#1090 CLIFFORD SERIES – SNAP CARD GAME (Around 1950)

Snap is a classic card game for two or more players. The cards are shuffled and dealt evenly, and the players keep them face-down in front of them. Then, at the same time, all players turn the top card of their stacks and place it in a second stack next to the first one. If two or more of the cards show the same picture, the first person to call “Snap” takes the stacks of upturned cards that show the same picture, and puts all those cards under his or her face-down stack.

If someone calls “Snap” by mistake, or if you cannot agree on who was first, the cards are put in the middle of the table and the game continues. If in a future round the upturned card is the same as one of the cards in the middle of the table, you must call “Snap Pool”, and in that case you win the cards in the pool.

These simple rules allow the card deck to be themed with an infinite number of designs. This deck shows portraits of cowboys and Indians, 9 different in total, and has 56 cards (4 of each). The drawings are caricature-like, typical of the 1950s, or maybe the early 1960s, when Western movies were still very popular around the world. It is difficult to date exactly, since the box is unmarked.

Since 1923, Clifford produced many card decks for adults and children, with games such as Snap, Rummy, Happy Families, Old Maid, or Pantomime in many different versions. I found a short but informative history of the company here: Clifford Toys — The World of Playing Cards. Sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s, the company became Clifford Toys.

Thanks to Steve for the present!

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: SNAP CARD GAME
• Year: Around 1950
• Company: Clifford Series (United Kingdom)

#1089 BLUE-BOX – PEUGEOT 205 (Around 1992)

I have never seen this mechanism anywhere else in a toy car of 3 inches size. The base of the miniature includes a plastic ratchet that will turn together with the wheels, so, when moving it, it will produce a RR-RR-RR-RR sound, as if the engine or the motor were working at full speed. Such a simple idea and such a nice implementation with almost no costs.

I also like a lot that they represented the Peugeot 205, a car that became very popular in the late 80s and the beginning of the nineties. Many other brands made it at the same scale (for example, Majorette or Guisval). It was even done as a Raid car, such as the Scalextric STS model in Paris-Dakar decoration. It was a very popular car, cheap, families could afford buying one of these, so it was a common sight in the countries where it was available. Unfortunately, the detail level is not very good, but you still can recognise the car without any problems. The paint is also not the best.

This was a rare find, as Blue-Box is quite rare outside of the UK. I do not have many toys made by this brand, and all I have have already been presented in the blog, so, if you are interested in this particular toymaker, you can check its history in this entry, or see other plastic vehicles here.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: PEUGEOT 205
• Scale: Around 1:64
• Year:  Around 1992
• Company: Blue Box (Hong-Kong)
• Size: approx. 7 cm