#353 GOOD TIMES - KULT! Nr. 9 (1/2014)

I just bought and read the new issue of Good Times: Kult! magazine, and it was one of the most interesting issues so far. I was a bit disappointed with the last number (which wasn´t even reviewed in this blog), because there was not even a single article on toys. Well, for this number (it is already number 9), there are plenty of articles about toys: the first one deals with Matchbox´s Superfast series, the second one about the German construction game "Fischertechnik" (some kind of Lego Technic from the 60s and 70s) and if that was not enough, there´s also an article about the cult football game "Tipp-Kick", which is now gaining popularity again. I have never played it, but I had the chance to see people playing it, and it looks real fun. This game also plays an important role in the German movie "Aus der Tiefe des Raumes... mitten ins Netz!".

Toys are not the topic of the article dedicated to Captain Future, but there are a couple of lines about this rare figures from the 80s.

In other categories, there are articles about Porsche 911, and the usual mixture from movies, music, television, books and comic books, food... plus some other articles which do not fit in any of the previous categories.

Something new from this number is that it comes with a dvd which is a German Sci-Fi Pulp magazines catalogue, which were very popular between the 40s and the 80s. I think there are many collectors in Germany who search for these "Hefte" and collect their favorite series (some series can have thousands of issues!). The cover art is always great, so it is nice to see all those illustrations (Perry Rhodan, for example).

#352 NOREV MINI JET – VOLVO F89 TRUCK (1982)

This entry expands previous articles about Norev Mini Jets. This time I am showing a Volvo F-89 truck, in different versions.

Note also that there are two different casts of the truck which differ only in the front. One seems to be older than the other one. Maybe the cast was modified to make the new truck look more modern. The chassis plastic part is the same in both models except for one little detail. Can you find it? The “older” cast models have grey plastic chassis while the “modern” cast models have black plastic chassis. Note that grey and black chassis have the two tanks in opposite sides: one is cylindrical and the other one is a rectangular prism.

Another difference is that some trucks have a siren, other don’t.

TWO DIFFERENT FREIGHT TRUCKS:

To my knowledge, Norev made only two trucks (vans and pickups apart) for the Mini Jet series: this Volvo and a Renault. Since both are very generic models, they were used with many different plastic attachments behind the cabin, from which I am showing only four of them: freight (2 different), waste disposal truck and chemicals tanker.

One of the freights has one small door on the right side, while the other one doesn’t have it. Maybe this second version was made like this so they could more easily attach a sticker on it.

CHEMICAL TANKER (plus another Freight Truck)

WASTE DISPOSAL TRUCK:

UPDATE 1 (May/2017) TANKER

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: VOLVO F.89 (Nr. 433-436, 440-443)
• Scale: Approx 1:100
• Year: 1982
• Company: Norev (France)
• Size: 7 cms

#351 PIATNIK vs. BIELEFELDER SPIELKARTEN – MOTORRAD WM WELTMEISTERSCHAFT (Nr 4233 and 0284) (1978 and 1975)

These two quartet decks were made in 1973 and 1975 respectively and deal with exactly the same topic: World Championships in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing.

That époque was dominated by Giacomo Agostini in 500cc and 350cc and by Ángel Nieto in 125cc and 50cc. The Italian pilot was 15 times world champion and the Spaniard was 13 times world champion. At that time it was allowed to participate in different categories at the same time, I guess nowadays it is impossible to reach such a number of world championships.

Agostinis and Read cards - Note Agostini was still "only" 14 times World Champion. He would win again in 1975.

Ángel Nieto with Derbi and Bultaco cards

Piatnik is a cardmaker from Austria, and Austria was never a great power in this sport. Germany has had more World Champions, but it is still far from the first positions in this rank. Precisely in the early 70s, the German pilot Dieter Braun was World Champion (1970 in 125cc and 1973 in 250cc), so this might have been one reason why Bielefelder Spielkarten wanted to have such a deck in their catalogue. Or maybe it is just motorcycle racing is attractive for children.

Piatnik focused in Austrian Pilots (W. Schmied, H. Bartol, K. Auer, M. Wiener). Yugolasvian motorcycles Tomos were also present in this deck (pilot: A. Bernetic)

Many pilots appear in both decks, although Piatnik focuses in Austrian pilots, while Bielefelder Spielkarten chose more German pilots, including some from the National German Championships, and also from the motorcycle with sidecar World Championships (where Germany is the leading country in number of championships, won between 1954 and 1964 and also between 1967 and 1976).

Here are the pictures of the Piatnik set:

Piatnik's set includes two extra cards,called "Supertrumpfkarten". They are played on their backs (not their faces) and win any trick. Although it doesn't add much to the game, and some people decided not to use them, so in sets with this feature, the extra cards are sometimes missing.

These are the two "Supertrumpfs" included in this set.

And here are the pictures of the Bielefelder Spielkarten/Joker set:

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MOTORRAD-WM (Nr 4233) and MOTORRADWELTMEISTERSCHAFT (Nr 0284)
• Year: 1978 and 1975
• Company: Piatnik (Austria), Bielefelder Spielkarten/Joker (Germany)

#350 PLAYTOY – OLD CARS (Ref. 501) (Around 1977)

Playtoy S.A. is another toymaker no one seems to have heard about. A quick search on the internet gives away only a few toys for sale made by this company, but nothing more.

Nevertheless, I have found a document that tells us a couple of things about the company. First is that the company had its headquarters in Valencia. More exactly in Pasage Dr. Bartual Moret, Nr.7. This is quite a central location in the city, so they probably manufactured somewhere else, or another company manufactured for them.

They registered some patents between the end of 1976 and the first months of 1977, most of them small plastic toys that simulated some sport, like basketball, volleyball, or baseball. Some of them were very simple, for example, the football game was actually a small pitch with a marble, and on each side (pinball) flippers to try to score in the opposite goal. It was played with a marble. This kind of toys was a precursor of the pocket sport games released a few years later by Obertoys. The patents are signed by Bernardo Ungría Goiburu, a famous patent attorney from Madrid, who also worked for Guisval and many other toy companies, both Spanish and foreign.

Since most patents date from those two years, I would date my toy also around 1977, although it might be newer than that, and was probably sold during many consecutive years.

Another toy types included animals with some kind of mechanism (friction, magnets), and this cars with a wind-up motor. At the time Wind-up toys with removable keys were extremely rare, probably one of the last toys with this mechanism ever sold in Spain.

The Old Car toys were a series of 6 models, from which I own one of them. They have references 501 to 506, mine is reference 501. Front wheels are practicable, and can be oriented in either left or right direction. The base is made of tin, but the main parts of the body are made of plastic, including a chromed front grill.

A nice piece from a curious and rare manufacturer. The box is a small piece of art with the car and the orange cloud behind, a bit in the style of the 60s.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: OLD CAR (REF. 501)
• Year: Around 1977
• Company: Playtoy S.A. (Spain)
• Size: approx. 9 cm

#349 ELASTOLIN – MEDIEVAL KNIGHTS (Around 1960)

[this is the second part of an article that starts HERE]

The production of composite figures after World War II was oriented to armies and soldiers, although these were pretty different from those manufactured before WWII. Before, the armies were mostly German soldiers (from the IIIrd Reich) and after, the image of the nazi regime had to be somehow hidden. The new figures represented the neutral Swiss forces or the US Army.

A few years later, also came in production soldiers from Germany and Austria, as these countries were allowed to form military forces again.

 Medieval spearmen

In 1955, Hausser decides to broad their product lines, producing now figures form ancient times, like Romans, Huns, Vikings, Normans, Turk from the 17th century and Landsknechte (german mercenary soldiers from the 16th century). Elastolin also produced some figures from the comic strip “Prince Valiant”. I think there were 4 different figures made, but I don’t know the names of the characters.

 Prince Valiant

Also Medieval Knights, Cowboys and Indians, and more German soldiers from the present times. Hausser also had a license to manufacture the characters from Karl May’s novels, and his most famous characters Winnetou and Old Surehand.

Not to forget are the great scale accessories like horses, catapults, artillery, fences, Indian totems, plants and trees…

 Maceman and 3 different Swordmen

The two most common sizes are 4 and 7 cms. The figures shown in this entry and the previous one are 4 centimeter high, and were presumably manufactured between 1955 and 1969, So I will date them around 1960.

Again, I'll put some pictures from a Lego diorama I prepared some time ago. Hope you like them:

 

 

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: Various Medieval knights
• Year: Around 1960
• Company: Elastolín (a.k.a. Hausser) (Germany)
• Size of the figures: 4 cm

BONUS:

I found this figures in some kind of "private" flea market, and they were sold inside of a "Nivea Creme" can, I include pictures of this can (which is in perfect shape), as well as pictures of other things I found on it, although they're not toys.

This is a bracelet, seems to be as old as the figures

And finally, this nice signal made of cardboard: "Hier droht Gefahr! Beseitige Sie!" (something like: "Danger menaces here! Go away from here", freely translated).