#1037 EFSI – MERCEDES LONG TRAILER “SHELL” TANKER and FLATBED (around 1985)

I have presented in the past several Efsi trucks and trailers, but this is my first “long trailer” made by the Dutch company. I found it in a flea market, and I liked it a lot. It represents a long tanker from Shell, in bright yellow and red.

The truck is identical to the ones we already saw, so I am not going to comment on it. The trailer is, surprisingly, not very well done. The metallic base is reduced to a few long stabs to fit the axles and the wheels in a more or less stable way, and the tank itself is made of plastic. It looks great, but it was probably made to be sold for a rather low price. 

It is, however, a lot of fun to play with, as all die-cast long trailers are, and displays nicely along with other trucks and cars from this brand.

UPDATE (DEC.2024): Shortly after publishing this entry, I got a second "long" Efsi Truck, a flatbed, that I will present as an update. The trailer is based in the same die-cast part, only with a diffeerent part of plastic attached to it, sasving money in bigger casts and replacing zamak by plastic.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MERCEDES LONG TRAILER “SHELL” TANKER and FLATBED
• Scale: 1:87
• Year: Around 1985
• Company: EFSI (Netherlands)
• Size: approx. 15 cm

#1010 EDOCAR – VW 1300 MUSICAR “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” (1989)

 

What I found about Edocar was already explained in a previous entry, that you can review here. This time I am presenting a single model which has the special feature of singing Happy Birthday using the same mechanism than Majorette’s Sonic Flashers.

The model, of course, it is produced by MC Toy in a color which is specific for Edocar, and the decoration is somewhat colourful although not especially remarkable. Most MC Toy models have better tampographies. The windows are black to hide the electrical circuit that produces the music. It was sold in a blister pack.

Back to the musical feature, Happy Birthday was not the only melody available, there were other models which reproduced the tune of “Tulips from Amsterdam”, the theme of “Alfred J. Kwack” or the jingle of Coca-Cola. Edocar and Coca-Cola have a special relation about which I will write in another occasion.

What I dislike about this toys is that, once the battery is empty, there is no easy way to replace them. Also the batteries corrode, and at some point, they will spoil the toy, not to mention that many of these toys ended in the waste bin contaminating earth and water. Remember to remove batteries from the toys if you are going to store them for a long time!

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: VW 1300 Musicar „Happy Birthday“
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1989
• Company: Edocar (Netherlands, China)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm

#910 BEST BOX and EFSI - FORD TAUNUS 17M and OPEL REKORD (2511/401 and 405) (Around 1969 and 1972)

There is something I haven´t shown yet in this blog: a real Best-Box car model. So far I had only models marked Efsi on their base, but thanks to Pablo from coleccionismo80-90.blogspot.com I got my first Best-Box. It is not in its best shape, but still it is intereting to have it in my collection, mostly since I am capable of comparing it with the same toy car marked Efsi.

The model is the Ford Taunus 17M. The Best-Box reference number is 2511, while Efsi´s is 401. Beside the obvious differences (color and markings in the base) both models are identical.

In previous entries about Efsi, I wrote the story of the company using several sources, but since the last entry, I received a comment from Ron Kolk, I responded, but he didn´t write back. I wonder if he is an ex-employee of the company, if he is the writter of the dutch wikipedia entry for me or if he just translated it for me, because he corrects the information displayed in entry #175. In any case, thank you so much Ron!

Ron Kolk November 3, 2017 at 4:09 PM

In the late 60's, the mines were closed in Limburg. DSM (The State Mine) tries to provide the miners with new jobs. Among other things, DAF comes to Born.

The state mines had workshops where invalidly affected miners could carry out work, so as to have a decent day-to-day spending. These "WIM Workshops" were transformed into Social Workplaces after the mining ceremony and housed by the Social Services Fund (FSI), which her social workplaces resumed at the Foundation for Companies of FSI, abbreviated as SFB . One of those activities was the continuation of the model car production of Best-box. Initially still under the name Best box, one goes to Efsi, a phonetic pronunciation of FSI in the seventies.

The company was moved to De Beitel in Heerlen. Initially, it was produced with the available molds. Later the molds were made by a company in Portugal. After making these dies ready-made, an alloy of zinc and aluminum (Zamak) was used to pour cars, lorries and buses. One had separate molds for the plastic parts, where the wheels, interiors, windows, bumpers were cast. The plastic came from DSM in the form of grains in various colors that Efsi mixed himself. The passenger cars were phased out in the late 1970s.

The maintenance of the dies and the machine park was carried out by EFSI engineers.

At the end of her life, Efsi was renamed in Holland-Oto. In 1986, after the closure of the FSI, the Holland-Oto molds were taken over by an entrepreneur from Weert. Efsi models can be found in Holland-Oto packaging. The former Efsi factory is still located on the Sourethweg in Heerlen, at the Beitel industrial site, opposite the former midwifery school (now called Imstenrade). The building is owned by the Employment Office Oostelijk Zuid-Limburg (WOZL).

Ron gives some interesting key that may explain why are there in proportion many more truck and van models than car modesl by Efsi. The passenger cars were phased out in the late 70s, and no new casts were produced. Trucks and vans usually take longer to be replaced in the market for new models... Also interesting that mention to a portuguese company... which company is it? There are not many die-cast manufacturers in Portugal.

The exact address to which Ron refers is Sourethweg 2, Heerlen. I captured some pictures from Google Maps.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: FORD TAUNUS 17M and OPEL REKORD (2511/401 and 405)
• Scale: Around 1:64
• Year: Around 1969 and 1972
• Company: Best Box / Efsi (Netherlands)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#851 LION CAR HOLLAND - DAF DAFFODIL VARIOMATIC (Around 1967)

I enjoy discovering new die-cast makers from the past. A few months ago, I found this car and I bought it for 5 Euro. Maybe a bit expensive considering its condition, but consider I had never seen any of its brand before, I decided to buy it.

Lion Toys is a die-cast manufacturer from Holland. The company started as early as 1946 with tin trains, but soon started producing scale cars too. The "Lion" in the name comes maybe from its founder Arie van Leeuwen, but the Lion is also one of the symbols of the Netherlands, so it could be both.

The company seems to have been very focused on the national market, producing cars that were popular in the country. At some point they stopped producing cars to produce exclusively trucks and busses, again with a great focus on models which were popular in the Netherlands.

 

The firs car produced was a Volkswagen Type 1, but it was followed by many DAFs, a Renault Dauphine, an Opel Rekord or a DKW 3 = 6.

Among the trucks, there are again many DAF models, but also Mercedes, Volvo, Iveco, MAN or Scania, and the busses are Hainje or Berkhof, among others.

Since May 2010, the brand is property of Tekno.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name:  DAF DAFFODIL VARIOMATIC
• Scale: 1:43 (approx.)
• Year: Around 1967
• Company: Lion Toys / Lion Car (Netherlands)
• Size: approx. 8 cm

#812 EFSI – FIAT 242 and CITROËN C35 (Around 1975)

Efsi Holland made these two vans in several versions each. I am still surprised to find more and more decorations of them. I already have 6 or 7 different ones.

Not only the colours change, but also there are versions with a siren on top, other without, and some with windows other without.

The Fiat 242/Citroën C35 was the result of a cooperation between the two car manufacturers and it is surprising to me that Efsi made two casts which are almost identical, instead of choosing another van which may look “more different” to each other. The only difference is in the front, where the logo of Fiat or Citroë in displayed and on the base, where the name of the car is written.

This van has not been reproduced in this scale by any other die-cast manufacturer I know of, so they are interesting collectables for people interested in the cars and vans from the 70s an the 80s. I think it was quite common in many European countries.

UPDATE1 (Dec/2018): A green Citroën C.35 "Holland", unfortunately not in its best shape.

UPDATE 2 (Nov/2019): Another Citroen C-35 in ambulance decoration, one more for my collection!

UPDATE 3 (Jun/2020) - Fiat 242 with pinkish base (pictures are a bit pale)

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: FIAT 242 and CITROËN C35
• Scale: Around 1:64
• Year: Around 1975
• Company: Efsi (Netherlands)
• Size: approx. 7 cm