#958 GUISVAL - TALBOT HORIZON (Nr. 26 and 52) (1980)

The Talbot Horizon has, like most Guisval cars, several versions, colours and decorations. From these there is one which is very common, while all the others are very difficult to find.

The model was released in 1980, directly in three different variants:

• Nr.26 Talbot Horizon (golden version, no decals), later replaced by (red version, no decals)
  
• Nr.40 Surf acuático (red car with blue plastic surf boards on roof, no decals)
• Nr.52 Raid Oasis (white with roof rack and rallye decals), later replaced by a similar version with alternative decals, different roof rack and no front plastic bumper), and even later with plastic base versions with rally decals but no roof rack.
  

We start with the Raid Oasis version, which is the rarest I own. It is not in perfect shape, but keeps its roof rack, and this piece is very hard to find. They are extremely fragile, and most of the times are only available with boxed items, not with played-with toys, as it is the case. Because of the decal in the bonnet, this model is often referred as "Rey Racing" instead of the official name "Raid Oasis"

It was common at the time that the same cast was offered in very different versions, so the "artificially" increased the number of references in the catalogue.

In 1983, the "Surf acuático" reference is replaced by a Renault 9, but keeps the surf boards on the roof. Also this model is very rare, as all ones carrying stuff in the roof are.

That same year of 1983, the B70x series (car+trailer) was launched. There were several Talbots Horizon packed with different trailers. Some of these packs included a blue Talbot, and others a white one with Red Cross stickers on the doors. In these packs the cars were sometimes chosen randomly, so the blue model might be offered with a horse box or a trailer carrying an F1, just to name two examples.

The models continued in the Campeon series (or Campeon Rallye, if stickers were applied to it) for a few years more, probably until 1990 or so. These two series had plain colours, like blue, red, orange, yellow... that were sharedwith all the other miniatures in the series and were applied randomly. There are also models with different types of wheels, as they were evolving as the time passed. The car survived on the selves until relatively late (mid 90s), although it can be that it was removed from the the series, and then introduced again, as it happened with other models.

Note that this Campeon model has a modified cast, as you can see on the back part, where the license plate is. This is due to the fact that the base (made of plastic) attachs to the body of the car in a different way and does not have suspension. Note that the doors are still practicable, some cars that were recasted lost that feature in the process. 

Cool! Not many Talbot die-cast out there!

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TALBOT HORIZON (Nr. 26), TALBOT HORIZON "RAID-OASIS (Nr. 52) and TALBOT HORIZON CAMPEÓN RALLYE (No Nr.)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1980, 1980, 1984
• Company: Guisval (Spain)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm

#957 PIATNIK – AUTOS, EXOTISCHE TIERE & TIERBABIES (HYPO BANK PROMOTIONAL) (Around 1993)

 

Here a set of promotional card sets given by an Austrian Bank in the mid 80s. Bank giveaways are very common, they were made by millions and given to children in the International Savings Day (31st October) or some other occasion. However what is interesting for me is that the banks gave card sets on old coins, an adult hobby, although back in the days, some children were also brought into collecting coins by their parents. Today it is a rare hobby among young people.

Apart from that rare coin set, the most popular references were usually chosen by the banks: animals, cars... sometimes they chose a country-specific set, like animals from the Alps. Not a big variety in these.

The three sets shown in this entry have the same back design and the same boxes, but the title card from “Autos” has a different desing than the other two. Maybe this deck was older and Piatnik made a better offer for it, maybe they just got rid of some title cards on stock for this order, we will never know.

The year of the promotion is calculated after the cars in the Autos deck, I think the deck must be from 1991, maybe 1992, I think the newest cars depicted were released in 1990.

AUTOS + 2 Mini Puzzles

EXOTISCHE TIERE (This set was also presente in its "TIGER" version, see #337) + Zaubertrick

TIERBABIES:

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: AUTOS, EXOTISCHE TIERE & TIERBABIES (HYPO BANK PROMOTIONAL)
• Year: Around 1991
• Company: Piatnik (Austria)