#525 ZYLMEX – MINIBIKES: BRIDGESTONE 10 SPEED (H381) (Around 1981)

This is a rather particular toy, I had seen some of its kind years ago, but this is the only toy/scale bike I own. I bought it recently for very little money.

The bicycle is made by Zylmex, probably by the early 80s, although I must admit, this is not a very educated guess,

The toy itself is a die-cast bicycle, it is made of many different parts, and the assembly must have been laborious, note that the seat, pedals, handlebars, tyres… are separate parts. Some are made of plastic, but they are only a few and do not affect the sturdiness of the bike.

The most impressive detail are of course the operating pedals that move the rear wheel, that means, the bike chain (which is made of rubber) transmits the movement of the pedals to the wheels, and from the wheels to the pedals. The handles of the handlebars are painted black. Also nice are the few stickers (four pieces) that the bike has.

The box looks great, with a nice desing from the late 70s depicting two cyclists. Each box was “customized” with one sticker according to the model inside the box. The bicycle is firmly fixed in the box by means of a plastic inlay.

There were at least one redesign of the box, that could be even older, since some carry the Zee logo.
The available models in the Minibikes Series by Zylmex were:

• H381 Bridgestone 10 Speed
• H382 Huffy Tradewind
• H383 Royce Union
• H384 Motocross

This series seems to be like a “spin-off” of the Motorbikes Series also by Zylmex, which used the same package design, and that also featured famous motorbikes in 1:24 scale, like Guiloy (see #31 and #103) or Mercury (see #2).

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: BRIDGESTONE 10 SPEED (H381)
• Scale: 1:20
• Year: Around 1981
• Company: Zylmex (Hong-Kong)
• Size: approx. 10 cm