#930 GUISVAL – LAND ROVER GRÚA (1976, 1977, 1980)

This model of Land Rover with crane is one of those few models by Guisval that are difficult to find complete and in good conditions. And all because of the small yellow plastic hook. I had these four models in quite a good condition for many years waiting to recover their missing parts, knowing that it was virtually an impossible mission to get them. I have that orange model since I was a kid, since 1985 or so. Maybe that is why it is in a slightly worse condition.

The good and unexpected news is that a Spanish collector cloned this part and is selling repro hooks for this particular models in several colours. To my knowledge, all models came with yellow hooks, but the hooks are also available in red or black. If you want some of these, leave a comment below and I will forward you to the person who sells them.

I bought all four straight away to finally restore my models. I have three models, but one of the models have a variant, can you notice it? The military model comes with blue or green windshield and siren. The one with the blue windows seems to be rarer than the one with the green windows.

This is one of my favorite models by Guisval. It is very similar to the one made by Corgi Juniors, but still have some differences.

There is another Land Rover model which is older than this one. I have some of these as well, but they are difficult to get complete, since they came with accessories/decoration (a missile/rocket, a tiger…).

Checking the catalogues year by year, I observed the following variants:
1976

• Nº19 Grua Municipal (Red with black hook): the catalogue image looks like a prototype, based on the older model. The produced toy seems to have been sold with a yellow hook.

1977-79

• Nº19 Grua Municipal (Red)
• Nº50 Grua Militar (Dark Green with green windows, some have been spotted with black hooks)

1980-1983 and Beyond

• Nº19 Grua Municipal (Orange with black stripe at sides and blue windows)

The model has been for sale until the early 90s. These later model are easy to identify because of its wheels, which are different to the ones that these four models have (See for example this model in entry #502). There are several decorations of these.

UPDATE (Feb/2020): One new model with "Rescate" stickers, from the 90s (note the four spoke wheels)

 FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: LAND ROVER (GRÚA MUNICIPAL and GRÚA MILITAR)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1976 to around 1990
• Company: Guisval (Spain)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm

#929 BULLY - TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1989)

The Ninja Turtles were a real phenomenon, and they still are. Beside the action figures, there were several series of plastic figures, like those made by Yolanda, the small chewing gum premiums or this series made in Germany by Bully.

There are two interesting facts about them. First they depict rather slim characters, compared to the more muscled ones we were familiar with. Long legs, long arms, thin shells make them look like something between Eastman and Laird´s and the cartoon turtles.

The second interesting fact is that some characters have magnets in their backs (all except the four main characters), maybe they were intended to be put in the fridge.

The series is complete except for four turtle figures coming out of a manhole cover. These are represented only from the waist up, and are so different to the ones I present today, that could actually be considered as a different series. I do not own any of these, they probably sold much worse than these.

Something remarkable is that the characters also include Splinter, Shredder, Bebop, and a Foot Soldier, which is something unique to all plastic PVC series of TMNT. To my knowledge, this is the most complete regarding the number of characters, despite missing Rocksteady.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: LEONARDO, RAPHAEL, DONATELLO, MICHELANGELO, SPLINTER, SHREDDER, BEBOP and FOOT SOLDIER
• Year: 1989
• Company: Bully (Germany)
• Size of the figures: Around 7 cm