#75 BIG JIM – CAMPING TENT (1975)

Another nice set by Mattel for this toy-line is the Camping Tent. I recently found it in a thrift shop. It’s in great shape and includes the original package also in a great shape. Note the drawing on the cover that shows all items included in the box (except the figures), and the price at one flap of the box. This unit was sold in the Austrian supermarket Metro probably in 1975 or 1976, and it costed exactly 198,40 ATS (Schilling), that is around 14,30 Euro.

I guess this set was a great success in Europe, since camping is very popular in centroeuropean countries.

The contents of the box are the following:

• vinyl tent
• poles for the tent (5 pieces of two different types)
• 2 vinyl sleeping bags

• table (5 pieces)
• 2 folding camping chairs
• fireplace
• grill for the fireplace
• 2 pots
• 2 dishes
• frying pan
• jar (2 pieces)

The whole set is decorated with some stickers that are easily lost. The complete set of stickers include 3 stickers for the tent, 3 stickers more for each sleeping bag, 2 stickers for each chair and 5 stickers for the dishes, the pots and the frying pan. The stickers that are directly applied over vinyl surfaces are very difficult to keep in good shape, because that vinyl material is flexible and if it’s played enough, they’ll end falling down.

Here are some pictures of the set I took myself. They show Big Jeff (from whom we already spoke here #42) and Big Josh, who is another friend of Big Jim. Among the Big Jim characters, Big Josh is somehow the rude guy, if “rude” can be applied to talk about this toy-line. The looks very much like Big Jim, just with a black beard on his face.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: CAMPING TENT (Ref. 90-8873)
• Alternative Name: ZELT (german)
  
• Toy Line: Big Jim
• Year: 1975
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Size: 33 x 38 x 38 cm or 13'' x 15'' x 15''
  
• Scale: 1:8