#906 TK (maybe CK) - YARDLEY MCLAREN F1 (No. 168) (Around 1975)

This is one of these Hong Kong mistery toys, from which there is no information at all on the internet. I couldn´t find any car like this anywhere else so far, and I have also problems decyphering what is the name of the company that made it.

The base of the car contains just the brand logo, that looks something like TK, maybe CK, then "No.168" and "Hong Kong".

The model represented is the Yardley McLaren M19C from 1972 or 1973, but in orange colour (which was used in previous years, and is still one of the most iconic colours for this British Racing Team). His most famous driver was Denny Hulme from Australia, although other drivers were Peter Revson (USA), Jody Scheckter (RSA) and Brian Redman (GB).

None of these drivers ever had RN33, so I guess, the decals were made after the model was produced, and it included RN33, that in 1974 belonged to the McLaren M23 driven by Mike Hailwood (GB), David Hoobs (GB) or Jochen Maas (GER) (depending on which Grand Prix of the year).

So we have the classic mixture of car, colour, decals that make no sense, but still looks good. The car is made completely in plastic, except from the axles and my guess is that it should be a cheap novelty toy sold in kiosks, or as part of a bigger toy, maybe a F1 Racing Truck?

As a kid, I had a car that looked similar to this one, but it was made by Gozán in Spain. It was intended to be the load of a car transporter truck. The feeling is very similar, but the car is different. The one made by Gozán is really a Shadow Ford, not a McLaren. And now that I refresh my mind with these pictures below, I see the Gozán model was better finished and had better quality (it was also newer, maybe 5 to 8 years newer).

 Pics: Todocoleccion.net

After the writing of this text but before publishing it, I found a seller from Holland who was selling the same model in blue with RN66. Everything above would also apply to this model, although RN66 does not correspond to any known McLaren. In 1974, the number was used by Mark Donohue´s Ford-Penske. This driver ran only 3 GPs that year.

There might be other Yardleys with more colours and race numbers out there!

pic: speurders.nl

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: YARDLEY MCLAREN F1 (No. 168)
• Scale: Approx. 1:43
• Year: Around 1975
• Company: TK or CK (Hong-Kong)
• Size: approx. 9 cm

#905 HASBROMANIACS GUIDE TO WWF HASBROS (HASBROMANIACS.COM)

I just received this Hasbro´s Official WWF guide and checklist. This publication has been prepared and done in the last 12 months by Hasbromaniacs, the biggest Facebook community devoted to wrestling toys and figures.

The guide covers all action figures produced by Hasbro between 1990 and 1994, ordered in their 11 waves, plus the mail-aways, the rings, a complete checklist and a couple of pages more dealing with promotional shots Hasbro did for catalogues or promotional purposes, some of them depicting figures whose final version varied in some way from the prototype displayed, or were never mass produced. 

Each wave has one or two dedicated pages in which the figures are displayed "loose" but smaller pictures of the carded figures are also available. In the case of the rings, there is a comparison of all variants, and there are also a comparative picture between all Undertakers.

The quality of the paper and the printing are excellent, only with some resolution flaws in the pictures of the catalogues -which are very rare to find-.

There is very few text -in English- in the 24 pages of the guide. It is not a book, but a collectors' catalogue, so it is suitable also for people who do not undestand English.

Hasbromaniacs.com is also an online shop that offers other articles which we could classify in two categories: custom and paper accessories. In the customs category, we see customized figures, as well as several types of champion belts and the neon entry diorama. Among the paper items we see posters, repro stickers (for example for the different types of ring), this guide or even custom cards to figures Hasbro never released.

Apart from the guide, I also have the back-card poster and a WWF logo print in A4 size, which is given away with every guide as a present. The poster is also quite cool and looks perfect near or behind your figure display. It is not very big, approximately has A3 size, while the print is exactly A4 size and has stunning printing quality. The shop is based in Germany, but can ship most of their articles for a very cheap rate: 5 US$ or 3,90 Euro worldwide. Please take a look at what they offer, there are very cool things in there!

A video of the guide can be seen in the Facebook group under this link. Please do not miss this video!! (No Facebook account or login required).
https://www.facebook.com/hasbromaniacs/videos/2085518478363632/