#971 MICRO ACTION/ FUNRISE – BIG RIG TRUCKS (1988)

APRIL IS THE MONTH OF THE BOOTLEGS and KNOCK-OFFs!

Funrise was one of the main competitors to Galoob´s Micro Machines at the time. Their models were great and had a variety that included many different vehicle types.
 
In this case we are showing four different cards with truck trailers, that, interestingly included two trucks but just one trailer, although other cards came with one, three or seven complete trucks, as well as other variations or as part of other sets. These are almost identical to the Semi-Truck collections of Micro Machines, but the Funrises do not have practicable parts. 

The trailers are interesting as many of them show existing commercial companies, unlike Micro

Machines, that were all invented (except Galoob itself)
 
There are two types of truck, that come in several colours, so there is not a great variety of models here, so having a few of them is enough for most collectors like me. I am very happy with this small collection, I do not need any more Funrise trucks.

The four cards are priced 1,99 dollars at Kay-Bee (K.B. or KB), which was a American toy store/retailer founded in Massachusetts in 1922 by the Kaufman brothers and went out of business in 2009, being absorved by Toys 'R Us. Below the sticker there seems to be some text indicated that one of the two rigs go for free, what would explain why there are two instead of only one. On the backcard, there are eight models depicted, but I would say there are even more.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: BIG RIG TRUCKS
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1988
• Company: Funrise (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 2 cm truck / 3.5-4 cm trailer

#937 BANDAI - TURTLES CHARACTER MINI-MACHINES - PARTY VAN (1990)

With the Ninja Turtles craze came many related articles, some of them from Bandai directly, other from other brands that acquired the rights to put the characters in their products.

I recall seeing these in a shop back in the early 90s in Spain, also coincident with the micro cars trend started by Galoob´s Micro Machines. Note that the car is advertised as a "Mini Machine"!

This van is slightly bigger than a Micro Machine, but considering it is a van, it would still display nicely together. The van comes with a motorised pull-back motor. Such a toy is, of course, very cheap to produce, by the stickers that simulate the Turtle-wagon add a lot of money to the final retail price. Considering the price tag, this is an expensive toy, I guess they did not sell many of it.

The van came is a small blister card, with some interesting indications on the back. The toy seems to have been imported to Europe by Bandai UK, and then to Spain by Bandai Spain and has the rights from Mirage Studios directly to reproduce this van (copyright from 1989). The blister card comes in English and German, but there are several errors in the German text.

Apparently a complete series of Mini Machines with famous characters was planned, but I only found this one and another one with Postman Pat. The toys are made in China. Remember that Bandai actually distributed the turltes figures in some European countries, so they maybe made a move to offer other related products as well in addittion to the ones made by Playmates.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TURTLES CHARACTER MINI-MACHINES - PARTY VAN
• Scale: 1:150 (approx.)
• Year: 1990
• Company: Bandai (Japan)
• Size: approx. 2’’ or 5 cm

#935 MICRO MACHINES - PROMOTIONAL PACKS including COLLECTIONS #17 DECADES: THE '80s, #20 HALL OF FAMERS, #32 ROAD CONSTRUCTION and #33 FIRE RESCUE (1995)

In the last year, I found two promotional packs (from different sellers), each of them including two complete collections from the mid 90s.

They come from Germany in a white box with several copyright (1994) and license notices in German (same sticker in both sets, even though one of them does not include cars from the brands that the license indicates: Ferrari, Chevrolet...), and a German address.

 

The first one has two collections of great racing cars: Ferrari, Porsche, Ford, Mercedes... some of the greatest brands of all times are represented.

The second one has a set of firefighters and a public workers, each of them with 3 vehicles and 3 people, where one of the vehicles is a "bigger" one: a long fire truck with ladder or a mobile construction crane.

They are very rare, I have seen them only from one seller each.

 

The sport cars set was offered to me by a seller (not on eBay) and I bought the only two boxes this person had. He told me that they were a present for visitors at a car fair in Vienna by the mid 90s, what I found very interesting. Promotional give-aways are always hard to find.

 

The collections included in this pack are: #17 Decades: The '80s and #20 Hall of Famers, both from 1995.

 

#17 Decades: The '80s in promotional pack

#20 Hall of Famers in promotional pack

The firefighters/public workers set was for sale on eBay and the seller had many of them (I bought three), so I guess there are already many out there in the hands of MM collectors.

 

The collections included are: #32 Road Construction and #33 Fire Rescue, both from 1995.

 

#32 Road Construction in promotional pack

  

 

#33 Fire Rescue in promotional pack

 

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name:  PROMOTIONAL PACKS including COLLECTIONS #17 DECADES: THE '80s, #20 HALL OF FAMERS, #32 ROAD CONSTRUCTION and #33 FIRE RESCUE
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1995
• Company: Galoob (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 2 cm

#897 MICRO MACHINES - SHAKE & SNIFF COLLECTIONS #2, #3 and #4 (1992)

And yet another Micro Machines subseries, and maybe one of the most curious ones, the Shake & Sniff.

The series consists on trucks with long trailers, whose main feature is that the trailers have some smell, depending on what is printed on the sides of the trailer. An example: if the truck is carrying bananas, the trailer will have a banana smell. For that purpose, the trailer has some small holes drilled in the back part, but I do not know how does the interior look like, probably has some kind of cardboard or sponge impregnated in some scent.

Another feature is that the trucks come with opening doors and the cabin moves up to reveal the motor of the truck. The trailer have small practicable feet so they stand when they are not attached to the truck. This same feature applies to the "Semi-Truck" series from 1989, from which the Shake and Sniff could be considered a continuation or an improvement. The Semi-Truck collections were also available after the Shake and Sniff was withdrawn form the assortment only one year later (1993).

The collection started (and ended) with 4 collections, with 2 trucks each. I am currently missing collection #1, which could be the most difficult to find since one of the trucks smelled like garbage. Definitely, not the best commercial appeal compared to the other three collections.

Collection #1
Cab- Over with Garbage Load
Streamliner with Pine Load

Collection #2
Streamliner with Rootbeer Load
Cab- Over with Vanille Ice Cream Load

Collection #3
Streamliner with Choc Chip Cookie Load
Super Cab with Bubble Gum Load

Collection #4
Streamliner with Popcorn Load
Super Cab with Banana Load

In Spain, the series was called “Mover y Oler” (Move and Smell).

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: Micromachines Shake & Sniff Collections #2, #3 and #4.
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1992
• Company: Galoob (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 2 cm

#856 HOT WHEELS - PLANET MICRO - SPORTS CARS SERIES #1 (1997)

Another big brand that tried to follow the Micro-trend started by Galoob in 1987 was Mattel´s Hot Wheels!. I would say this Planet Micro series came too late, and would have done much better in terms of sales and popularity if it had been released before, in the late 80s.


HotWheels probably thought they could start their own line of micro cars, in a larger scale than Micro Machines (see Mini AutoMagic / Micro Color Racers, #), but unfortunately, it didn´t worked, and there were only a few dozens of models made. Years later, Hot Wheels decided not to innovate and release cars in a compatible scale/size, in similar packaging, similar price category, and grouping cars by some common characteristica.

The result are very nice models with metal base and plastic bodies looking absolutely great. One difference is that Mattel decided to present the models in some kind of customized plastic base (or "Micro Scape") related to the theme of the car series. In this case, all cars are attached to stands, like it was a car fair or something like that. This "feature" was only available for the first sets, later, the model were simply attached to the cardboard interior, just like Micro Machines.

Among all collections, this was probably one of the bestsellers, since it has so cool cars, all in one package:

• Ferrari F50 (red)
• Jaguar XK Cabrio (green)
• Porsche Boxter Cabrio (white)
• Mercedes SLK Cabrio (orange)
• BMW Z3 Cabrio (silver)

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: PLANET MICRO - SPORTS CARS SERIES #1
• Scale: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1997
• Company: Hot Wheels! - Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 2 cm

#835 MICRO MACHINES - X-RAYS COLLECTION 4 (1991)

This series started in 1991, and uses the same models and the same casts than the Deuxe series, only the cars are made in transparent colour.

It is difficult for me to think why did Galoob bring this series out... maybe they just wanted to keep the Deluxe series living, but the casts for them were too expensive to produce new model. What seems clear to me, is that more "repaints" of the existing cars, plus mixing them up to create new collections wouldn´t work, after 3 years of doing this already. The X-rays ist just another turn of the screw, with which Galoob can present old models (and reuse old casts) in a completely different way. Note that the feature is not anymore that the micro car has practicable parts, but that you can see the interior of the car.

Of course, the only Micro Machines with interiors are the Deluxe models, so, by making them in transparent you would be able to see the seats, the motor and other parts which, of course, are painted to make them "visible".


The cars in the pictures are:

• Chevrolet Camaro Z-28
• Chevrolet Corvette '87
• Packard
• Ferrari Mondial

That year of 1991, all Deluxe Collections were discontinued, except the later "Space collection" (which included a moon rover, the Apollo capsule and a lunar module, just like the Deluxe collection XIII) and the "European Exotics" (which included a Lamborghini Countach, a Ferrari Testarossa and a Mercedes Gullwing, but in new, previously unreleased colours).

The X-Rays debuted with 4 collections (numbered #1 to #4), each of them with 4 cars each with no repetitions (all of them previously released as Deluxe models), so 16 different cars. The deluxe series had more different models (30 including the 3 belonging to the space collection, a.k.a. deluxe collection XIII), but only 16 were chosen for the X-Rays.

The following year (1992) the series was still available with the same 4 collections, only each of these included a "bonus" vehicle belonging to another series.

X-Rays are very fragile, and it is very common to find them with broken parts (for example missing doors). If you are looking for them pay attention to the details, to make sure they are complete.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: Micromachines X-Rays Collection 4
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1991
• Company: Galoob (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 2 cm

#798 UNKNOWN MANUFACTURER - SEVERAL CARS IN MICRO MACHINES SCALE (Around 1995)

MONTH OF THE BOOTLEG AT TOYS FROM THE PAST!

This is an unknown series of Micro Machines copies. I do not even know if they belong together (I mean, if they were originally sold together), but in any case, I bought all of them to the same guy.

Despite I do not usually buy MM bootlegs, I thought these were nice models that really resemble real MM. I later realized they are probably knock-offs, but I didn’t compare them to other real MM in my collection yet.

 

The cars are made of a worse plastic than the real MM and the colours and paintwork are also clearly inferior. However the selection of models is in my opinion great. The models are (left to right):

• BMW 635 (very similar to the one in #577)
• Mercedes SLC
• Ferrari F40
• Porsche 911 Carrera
• Land Rover

 

I don´t know what the manufacturer was, so I could have also published this entry in January, as part of the "month of the unknown". If anyone has more information, I´d love to know more.

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SEVERAL CARS IN THE MICRO MACHINE SCALE (KNOCK-OFF)
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: Around 1995
• Company: Unknown Manufacturer
• Size: approx. 2 cm

#688 MICRO MACHINES – ULTRAFAST COLLECTION #21 HOT BIKES (1988)

The Ultrafast series, as explained several times already, is the “standard” series from Micro Machines, that is, the cars that did not have any specific feature. In general, these collections comprise 5 cars (or other vehicles) each, except in case these are bigger vehicles (for example the limousines).
I decided to open a new entry for the collections from 1988. Entry #128 dealt with collections from 1989. In several consecutive years, some collections were repeated (same cars), but using different colours. The same model could also be part of more than one collection, so, normally, each car was available in several colours and several collections.

The collection shown in this entry is:
#21 Hot Bikes

This entry will be updated as I get to complete other Ultrafast Collections from 1988.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: Micromachines Ultrafast Collection #21 (Hot Bikes)
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1988
• Company: Galoob (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 3 cm

#665 GLOBO ITALY (VR) – SEVERAL CARS IN THE MICRO MACHINES SCALE (Around 1997)

MONTH OF THE BOOTLEG AND THE KNOCK-OFF AT TOYS FROM THE PAST!

 

 

This series of cars in the Micro Machines scale (or slightly bigger) were really common at fleamarkets the beginning of the 2000s. I guess they were made by the mid 90s and could be found in cheap stores, otherwise I cannot explain why are they so common.

 

There are several different models, mostly race and 4x4 cars, each of them in two colours, although there are also minor variations. I had much more of these, but I only kept one of each type including variants. I left the rest in different geocaches around Europe.

 

Note that some are marked: "TURBO", "DESERT DEMON", "TYPHOON" and some also carry race numbers.

 

If you have any information about these models, I´d love to hear it! Please leave a comment to this entry.

UPDATE: I found a blister pack with sme of these cars marked "GLOBO ITALY (VR)" (VR is for the region Verona, since they are located in Illasi). I think this company still exists and it is now called GLOBO (see www.globo.it). Probably they started importing knock-off toys (according to the web in 1982), like Transformers Micro Masters (called Micro Metamorphs) and they grew from that point on to be one of the most important Italian toy importers today.

Even though these cars are probably older than 1997, I will leave the 1997 estimation. It is suspicious that they were still so easy to find around 2010.

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SEVERAL CARS IN THE MICRO MACHINES SCALE
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: Around 1997
• Company: Globo Italy (VR) (Italy/ China)
• Size: approx. 2,5 cm

#633 MICRO MACHINES - 4x4 CRUSHERS (1991)

These cars/trucks do not resemble any other Micro Machine, they are slightly bigger, that's why Galoob chose only trucks, big american vans and military vehicles for this series. This way they could hide the scale difference between this series and the others in the "Ultrafast" series.

There were only a few models in this series made, each had a common base, and changed only the body and/or the colours/decoration. To be exact, there were 6 models, with 2 decorations each, 12 references. They were launched in 1991 and sold also in 1992. They were discontinued in 1993.

The base has "bigfoot" wheels, and place inside for a very small battery. The battery is completely hidden by the body. I dont know if this type of battery is still available in shops. I guess yes, but it is a very rare model, I am not sure if it is a AA or some other. They can be turned on/off with a small switch.

It is quite fun to play with, I guess, it should be quite fast, and have a strong traction. Note the spike behind that prevents the car to slide and turn upside down.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: 4x4 CRUSHERS KENWORTH
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1991
• Company: Galoob (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 4 cm

#577 MICRO MACHINES - MICRO LIGHTS COLLECTION #2, #6, #7, #8, #10, #16 and #18 (1990)

The next Micro Machines subseries are the Micro Lights. There is also the Super Micro Lights Series (#166), but although they are similar subseries, they are not the same. The Micro Lights are cars with front are rear lights, that can be activated when the car is pushed down, while the Super Micro Lights are generally bigger vehicles (trucks, vans, camper vans, limos, buses...) and they don´t have rear and front lights, but lights in the interior that reveals the silhouettes of the passagers.

Both lines were launched in 1990. The Micro Lights subseries comprised 18 collections of 2 cars each, however, Micro Lights and Super Micro Lights were merged the next year into the Micro Lights series. Cars were the same (partly in the same colours/decorations), but "remixed".

The two cars presented here are a BMW 635 and a T-Bird Super Coupé (Collection #6), both decorated in rally colours and patterns.

UPDATE (June/2024): Added several collections

Collection #2: Also a BMW 635 and a T-Bird Super Coupé (Collection #2), in flashy colours and patterns.

Collection #7: 

Collection #8:

Collection #10: 

Collection #16:

Collection #18:

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MICRO LIGHTS COLLECTIONS #2, #6, #7, #8, #10, #16, #18
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1990
• Company: Galoob (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 2 cm