princess by Toy Biz and Mattel's Picture Maker.

Another article deals with the year 1978, cultural highlights, you releases, movies and TV... and the promotions made by Bimbo in Spain, as well as by other companies. 

And also, a remarkable interview with Roberto Carlos Ramos Patras, who, apart from being our colleague and collaborating with the magazine since years, has recently released a book about Madelman 2050. The book  is a must for every sci-fi fan, not only to M2050 collectors, as he develops and extends the story behind these characters beyond the mini comics.

As usual, we also comment the news, a "treasure" toy, books, toy museums and other surprises. 

Just two clicks away, free and without adds or registers. Take a look at it HERE. 

#1093 LEHMANN/RIGI – Nr. 900 D·G·M (SEILBAHN / CABLE CAR / TELEFÉRICO / TÉLÉPHÉRIQUE) (Around 1965)

The brand Rigi especialized in cable cars and was active in the 60s and the 70s of the last century. This kind of vehicles are very attractive in Germany and the German speaking countries, and it reminds the kids of holidays in the Alps both in Summer and Winter. Rigi produced a series of cable cars, all of them very similar to each other, some even with an electric motor operated by batteries.

But Rigi was a brand of a bigger and more important toy manufacturer: Lehmann. Or Ernst Paul Lehmann, as it was originally called after one of the two people who founded the company. Ernst Paul Lehmann came from Berlin, and his associate, Jean Eichner came from Nürnberg. The original factory was located in Brandenburg an der Havel, a town located around 50 km West from Berlin. Their products were tin toys of all kinds and great quality, often equipped with surprising mechanisms. Until the turn of the century, the company employed between 600 and 800 people and their massive production was, in part, exported. Mr. Lehmann died in 1934, but the company continued in the hands of the Lehmann family. Unfortunately, in the year 1948, after the fall of the III Reich, and being in the communist part of Germany (East-Germany or GDR), the company was expropriated and renamed VEB Mechanische Speilwaren Brandenburg.

But this was not the end of Lehmann toys... the company was refounded in 1950 in Nürnberg, with the name Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk, where they continued producing even more toys. Of course, at some point they introduced plastic parts in their toys, combining them with tin. In the year 1970, the tin was completely replaced by other materials, but the production of toys continued. Another landmark happened in 2013, where the company became part of the great German (and European) toy cluster Simba-Dickie-Group, and, to my knowledge, it is still their property.

The box depicts a nice scenery, with mountains in the background and the cable car at the front. The sides show some viewpoint, in which some people stare at the distant mountains. Note also that the logo of the company appears in the short sides of the box. The space inside the box is tight, as it has the exact size of the car, plus the structure from which it hangs. The stations go below or above this part of the toy.

Here are more detailed pictures of the different components of the toy, including the two stations. In the case of the reference 900, the car is operated by hand.

The car itself has two practicable doors with a lever to open or close them. Both ends seem to be the same piece, which simplifies the construction of the toy. The doors are also the same. It has a good size to be combined with action figures and small dolls. The colours are plain but the combination is nice, with details such the thin red line and the small logos and texts. All in all a very classic design.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Nr. 900 D·G·M SEILBAHN
• Alternate Names: Cable Car, Teleférico, Téléphérique
• Year: Around 1965
• Company: Lehmann / Rigi (West-Germany)
• Size: Around 15 cm.
• Scale: Unknown

#1092 MONSTERS OF THE GALAXY – FLASH (Art. 8422) (1985)

The Monsters of the Galaxy is an Italian Masters of the Universe knock-off line. It is very rare even in its country of origin, so you may have never heard of it before. I once found a cardboard in a flea market, and later bought this figure with almost all its accesories in an auction in Austria. As you can see, there were nine figures in total plus two beasts. All figures seems to come with a very impressive helmet, and some include unusual accesories like cloth cloaks and cloth boots. They come in different colours as it is common in action figure collections. Some has a minimal background information, such as "Defender of Aeterna", but most of them lack of any reference. Three of them have monstruous heads, while the other 6 have human faces, sometimes hidden unter strange helmets or headwear, so it is left to the kid if the figure is a hero or a villain.

As you can observe in the pictures, the figure is unmistakenbly a MotU copy. The body parts have not been cloned, but they are very very close to the originals from Mattel. I would say the head is inspired by that of Clamp Champ, but if in that case, the year I have seen referred as the release date of the figures (1985) cannot be accurate, as Clamp Champ is a figure from 1986. The accesories are not copied, but pretty much respect the style of the line they are trying to imitate.

This character's name is Flash, and resembles a bit Spikor. It has a similar body colour and, despite missing it's trident-arm, it comes with a helmet with five spikes. Other accesories which my figure still has are a light blue harness and a spiked-shield. Unfortunately, it is missing an axe.

The figure and its accesories are completely unmarked, so many people who came accross them had a hard time identifying them. Now with the reverse search of search machines and AI tools should be easier, but I didn't make the test yet.

 

The manufacturer is Camy, a completely unknown company from Palazzolo sull'Oglio, a locality between Bergamo and Brescia, in the Lombardy. This is a really small town, and the company was probably also a very small business, so the number of figures out there has to be very low. The very few that are for sale on eBay at the time of writing this article cost 250 euro (figure with harness and helmet), 330 (figure with harness) to 950 euro (complete figure with all accesories). Loose accesories go for around 30 euro/piece. Even if you had the money to buy the figures it would cost you a lot of time to wait for all the items (it is 9 figures plus two beasts) to pop-up in that platform or other platforms online.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: FLASH (ART. 8422)
• Toy Line: Monsters of the Galaxy
• Year: 1985
• Company: Camy (Italy)
• Size of the figures: Around 14 cm tall

#1091 UNKNOWN MANUFACTURER - THREE F1 CORGI BOOTLEGS (Around 1974)

To continue an old tradition, I use the month of April to show toys that are knock-off or bottlegs of other toys. This time I want to present three big scale formula ones that copy Corgi casts. They are made in Hong-Kong around 1974 and use a four digit code system as a reference number. 

Most accurately, These three are:

No 7501 - SURTEES T.S.9 F.1. (Based on Corgi Nr. 150)

No. 7502 - FERRARI 312 B2  (based on Corgi 152 from 1972)

No. 7503 - LOTUS F.1.  (based on Corgi 154 from 1973)

I first thought these would be Yatming, but the codes does not seem to fit with the numbering system used by that company.

I have seen several for sale on the internet, so they are not extremely rare. Compared to the original Corgis, they are also very good. Only the colour slightly differs. The wheels are clearly cheaper and less detailed compared to the original ones, which is the main flaw I see in these four cars. Also the overall quality of the paintwork and the stickers is worse. These seem to have been heavily played, but I still consider them worth enough for my collection.

If you have some information on the manufacturer of these toys, please let me know by writing a comment to this entry. I have been looking for boxed models for sale, but I couldn´t find any. Over the years I have also posted many toys which are yet to be identified. If you want to have a look at them and try to guess which company made them, click on this link Unknown Manufacturer Toys.

 FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SURTEES T.S.9 F.1., FERRARI 312 B2 and LOTUS F1 (No. 7501, 7502 and 7503)
• Scale: 1:36
• Year: Around 1974
• Company: Unknown Toymaker (Hong Kong)
• Size: Around 10 cm long