#232 MICRO MACHINES – TUFF TRAX COLLECTIONS #1 and #8 (1991)

MICRO MACHINES' MONSTER TRUCKS

Although the first Bigfeet were released as early as 1988, it took a few years until this Tuff Trax collection (together with 4 more) was released.

In 1988, between the “normal” collections, there was the #20: “Super 4x4 Collection”. This comprised 4 cars or vans with big black wheels; this collection in particular was surely one of the most interesting for children, and one of the most sold.

Proof of that is that in 1989, the “Super 4x4” were separated from the normal “Ultrafast” collections, and there were 4 “Super 4x4’s” collections made. The first of them was the same that one year earlier was sold under the Ultrafast #20 name, just the cars were coloured differently. But those were not the only “Monster Trucks” among all new releases; a second series, named “Turbo Wheels” comprised 6 collections of 4 cars each with overdimensioned wheels. The difference was, that these wheels were “slick”, while the wheels of the super 4x4’s were “off road”.

These two collections were re-released with new colours in 1990, but discontinued in 1991, when the Tuff Trax were first released. The new series had soft plastic wheels, which give better grip and were also funnier to drive. There were 8 collections made in 1991 and a few more in 1992. All of them are vans or small trucks and tractors.

In 1991, there were other Bigfoot series, like the “4x4 Crankers”, also with soft plastic wheels and wind-up mechanism, the “4x4 Crushers” that had an electric motor, operated by a small battery, or the “Stunt Maniacs”, which included a powerful motor (pull-back, I think) that pushed the car to make very impressive tricks and acrobatics.

In 1992 there were 3 Tuff Trax collections released, together with two new series “Monster Tredz” and “Spring and Steer”(Crankers, Crushers and Stunt Maniacs were discontinued in 1991).

Back to the Tuff Trax collections, they were reproductions of real cars that could be seen at the “Tuff Trax” TV show by TNT Motorsports. This first collection, for example, included:

- Grave Digger

- Jersey Outlaw

- Clydesdale II

Here's the opening theme of the TV show. Note that the Grave Digger appears at the beginning of the video, and the Clydesdale II by the 0.21 seconds. Cool!

UPDATE: Collection #8 is a bit different, since it comprises three tractors: Mean Mistreator (red), Mission Impossible  (blue) and Ohio Gold (yellow)

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: TUFF TRAX COLLECTIONS #1 and #8
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1991
• Company: Galoob (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 2 cm