#1053 LEGOLAND – EXCAVATOR 604-2 (1971)

I got this box in a lot of good old toys, all with their packages and, although used, in good conditions. I was not looking for this model especifically, but I think it is cool, now that I am becoming an AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego) because of my children.

I like the way this box is designed. The model is complete and includes very basic bricks, the ones used by the toyline in the early 70s. The only part which is a bit different is the front shovel of the excavator. and a 2x2 basic brick in blue with a LEGO sticker on it. They are all original, except maybe the towing hook counterpart, which does not belong to the set. The previous owner probably just put it in the box to play with whatever load was available on the next game.

Unfortunately, the instructions sheet is missing. I had to look for it online.

Te retail price of this set was of around 3 euro (in whatever currency you were using at the time), which is amazingly expensive for such a small set of pieces... Lego was always a very expensive toy.

Note that the tractor cannot carry any figure, as the minifigures were introduced later in time (in 1978, although other type of minifigures  was available from 1975 onwards). Those years, there were cars, vehicles and houses, but they were only playable “from the outside”, so to speak, except for some garages or other buildings were you could place a vehicle inside. There was a homemaker series, where the sets depicted interiors, a bit in a dollhouse style: kitchen, school, bureau... Scale was variable from one set to the next.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: EXCAVATOR (Ref. 604-2)
• Year: 1971
• Company: Lego (Denmark)
• Size: Around 10 cm long

#970 DINKY TOYS – SINGLE DECKER BUS (283) (1971)

 

I do not have many Dinky models, I have maybe 5 to 10 models, none of them very valuable. Among all, this is the most impressive, as it is big, very well detailed and has cool features, asa it was usual for this and the other contemporary British brands.

The model is the Single Decker Bus, number 283, which was available between 1971 and 1973 (it was first sold in a cardboard box, then in a plastic blister with cardboard base). This is the most common red version, but there seems to be a darker red version with some shiny effect, which is even nicer and a green one, which was sold as unassembled in the DinkyKit series. There are also several variants, with different base or door colours.

It carries “Red Arrow” stickers, which, according to Wikipedia, is the brand name given to several routes used as a high frequency communter services in central London. The service started in 1966 and, at the time, used AEC Merlin buses, which is the model represented in this toy.

The toy came with two very cool features: the first one is the opening doors by sliding a button on the opposite side, and the second one is a bell hidden in the lower part of the vehicle, that can be ringed with the button on the lower side.

Some boxes included a small sticker sheet with three stickers, two of them indicating the route number “503” and “Waterloo Stn & 503 Victoria Stn”. Plus a red one with the text “Red Bus Rovers”. My model has lost the second one which should have been placed on the front over the windshied, but has two of the third on the roof (probably are placed wrongly, I have seen other models that carry this sticker on the rear between the headlights). The license plates and the white side bands were applied at the factory.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SINGLE DECKER BUS (283)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1971 (to 1973)
• Company: Dinky (Great Britain)
• Size: 16.7 cm

#907 ASS QUARTETT - FLITZER RENN- UND SPORTBOOTE (3218), SPORTWAGEN (3240) (Around 1971 and 1973)

Two more decks for my collection of ASS quartets. Sportwagen (sport cars) and Flitzer Renn- und Sportboote (race and sport boats).

Of course, the deck with the cars is much more interesting and more valuable than the other. At the time there was a big interest in those race boats shown on the cover of “Flitzer” (I recall having assisted to a boat show in the late 80s), so it does not surprise me that there are so many boat quartets from the 70s and the 80s. I have seldom heard about this type of races anymore, so I guess they are not being held anymore. Too dangerous?

The “Flitzer” deck of cards was made around 1971 and it does not actually include many of these race boats described above, but more ordinary little sport and inflatable boats. The deck is nice, I do not dislike it, and also includes the “futuristic” flying disk, some kind of U.F.O. hovercraft.

The deck includes the “Berufstip” (advice for people willing to become) photographers.

Sportwagen deck looks slightly newer, it was made in 1973 (according to quartettblog, so it is 100% sure), and it does not display the Blitztrump logo on the cover anymore. The “Berufstip” card, has been replaced by a “Fahrbericht” of a Porsche 911 S. That is a driving report, like in the specialized press.

The cover is a BMW 3.0 CSI, which is not the most interesting car in the deck… Having so extremely cool cars in the deck, why that BMW? Nevertheless, I love this quartett, take a look at all those Lamborghinis, Maseratis, Ferraris, Porsches, Alfa-Romeos… from the early 70s. One of the coolest quartets I own despite the cover. It was also available with blue cardback.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: FLITZER RENN- UND SPORTBOOTE (3218), SPORTWAGEN (3240)
• Year: Around 1971, 1973
• Company: Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten Fabriken A.G. (Also ASS) (East-Germany)

#903 TOOTSIETOY - SEVERAL MODELS IN 3 INCHES AND OTHER SIZES (1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1976)

Despite having collected thousands of die-cast models in over 30 years, I keep discovering new toys made by brands from which I have never heard of before, or by brands I know, but I never had in my hands before.

One of the brands in this second case is Tootsietoy. It is a great American toymaker I of course was aware of, but I never had any toys made by them until very recently. They were to my knowledge never sold in the countries I lived in, so I guess the ones I found were transported from Germany.

It is nice to have a couple of them, but I am not sure if I will buy more of them, given I can find more at reasonable prices.

The company has a very long history behind them, since it can be tracked back to the 1890s. The history starts in Chicago, where two companies merged in 1926. The first of them was a trade paper called the National Laundry, founded by the Dowst Brothers. They also had a linotype machine to make metal buttons, cuff links and other items related to their main bussiness. The second company was Cosmo company, owned by the Shure Brothers. They produced small cars also as cuff links, pins and so.

The Shure Borthers purchased the Dowst Brothers bussiness, but the name of the merged companies remained Dowst Manufacturing Co. The first die-cast cars were produced sometime between 1909 and 1911. The name Tootsietoy was registered in 1924 by the Dowst Brothers, supposedly after the name of a granddaughter of one of them, whose name was Toots. In the first years, the produced several promotional die-cast stuff or even figures for the Monopoly game and dollhouse furniture.

The 20s decade, the company produced many car toys, vehicles, hand guns and so on. Some of the first model were promotional, like a series of vehicles for the Graham Company in 1932 and for General Motors in 1935. During WW2, the production was reset for war effort, reducing the toy production to almost zero.

After WW2, the production continued offering mostly American models for the American market.

In 1961 Tootsietoy purchased Strombecker, who would became famous for their slot cars, and since then, some toys were marked Tootsietoy-Strombecker.

By the end of the decade, part of the production was reallocated to Hong-Kong, but henceforth the production plants in the U.S.A. (Chicago or Rockford, both Illionis) and Hong-Kong would close and new ones would open in China. The headquarters is still based in Chicago, but now the brand Tootsietoy is owned by J. Lloyd International, Inc.

Focusing on the toys now, the vehicles made by Tootsietoys were always quite simple in construction. The body of the car holds the axles from the inside and they rarely come with interiors, which were added already for the first time in the late 70s. A good example of this can be noticed in the next pictures of a buggy from the tough series.

1971 - 1249 - TOUGHS (Buggy, Trailer with Boat):

1974 - 2405 - MIDGET SPORT SETS (Jeep, Sport Proto, trailer with boat, missing car)

The selection of Tootsie references in this entry ranges from 1971 to 1976, and mixes cars in 3 inches (or slightly smaller, maybe 2.5 inches) and bigger models, and different types of vehicles. The nice part is that all of them are still in their original package, alhough not all cards are in great shape (some even cut or partially opened).

197? - 14127 - NO NAME (Car Transporter, Race Car)

This transporter, that has a considerable size, is built in metal with plastic base to give it a tougher construction. Unfortunately, the trailer is made of plastic, so I guess many ended up stepped-on and broken. It includes a nice unidentified race car.

1975 - 1250 - TINY TOUGHS (Pick-Up Truck)

What I like most from this reference is the Honda Civic from the 70s drawn in the card! Very cool hatchback!

1972 - 2400 - HOP'D RODS (Hot Rod)

The seller had several models from this series, but I bought only one, the one that had the card in best condition. I love that illustration of a custom dragster car. Unfortunately, the toy model is not very well detailed.

1974 - 2435 - FARM TRACTOR

I don't like this model especially, but again, the illustration is wonderful. They should have placed that sticker in the bubble or somwhere else! Interestingly, the toy is made in U.S.A., but the wheels were assemble in Hong-Kong.

1975 - 2552 - RESCUE (Helicopter)

Amazing packaging! I wonder who painted all that stuff.

1976 - ? - TOUGHS HITCH-UPS (Pick-Up Van and Buggy)

This is my only Tootsie in some kind of "jewel-case" with cardboard base and bubble on top. The buggy seems to be based in a Matchbox Super King model, or not?

 

1976 - 2200 - VANTASTIC California Sports Van

Another cool packaging. The seller had it in this colour and also in pink, a clear exploitation of Charlie's Angel's Van. I picked this one don't know why. Maybe it had a better card, because in pink it is also extremely cool. That mid-west country landscape (Monument Valley?) is not bad either. The Van comes without back door, because, after all, it was some kind of budget model.

All cards and boxes include some text referring to the safety regulations at the time of the release, and some also came with a nice promotional offer in which you could buy a Tootsietoys t-shirt. The offer has expired long ago, but I would love to have one of those t-shirts now. How cool would that be?

UPDATE1 (Nov/2019): Roadster in green, perfect to complete the blisterpack shown above that is missing one piece! Also interesting to have a piece out of the blister, so I am able to show the bottom part of the cast. No base, but still some markings. Note also the axles and the wheels that remind of Matchbox´s Regular Wheels.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SEVERAL MODELS IN 3 INCHES AND OTHER SIZES
• Scale: Approx. 1:64 and 1:43
• Year: 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1976
• Company: Tootsietoy (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 6 cm to 10 cm