#970 DINKY TOYS – SINGLE DECKER BUS (283) (1971)

 

I do not have many Dinky models, I have maybe 5 to 10 models, none of them very valuable. Among all, this is the most impressive, as it is big, very well detailed and has cool features, asa it was usual for this and the other contemporary British brands.

The model is the Single Decker Bus, number 283, which was available between 1971 and 1973 (it was first sold in a cardboard box, then in a plastic blister with cardboard base). This is the most common red version, but there seems to be a darker red version with some shiny effect, which is even nicer and a green one, which was sold as unassembled in the DinkyKit series. There are also several variants, with different base or door colours.

It carries “Red Arrow” stickers, which, according to Wikipedia, is the brand name given to several routes used as a high frequency communter services in central London. The service started in 1966 and, at the time, used AEC Merlin buses, which is the model represented in this toy.

The toy came with two very cool features: the first one is the opening doors by sliding a button on the opposite side, and the second one is a bell hidden in the lower part of the vehicle, that can be ringed with the button on the lower side.

Some boxes included a small sticker sheet with three stickers, two of them indicating the route number “503” and “Waterloo Stn & 503 Victoria Stn”. Plus a red one with the text “Red Bus Rovers”. My model has lost the second one which should have been placed on the front over the windshied, but has two of the third on the roof (probably are placed wrongly, I have seen other models that carry this sticker on the rear between the headlights). The license plates and the white side bands were applied at the factory.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SINGLE DECKER BUS (283)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1971 (to 1973)
• Company: Dinky (Great Britain)
• Size: 16.7 cm

#969 CAPTAIN PLANET – HOGGISH GREEDLY and DUKE NUKEM (1990)

Captain Planet, I think I already said this, was one of the TV series I recall watching with more interest back in the early 90s. I also like the action figures by Tiger a lot, but they are difficult to get complete, since most characters came with several small pieces that went lost most of the time. The most difficult part to be found in many figures is the human-sized ring that was intended to be worn by the boy or girl playing with the figure. All five planeteer children characters had one (the four elements Earth, Water, Air, Fire, plus a fifth element referred to as Heart) which they used to invoke the Captain Planet. The Captain himself had another ring that he always wore.

Having said that, I present today two complete figures, none of them have difficult accessories, quite the opposite, those huge parts are not easily lost, so these two figures are kind of easier to find complete than the rest of the figures. 

In a previous entry I presented Dr. Blight carded, now I present two more villains from series 1: Hoggish Greedly and Duke Nukem.

Let’s start by Hoggish Greedly, a great figure. It is a human with a face that resembles that of a pig. Not a great metaphor, but you quickly realize this guy is one of the bad ones. It comes with a backpack that could be filled up with water and a gun connected to it by means of a hose. By pressing the backpack, the gun shoots a water beam. To dig in the pig resemblance, the backpack is also decorated with a pig logo. 

   

 

It is maybe worth commenting, that the character is depicted as big and fat, something common to another villain named Sly Sludge, and this could lead to mistakes as they are different characters. I wonder why they are both overweight, and why the planeteers are all fit. I guess today they would have been more careful when doing the character design, as this could be interpreted as insulting. Leaving this aside, this is a great figure, I would have wished nicer accessories or some action feature, but the sculpt, the concept and the colours are very good.

Duke Nukem is maybe even better, as it is some kind of radioactive man with a very particular and attractive look. In the TV series, he has the superpower of firing radioactive blasts from his hands. In this first version, the gesture on his face is quite menacing, but in the second version, with Hawiian shirt, looks nicer, as he becomes a good guy and helps Captain Planet in some of his missions. The second version is much more difficult to find, as it is an European exclusive.

It has a glow-in-the-dark feature, which is something very valued in action figures, but came without accessories.

 FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: HOGGISH GREEDLY and DUKE NUKEM
• Toy Line: CAPTAIN PLANET and THE PLANETEERS (Wave 1)
• Year: 1990
• Company: Tiger Toys/Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 16 cm