#1092 MONSTERS OF THE GALAXY – FLASH (Art. 8422) (1985)

The Monsters of the Galaxy is an Italian Masters of the Universe knock-off line. It is very rare even in its country of origin, so you may have never heard of it before. I once found a cardboard in a flea market, and later bought this figure with almost all its accesories in an auction in Austria. As you can see, there were nine figures in total plus two beasts. All figures seems to come with a very impressive helmet, and some include unusual accesories like cloth cloaks and cloth boots. They come in different colours as it is common in action figure collections. Some has a minimal background information, such as "Defender of Aeterna", but most of them lack of any reference. Three of them have monstruous heads, while the other 6 have human faces, sometimes hidden unter strange helmets or headwear, so it is left to the kid if the figure is a hero or a villain.

As you can observe in the pictures, the figure is unmistakenbly a MotU copy. The body parts have not been cloned, but they are very very close to the originals from Mattel. I would say the head is inspired by that of Clamp Champ, but if in that case, the year I have seen referred as the release date of the figures (1985) cannot be accurate, as Clamp Champ is a figure from 1986. The accesories are not copied, but pretty much respect the style of the line they are trying to imitate.

This character's name is Flash, and resembles a bit Spikor. It has a similar body colour and, despite missing it's trident-arm, it comes with a helmet with five spikes. Other accesories which my figure still has are a light blue harness and a spiked-shield. Unfortunately, it is missing an axe.

The figure and its accesories are completely unmarked, so many people who came accross them had a hard time identifying them. Now with the reverse search of search machines and AI tools should be easier, but I didn't make the test yet.

 

The manufacturer is Camy, a completely unknown company from Palazzolo sull'Oglio, a locality between Bergamo and Brescia, in the Lombardy. This is a really small town, and the company was probably also a very small business, so the number of figures out there has to be very low. The very few that are for sale on eBay at the time of writing this article cost 250 euro (figure with harness and helmet), 330 (figure with harness) to 950 euro (complete figure with all accesories). Loose accesories go for around 30 euro/piece. Even if you had the money to buy the figures it would cost you a lot of time to wait for all the items (it is 9 figures plus two beasts) to pop-up in that platform or other platforms online.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: FLASH (ART. 8422)
• Toy Line: Monsters of the Galaxy
• Year: 1985
• Company: Camy (Italy)
• Size of the figures: Around 14 cm tall

#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

#1040 KINDER SURPRISE – TRAKTOR POWER RACE (2003)

This a complete series (it comprised only three models) of fantasy tractor dragsters made by Ferrero for their famous chocolate eggs. I do not collect them and they are too new for this blog, but I liked them so much, that I decided to keep them.

They are relative simple and carry plain bright colours. They are all made up of three pieces that fit each other (one of them chromed) plus the wheels. They are inexpensive (as most Ferrero surprise toys currently are), but not very easy to find…

Not much to more to say about them, except that they recall me to some Micro Machines, such as there here. There are not many scale models of drag tractor vehicles, either real or fantastic ones.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: TRAKTOR POWER RACE
• Scale: unknown scale
• Year: 2003
• Company: Ferrero (Italy)
• Size: approx. 4 cm

#967 POLISTIL - ALPINE 3L ("P48" SERIES) (Around 1972)

I got this car by chance and bought it thinking it might be a cheap knock-off from Italy. When I looked it more thoroughly I noticed that the logo is actually the same that Polistil used, so I had a start to my research.

And it is definitely a Polistil car. It has no brand marking on the base, except the “made in Italy” and the reference number P48.

P48´s belong to a short series of sport cars, completely made of plastic (except the axles) and, thus, very low budget toys. All of them had the same base and the same reference number, which can be confusing to collectors. Also interesting is that each model was made in a variety of plain colours. Some of these were used in other toys (for example big car carrier trucks) or sold in cheap three-packs.

The available models (with their official codes) were:

• Cod.A68 Porsche 908
• Cod.A77 Ferrari P5
• Cod.A78 Alfa Romeo 33
• Cod.A81 Lotus Europa
• Cod.A84 Matra 630 SP
• Cod.A85 Alpine Renault
• Cod.A87 D.R.5 Daytona

The casting is very good, as it is based in the same cast used for the die-cast version of the toy, but the durability is limited, as it can be easily broken, scratched of damaged. The wheels are the same in both models, as you probably can recognize.

There is more information and pictures is this website (in Italian): POLISTIL scala 1:32 Serie P48 (policar.org) (Went offline, shame!)

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: ALPINE 3L (A.85)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: Around 1972
• Company: Polistil (Italy)
• Size: approx. 10 cm

#919 SCALE MODEL SPORT MOTORCYCLE - KAWASAKI Z-SERIES? (1983)

This is a plastic motorbike made in Hong-Kong by an unknown manufacturer, but imported to Italy by a company called R.M.G.

With that name, it is kind of difficult to trace back which company is that. It is copyrighted in 1983 and labelled as "Scale Model Sport Motorcycle". At first sight I thought it may be a Mercury knock-off (same scale and detail level, much worse quality), but now I think it is just a motorbike made in the same scale.

Regarding the quality, note the orange part on one side should be over the exhaust pipe, and not below it.

The motorbike seems to be a Kawasaki (that´s what the sticker says) and it definitely looks like some early 80s models from the Z-series, like Z750, Z500, and so on, but the exhaust pipes are kind of strange. I haven´t found any Kawasaki with this kind of seemingly inverted pipes, they all have rather low ones.

Maybe during the production, they run of the proper exhaust pipes and mounted those from another model, or maybe there were only just one model for all motorbikes? I am not sure if many of these motorbikes have survived to this day. I would say any motorbike removed from its package has certainly been damaged or destroyed by play. The plastic parts, like the brake levers, race number holder, mudguards and so on look so fragile, that I cannot imagine that a played motorbike is still 100% complete.

Anyone has one of these new and in a box? How many models were made?
Which is this R.M.G. misterious company? Too many questions. In any case, the motorbike is a curious toy, looks nice in it box and deserves being in this blog.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: SCALE MODEL SPORT MOTORCYCLE (KAWASAKI Z-SERIES)
• Scale: Around 1:32
• Year: 1983
• Company: R.M.G. (Italy) / Unknown Manufacturer (Hong-Kong)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#909 POLISTIL - BRM P 201, FERRARI 312 T2, WILLIAMS FW07, FERRARI 126 C3 and MCLAREN MP4 (RJ7, RJ55, RJ70, RN24 and RN25) (1976, 1978, 1980, 1983)

Something I enjoy while writing about Polistil F1s is browsing the wikipedia for the years in which they ran, who were their pilots and how well they did that year. It is very interesting and informative, reading what happened in the F1 seasons from the 70s and the 80s.

I collected 5 more race cars ranging from 1976 to 1983.

We will go from older to newer. And precisely the first one is the most interesting of the lot. From the 1976’s season, the BRM P 201 is a rare model. Except Polistil, I do not know any reproduction of the car in this scale. This is probably due to the fact that the car was not very good (the golden era of BRM was long gone) and this car did not achieve any points in the championships. This model was reproduced by other manufacturers too. As a reader of this blog pointed out, there are BRM P201s made by Yatming, Playart, Tintoys, Summer and TimmyToys... maybe even more.

Driven by Ian Ashley (with RN14) in 1976, it was also used the next season with the same number by driver Larry Perkins. The BRM team (Stanley BRM) ran its last season in 1977 and disappeared as such.

BRM P 201 (RJ7) – 1976, Ian Ashley RN14
FERRARI 312 T2 (RJ55) – 1978, Gilles Villeneuve RN12

The car is not in excellent shape but it is rare to find. I guess it did not sell as well as Ferraris and other faster cars back in the days. It has reference RJ7

The car near the BRM is, of course a Ferrari. Most accurately, the 312 T2 from 1978. This model represents the car driven by Gilles Villeneuve with RN12. He didn’t do a great season, ending 9th, but winning the last GP of the season in Canada. The figure in the cockpit is not original.

The William FW07 with Saudia stickers is one of the iconic cars of the 1979 and 1980 seasons. It was a great car, making a third place in 1979 (and winning 4 races) and winning in 1980. I am talking, of course, about the Australian Alan Jones. Both years he carried RN27. In 1980, Williams-Ford won the constructor’s championship with a huge difference to the second team.

MCLAREN MP4 (RN25) – Niki Lauda 1983, RN8
WILLIAMS FW07 (RJ70) – 1979 and 1980, Alan Jones RN27

The next car is a McLaren MP4 with RN8. This car was driven by Niki Lauda in the 1983 season. This was not a very successful one for the Austrian pilot: he got only 12 points in 11 races, making two podiums in the first two races, and then two 6th places. He would win his third championship the following season.

And finally, we see another Ferrari, this time the model that ran the 1983 season. The RN28 belonged to René Arnoux, who did a great season, ending 3rd, right in front of his colleague and countryman Patrick Tambay (RN27), what gave Ferrari the constructor’s trophy.

FERRARI 126 C3 (RN24) – 1983 René Arnoux RN8

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: BRM P 201, FERRARI 312 T2, WILLIAMS FW07, FERRARI 126 C3 and MCLAREN MP4 (RJ7, RJ55, RJ70, RN24 and RN25)
• Scale: 1:55
• Year: 1976, 1978, 1983, 1980 and 1983 (respectively)
• Company: Polistil (Italy)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#849 MERCURY SPEEDY – O.S.I. SILVER FOX and FERRARI P5 (Nr. 807 and 815) (Around 1971)

There is already an interesting entry in this blog about the small (3 inches) series of Mercury called Speedy, although at the time, I was showing one Speedy Velox Ferrari P5. In this occasion, I want two show two Speedy's from the ordinary series.

Compare the cars with the one in entry #466 and note the different base and different wheels. The "Velox" comes from the superfast-type wheels used later, the two models today came with rubber wheels, as you can observe in the pictures.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: O.S.I. SILVER FOX and FERRARI P5 (Nr. 807 and 815)
• Scale: 1:66
• Year: Around 1971
• Company: Mercury (Italy)
• Size: approx. 10 cm

#814 BARAVELLI / BGM / GIODI – PORSCHE 911 S (Around 1979)

This is a rare Porsche 911 in a scale close to 1:64 (3 inches size). It is quite rough in its details, and has plastic base and dark windows, and, of course, no interior.

So, qualitatively, it is not a great toy, but still a very interesting one due to its maker: Baravelli.

There is very little information about this brand out there. The logo of the company is a circle with a three-pointed star inside with the letters B G M, which according to the Dutch Wikipedia comes from “Baravelli Giordani MAM”, although I cannot recognize MAM as an acronym (sorry, I don’t speak Italian). Other sources say BGM may come from “Baravelli Giodi Miniatura”.

I have seen many carded models marketed as “Giodi” that seem to be the exact same model that I am showing today, so I am almost certain that Baravelli (or BGM) and Giodi are the same company. Actually, Giodi could be a short name for Giordani.

The company produced, as you can see in the pictures, cars in the budget range during the 70s. If the Wikipedia is right, the company got absorved by polistil by the late 70s when the competition was growing both in the internal and the external markets.

What I knew of this brand is that they were used as giveaways in Ferrero’s Kinder Surprise. Not in the standard eggs, but in the bigger Maxi Eggs. Apparently, and according to my Kinder Surprise catalogue, there were two series from Giodi: VIP and VIP 2. The first one came in cardboard boxes with plastic windows, while the second one in cardboard boxes without windows. How they fitted inside the eggs, I don´t know.

According to this source, the “serie VIP. 1” had 12 references: BMW 520i, Cadillac Eldorado, Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Volvo, Lancia, Renault, Porsche, Mercedes; Stratos, Ferrari and Rover. They came without any stickers applied but a small sheet of plastic stickers to be applied by the happy owner of the car.

The “serie VIP  2” has also several references, although only three are mentioned: Mercedes 450 SL, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and Porsche 911 Turbo. Possibly there were more of them. Each one came with 1 sticker (the brand emblem) applied on the hood of the car. That Porsche is exactly the one I am showing in my pictures.

According to the guide, each of these models has a catalogue value of 100 Euro, something which I certainly doubt. They can be found on ebay for around 10 euros/piece

It is actually credible that Giodi/BGM/Baravelli might have been bought by Polistil, since at roughly the same time, Ferrero Maxi Eggs were also giving Polistil models away… at 1:43 scale.

UPDATE (June/2024): Mercedes 450 SEL. Unfortunately in bad shape.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: PORSCHE 911 S, MERCEDES 450 SEL
• Scale: Around 1:64
• Year: Around 1979
• Company: Baravelli B.G.M/BGM Giodi (Italy)
• Size: approx. 7 cm