#30 MICRO MACHINES – DELUXE COLLECTIONS I and II (1988)

The first Micromachines wave ever was made in 1987. It consisted of 11 packs of 5 vehicles each, including two sets with aircraft and one with boats. That makes 55 vehicles (plus a couple of minor variations). For the second wave, Micromachines made much more vehicles: 24 packs of 5 vehicles each plus 4 very special packs.

These first 24 packs included many new cars, motorbikes, monster trucks, military vehicles, boats, aircraft and so on, some of which were repaints from the first wave (these packs were numbered #1 to #24). The next 4 packs were something completely new; the first “special” Micromachines series, with a completely new reference number. They were called “Deluxe Collection”, and were numbered (I to IV). The special feature of these small cars was that they had practicable doors, bonnet and boot. That was a very nice feature at the time; it was some kind of magic, that such a small car could have practicable doors. As this cars were probably more expensive to made, in each pack came only 3 cars instead of 5.

 

The packs depicted in this entry are:

• Deluxe Collection I, including a red Ferrari Testarossa, a black Lamborghini Countach and a silver Mercedes Benz 300SL “Gullwing”.

• Deluxe Collection II, including a white Porsche 911, a yellow Jaguar E-Type and a black Pontiac Firebird.

 

Both packs were also available in 1989 (third wave).

 

In later waves, these same models were repainted and sold in other deluxe collections. In 1989 the collection was extended until collection XIII, in 1990 there were 13 new collections, including new models as well as repaints.

 

The 1991 wave, brought a new series with practicable parts, the X-Rays. These cars were the same deluxe cars but with transparent bodywork, and there were 4 collections made of them. The deluxe still existed as a series, but only 2 collections were released (and named European Exotics –the same in the picture, but repainted- and Space collection 2, breaking the I-XIII numbering). Since 1992, the Deluxe collections were discontinued, and only a few more X-Rays collections were released.

 

Check more "Deluxe" Micromachines here: #39.

 

UPDATE (JAN/2017): At the time I thught it was a good idea to display the cars like that. Now I would do it like this:

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: Micromachines Deluxe Collections I and II
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1988-1989
• Company: Galoob (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 2 cm