#1004 AIRGAM COMICS – CAPT. LASER with HELICOPTER (Ref. 361) (1985)

 
Capt. Laser and Spector were available, as usual, in their individual blister packs or in boxes with other figures, but instead of having one big-size vehicle, they came with a small helicopter-backpack.

The helicopter backpack is rather fragile, and can be found only rarely with all their parts and working. There is a button on the upper part of the backpack that mechanically activates the blades.

The backpack can be removed, although it is not recommended to do so as the wings on the head of Capt. Laser may suffer some damage in the process, or the backpack’s plastic may get some stress when forcing it open. Capt. Laser is one of the most fragile figures in the series because of these two wings. Many times they are broken and missing.

I keep this figure since I was a kid, I like very much the colours of the figure and their contrast to the colours of the backpack, mostly with some golden details. As any other reference of this collection it is now a highly valued collectable and very hard to find.

Although the prices are ramping steadily, I was able to buy on a recent auction this same figure carded. Here are the pictures of the fantastic blistercard.

See more from this toyline here.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: CAPT. LASER with HELICOPTER (Ref. 361)
• Toy Line: Airgam Comics (Wave 1)
• Year: 1985
• Company: Airgam (Spain)
• Size of the figures: Around 8.5 cm (3.25'')

#1003 AURORA AFX G-PLUS/G+ – FERRARI 312 B3 (1975)

Sometimes you find surprises like this one. I was in a flea market, searching in a big box in which the seller had indicated “1 piece = 1 euro”, and found this nice slot car. I had no idea what it was, but I simply took it, and put it in the bag. It is actually very rare to see toys "Made in Singapore" these days, so I thought it might be something special. I recall that during my visit to the National Museum of Singapore, I found a small display of toys made there, but I don't have any memories of Aurora cars there...

Several days later I had the chance to search a bit on the internet. What was that strange Ferrari I had bought? I found this fascinating history here.

Aurora is the well-known toymaker from New York,  but this Aurora AFX was unknown to me. These small cars were the first to introduce the ground effect magnet to achieve higher speeds withour making the car impossible to drive. That is how the G+ or G-Plus (gravity plus) series was born. This was premiered in January 1975 and became an instant success, although Aurora was actually not doing as well and in 1977, the AFX line would be purchased by Tomy, that used the license in the Tomy AFX toyline.

The car is slightly smaller than the usual 1:64, and it is missing a mirror, but it is otherwise complete, and I would say it is still functional, I didn’t try, I guess if I apply 9 V to the motor, it will start.

The model represents the Ferrari 312 B3, as driven in the 1975 season by Clay Regazzoni and Niki Lauda, but the RN 6 does not represent any of them. I guess this small f1 was among the first produced. The same model was also reproduced by Scalextric in Spain, but in a different scale.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: FERRARI 312 B3  
• Scale: Approx. 1:64
• Year: 1975
• Company: Aurora AFX G-Plus (U.S.A. / Singapore)
• Size: approx. 5 cm