#818 JUGUETES EURA S.A. – DON QUIJOTE and SANCHO PANZA (1979)

The cartoons directed by Cruz Delgado based on the masterpiece of Miguel de Cervantes was a major success in the Spanish Television in 1979 (when it was aired for the first time), and, of course, some merchandising items were made to make more money licensing toy figures, books and all kind of things for children.

These two figures are one example, maybe the best known toy made out of the Don Quijote cartoon. The two PVC figures were originally made by Juguetes Eura S.A., a company that also had the rights to produce Peyo’s Smurfs in PVC, although in 1980, this license was lost because Schleich had bought the rights worldwide for that same series, and they had to stop producing them. The whole story is told in The Cursed Country.

The thing is that Juguetes Eura, would later become Comics Figuras S.L. (also known as Comics Spain). Both companies have the same founders and the same address. The new company was founded in 1982, also by Ramón Magriña and Eulalia Camps, as a matter of fact, EURA is formed with the initial letters of the names of the two founders: EU (Eulalia) and RA (Ramón).

The topic with the Smurfs has been extensively studied, but the other figures are somehow forgotten. Eura did not only made these… they also had figures from La Abeja Maya (Biene Maja), Asterix, Barbapapas, several Disney characters and more… and their quality is quite interesting.

Back to Don Quijote, there were four figures made of this series. Don Quijote and Sancho Panza, plus the same two characters riding their Horse (Rocinante) and Donkey (Rucio), respectively. The riding characters could be removed from their mounts.

Don Quijote (standing) came with a very small and fragile sword that could be attached to his belt.

The same figures were later available marked with “Comics Spain”. Each figure was available with and without plastic base to improve the stability, but I cannot say if some were earlier than others, or which brand (Eura or Comics Spain) do each one have.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: DON QUIJOTE and SANCHO PANZA
• Year: 1979
• Company: Juguetes Eura S.A. (Spain)
• Size of the figures: Around 10 and 6 cm tall