#518 SIKU PLASTIK – FIAT 600 (V49) (Around 1958)

This is my oldest Siku model, and the only one I own made of plastic. It represents a Fiat 600, which is the model that could interest me the most from the whole range, since the Fiat 600 is identical to the Seat 600, and this one is by far the most popular Spanish car.

I found it at a flea market and bought it very cheap, otherwise I guess I would have never bid for it as it usually ends with very high prices.

My model is light blue/grey, but there are also one version in white. It can be that the car was originally light blue, but with the use (mine is not perfect) it turned to grey.

No matter what, I’m really happy with the model, and I will keep it together with other Seat 600 I collected.

Siku Plastik line started in 1954, and was from the beginning a 1:60 scale line of vehicles and accesories. Siku dealt since it's foundation with plastics and produced a great variety of toys and objects for daily life in different plastic componds, so they already mastered the fabrication of small objects in this material when the Plastik line came to life.

The scale choice was something intermediate to the European 1:43 and the 1:90 that at the time was using Wiking (in Germany).

The following year, Sikualready had 55 car models, more than 70 accesories and more than 120 traffic signs. Cars were all common vehicles of the time, most of them German. Year after year the number of models increased. Up to 20 new models each time!

By 1958, Siku Plastik counted more than 100 models, way more than Wiking.

The line was complemented with some Street plans, were you could place all Siku accesories (buildings like shops, garages, schools, stations; small figures, street lamps, traffic signs, traffic lights, trees... Some of these sets were even offered to driving schools, as they include ítems to simulate/explain every possible traffic situation.

For more information, I advice you to buy this book.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FIAT 600 (V49)
• Scale: 1:60
• Year: Around 1958
• Company: Siku (Germany)
• Size: approx. 2’’ or 4,5 cm

#517 PLÁSTICOS DE ALBACETE - CITROËN VISA and RENAULT FUEGO (Around 1986)

Plásticos de Albacete (short PA) is another very small Spanish company that produced toys in the 80s, I have found no information at all in the internet, so I guess that the company produced toys only for a few years, and probably after and before produced other types of plastic goods. Maybe the company operated with other name, although this seems improbable, since it is very difficult to find a less commercial brand than "Plásticos de Albacete" (“Plastics from Albacete”, which is a city in central Spain).

The only toys known are a few different series (=different scales) of plastic cars with friction motor.

In this series, the scale is approximately 1:32. There were only a few models made: a Renault Fuego, a Citroën Visa, a Fiat/Seat Panda and a Simca/Talbot Horizon. These cars were made is several bright colours: red, blue, yellow, white and green.

Other series include cars in bigger scale and better quality. Another series in approximately 1:20 reproduced several cars like the Renault 5, the Fiat/Seat 600, the Fiat/Seat 850 or the Fiat/Seat 127... All were very popular cars before the 90s. These were made of one piece of plastic, but before, maybe in the last 70s, there were another series made with much more quality, including cars like the Ford Fiesta, the Fiat/Seat 124 or the Chrysler 150.

The intermediate scale series was very similar to other series made by Fundiplast, like for example the Renault 5 shown in #237.

PA always reproduced popular cars that were sold in Spain those years, some with nice "fire brigade", "police", "ambulance" or other attractive decorations.

 

There were at least two issues of these cars. The older of these two included plastic hubcaps (a separate piece, glued to the wheel), while in older versions, the wheels had a new cast in which the hubcap was simply carved on them. Here's a pic for comparison: the yellow model is one toy a keep from my childhood days, and which originally had winshield and windows. The blue model was bought in a flea market in Austria. I guess it had a great history to tell if it could talk, about how it crossed half Europe.

In the last picture, you can see one of the cardboard showcases with all four models and in all four colours.

Picture: todocoleccion.net, seller: Alfreedom.

You can see much more pictures of toys made by Plásticos de Albacete here (a must for plastic toys/cars collectors): http://miniaturas70.jimdo.com/plásticos-albacete/

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: CITROËN VISA and RENAULT FUEGO
• Year: Around 1986
• Company: PLÁSTICOS DE ALBACETE (Spain)
• Size: Around 10 cm.
• Scale: Around 1:32

#516 JUGUETES CON HISTORIA (MOISÉS BERNABÉU IBÁÑEZ)

These DVDs are a new initiative started by Mr. Moisés Bernabeu from Ibi. Instead of writing a book, he probably decided, that he wanted to show many pictures and it would be better if he could make a film, or more accurately, a 12-hour tribute to the city of Ibi and its toy companies; 12 hours of pictures and videos with interesting comments.
 

Mr. Bernabeu, as most people in Ibi, has some connections with the toy industry, and being Ibi a relatively small village, he has spoken with people from every toy company in Ibi, present or past, and with this first-hand information he has elaborated a history of each of these companies, and has collected a lot of photographic, never seen before, material, and has cooperated with the local toy museum, and other collectors.
 

As said in the beginning, the project is completely private. Mr. Bernabeu has done his best, but the result is still not 100% professional. This does not interfere with the quality of the product, or the information given or the pleasure of watching the DVDs.
 

The set comprises 3 dvds, the first one being a general introduction to Ibi, its history (up to 2013) and its toy museum, while the other two talk about each and every company, from Payá to Fly (Slot Cars). The companies are ordered by its year of foundation in 5 categories/periods, and each period has again an introduction to those years. The DVD menus are intuitive, and the cardboard cover is really nice designed.
 

The 3 DVD set costs 20 Euros plus shipping costs, which is a really low price. For all of you interested in the Spanish toy industry from the 1890s to today. It is an alternative to more expensive books.

You can find them here: http://www.juguetesconhistoria.es/

 

#515 EDOCAR – BUICK LESARRE STOCK CAR (Nr. 14), CHEVROLET’57 (Nr. 17), JAGUAR XJ-S V12 (Nr. 28) and PORSCHE 365A (Nr. 33) (1986 and 1990)

Here are my four Edocar models. These are all I own. They are quite rare (at least were I lived) and I cannot remember where my father bought them for me.

In any case, Edocar was trademark property of two companies: Edor Benelux NL BV and Fred Beherr BV that offered die-cast models between 1986 and 2007. They did not manufacture the models themselves, but bought to other Asian companies and sold them in Europe under their own brand.

According to Wikipedia, Edocar was the distributor of Matchbox-Lesney toys until 1985, and from 1986, they changed to distribute several Asian brands in Europe. Why, we don’t know.

The most important supplier of miniatures was MC Toy (later Maisto), but other companies also produced toys for Edocar: Yat Ming (mostly in the very early years), Hartoy, Real Toy, Tiger Wheels and Golden Wheels (all these in the later years). Apparently, there is only one model designed and produced exclusively by Edocar, and it is a Lancia 037 Rally.

Three out of four models shown here are actually early models, from the first series that Edocar marketed, at that was called Edocar Mini Series (short EM Series). The EM-Series comprised 50 models, numbered 1 to 50. Mine are numbers 14, 17 and 28. Numbers 14 and 28 are original MC Toy/ Maisto models, and they are marked “Macau” in the (plastic) baseplate, while number 17 is a Yat Ming manufacture, is marked “Hong Kong” and the baseplate is metallic.

The fourth model is also early, but a few years newer. It has a copyright from 1990, and it is also a MC Toy cast.

It is important to mention that Edocar models were made in exclusive colours, different to their Asian counterparts. For example, that Porsche made by MC Toy was metallic grey, while for Edocar, it was made in red.

But that was not their only series. Also from those first years, are the EA (Edocar Ancient, in 1:43 Scale), EC (Edocar-Color, with temperature-changing paint). This are actually lines from MC Toy, as I explained in entry #391. In that same entry I already showed the same Porsche 365A (Nr. 33).

Other lines were EB (with pull-back motors), AK (Alfred J. Kwack-Series), AS (Alarm-Series), TP (Trailer-Pack), ST (Super-Trailer), GS (Gift-Set), VC (Vehicle-Collection), AC (Accessories) and CC or CM (Coca-Cola).

In 1999, the series range was expanded with several new ones, and the numbering system was also changed.

In 1999, Edocar models were available in 13 European countries, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Edor Benelux NL BV declared insolvency in 2007, but there was a last batch of cars models that reached the markets distributed by Loyal Bright from Hong Kong.

*The name "Buick Lesarre" is actually a spelling error on the plastic base, it should say "Buick LeSabre".

UPDATE: I bought on May 2015 one more Edocar model, although this one is much more modern, probably from the early 2000s or maybe late 90s. It has reference number 0124-5, but I don't know exactly which model it is, some kind of big van with the Sheriff star on the doors and blue sirens. Cool model.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: BUICK LESARRE STOCK CAR (Nr. 14), CHEVROLET’57 (Nr. 17), JAGUAR XJ-S V12 (Nr. 28) and PORSCHE 365A (Nr. 33)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1986 and 1990
• Company: Edocar (Netherlands) / MC Toy, Maisto (Macau, China) / Yat Ming (Hong-Kong)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm

#514 M.A.S.K. – IGUANA with LESTER SLEDGE/ MUD SLINGER (1987)

The Iguana is probably the most common M.A.S.K. vehicle, I have seen it hundreds of times for sale and it is always relatively cheap. The M.A.S.K. toyline was in 1987 maybe most popular as any other time and this vehicle was one of the smaller boxes available. I can guess it was one of the best-selling vehicles in the 3rd series, whose main theme was racing. I have never seen quad races, but who cares?

The vehicle is quite sturdy, and has a very big size compared to the figure, I would say it is most suitable for a figure in the size of a G.I.Joe: ARAH, that’s 3¾ inches instead of 2 inches. If we skip this detail, the toy is great, it has gum tires (and great grip), and the transformation is simple and nice. The front size reveals a sawblade and the back part another one, although the really impressive one is the one in the front.

The quad or 4-Wheel ATV is made in black and red, and was originally decorated with some stickers. I think mine was never applied any, otherwise there might be rests of glue.

The vehicle belongs to the terror organization V.E.N.O.M. and its driver is Lester Sledge. The figure itself is quite dark, only the red hair brings a bit of colour to it. The mask’s name is Mud Slinger and pretends to fling mud. The masks in this Kenner colletion tend to have functions that are not violent, or that do not kill other people, in order to relax a little bit the violent component of the game, and be accepted more easily in Central European markets, and maybe also a way to make some distance between them and other competitors from the late 80s.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: IGUANA with LESTER SLEDGE/ MUD SLINGER
• Toy Line: M.A.S.K. (Wave 3)
• Year: 1987
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the vehicle: 5’’ or 13 cm
• Size of the figures: 2½’’ or 6,5 cm

#513 MC TOY – VARIOUS MERCEDES MODELS (1984, 1986, 1990)

I will show today four Mercedes-Benz models by MC Toy, three of them different. MC Toy also produced other Mercedes models, like a Van (307D), the famous 500 SEC or some CLK (never seen these ones by MC Toy, but from Maisto).

Ref. 8452 – Mercedes 500 SL (in gold or white with black roof)
In the white model the rear-lights in red are not original. The car has been customized.

Ref. 8615 – Benz 500 SL (burgundy red)

Ref. 9011 – Benz 260 SEL (dark blue)

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MERCEDES-BENZ 500 SL (Ref. 8452), MERCEDES-BENZ 260 SEL (Ref. 8615) and MERCEDES BENZ 500 SL (90s model) (Ref. 9011)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: The two first digits in the reference number indicates the year of design and manufacture, so: 1984, 1986 and 1990.
• Company: MC Toy (U.S.A./ Macau)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm