#1049 KEES - FIAT PANDA and TY-PHOO JUBILEE TRAM (Around 1985)

Kees is a brand that Steven (from the Motorcade) showed me a couple of years ago, and I have this model thanks to him. He showed me this model in a picture, and was immediately interested, because I thought it was a Fiat Uno from the first generation. Unfortunately, after looking at it from all angles, I think it is most probably a Fiat Panda. The cast is not very good, as you can imagine from my previous comment.

The die-cast model has a plastic base, no interior, a relatively bad paintwork and paper stickers. It is a rather typical novelty toy of the early 90s. And among these, we could consider it a "good" one.

If this is so, its current value can only be explained by their scarcity. On top of that, the car is not marked anyway, so most of these go undetected in the Internet markets, and those who can be identified, are quite pricey. I don't think I will ever have more of these, I won´t pay so much money for such a model and having one piece is enough for me.

Another thing to comment, it that Kees seems to base many of their die-cast on Polistil models from those years, but I guess there is no connection between them.

I have here this nice advertising page presenting the main products that the company was offering in 1985, as well as other useful information for potential clients.

And because we have this advertisement sheet, we know that the following item is also made by Kees. It is a London Tram with Ty-Phoo Tea decals. Ty-Phoo is a British brand of tea, still on the market. I am not quite sure if this jubilee applies to the tea company, to the first service of the tram reproduced (in the back it says it started in 1885, but in the front it says 1905 (so, is it an 80 or 100 years jubilee?) In any case, it is a very nice model, specially in its cardboard packaging. I had to fix it a bit, but it looks nice now for display.

I tend to think it is a promotional item, as Kees is not mentioned in the packaging, and Ty-Phoo logo appears in quite a big size in the package. Antoher clue could be that there are many for sale on eBay and at very low prices, so most likely it was a giveaway from that brand of tea.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FIAT PANDA and TY-PHOO TEA JUBILEE TRAM
• Scale: Around 1:64 / Around 1:120
• Year: Around 1985
• Company: Kees (Hong-Kong)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#1024 TOMICA – TV TRUCK (Nr. 75 or Nr. 29-75) (1974)

I haven´t shown any die-cast made by this brand since a long time. (Almost) All cars I had in my collection have been shown already in this blog, but this one was my last acquisition. I bought it in my city and collected it directly from the seller. It was not very expensive, and since it is my first and only carded or boxed vintage Tomica, I decided to buy it.

I love it, it is a nice TV van, based on an Isuzu van. The cast shows several doors and compartments on both sides of the vehicle and a practicable rear door, but there are no other details (such as antennas) that would help identify the car more properly, except for the stickers on the sides of the vehicle, which, by the way, can be red “NHK COLOR TV” or blue “TV TRUCK”. (NHK is the Japanese national broadcasting company)

My toy was released in the Pocket Cars series, which, as you know, it was intended for foreign markets (these are all marked “TV TRUCK”. They are not so sought-for as the Japanese releases (“NHK COLOR TV”) in the standard black box, and there is a earlier variant with another type of wheels. In particular, this one is partially written in German, and includes a backcatalogue with several Tomica references of the same series.

There are several  alternative decorations in the same colours, but with alternative tampographies on the sides: “Minicar Shop Open” in green, “East Land” in red, or even both at the same time (I have spotted one model carrying both tampographies).

In 1979 the same cast was also used in reference nr. 8, Isuzu Blood Bank Car, in white and green. Many years later, it was reissued in white and blue, but with a darker shade of blue.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TV TRUCK (Nr. 75)
• Scale: 1:122
• Year: 1974
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: 6 cms

#492 GUILOY – IBERIA “SERVICIO AEROPUERTO” TRUCKS (Around 1982)

This is a curious series released by Guiloy in the 80s (I cannot give an exact year, but I guess it was in the first half of the 80s), and represent up to 10 white Mercedes trucks with airport services.

The trucks are die-cast made in 1:124 scale, which results a miniature of around 3 inches. All trucks are the same, including the same cabin and the same chassis, but they carry different plastic loads. Some of these loads were made of chromed plastic, although with the use, this might have disappeared.

They all carry stickers with the function of the truck and also some Iberia logos, what makes it a curious collectable, not only for die-cast car and truck collectors, but also for aviation enthusiasts.
My two models are “Correo Aereo” or “Airmail”, and “Antifuego” (lit. “Anti.Fire”)

The complete list of models is:

• Camión de Gasolina
• Servicio de Limpieza
• Acumulador
• Antifuego
• Correo Aéreo / Carga Aérea (actually the same load only the first one in blue plastic, the second one in chromed plastic)
• Queroseno
• Mantenimiento de Pistas
• Camión Escalera

 

 

Some models had some special feature or practicable part. In this case, the "Antifuego" has a extendable hose and the "Correo Aéreo" has a practicable compartment gate.

 

The were sold “loose” from a cardboard panel, as we can see in this picture. The item is for sale (or it was when I wrote this article) in todocoleccion.



Pic: todocoleccion.net, seller: Freedom67

 

Maybe these models were intended to be combined with Guiloy die-cast planes, as those made by Pilen, Play-Me or Mira.

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MERCEDES ANTIFUEGO and CORREO AÉREO “SERVICIO AEROPUERTO IBERIA"
• Scale: 1:124
• Year: Around 1982
• Company: Guiloy (Spain)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm 

#473 MATCHBOX - MICRO CONNECTABLES (1990)

 
As an example of one of the sub-lines explained in the previous entry, I have selected these "Mini Connectables". One of the best-selling toylines between 1987 and 1993 or 1994 were the Micro Machines, that are a reference for many other toy companies, that started producing similar toys in small scale, like Transformers with the Micromasters (some of which, by the way, could be splitted and combined too) or other types of toys, but also in a very small scale, like for example Mighty Max. 

 

  

In the Connectables case, those little vehicles were roughly half of the bigger ones, but nevertheless very similar, not only technically (the connecting pegs are the same, only smaller) but also in their designs.

 

Size comparison Connectable vs. Micro Connectable

 

There were a first release in 1990 consisting in 4 sets, each of them with 3 vehicles and 8 parts (also 3+3+2). The next year, the line was expanded with 6 new models, and repaints of all the previous ones. In 1992, the Micro Connectables disappeared from the catalogue, probably didn’t sell as expected, or at least worse than their bigger brothers.

You can see the catalogue images in the previous two entries.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: Micro Connectables
• Scale of the cars: 1:120 aprox.
• Year: 1990 - 1991
• Company: Matchbox (Great Britain)
• Size: approx. 7 cm (2-part vehicles)

#271 LONE STAR – ROUTEMASTER BUS (LONDON DOUBLE DECK BUS) (1972)

Lone Star is the trademark used by the toy division of Die Cast Machine Tools (DCMT), a british company based in London.

This company was founded in 1939. Among their first products, there are many guns and rifles, which were very popular at the time because of the many films about Indians and Cowboys. It is said, that the name of the toys comes from these products. They also manufactured hand-painted toy soldiers, first in lead, later in plastic. These were mostly soldiers, indian and cowboys although they also had licenses for popular characters like Popeye, el Zorro or James Bond’s Thunderball.

Their most successful products were vehicles, and there were vehicles in several scales made… starting with the classic 1/43 (similar to Corgi’s cars), 1/64 under the Impy series, and also in 1/85 with the Tuf Tots.

The Tuft-Tots were already introduced in this blog in entry #219, this time we will focus on the larger scale models (1:43 for cars, other scales for other vehicles), made to compete against Corgi and Dinky, but also against Matchbox and other companies.

The first cars in this scale were manufactured as early as 1956, in a series called “Road-Master” (also “Road Master”). The first castings, for example the bus in the pictures, were not very well done. The castings are not very detailed. Note that this bus is made in two halves fit together.

The production of Lone Star Road Master series was improved in the following years, with details like plastic windshields, hand-painted head- and taillights.

Not everything improved. The nice aluminium hubcaps with white plastic tyres were by the mid-60s replaced by one-part plastic tyres (those in the pictures).

This bus sold massively, since many tourist that visited London bought it as a souvenir. There were also a London Taxi available in this size. Because of its popularity, this bus was manufactured during decades. This model seems to be made by the early 80s, but I cannot give a precise year, so I will label it as early 60s, when the first bus was released.

The same model was available in 1977 chromed, as a souvenir of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II (1952-1977), and also with different stickers.

This model is one of the oldest toys I can remember, and was probably bought by some relative on a trip to London.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: ROUTEMASTER BUS (#1259)
• Scale: Around 1:120 (?)
• Year: Around 1960 1972
• Company: Lone Star (Great Britain)
• Size: approx. 4,5’’ or  11 cm

#219 LONE STAR (TUF TOTS) – TIPPER TRUCK, WASTE DISPOSAL TRUCK and EARTH MOVER (Refs. 610, 618 and 627) (1969)

This are very curious models. They're the only ones I own in this scale by Lone Star, and I found them in a thrift shop and a flea market respectively a few years ago. They are not that rare, but they are nice models in an unusual scale for this kind of toys.

Lone Star is the trademark used by the toy division of Die Cast Machine Tools (DCMT), a british company based in London.

This company was founded in 1939. Among their first products, there are many guns and rifles, which were very popular at the time because of the many films about Indians and Cowboys. It is said, that the name of the toys comes from these products. They also produced many hand-painted figures (early in metal, later in plastic), which I know thanks to smallscaleword.blogspot.com.

But their most successful products were vehicles, and there were vehicles in several scales made… starting with the classic 1/43 (similar to Corgi’s cars), 1/64 under the Impy series, and also in 1/85 with these Tuf Tots.

If you want to know more about the company, or other toy series, we advice you to visit http://www.lone-star-diecast-bk.com/ . In this entry we’ll just focus on the Tuf Tots.

As said above, this series was made in a smaller scale than the usual 1:64, and pretended to be an alternative to Matchbox models, as they were three times cheaper. The series comprised 11 cars in 1/85 scale and 16 trucks in 1/118 scale, which means that all toys were around 1,5 or 2 inches long.

Among the cars, there’ re a Citroën DS, Mercedes 280 SL, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, a Dodge Dart, a Jeep, a caravan, even a trailer with a boat. The trucks are different and include tankers, delivery trucks, a London bus, Tow truck and some more. The Mercedes, Citroën, Corvette and Dodge were available in two different versions: cabrio and hard-top coupé, which were basically the same model, with or without the black plastic top.

All of them seem to have been launched in 1969, and despite its small price and small size, they’re made with great quality and are also very strong because of the zinc-alloy in which they’re made.

Three models were re-released by Lone Star as “Zippy Zoomes” (Mercedes, Corvette and Citroën) and available between 1983 and 1985. They came in a garage which could “shoot” the cars.

Later, the moulds were used by Microlink (a company from Wales) to release a series called “Mokes”. The main characteristics of these cars were their bright colours, like pink, orange, red, green, and they were packed with stickers to customize them.

Here's a list of all Tuf Tots models by Lone Star with their references:

610  Tipper Truck    
611  Freight Truck    
612  Apache Low Loader
613  Speedboat and trailer    
614  Refuse Truck    
615  Cement Mixer
616  Milk Delivery Truck    
617  Horse Box    
618  Waste Disposal Truck
619  Citroen Coupe    
620  Stingray Coupe    
621  Dodge Dart Coupe
622  Mercedes Coupe    
623  London Bus    
624  Fire Engine
625  Caravan    
626  Circus Truck    
627  Earth Mover

581 Gift Set
583 Gift Set

??? Vauxhall Cresta Estate (Preproduction model, never released)

UPDATE 1 (FEB/2023): Tipper Truck (Ref. 610)

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TIPPER TRUCK (Ref. 610), WASTE DISPOSAL TRUCK (Ref. 618) and EARTH MOVER (Ref. 627)
• Scale: 1:118
• Year: 1969
• Company: Lone Star (Great Britain)
• Size: approx. 4 cm

#211 TOMICA - AUSTIN TAXI CAB, MERCEDES 450SEL, FERRARI BB 512, JAGUAR XJ-S and TEREX DUMP TRUCK (Nrs. T12, T19, T23, T24 and F22) (1993)

Tomica produced its die-cast miniatures in Japan until 1993 with just a few exceptions. In 1990, a second production plant was opened in China, although new models were always produced in Japan. The four models I am presenting here were first released in the late 70s, for me the best period in the Tomica history.

Accordign to Wikipedia, around 15 years later, in 1993, the cars in this entry plus some more were re-released as an assignment from Tomy UK to Tomy Japan. This line comprised 36 cars and is usually referred as “the British line”. They were produced in China to save on costs. As you can see in the card catalogue, most cars are European models (Renault, Citroën, Porsche, Ferrari, Lotus, Volkswagen…) with very few exceptions (Chevrolet, Mazda, Fuso Truck). I am not quite sure if these cars belong to that line, but they might..

Then in 1993, Tomy Co. of UK contracted Tomy Co. of Japan to produce a line of 36 Tomica cars (the “British Line”) using existing casts. To save on production costs, these were to be produced in China. Since 1994, Tomy also used the facility in China to produce new models, and in May 1995 the production of existing regular line models also started moving from Japan to China. This was done in phases. By July 1997, all regular line Tomica cars were made in China. Old casts that were not used for mass production of the British line models, regular models, or gift set models during this period remained in Japan. Therefore, special releases that used these old castings were still made in Japan. 

 

The cars you’re watching here were bought in 1994 in Santiago de Compostela. I was so surprised to see Tomicas in a shop, because it was the first time. All the other Tomicas I own were bought by my father in Portugal. They’re priced 204 pesetas, that’s around 1,22 Euros.

 

UPDATE (JULY 2018): I traded this Ferrari BB 512 from the same British line. I also have the original Japanese made, but that one has a different decoration without the Ferrari logo.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: AUSTIN TAXI CAB, MERCEDES 450SEL, FERRARI BB 512, JAGUAR XJ-S and TEREX DUMP TRUCK (Nrs. T12, T19, T23, T24 and F22)
• Scale: 1:67 (Austin, Mercedes, Jaguar) / 1:62 (Ferrari) / 1:119 (Terex Dump Truck)
• Year: Around 1993
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 6 cm