Sunday, April 24, 2022

#996 MC TOY - TURBO FEEZERS (KEY CARS) (Around 1984)

APRIL IS THE MONTH OF BOOTLEGS AND KNOCK-OFFS AT TOYS FROM THE PAST!

These key cars were bought in Austria around two years ago, as I found it curious that they used the image of Niki Lauda in the box and also on the keyrings that hold the keys to the cars. Because it was made around 1984, it was probably already a Chinese or East-Asian manufacturer that made them. The box doesn´t look so well, the design is not very good.

 


Unfortunately the box is almost empty and included only three cars with around ten keys, but no brand or any information whatsoever. Later I found that these cars are probably manufactured by MC Toy in Macau at a time were they preferred to hid their name to avoid possible lawsuits. Just a few entries ago I was talking about the Key-Cars from Kidco/Matchbox  from 1983, these are maybe from 1984 and probably started the series using just two different casts in different basic colours.

The manufacturer of these toys was confirmed a few months ago by Steven (from motorcade.weebly.com), who also sent me this yellow corvette below, which is marked Macau on the base. This model has some wear, and it is the same that was already in the box, but it is a nice addition.

 

I know that these models would later be released in other colours and with tampographies instead of paper stickers, I have one of each model with some neon (in the 90s fashion) tampographies, which are also completely unmarked and two more racers (F1 racer and Indy Racer, according to their original naming) which (surprise, surprise) are marked MC Toy on the base. These were acquired as a lot some time later.

 



The key cars by MC Toy made their way to the Maisto era, when they were sold in blister 2-packs with one key (also with the denomination Burnin' Key Cars). Unlike the ones made by Kidco, these are die-cast and do not have any protective plastic bumpers, so I guess most of the played models today are in very bad conditions, or have been disposed already. They came with soft plastic tires for a better grip which also can be lost and, in general, the detail and the quality of the toy is low (poor casting and dark windows), so early units even misspells "Tubro" for "Turbo" in the stickers, but still the models chosen (Chevrolet Corvette C3 from 1978, Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am from 1979) are nice sport cars, very representative of the early 80s.

By the way, the name on the Niki Lauda box is Turbo Feezers and the German slogan is "Schneller als die Formel 1!", which translates as: "Faster than Formula 1!" I wonder if the image of Niki Lauda was used with or without permission (I guess without), but this makes the box item even more interesting for collectors. The box shows a picture of him wearing the Brabham-Parmalat team cap, team for which Lauda drove between 1978 and 1979.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

  • Name: CHEVROLET CORVETTE C3 and PONTIAC FIREBIRD (TURBO FEEZEERS), F1 RACER, INDY RACER
  • Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
  • Year: Around 1984
  • Company: MC Toy (Macau)
  • Size: Around 7 cm long

Sunday, April 10, 2022

#995 JUYBA - GUERREROS ENEMIGOS DEL MAL - YELLOW NINJA "ROBIN" (Around 1988)

APRIL IS THE MONTH OF BOOTLEGS AND KNOCK-OFFS AT TOYS FROM THE PAST!

Juyba is one of those brands that made bootleg toys in the 80s that has been recently discovered by international collectors (mostly Masters of the Universe collectors). It is very sough-after now and all their items have increased their value enormously. Today they are very difficult to find, becuase most of these cheap toys broke and were disposed when (or as) their original owners grew up. The few units that are still out there are well kept, and they are rarely spot with their accesories or with their even more fragile cloaks and robes. Some of Juyba´s lines are being made today again as repros, including their accesories.


This one is a yellow ninja, in the style of Ninja Warriors with a cloak, belt and one accesory, 100% complete as we have seen in its original display, under the name "Guerreros Enemigos del Mal". Although there are other castings with a "ninja head", this one looks more like Batman´s partner Robin. Note that this piece has some hair casted and is wearing a face mask, which makes my figure a bit of a rarity, as it is much more scarce than the usual ninjas.


In the issue nr. 24 of Figuras En Acción we were discussing the toylines Jinetes del Espacio and also the miniature trucks and vehicles which are similar to Bruder Mini and we gave a couple of notes about the history of the company, although not much is known currently about them, just the usual legal stuff that nobody really cares about. The company seems to be active as an importer of toys, although they do not manufacture themselves toys anymore.


Juyba is actually the acronym of JUguetes Y BAratijas, and they are based in Castalla (Valencia).

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

  • Name: Unknown (Yellow Ninja with Robin-like head) (45027)
  • Toy Line: Guerreros Enemigos del Mal
  • Year: Around 1988
  • Company: Juyba (Spain)
  • Size of the figure: Around 12 cm tall