#738 COMANBOYS - EXPERTO DEL FAR-WEST (Ref. 630) and COMANDO DEL ESPACIO (Ref. 810)

Comanboys was another Kubrick figure made after the success of Playmobil in Spain (originally called Famobil for their ditributor Famosa). They are not a knock-off because they are more or less three quarters the size, and the design has several diferences. I have four figures, two loose ones and two new in blister.

The figure was invented by José María Verges and patented in February 1978. You can find the patent of this figure including a nice illustration of the “inside” of the figure in the following page:
http://www.famobil.ekiwi.es/grandes/coman%20boys%20patente.pdf

Today I am presenting two blister packs, which are quite common. I have seen many units of these in the last years, so I guess somebody found a big lot of hundreds of units and is selling everything slowly. I got mine for very little money. The blister packs belong to the two most popular series by the end of life of this toyline: western and space. The Western line was available, at least, since the late 70s, but these blisters are from the late 80s, when the space series came out.

The nice thing about my blisters is that one of then is a factory error and includes the wrong figure. Maybe you noticed it in the first picture. The Western blister should include a cowboy or an indian, but instead it has an astronaut inside. Both astronauts are identical except for the colour of their limbs and helmet and for the red sticker in their chests. The accessories are also different.

The card artwork is very interesting. Both the colours and the main theme with the block letters are very wel chosen. The far-west blistercard has a picture with many figures, including a train, a fort and many figures with and without horses. Really impressive diorama. The back of the far-west card is more boring, with just a few advertising tricks: “very cool!”, “more beautiful”, “smaller, “more movements”, “more accessories”, “funnier”, “to play more and better”, together with the Comansi slogan: “Juguete Completo, Juguete Comansi”.

The back card of the space blister is a picture of a big playset made in cardboard. The diorama, again, is great, and notice the small figures on the ground… that tower must have been very big. Notice also that there were some vehicles and bigger accesories available. Some of the space figures were very inteesting robots in the 70s style... even though they were made already in the 80s.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: COMANBOYS – EXPERTO DEL FAR-WEST (Ref. 630) and COMANDO DEL ESPACIO (Ref. 810) (although Ref. 630 is a FACTORY ERROR)
• Toy Line: Comanboys
• Year: 1988
• Company: Comansi (Spain)
• Size of the figures: Approx. 5 cm

#737 MAJORETTE - BMW TURBO, BERTONE CAMARGUE, SAVIEM GRUE, MORGAN PLUS 8 and EXCALIBUR (217, 221, 228, 261 and 267) (1979, 1980 and 1981)

This is a lot of 5 cars I bought from another collector. They are from 1979 to 1981 and still in their sealed blister packs "neuf sous blister".

Nr. 217 - BMW TURBO (decoration 1979-1981)
I won’t stop in explaining anything about this car, since you have an entry exclusively dedicated to it in this blog. Please visit entry #438.

Nr. 221 - BERTONE CAMARGUE (decoration 1980)
This decoration from 1980 is one of the most curious by majorette. There are many Majorette models with advertising tampographies within the „ordinary“ 200 or 300 series, but most of them are trucks or vans. In this case it is a Citroën GS Camargue in white, with Holiday Inn logos in green. Curious choice.

In the catalogue of 1981 we find the last appearance of this car, but this time in blue and white with „RACING“ tampographies.

But before 1980, this model was issued several times. In the catalogues from 1974 and 1975, it is not photographed, but drawn, in orange colour, an in 1976, it is finally shown in a picture but with the upper half in red and the lower half in yellow. This would continue until 1978 and in 1979 we find a blue model with the Union Jack in the bonnet. Strange, because it is a French car and I don’t know any relation to Great Britain whatsoever.

Nr. 228 – SAVIEM GRUE (decoration 1979-1982)
This truck was first available quite soon, in 1975. It is depicted in that year’s catalogue as a replacement of the „Grue Telescopique“. The first model seems to be red with grey and white crane.
It is seen for the second time in the catalogue from 1979, in the same colours as the one shown in the picture. This would be the main decoration until 1982. Then, it seems that it was discontinued.
Maybe the design was a bit strange for  kids, since we must note that in this model, the scale is bigger than 1:100, maybe 1:150 or 1:200. It was replaced by a n approximately 1:100 truck named „Grue“ (Nr. 283)

The next two belong somehow together. They were sold well for a long time, probably, because they are quite different from the other models, and people like variety. Many fathers bought them for their children, and I must say, I had both as a kid. Both in red. But there were many more versions... at least the following ones.

Nr. 261 - MORGAN PLUS 8 (decoration 1981)
The catalogue from 1979 has the first appearance of this model in dark green with white/beige roof, in 1981 it was changed to red with black roof, and this model would continue in 1981. In  1982 and until 1984, the first model in green with white roof will reappear in the catalogues.
In 1985 it seems darker, maybe it was a black version, but I am not sure of this. In 1986 and 87 we find another red version, but this time with white/beige roof.
In 1988, there si another new decoration in black or a very dark colour (never seen it),
In 1989 it is redecorated in light blue with white roof, and in 1990 it is shown again in dark green with white roof.
In 1991 it disappears, but the number 261 would still remain for a few years reserved. Maybe they were selling the rest of the production during 3-4 years more.

Nr. 267 – EXCALIBUR (decoration 1980)

Unlike the previous model, this one was issued later and discontinued earlier, but it counted many different versions. I could find all these:
-1979 Red with black roof
-1980 2 versions: white or red, both with black roof
-1981 Red with black roof
-1982 White or red, both with black roof
-1983 & 1984 Red with white roof
-1985 Silver with black roof
-1986 Blue with black roof
-Disappears in 1987.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: BMW TURBO (217), BERTONE CAMARGUE (221), SAVIEM GRUE (228), MORGAN PLUS 8 (261) and EXCALIBUR (267)
• Scale: 1:64
• Year: Several years: 1979, 1980, 1979, 1981 and 1980
• Company: Majorette (France)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#736 FX SCHMID - DIE ALLERNEUESTEN (50026.2), FERRARI (50045.3), IRRE SCHLITTEN (50057.6) and GRAND PRIX (50169.6) (1985 and 1989)

My favorite decks of cards are those showing cars, I love sport cars, race cars and prototypes although any car would do… new or old, I don’t care. I present today a set of four decks made by FX Schmid, which belong to the same series, but are very different to each other.

All sets came in plastic “soap” boxes and included 8 families. As we will see some other time, some of these sets were also released in the smallest size with only 6 families instead of 8. The cover card of each set has the instructions on the back.

DIE ALLERNEUESTEN (50026.2)

Die Allerneuesten or “the very newest” present cars that were common in 1986 (the year in which I think this deck was released), and include from small cars (Fiat Uno, Peugeot 205…) to more exclusive cars like the Buick Regal or the BMW M 635 CSI and finishing by the very expensive Porsche 959 and the Rolls Royce Silver Spur 6.7. To my knowledge, the Opel Junior was never produced in series.

“New” is a very broad category, as this deck proves. From this set I like the mixture of promotional and read pictures, and having a view of what was available around 1985.

FERRARI (50045.3)

Ferrari is the carmaker that makes more people dream of their cars worldwide, so making a Ferrari deck seems to be an idea lacking of any risks… I can imagine this set sold very well at the time.

I includes models made between 1959 (Ferrari 500 F2) to 1984, that’s why I date it 1985. The testarossa is not included (probably not designed yet), but there is a nice representation of modern Ferraris (modern in the mid 80s, now “classics”), Formula 1s and race cars. Pictures are not promotional, but made by photographers all over the world, and thus more valuable, because they are the ones you find everywhere else.

 

IRRE SCHLITTEN (50057.6)

Irre Schlitten, is quite difficult to translate, literally means something like “mad carriages”, and is a funny way to call all the prototypes included in this deck. Here there are no cars affordable “for every purse”, since all of them were made in very short numbers or are modifications or special customizations made by artisans also in a very limited number. Most models had a certain fame in the 80s, and appeared in many magazines, most prototype fans would inmediatly recognise at least 80% of all models here. I love from this deck that two cards represent models made in Lichtenstein, and on the top of the card, we see the dark blue and red flag of this small principality in center-Europe. Probably it is the only technical quartett in which we can find this flag.

 

GRAND PRIX (50169.6)

And finally, this set about Formula 1 with models that ran (mostly) in 1988. What can I say about F1 that I haven’t said before? I just love these quartetts. Some families are not F1s, but Carts (American competition), Formula 3000 and Formula III.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: DIE ALLERNEUESTEN (50026.2), FERRARI (50045.3), IRRE SCHLITTEN (50057.6) and GRAND PRIX (50169.6)
• Year: 1985 (DIE ALLERNEUESTEN, FERRARI and IRRE SCHLITTEN) and 1989 (GRAND PRIX)
• Company: FX Schmid (West Germany)