#595 AVIVA - THREE SNOOPY VEHICLES (1982)

These are 3 die-cast vehicles (with some plastic parts) from a rather rare toyline of Snoopy, made in 1982 by the Californian toymaker Aviva. The collection had a lot of different vehicles, all of them with plastic figures of Snoopy, Woodstock, Charlie Brown or Lucy. It included many different types of vehicles: from a formula 1 to a train and from a biplane to a fire truck.

I have discovered this brand recently, because to my knowledge, Aviva has not made any "ordinary" scale cars except these. All cars include the copyright on the base, and some people think these toys were made in the 60s... but they were made in 1982 in Hong-Kong.

Toys are numbered with letter C plus a number.

"SNOOPY CAT CATCHER"
AVIVA
SNOOPY CORP (C) 1958, 1966
UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC
MADE IN HONG KONG
No. C 21

"TRAIN WITH CHARLIE BROWN"

SNOOPY CORP (C) 1958, 1966
CHARLIE BROWN CORP (C) 1950
AVIVA
UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC
MADE IN HONG KONG
No. C 17

"SKY BUGGY"
AVIVA
No. C 14
MADE IN HONG KONG
SNOOPY CORP (C) 1958, 1966
UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC





I have been searching information about Aviva, but I have found nothing... If you have some information besides that their name was "Aviva Toy Co." and they were based in N. Hollywood, CA, please don´t hesitate to write a comment.

Another thing I know is that Aviva is a hebrew name, maybe the founder of the company?

UPDATE1 (Nov/2019): I found the pictures of a blister pack, it looks very nice. I am sorry I cannot remember where did I find it. This one does not belong to me, but I use it for complementing the information above.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SKY BUGGY, TRAIN and CAT CATCHER VAN
• Scale: 1:64
• Year: 1982
• Company: Aviva (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#594 TINTOYS/ TIN'S TOYS - TYRRELL P34, HESKETH 308 and LOTUS J.P.S. (Around 1983)

These Hong-Kongese die-cast models are roughly made and are mostly copies of other brands, but I still love them. I once studied the history of the company here (#336), in that article I mention that Tintoys and Tin´s Toys are actually the same brand, although in further discussion with Jose from "Die-Cast Chile", this fact doesn´t seem to be proven.

I have searched for cars packed in Tin´s Toys blister cards, and they are quite rare. The Tintoys packages are somehow more common. I would like to analyse why do I think that both companies are the same. To this extent I´ll use the following pictures that I have borrowed from eBay.

• Blister card: Both have almost the same text on them:
• Logo: Very similar
• Cars: Some models share the same casts (with different reference numbers), some exceptions are, however, known (see die-cast chile).
• Numbering System: Very similar
• Stickers: Identical

Tintoys/Tin´s Toys reproduced very interesting models with unique decorations or customizations. An example to this are the OSI Bisiluro with a motor on top, or the Hesketh 308, with huge exhaust pipes which were not present in the real model. Note also that the Hesketh is also a very very rare model to see in 1:64 scale. Yatming and Polistil, both brands famous for F1 series, also reproduced it.
In this case, I have collected 6 Formula 1 models. I think the Tyrrells were probably sold together, but the other two do not belong to the same pack.

The cars shown in entry #336 were marked with T and a three number digit, but these models are marked W.T. plus a three number digit (this mean they were sold under the Tintoys brand). The variations on the Tyrrell are also a very interesting thing, because to my knowledge, Tintoys released each model in only one colour. Unfortunately, the Tyrrells have been customized by its previous owner, and have some ink marks, that I had not removed yet at the time I photographed them.

W.T. 801
Tyrrell P34
Made in Hong Kong
Color: Dark Red #1, Beige #2, Green #3 and Blue #4
I think this car is based in the RJ series model by Polistil.

W.T. 711
Hesketh 308
Made in Hong Kong
Color: Purple

 

W.T. 408

Lotus J.P.S.

Made in Hong Kong

Color: Black

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TYRRELL P34, HESKETH 308 and LOTUS J.P.S. (Nr. WT 801, WT 711 and WT 408)
• Scale: Approx. 1:64
• Year: Around 1983
• Company: Tintoys/ Tin's Toys (Hong Kong)
• Size: 6 to 7 cm

#593 DINO RIDERS - DEINONYCHUS with SKY (1988)

This dinosaur is the American brother of the Velociraptor: slightly bigger, but very similar to the Asian dinosaur, and also a few million of years older, and thus less evolved. The toy however is the most oversized in the whole series: the real dinosaur was 3 meter long, but only around 1 or 1,5 meter high, so the humans/Valorians are (or should be) higher than the dinosaur. If the scale of the figure and the dinosaur were the same, the dinosaur would be around 3 or 4 meters high.

If we ignore this accuracy detail, the toy is great, since the dinosaur can be hold very comfortably from the tail, the head sculpt is great with all those teeth, and its action feature is also great to play with. When pushing the button over the tail, the dinosaur moves its legs as if it was running. The front legs are also articulated.

In the first wave, there were two deynonichus released, one for the valorians, and another one for the rulons. As usual, the Rulon Deinonychus was armoured heavier that the Rulon one, but the dinosuars were identical except for the colour of the plastic/paintwork. The Valorian dinosaur is much darker than the Rulon one.

The Valorian armour comprises a saddle with two side cannons/guns, and that´s it. Although the box was middle-sized, the contents were rather meager. Dinosaur, 1 piece armour, 1 figure and 1 weapons set. The figure is Sky, a character with one of the 2 classic "wave 1" casts: with dark blue trousers with braces, and blue shirt, one of the darkest colour combinations in a Valorian figure ever (they tend to wear light colours, while Rulons usually wear darker outfits). The figure came with a accesory tree "grey 1", as all the other Valorians from wave 1.

The armour is fixed to the body of the dinosaur by means of a flat and broad rubber band that after so many years has disappear. They tend to dry and break, so it has been replaced by a new one.

Check more Dino-Riders entries here: http://toysfromthepast.blogspot.com/search/label/Dino%20Riders

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: DEYNONYCHUS with SKY
• Toy Line: Dino-Riders (Wave 1)
• Year: 1988
• Company: Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Scale of the dinosaur: 1:24
• Size of the figures: 2½’’ or 6,5 cm

#592 CORGI JUNIORS - CADILLAC ELDORADO (9-B4) and MERCEDES BENZ 280-SL (45-A3) (1970)

 

As we commented in previous entries, Corgi Juniors´ name at the creation of this 1:64 line was Husky. Husky and Corgi are two dog breeds. The logo of Husky was actually the head of one of these dogs. The logo, of course, was changed when Husky changed to Corgi Juniors. You can read more about the history of Corgi toys here.

 

But, focusing now in Corgi Juniors, the first models within this series came in 1970. These two models here are among the first Corgi Juniors models, and were also available as Husky. The thing I wanted to point out of these pictures are the wheels.

As every other die-cast brand manufacturing 1:64 models, Corgi also adapted their low friction "hot wheels". Matchbox had the "Superfast" wheels, and Corgi had the "Whizzwheels". Hot Wheels first introduced this feature in 1968, and was first "copied" by Lone Star in their "Road Masters Impy" Series (1969). Corgi adapted this feature for the first time in 1970, although the design of the wheel was modified later on several times. This first version of the Whizzwheels is maybe not the nicest one, because the design is quite rough. I have to say that Husky versions of these models looked much nicer with rubber wheels and metallic hubcaps.

CADILLAC ELDORADO (9-B4)

MERCEDES BENZ 280.S.L. (45-A3)

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: CADILLAC ELDORADO (9-B4) and MERCEDES BENZ 280-SL (45-A3)
• Scale: 1:64
• Year: 1970
• Company: Corgi Juniors (Great Britain)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#591 MATCHBOX - VARIOUS SUPERFAST MODELS (1970)

A lazy entry with several extremely cool cars from 1970: including real cars, funny cars, prototypes, all mixed up.

N°19e Road Dragster

N°22d Freeman Inter-City Commuter - This car already appeared in this blog HERE.

N°23d Volkswagen Camper

N°29d Racing Mini

N°30d Beach Buggy

N°68c Porsche 910 - In this case, I show the standard versión plus the "Super G.T." based on the same cast. I want to write an entry dealing only with Super G.T.'s so I'll explain more about them some other time. The Super G.T. (number 35/36) is much newer (1985).

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: ROAD DRAGSTER (19e), FREEMAN INTER-CITY COMMUTER (22d), VOLKSWAGEN CAMPER (23d), RACING MINI (29d), BEACH BUGGY (30d) and PORSCHE 910 (68c)
• Scale: Approx. 1:64
• Year: 1970
• Company: Matchbox (Great Britain)
• Size: approx. 8 cm