Toys from the Past: #177 SCALEXTRIC - BUGATTI EB-110 “IMSA” and PORSCHE 911 GT2 “LE MANS” (Ref. 8321 and 8331) (1997)

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

#177 SCALEXTRIC - BUGATTI EB-110 “IMSA” and PORSCHE 911 GT2 “LE MANS” (Ref. 8321 and 8331) (1997)

LAST SCALEXTRIC CARS PRODUCED BY TYCO

[continues from #176]

In 1997 Tyco produces the last models before leaving the company in the hands of Tecnitoys. In this last year, Tyco released a few cars, most of them re-issues of cars between 1994 and 1996. For example, the Bugatti in this entry was originally released in 1995. There was however a new cast, and this was the Porsche 911 GT2.

Price Tag in Porsche 911 GT2

Multilingual Scalextric instructions (4 pages)

The Porsche 911 GT2 was released in two decorations: “Le Mans” (white, this one) and “Chereau” (metallic gray). This cast was never reused, unlike the great majority of Tyco casts, that were reused at least once by Tecnitoys. Maybe it was not good enough? Or the cast got lost, or damaged?

Note that the Porsche is priced in 2995 pesetas (almost 18,00 Euros), which was the usual price for an Scalextric car in 1997. As said in the previous entry, models that didn’t sold, were sold off a few years later at a lower price. Tecnitoys models were better done, and nobody would buy a Tyco model if they could acquire a Tecnitoys model at more or less the same price.

This Porsche 911 GT2 “Le Mans” was bought a few years ago through eBay from a seller in the U.K. I decided to buy it, since it is a rarely seen model, and it came in the Spanish box. The instructions however were multi-language.

Note how beautiful the decals are.

The Bugatti came with also in a Spanish box, with Spanish instructions and a card to join the Scalextric club. It is made in white with a shiny-pearl effect, a little bit like “Princess of Power” creatures or Ice-Man from the Secret Wars line, and the body is extremely thin.