#705 DINO RIDERS FIGURE 2-PACKS from WAVE 1 (II) (1988)

In this entry I will put pictures of each set "loose".

 

If you pay attention to the figures and you are familiar with the other figures that were sold together with each dinosaur, you´ll recognise, that all these 16 figures are repaints of already existing figures (Rulons from wave 1 are in fact, all the same, only with one out of three different heads).

 

 

Each pack included one Valorian and one Rulon figure. 13 of them are new characters, only Krulos, Questar and Mind-Zei could be considered as a "v2", that is, the original characters where included with the T-Rex and Diplodocus respectively. So if you bought these packs, you may had two Questars and two Mind-Zeis or two Krulos. The same will happen in the second wave of double pack figures, as we will explain some day.

 

Maybe this is intended, being the T-Rex and the Diplodocus expensive toys, children could still enjoy the most important characters without having to buy the big boxes, but if I were the designer, I would have packed Questar and Krulos with middle-size dinosaurs, as M.A.S.K. for example (to take a similar scale reference) did with Matt Trakker in the Thunderbird. They didn´t pack Matt Trakker with Boulder Hill, otherwise, very few children would have had this figure in wave 1.

 

All figures from the blister packs have either silver colours (for the Valorians) or golden colours (for the Rulons), and this paint is quite fragile. Only MOC samples are still really bright and good-looking. From many action figures toylines, we know that these two colours in particular suffer paint loss and decoloration over time. Maybe they are sensible to hand sweat, or maybe they are damaged easily by sunlight, the fact is that silver and gold are often gone. Gold, by the way, turns into a a more solid brown, and then to a greenish brown. Be careful when buying these figures loose!

  

Questar + Krulos (I have the mask of Krulos, but I got it recently, after I took theh pictures)

 

 

Mind Zei + Fire

 

Proto + Rattlar

 

Orion + Six-Gill

 

Nova + Demon

 

Mercury + Fang

 

Quark + Finn

 

Boldar + Termite

 

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: QUESTAR and KRULOS, MIND-ZEI and FIRE, PROTO and RATTLAR, ORION and SIX-GILL, BOLDAR and TERMITE, NOVA and DEMON, MERCURY and FANG and QUARK and FINN
• Toy Line: Dino-Riders (Wave 1)
• Year: 1988
• Company: Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 2½’’ or 6,5 cm

#704 DINO RIDERS FIGURE 2-PACKS from WAVE 1 (I) (1988)

The main product Tyco wanted to sell from the Dino Riders toyline were of course the dinosaurs with their armour, accesories and so on, but these were complemented with a series of small blisters with one or two figures in them each.

Today (and tomorow) I will present the first eight 2-figure packs (16 figures) released in the first wave (1988).

For the second wave, Tyco released again 8 double packs (16 figures more), but also 6 different packs available with one figure and several accesories each. These are known as "Commandos" and are very hard to find nowadays. The third wave brought no new double packs, the same blisterpacks from wave 2 were sold during this short wave, but for the third wave (the wave with "Ice Age" references), 6 new double packs were released, 4 of which included 1 cavemen and 1 Rulon, the other two 1 Valorian and 1 Rulon. These will be discussed some other time. I want to let some time pass, because I do not have many of them, and meanwhile I may buy or find more.

So, back to the first wave of figure blisterpacks, there were 8 sets available. They were available in different regional versions: Tyco, Comansi (for Spain), Siso (for Germany)... but all of them had the same impressive T-Rex artwork. The Siso card is the same one from Tyco (in English) but with Siso stickers applied over the Tyco logo. In the backcard, where the collectable proof of purchase was, Siso put a sticker with the legal stuff: "Ages 5 and up", the CE stamp, importer data...

Comansi instead made cards in Spanish, translating every text in the front and back cards, but removed the proof of purchase.

Interestingly, some international blistercards are actually tyco blistercards with a sticker of the local toy distributor over the Tyco logo. The names of the figures are printed on stickers that are attached to the blister. Curiously, character names in these stickers differ from one country to the other, so I will use the original English names for all figures. Note also that many Valorian names are based on astronomy (planet, stars) and atomic (particles) concepts, while Rulon names somehow refer to the character race: Snakemen are called Rattlar and Fang, Sharkmen are called Six-Gill and Finn and one of the Antmen is called Termite (the other two are Fire and Demon, somehow two "subterranean" concepts).

Questar + Krulos

Mind Zei + Fire

Proto + Rattlar

Orion + Six-Gill

Boldar + Termite

Nova + Demon

Mercury + Fang

Quark + Finn

I have a few of these blisters still MOC in their Comansi versions, plus one in Tyco card (see above), and one Siso card, but since this collection is almost impossible to be completed MISB and MOC for a rational amount of money, I do not seek or try to get MISB or MOC items, I am only interested in loose items unless there is a great opportunity to get something for very little money.

These figures were advertised in the comic book together with the dinosaurs (in really small size), and also in the backcard of each blisterpack.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: QUESTAR and KRULOS, MIND-ZEI and FIRE, PROTO and RATTLAR, ORION and SIX-GILL, BOLDAR and TERMITE, NOVA and DEMON, MERCURY and FANG and QUARK and FINN
• Toy Line: Dino-Riders (Wave 1)
• Year: 1988
• Company: Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 2½’’ or 6,5 cm

#703 KATALOG SPIELZEUG AUS DEM ÜEI (FANTASIA VERLAG)

 
This is the second catalogue for Kinder Surprise Toys I buy. I already presented one in entry #181, but since I have a few friends interested in these small toys, I bought a second one and I will buy more, when I find them for 1 or 2 Euros at a flea market. I don't care if its 10 or more years old.

In this case it is a compact edition, small, with thin paper (almost 1300 pages) and listings of more than 15.500 toys. These are sorted by type (Figures, Puzzles, Cars...) and then within in each categorie, by year. Unfortunately, this book does only include Ferrero's Kinder Surprise toys, while the previous guide I owned also included other brands like Nestlé, Bo Frost and more.

Something new about this guide is that it includes a chapter on fake toys. As you know some of these toys are very expensive, so after so many years of collecting, fake pieces have appeared here and there, but in this guide you will find some guidelines to prove the authenticity of the toys yourself. Another good point is that the guide is edited in German, English, French and Italian, so more people have access to the text which is written on it. A last thing I'd like to point out, is that comparing this guide to the other one from the year 2000, I have noticed severe price fluctuations. I don't know what can be the cause of this, but prices may vary from 50% less to 100% more.

#702 TOMICA – OHARA SNOW TIGER, CITROEN H TRUCK and LOTUS 79 FORD (Nr. 84, F17 and F36) (1978 and 1979)

I am running out of Tomica models to show, the next three do not have anything in common, they are three completely different vehicles: A snow vehicle, a transport van and a Formula 1.

They date from more or less the same age, I got them when I was maybe 6, and I have kept ever since. The Snow Tiger caterpillars have sadly dried and are broke, an as far as I know, there are no replacement for that. I loved it as a kid, it looks great in red, I wish I had seen a real one in the snow at least once.

Ohara Snow Tiger SM30 Nr. 84, Scale 1:78 © 1978

This Citroen van is quite an icon of the French carmaker and also an icon of France itself. I love this truck, that has not been made in this scale by any other toy manufacturer I know of (at least on the old days). It is made in a bright blue colour. It has practicable doors on the rear part.

Citroën H Truck Nr. F17 Scale 1:71 © 1979

And the third model today is a great formula one from the latest 70s. The black "John Player Special" decoration is really impressive, and the car driven by Mario Andretti from the U.S. (with race number 5) was also World Champion in 1978. That´s why the car became so famous that year. The year after that, the car was not so competitive.

Lotus 79 Ford F36 Scale 1:59 © 1978

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: OHARA SNOW TIGER, CITROEN H TRUCK and LOTUS 79 FORD
• Scale: 1:78, 1:71 and 1:59 respectively
• Year: 1978, 1979 and 1978, respectively
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 5-6 cm

#701 POLISTIL – BETONIERA PERLINI (J24) and CAMION FS CON CASONE (RJ126) (1973 and 1976)

When I go to flea markets, and I see a lot of scale cars, I do not turn each of them to look for the maker, model and so on. With the years, I learn how to recognise most models just by looking at them from above.

The cement mixer presented in this entry caught my attention immediately. I had never seen it before, and despite its cheap-looking aspect, I took it and found it was a Polistil. Note that the main part of this truck is an unpainted piece of metal, to which the four wheels and two pieces of plastic are attached. It has no interior (the interior is casted in the main part) and it was surely cheap to produce.

The second model (Camione Fuoristrada con Casone) presented today has the same type of wheels, but it is made completely in metal, and still share some characteristics with the first one: the main piece of unpainted metal (including the interior), and this time two more red pieces (this time both metallic). Other versions of this model came with plastic parts.

The numbers of these vehicles are N.J26 and RJ.126. Interestingly, the J numbers belong to the Y-Series, like other Polistil models I presented in entry #411, and which are also budget toys.

Apparently the Y-Series is older. It started in 1972, models between J20 and J121 are from 1973 onwards, the series was cancelled in 1976 and substituted by the RJ-Series. I have seen the Unimog both with metal and plastic cockpit, so in 1976, the model was updated to be more durable and also to look better. I guess the plastic models should be very difficult to find nowadays, those plastic parts look really fragile.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: BETONIERA PERLINI and CAMION FUORISTRADA CON CASONE (J24 and RJ126)
• Scale: 1:100 and 1:60 approximately
• Year: 1973 and 1976 respectively
• Company: Polistil (Italy)
• Size: approx. 5 cm

#700 FILMATION GHOSTBUSTERS - FUTURA and FIB FACE (1986)

 

I recently got this two great blistercards: Futura and Fib Face from the Filmation's Ghostbusters toyline. They are my first MOC/MISB ítems so I can comment a bit the packaging. Note that the cards are in Spanish. As you probably know, these figures were distributed by Comansi in Spain, who at the time had brought several Tyco products to the Spanish market with more or less success.

 

Comansi also owns Yolanda, so the deal included the license or the rights to produce this same characters in plastic figure format. These are very common nowadays and are found almost constantly in eBay and similar sites. Some look very similar to the Schaper/Tyco figures and sometimes it takes me a few second to find out if the auction is for one action figure or a plastic one.

 

Back to the package, it is a classic blístercard in dark blue/white (representing a stormy sky at dawn) that came in two designs: the card for the good characters has the three main characters (Jake, Spenser and Tracy) while the card of the evil forces have Prime Evil with Scared Stiff and Brat-a-Rat. The illustrations are quite cool in my opinion.

 

The figure is placed in the left lower corner in a transparent bubble and includes a comic book with a short adventure of the toy characters. The comic is very colourful and nice, similar to the one made for Dino-Riders.

 

Some figures came with accesories, like Futura, that cames with a blue helmet. In this case, the accesories came in the same bubble, but separated from the figure, except for Prime Evil, whose accesory is a cloak, and came over his head.

 

 

The backcard present all 13 characters in two groups, and includes a few lines to introduce the story. Not very good, but at least you could see the other figures and think which one would you like to buy next.

 

Something interesting about this line is that out of 13 figures, 3 are women, which is not a bad percentage for an action figure toyline.

 

The two figures presented here are Futura, a character I like and that is one of the coolest figures in the series. The second figure is Fib Face, one of the evil guys and one of the figures that usually have less supporters. The colours are simple and that is probably what most people dislike about it, but nevertheless I think it is not bad at all.

 

Read other Filmation Ghostbusters entries HERE.

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Futura and Fib Face
• Alternative Names: Dos Caras (Spain)
• Toy Line: Filmation Ghostbusters
• Year: 1986
• Company: Schaper, Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figure: 15 cm.

#699 FX SCHMID – WAFFEN DES WILDEN WESTENS (Nr.621 22) (1978)

I couldn’t resist buying this set... not that I like guns, but it is one of the most interesting and rare quartets I have seen in my life. This topic does not seem the most appropriate for children today, although we must think it was made in 1978. At the time western movies were very popular, as well as western pulp literature and comics, so maybe it was not such a bad idea to have this quartet released.

Anyway, it is a really beautiful set of cards: 32 guns and rifles made in the 19th century depicted with some accesories. The information we can compare are the year in which it was built, the weight, the caliber of the bullets, the form of the barrel and the shooting range.

Note that the cover car is marked „Hobby Trumpf“. I do not know exactly if this is supposed to mark a series of Schmid quartetts or if it is some kind of sign to indicate it is oriented towards an adult collector. I am not familiar with Schmid quartetts, and much less with such old ones.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: WAFFEN DES WILDEN WESTENS (Nr.621 22)
• Year: 1978
• Company: FX Schmid (Germany)

#698 BBURAGO – LAND ROVER, PEUGEOT 405 and SUZUKI VITARA (1992)

I have still a few Bburagos in 1:43 scale to show. Here are three that have a few things in common. First is that they are 4x4 vehicles, two of them are prepared to run rallies or raids and the third is decorated as an utilitarian. Another thing they have in common is that all three were released (at least with these decorations) in 1992, and that is already a long time ago… 24 years.

As always, I checked www.bburago.info to find all the information related to these cars. This is what I found:

Suzuki Vitara – ref. 0534 – 1992-2004

 

Land Rover – ref. 0450 – 1992-1995

Peugeot 405 – ref. 0519 – 1992-2006

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: LAND ROVER, PEUGEOT 405 and SUZUKI VITARA
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1992
• Company: Bburago (Italy)
• Size: approx. 9 cm