#892 TFTP NEWS!

Hello, I have some update for people following this blog.

Since more than 6 and a half years I have been publishing 11 entries per month. I cannot keep that rythm anymore, so starting in January 2018, I will reduce the number of new entries significantly. From now on, I will publish only two entries per month.

Of course, I will try these to be longer and better structured, covering more toys each, but still, I will be dedicating much less time to this hobby.

So, don´t worry if next month you don´t see any updates right-away. I plan to publish regularly, that is maybe the first article will be published the first weekend and second one the third weekend each month. I haven´t decided this yet.

Wish you a happy new year 2018!

#891 M.A.S.K. - DETONATOR with JACQUES LAFLEUR / MARAJ (1987)

The VW Bug is one of the most iconic cars of all times, so Kenner also used it for M.A.S.K. in its fourth "split-seconds" wave. It is not the classic model, but some dragster-type baja bug, in bright colours, which is even cooler.

By the way, the Split-Seconds wave is different from the previous waves, in which the each vehicle transforms into two different vehicles, and not into one different vehicle.

The car is slightly oversized compared to the scale of the figures, but this is not so important. The car splits into one strange vehicle, similar to a quad and a hovercraft. The news in this series was that each set included two figures, an ordinary one plus its clone, so each vehicle can be driven by one of the figures.

In the original artwork, the hovercraft appears flying, so it could also be some kind of drone. At the time, drones were not popular yet.

The quad motorbike is nice, but the figure does not sit very comfortably in it and is difficult to keep it there. The hovercraft instead comes with a nice seat including some kind of security belt and also two small orange missiles, which, of course, you have to check if they are present, because they are often lost.

 The figure is Jacques LaFleur, and comes with his own clone, also another characteristic of the Split-Seconds series. Here are both figures with their respective masks (Maraj).

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: DETONATOR with JACQUES LAFLEUR / MARAJ
• Toy Line: M.A.S.K. (Wave 4)
• Year: 1987
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the vehicle: Around 6'' or 15 cm
• Size of the figures: 2½’’ or 6,5 cm

#890 HOT WHEELS! – ATTACK PACK SAND STINGER and SLAUGHTER JAWS (McDONALD’S PROMO) (1993)

Hot Wheels was probably the most innovative die-cast manufacturer during the 90s, launching a big number of series and subseries with very strange and eye-catching features.

This is maybe one of those short lines that caused a greater surprise at the time, being even chosen by McDonald’s to provide them in their Happy Meal during a couple of months. Those were smaller and simplified versions of the ordinary, retail models, just to save costs and fit them to McDonald’s price range for their Happy Meal giveaways.

The ones I present are precisely those McDonald’s versions of two of the most common and easy to find models. These are the only ones I have, I found them recently and decided to finally buy them, I also had some chances before, but for some reason, I never considered buying them.

The feature of these monster trucks is that they really have a monster inside. When pushing a little down at the back, the car will reveal some jaws, eyes, tongue and other monster parts in bright colours and very cool designs. Great idea!

The line was discontinued very shortly after its release, maybe the retail price was quite high, or maybe it is something very weird that it never got to convince kids. It is not a car, the size is bigger (does not fit tracks or parking lots) than the usual 3 inches and it is not an action figure, so being something new and not quite compatible with other toys in children´s playrooms probably played against itself.

UPDATE 1 (Feb/2022): This is one more model from the same promotion. I got it from my friend Pablo from coleccionismo80-90.blogspot.com. One missing to complete the collection of four.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: ATTACK PACK SAND STINGER and SLAUGHTER JAWS
• Scale: slightly smaller than 3 inches, could be 1:87
• Year: 1993
• Company: Hot Wheels! (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm

#889 GUISVAL – MERCEDES 350 SL (1974)

Here are my Mercedes 350 SL made by Guisval. This model is not among my favorites: in my opinion it is quite dull, does not call my attention very much. At the time it was difficult to tell between Mercedes models, because they looked very much like each other, and had boring names, so Mercedes was, also back then, not among my favorite car brands.

Despite this, I had two units of it. A brown one and the purple one, which, needless to say, I liked more. It has Rallye stickers!

The history of this model is the following:

It was premiered in 1974, right away in two versions: standard and police. The police version came in two colours and had a siren in the roof. In 1980, a third version was introduced, with rally stickers and front grill. This version is currently very difficult to find.

1974-79 (from 1977 on with fast wheels)

• Nr.1 Brown
• Nr.5 Green/White (Policia or Policia Tráfico)

1980-82

• Nr.1 Brown
• Nr.5 Green/White (Policia Tráfico)
• Nr.54 Light Blue with rally decals (Rallye)

1983

• Nr.1 Golden
• Nr.5 Green/White (Policia Tráfico)
• Nr.54 Light Blue with rally decals (Rallye)

After 1983, it is difficult to say what happened next, due to the lack of catalogues. In 1987 catalogue, it is still available both in Campeon series (without stickers, but still with full interior and suspension) and Campeon Rallye series (same with stickers). The car is depicted in both series in black, but it is known to have been released in several colours, including the purple one in the pictures. Stickers varied from one unit to the other. The model was discontinued probably around 1990, for unknown reasons.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MERCEDES 350 SL
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1974 to around 1990
• Company: Guisval (Spain)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm

#888 FIGURAS EN ACCIÓN (F.E.A.) Nr. 17

Here is the new magazine Figuras en Acción. This is Nr. 17 already, which means, I have been already 5 years directing the great group behind it, organizing the topics, layouting and doing the communication as well.

The communication is very deficient, but I don´t have time to publish daily on Facebook, Twitter or whatever. I don´t like advertising my own work very much either. In the case of the magazine, I preffer that people discover us, or that people recommend it to other people. After all, the toy collecting world is a very small one, so sooner or later you will find us and hopefully add us to your bookmarks.

This time the magazine comes with a mix of articles dealing with topics like replacement/repro parts, Gamusinos by Star Toys, Indians and Cowboys by Comansi and and extremely interesting article about female knock-offs of She-Ra like Golden Girl and many other more obscure toylines. Of course, our usual pages with news, museums, books, and so on are also included.

Please visit the official blog for the download link. Thanks!
https://figurasenaccion.blogspot.com/2017/12/revista-numero-17-diciembre-2017.html

#887 TMNT - BREAKFIGHTIN´ RAPHAEL and SWORD SLICIN´ LEONARDO (WACKY ACTION SERIES) (1989 and 1990)

Ninja Turtles representing the four heroes and other main characters (like April O´Neill, Splinter or Shredder) had many versions. I do not know how well they sold at the time, but the fact is that if you have the figures from the first wave, all the other are not necessary.

Maybe because of this, most turtle (Raph, Don, Mike or Leo) figures made after 1988 are not very expensive and very easy to find. These are also the first figures I got to complete, because of their reduced number of accesories. The Wacky Action in particular are among the easiest figures in the whole collection.

They have an action feature consisting of a small clockwork mechanism that can make  the turtle do some kind of movement. Raphael can twist on its back and leonardo moves its arms up and down. Of course without batteries, just by loading the mechanism.

Interestingly, the line was splitted in two waves (wave 2 from 1989 and wave 3 from 1990), I don´t know the reason for that.

Wave 2 included:

• Rock 'N' Roll Michaelangelo
• Sewer Swimmin´ Donatello
• Breakfightin´ Raphael
• Mouser

Wave 3 included:

• Sword Slicin´ Leonardo
• Creepy Crawlin´ Splinter
• Slice 'N Dice Shredder

Note the very interesting release of Mouser, which is the only figure made of this nice little robot in the whole original toy line. The problem is that the Mouser is clearly oversized in comparison to the ones shown in comic books, video games and so on.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: BREAKFIGHTIN´ RAPHAEL and SWORD SLICIN´ LEONARDO (WACKY ACTION SERIES)
• Toy Line: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) (Waves 2 and 3)
• Year: 1989 and 1990
• Company: Playmates (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 3.75’’ or 9,75 cm

#886 UNIVERSAL - CADILLAC ELDORATO (Around 1982)

This is one of the cars I bought just because of its rare brand. It is not well casted, it is not in good shape, the name of the car is even falsely casted in the base. I had no idea which brand this could be, but being made in Hong-Kong it was clear that it is at least from the early 80s.

Back at home, my friend Steven identified it in a picture: Universal was the brand. Then I found an old article (written in 2003) by Kimmo Sahakangas on Universal and a second article on Wheeler.

Note the plastic chromed base with a "U" inside a circle, the misspelling of Eldorado and the Made in Hong-Kong. This U is the symbol for Universal, and derives from a "W" inside a circle from Wheeler, that was the previous name of the company. This model in particular, was available in both brands W and U.

Universal cars are simpler and cheaper to produce (for example due to the dark windows) than Wheeler. Some Wheeler were copies of major brands. Please refer to the article link above for all details.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: CADILLAC ELDORATO
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1982
• Company: Universal (Hong Kong)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm

#885 KOSMOS - "KOSMOS FÜR ZWEI" SERIES (IV) - SEVERAL GAMES

Being this a relatively long series, there are other games, which are not very good, or that I didn’t got to enjoy much. Some of these include:

Asterix & Obelix (2006)

Avalon (2003)

Caesar & Cleopatra (1997)

Das Riff/ The Reef (2000)

Druidenwalzer (1999)

Elchfest (1999)

Halali!/ Tally Ho! (2000) (original 1973)

 

Hellas (2002)

Kahuna (1998)

Odin’s Raben/ Odin’s Ravens (2002)

Petri Heil/ Gone Fishing! (2005)

Rosenkönig/ The Rose King (1997)

Sudoku Duell der Meister (2006)

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Asterix & Obelix, Avalon, Caesar & Cleopatra, Das Riff/ The Reef, Elchfest, Halali!/ Tally Ho!, Hellas, Kahuna, Odin’s Raben/ Odin’s Ravens, Petri Heil/ Gone Fishing!, Rosenkönig/ The Rose King, Sudoku Duell der Meister
• Year: Between 1997 and 2006
• Company: Kosmos (Germany)
• Size: approx. 20 x 20 cm (game box)