#291 GISIMA – CHEVROLET CORVETTE, DODGE STEALTH and VOLVO FH12 TRUCK (Around 1992)

Gisima is a Spanish toy manufacturer based in Ibi (Alicante). The company was founded in the year 1978 by Miguel Juan Gimeno, Emilio Mollá Silvestre, Plácido Martos and a brother of him. The name of the company was taken from the first sillable of each surname: GImeno – SIlvestre – MArtos.

The company manufactured toys from the very beginning, it was not one of those companies whose production derived from plastics or metal to toys, but a toy company from 1978 on. First, they had both plastic and die-cast toys, later they specialized in plastic. Some of their products were: garages and circuits for scale cars, doll houses, construction games and many more, including small toys for promotional purposes.

Something that I find particularly nice, is that the company still exists. In 1998, the name GISIMA was changed to Game Movil S.L. In the present, the only founding partner that remains in the company is Miguel Juan Gimeno together with his new partners José Vicente Juan Aurea and Miguel Dario Juan Aurea (brothers).

Currently, the company is based in Avenida del Juguete nr 17, and their website is: http://www.game-movil.es

As a kid, I remember I had a few die-cast models made by this company. Most cast were similar to casts from other brands. Among their first die-cast cars were cars that were also pencil sharpeners, for example a Renault 5 or a Ford Fiesta I could show some other time. Some people say, these were copied from Guisval, although these are much less detailed and it is difficult to tell if they’re copied from somewhere else or if they are their own casts.

Later, by the mid to late 80s, there were much more models made, from which many of them were again copied from other die-cast manufacturers, most notably Majorette. They were not as well built as other brands, so today it is difficult to find cars in good shape from this years.

And finally, with the turn of the decade, Gisima finally made its own casts, for example these that I am showing here. Many die-cast collectors from Spain and worldwide consider them the ugliest casts ever, because they are pretty different to the models they represent.

The car in this picture is a Chevrolet Corvette in white (the red rearlights were painted by me, they were originally unpainted). This car is missing its stickers, I think I removed them for some reason many years ago.

The boat trailer that appear at the beginning of the article is made in plastic. There were a few of them made, and then set randomly with a car in a larger jewel case.

Each car was available in different colours: red, yellow, blue and white are the most common, although there are also orange, black, light blue, green... cars.

This other car is a Dodge Stealth (or a Mitsubishi 3000GT) also in white with some stickers from “Galletas SIRO” (SIRO cookies). This brand of cookies is based in a village in the province of Palencia and specializes in cookies, baked goods and bread. SIRO was founded in 1991, and they started promoting their products including small toys in their boxes. I remember having some die-cast made by Mira with SIRO stickers I got in a packet of cookies. It seems that later they changed to Gisima. I think SIRO will still appear some other time in this blog…

The last toy vehicle in this entry is a Volvo truck which is similar to a model made by Matchbox. It still has its original stickers, which, as you can see, were very colourful. It even has an opening door at the back.

Something interesting about later models is that the axles are fixed on the outer part of the chassis, instead of inner part. They are placed in two slots, and then these slots are shut with just two points. This method is surely cheaper to implement and surely led to a commercial advantage.Wheels are similar to some in Majorette models.

The peg on the chassis which fixed the cars to some jewel cases in which they were sold is somehow annoying when playing with the cars, but it you step on it, they won’t slide and the axles won’t bend.

I still have some more Gisima models, I expect to show some other time.

UPDATE: My Ferrari Testarossa by Gisima

Definitely not in the best shape, but still has its stickers. Note that the name of the car is misspelled "Testarrosa" with 2 "r" and 1 "s", where it should say "Testarossa". I think I still have another model like this one in a better shape.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: CHEVROLET CORVETTE, DODGE STEALTH and VOLVO FH12 TRUCK
• Scale: Approx. 1:64
• Year: Around 1992
• Company: Gisima (Spain)
• Size: approx. 6,5 cm