#949 STARTING LINEUP – 4 NBA PLAYERS (1997 and 1998)

Beside wrestling, I do not have many action figures based on real sports. I got this figures on eBay for very little money, and I was surprised when I finally had them in my hands.

The figures are made by Kenner, so the quality is very high. The difference to other toy lines is that the figures in this collection have to be very realistic. The figures have the face of the real player, also the size matches the player’s height. The positions in which the players move and stand are also very realistic and to my surprise, are nicely compatible with each other, looking almost real.

The four players I have are:

• Latrell SPREWELL (WARRIORS, 15)
• Chris WEBBER (WIZARDS, 4)
• Dennis RODMAN (BULLS, 91)

...from 1997, and:

• Kevin GARNETT (TIMBERWOLVES, 21)

...from 1998.

I am not a great basketball fan (I was, but years before 1997), so I did not know these players very well. I, of course, heard about Dennis Rodman and Kevin Garnett, but I have to confess that the other two were completely unknown to me.

Note that every figure comes with a minimal stand, so the figure can stand on one foot, or look like it is jumping. The stand is attached to the figure by means of a metal bar, and the figure can be turned in one or the other direction. They also move their arms and head, and some also move other parts of the body.

Despite all, I sold the figures shortly after taking the pictures. To my surprise they were very cheap even in their boxes, so I sold them for more or less the same money that I payed for them. I decided to get rid of them because the collection is extremely extense, and the figures take too much space, they are big, and with those play positions they take much space.

I loved taking all the pictures in this entry.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SPREWELL (WARRIORS), WEBBER (WIZARDS), RODMAN (BULLS), GARNETT (TIMBERWOLVES)
• Toy Line: Starting Lineup
• Year: 1997 and 1998
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 12 cm

#772 SCALEXTRIC – CHEVROLET MONTECARLO “COOPER” (Ref. 6021) (1998)

The NASCAR racing has never been popular in Spain, probably neither in other European countries. It surprises me that Scalextric still launched this model in 1998, being the first NASCAR racer in the whole history of the brand.

Tecnitoys somehow decided to bid on this new cast, maybe as an attempt to check what would be the response to such an exotic racer, and in 1998, they launched references 6020 and 6021, the Chevrolet Montecarlo in “Du Pont” and “Cooper” decorations.

The “Du Pont” version is much more colourful and nicer to the eye, while the “Cooper” colours are much more elegant. There would still come a third version which is referred as “55 mph” in 1999 with the reference 6030.

Those are the only three models that share cast. Tecnitoys would present a few years latee (in 2006) an improved cast for this model, with 8 different decorations between that year and 2008. I am not sure if they were ever sold in Scalextric boxes, or only in SCX boxes for the foreign markets. Probably they made good sales in the US and other countries where the popularity of this championship is bigger.

The car is ultra-light (cames with an SRS2 chassis) and the body is hollow and missing every unnecessary detail. Despite this, I think the NASCAR cars are actually like that maybe it is even an accurate reproduction of the real car.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: CHEVROLET MONTECARLO “COOPER” (Ref. 6021)
• Scale: 1:32
• Year: 1998
• Company: Scalextric Tecnitoys (Spain)
• Size: approx. 13 cm

#468 BBURAGO - DODGE VIPER RT/10 and GTS COUPÉ (1997 and 1998)

These are three models of Dodge Viper, one of them cabrio made by Bburago in 1:43 scale. These were manufactured in the mid 90s, and in my opinion, the casts are slightly better than those of older models from the 80s. They have many plastic parts, but these are especially well used, as the windshield on the cabrio version or the air intakes.

 

Another good point are the stripe stickers, that are identical to those that the original car had. This model was manufactured in several colours, and these are a nice example of it.

The Cabrio versión is the RT/10 from 1997 with reference number 4105

The red model is a GTS Coupé from 1998 with reference number 4140. The blue one is the same model (although with a different refernce number -4115-), but a later release (note that the wheels are different). 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: DODGE VIPER RT/10 (4105) and GTS COUPÉ (4140 red and 4115 blue)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1997 and 1998
• Company: Bburago (Italy)
• Size: approx. 9 cm

#456 CORGI JUNIORS vs. FEVA / REALTOY – LONDON TAXI (1985 and 1998)

I found not so long ago a London Taxi made by FEVA. I never saw any die-cast made by this brand, so I bought it. The car looked great, had practicable doors, windows, and other features that outweighed the “Made in China” on the base.

When I arrived home, I compared it to the model made by Corgi, and they are very similar. Let’s start maybe with this one first…

The model by Corgi (Corgi Juniors) was designed and launched in 1980. Probably somebody thought it would sell very well among tourists, since the taxis in London have become a symbol of the city, almost as famous as the red double-deck buses.

The taxi was also manufactured in the second “period” of Corgi Toys (now Corgi Toys Ltd.) from 1985 and 1994 (to which the car in the pictures belongs). This second “version” of the taxi is identical to the first one, but the wheels are cheaper and less attractive and the base is plain, just with the Corgi logo, “London Taxi” and “Made in China”.

The FEVA model, as said before, looks great, it is very similar to the Corgi cast, but it is clearly made out of another cast. The wheels look much better and the base plate is decorated with some exhaust pipes, transmission, suspension and so on. This toy is assembled with screws, which is something rare in toys made in the late 90s.

After some investigations, I found out that FEVA was a modern toy designer from the United Kingdom. They manufactured their toys in China, as almost all European toy manufacturers that still exist today. They were focused in toys with some technological component, like radio controlled helicopters or cars, but they also made board games, and other sort of traditional toys.

The company was founded 1998, and closed in 2007 (both dates approximately), and had their headquarters in the outskirts of London (Furlong Road, SL8 5AJ Bourne End, halfway between Maidenhead and High Wycombe). There you’ll find a medium-sized complex of offices that houses many different companies. Since the factories were in China, the facilities in London could have been rather small.

They had a webpage www.feva.co.uk that is no longer active. Old security copies show the company’s vision and other information.

For example, the vision of FEVA was:

"To be acknowledged, profitable, supplier of children’s products"

The company was directed by three men: Kevin Jones, Graham Spark and Paul Thomas, and had a few investors, like the Bank of Scotland.

Also curious is that the name FEVA is actually an acronym for Future-Energy-Vision-Action:

"FUTURE - We are committed to developing the future of the toy and children's products market
ENERGY - We bring a new energy to the business developing products
VISION - We have a vision of the market that has a broad based retail community and products are developed for specific retail channels
ACTION - We make decisions and take the necessary action to develop new opportunities"

The company wanted to establish themselves in the British toy market, but this was a difficult mission. Even though they made and distributed good quality toys, none of them became especially popular or sold especially well. Some of their toys were awarded with differente prizes, like the “Air Hogs RC Sky Patrol Helicopter” or the “Girl Crush Air Brush Tattoo”, that won the Duracell European Toy Survey in 2003 and 2004 respectively, or the that same helicopter and “Crossfire” (an action game), that were among the 10 best toys of 2003 for the ITV’s Toy of the Year.

Among the board games, we find some games based on classic games like the Hangman, Who is Who, Ludo… or more elaborated board games like Robot Wars: the Game (that reminds a bit of Space Crusade), or two licensed board games with the Power Rangers.

UPDATE (JUNE 2018) : Found this model in a flea market, Identical to the FEVA one. Probably the cast went to RealToy, as FEVA shut down. Everything excet the modified base plate is similar.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: London Taxi (Ref. 71B and 61081)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1985 and 1998
• Company: Corgi Toys (Great Britain) and FEVA (Great Britain / China) and Realtoy (China)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm