#1104 CHAMPION – FERRARI 512 S (Ref. 205/206) (Around 1976)

Champion models in 1:66 scale (also Ecurie Champion) were produced by Safir in France, a company which is best known for 1:43 scale miniatures.

Their body is made of plastic, with a metallic base, so, unfortunately, many toys are today damaged or in bad shape. However, if it is still good, colours and stickers usually resist and the miniatures look great. The cast itself is surprisingly good for its age and the decals represent real racing teams and competitions. The short series included, at least, the following Endurance GT cars:

• Ferrari 512S
• Matra MS 650 Long Tail
• Porsche 917 KH (Kurze Heck or Short Tail)
• Porsche 917 LH (Lange Heck or Long Tail)
• Lola T-70

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They seem to have been available in shops in this kind of displays, sharing space with Formula One models. The advertisement indicates there are 24 different models (each box contained 36 toys, so some had to be doubles). There seems to be six different Formula Ones, each of them in two flavours or decorations, so, most probably, there were also six endurance GT cars. In my list above one name would be missing. It could be a Porsche 917 (different from the LH and the KH). These were sold in jewel boxes with a red card in which the basic specs and the name of the driver(s) were printed.

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I also found this another picture of a shop display which shows six boxes in a row, which gives reinforces the previous idea that one model is missing from the lsit. Unfortunately, due to the low resolution of the image, I cannot recognise the missing model.

The bigger brothers of the Champions, in scale 1:43, were called the Super Champions (Ref 510). It was a much larger collection of the same type of cars, as we can see from this other advertisement found on the Internet.

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In these two last pictures show at least 5 models (the Matra could be the sixth model in the Super Champion series and the Porsche 917 the sixth in the Champions series, if they comprised the same 6 models). These five models show 30 different decorations, if the sixth model exists, it would add six more decorations, what would make 36 different cars.

The pictures are taken from a catalogue from 1977, in which some models are marked as "new", but since these other cars are not marked new, I dated them "around 1976". They could have also been released a few years earlier.

Safir closed in 1978, leaving us miniatures like this one. Since they were not exactly a toy, since they were intended for young adults or adults, they are rare to spot. This is the only one I ever came accross, and I bought it, although it is not in perfect shape. If you ever see one in good shape, try to get it.

Safir is also mentioned when talking about Guisval, as the Spanish company copied some Safir models in their first years

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FERRARI 512 S
• Scale: 1:66
• Year: Around 1976
• Company: Champion (France)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#1091 UNKNOWN MANUFACTURER - THREE F1 CORGI BOOTLEGS (Around 1974)

To continue an old tradition, I use the month of April to show toys that are knock-off or bottlegs of other toys. This time I want to present three big scale formula ones that copy Corgi casts. They are made in Hong-Kong around 1974 and use a four digit code system as a reference number. 

Most accurately, These three are:

No 7501 - SURTEES T.S.9 F.1. (Based on Corgi Nr. 150)

No. 7502 - FERRARI 312 B2  (based on Corgi 152 from 1972)

No. 7503 - LOTUS F.1.  (based on Corgi 154 from 1973)

I first thought these would be Yatming, but the codes does not seem to fit with the numbering system used by that company.

I have seen several for sale on the internet, so they are not extremely rare. Compared to the original Corgis, they are also very good. Only the colour slightly differs. The wheels are clearly cheaper and less detailed compared to the original ones, which is the main flaw I see in these four cars. Also the overall quality of the paintwork and the stickers is worse. These seem to have been heavily played, but I still consider them worth enough for my collection.

If you have some information on the manufacturer of these toys, please let me know by writing a comment to this entry. I have been looking for boxed models for sale, but I couldn´t find any. Over the years I have also posted many toys which are yet to be identified. If you want to have a look at them and try to guess which company made them, click on this link Unknown Manufacturer Toys.

 FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SURTEES T.S.9 F.1., FERRARI 312 B2 and LOTUS F1 (No. 7501, 7502 and 7503)
• Scale: 1:36
• Year: Around 1974
• Company: Unknown Toymaker (Hong Kong)
• Size: Around 10 cm long

#1081 MEBETOYS – FERRARI 312 B2 F1 (#6671) (1972)

Since I already covered the history of Mebetoys in a previous entry, there is not much I can write here. Just that, in the 1972 catalogue, Mebetoys introduced the Grand Prix Series, eight formula one refereces (#6670 to #6677) with the most important cars of that season. 

Here's the 312 B2 Ferrari from 1972. The driver was Jackie Ickx, who won only the German GP that year. The seaon winner was Jack Stewart for Tyrrell.

The model is a beautiful reproduction of the real car, as most Mebetoys are. What is not so common is the 1:28 scale. The Grand Prix Series premiered this scale and the following year they would release the Gran Champions at scale 1:25. 

FACTS AND FIGURES: 

• Name:  FERRARI 312 B2 F1 (#6671)
• Scale: 1:28
• Year: 1972
• Company: Mebetoys (Italy)
• Size: approx. 12 cm

#1057 PIATNIK - MOTORPOWER GIFT BOX (Around 2000)

I always try to put a limit to my collections, and in the case of card decks it is the presence of a barcode in the box. If it has a barcode, I consider it is "too new" to be collected. However, I keep making exceptions when I find cards that I like, especially if they are car/racing/Formula 1-themed.

I bought this box in a flea market in 2015. It was made by Piatnik in the early 2000s (I could date the set paying attention to the car models and especially to the formula one teams and sponsors). It contains three technical quartet decks, the same that were also available loose, but the box adds some value to the set. It was probably intended as a gift-pack or something similar. At this time, the individual sets were sold for very few euros, so I also assume that this box was also quite affordable back then. The deck included are:

Let´s check the cards one deck after the other.

Cars (Nr. 422829)

Formel 1 (Nr. 422928)

Motor Show (Nr. 423826)

Interestingly, none of the cars that appear in the outer box is also represented in a card of any of the three decks.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: MOTORPOWER GIFT BOX includes (CARS No. 422829, FORMEL 1 No. 422928 and MOTOR SHOW No. 423826)
• Year: Around 2000
• Company: Piatnik (Austria)

#1055 GO-BOTS - HANS-CUFF (MR-13) and SLICKS (MR-32) (1983 and 1984)

The first model today is a police car called Hans-Cuff or Police-Robo (MR-13). It belongs to the first series from 1983. It represents a Toyota Crown S110, which I tend to guess that it was used as a police car in Japan in the 80s. The car looks great, and the robot transformation is simple and nice. It has the same construction as many transforming robots that turn into cars.

As a general rule, I think that Go-Bots took special care on the alternate-forms of the robots, which are much nice than the alternate forms of Takara/Hasbro´s Transformers (personal opinion here).

The Formula 1 represents a Renault F1 from the early 80s and its called Slicks, although it is also known as F1-Robo or Renault Man (MR-32). It was part of the second series from 1984. As you probably know, the term slicks refer to the tires used in the speed racing championships, especially those used for good weather conditions which had no thread pattern at all (they are completely flat for a better grip). 

 

The Go-Bot behind it is rather complex, and difficult to transform. Due to its many parts, it is difficult to let it stand in a particular position, as, with the use, some connections or articulations are a bit loose. Still, as shown in the pictures, it looks truly great also in robot form.

Both robots were designed and commercialized by Tonka in 1983 in US, Canada and Japan and one year later by Bandai in other parts of the world, maybe with some colour changes or variations. The original Slicks was partly black, while this European Machine Robo version is completely yellow.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: HANS-CUFF (MR-13) and SLICKS (MR-32)
• Toy Line: Go-Bots
• Year: 1983 and 1984
• Company: Bandai (Japan)
• Size of the figures: Approx. 7-9 cm length