#1082 - PLAYMAKERS/LARAMIE - PLASTIC WRESTLERS (Around 1986)

I bought this collection of 8 plastic wrestlers in Austria, but I didn’t know anything about them until very recently. They are unmarked and relatively small. At the time, I thougth they might come from those vending machines that sell plastic balls with some novelty toy inside, or, maybr, from a blister card from a Chinese or Indian bazar. The paint and the overall quality is very low, but the variety and body positions are great.

I later found out that they were manufactured in the 80s by companies such as:

• Playmakers, which sold them unpainted in a blister pack of 4 under the brand "Champion Wrestlers" (Made in Hong Kong)
• Ja-Ru, unpainted, under the brand "USA Wrestling Team" (Made in Hong Kong)
• Unknown Toymaker, painted, under the brand "Wrestling Champs/ Champions de Lutte" (Made in Hong Kong), using the same card as some of the "Wrestling Champions" bootlegs (same as the two-figure blister pack shown here, both on the front and on the back sides)
• Laramie painted under the brand "Wrestling Sper Champs" (Made in China, probably already in the 90s, as some colours schemes remind of Hulk Hogan)
• The colours used in my figures seem to be more "modern" than those of Laramie, I guess they could be even newer than these. However, for the "facts and figures" at the end of this article, I will use the apporximate year of 1986, as these is the educated guess for the Playmakers models.

I have eight figures, which are decorated in pairs wiht the same colour scheme, but two of them are not matching, so I supposed I was missing two more figures, but the truth is that I am missing 4 figures, as the original set from Playmakers clearly indicates that there are twelve models available.

Mine are: two blond wrestlers with long hair (note the same colour used in boots and trunks), two black-haired wrestlers with red trunks, and two brown-haired wresltlers with orange trunks. The two left-most figures the wrestler with beard and moustache and the bald wrestler with moustache do not have a second figure. 

They are somewhat similar to the plastic WWF wrestler shown here, but the singularity of these ones lies in that they are not bootlegging any known character.

Really cool, racket toys. 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: WRESTLER MINI FIGURES
• Toy Line: Unknown
• Year: Around 1986
• Company: Unknown Manufacturer (China)
  
• Size of the figures: 5-6 cm

#1078 MIX 'EM UP MONSTERS - GROPPLE, THUGGER and BLIBBLE (McDONALDS' PROMOTIONAL) (1989)

I got these three monsters over the years with no real intend to collect them. They must be so common, that they simply slided in lots of toys that I purchased.

They are giveaways from McDonalds that could be found in the Happy Meal boxes. There is some kind of disagreement on when they came out. The copyright is from 1988, and some people say the promotion was available in 1988. Others say 1989, and other webpages with a high confidence date the promotion in the UK as late as may/june 1991.Of course the promotion could have been available first in the US, then in some countries in Europe, then somewhere else... I guess there are some people tracking this kind of information as there are many McDonald's toy collectors. 

The collection comprised four monsters, named originally Corkle (light blue), Gropple (yellow), Thugger (purple) and Blibble (green). I have three of them plus the inlay/instructions of the fourth one in German language. In this piece of paper, we learn that the blue one (Corkle in the original) was named Türki (probably because of German Türkis, or turquoise, the main color of the figure).

The toys and the name Mix 'Em Up Monsters are a trademark of Current Inc. and are actually a by-product of a children's book with the same name, published in 1980. This book consisted of 8 pages, divided in three sections each, that could be turned independently, mixing the heads, bodies and tails of 8 different dragons. It was probably a best-seller at the time, according to the big number of books for sale (second hand) today. With 8 different monsters and three parts each, you could build up to 512 differtent monsters. With only 4 toys, it is only 64 combinations you can make.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: GROPPLE, THUGGER and BLIBBLE (McDONALDS' PROMOTIONAL)
• Toy Line: MIX 'EM UP MONSTERS
• Year: 1989
• Company: Current Inc. Books, McDonalds (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 7 cm approx.

#1044 ALME - WESTERN PLAY INDIANER (Ref. 1700) (Around 1984)

I sometimes complain about the lack of information regarding some Spanish toy manufacturer on the Internet but it is also the case of Italian, Greek or Hongkongese toymakers. But this also applies now to the German manufacturer ALME, from the DDR (Democratic Republic of Germany). They were producers of plastic cowboys and Indians, of that kind that can be combined by using several pieces that connect to each other (so-called Steckfiguren), similar to those made by Timpo or Manurba.

But it is not the case of this toy I found in a second hand shop. It is still in its original blister, so I decided to buy it. Otherwise I would have probably not buy it. It is an indian child, similar to or inspired by the character from the comic books and also the TV series Yakari, which was a Sioux boy capable of communicating with animals.

The figure is made of plastic and is poseable (thanks to a kind of cable skeleton). This type of toy is called Biegefigur in German and bendable in English. It comes with a couple of nice accessories: an axe and a shield. The second accesory is still attached to the plastic tree. It was sold under the “Western Play” with the reference No. 1700. I have been searching the Internet, and there are a few of this, but it does seem to be a single figure, there are no other characters in this series.

As said before, there is no information at all about ALME. The company logo carries the word "economical" and "quality", which maybe suggest, that their toys were not the top of the row, maybe limited to popular events, small shops and rare to find in big toy shops. At the time in which it was made (I guess it was in the mid-80s, as the TV series Yakari was aired between 1983 and 1986 for the first time), the quality of budget toys was much higher than it was in the 90s or the 2000s… so, it is a good toy overall.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: INDIANER
• Toy Line: Western Play
• Year: Around 1984
• Company: Alme (Democratic Republic of Germany)
• Size of the figures: Around 8 cm tall

#1036 FIGURAS EN ACCIÓN (F.E.A.) Nr. 29 + ¡¡¡ME LO PIDO!!! + MOSQUEPERROS Y PIRATAS

This is the cover from the latest issue of Figuras En Acción (short: FEA), and, as you can see, we bring a mixture of topics as heterogeneous as it gets.

The main articles deal with toys from the TV series Maple Town (with a special focus on Spanish merchandising), the off-road Scalextric STS 4x4 made in Spain by Exin, an extensive article about Matchbox´s Regular Wheels era, never-seen before paper documents from the manufacturing process of Laser Light Skeletor (the European exclusive figure that closed the vintage Masters of the Universe toyline) and another article about the rare vintage action figure toyline Ninja: Assassins vs. Defenders.

We include again an interview with Jon Diez de Ulzurrun, that deals mostly with the third volume of the Informe Madelman books.

There are several other sections which may interest you as well, such as news, vintage advertisements, museums and book comments, so the contents are even broader.

The magazine can be downloaded for free (no registration required) from the official blog of Figuras En Acción. Search for the download link here: https://figurasenaccion.blogspot.com/2023/12/revista-numero-29-diciembre-2023.html


Other publications worth commenting:

!!!Me lo pido!!! (Jorge Navarro Fortuno)

This book was issued last Christmas and I was lucky to get one copy at the time. It is a collection of pictures, like a giant Christmas catalogue, sorted by toymakers, but, on top of that, there are long descriptions of the history of each of the companies mentioned in the book, as provided by great specialists, collectors or the owners (the their heirs) of those companies. It is therefore a must for everybody who would like to learn more about Spanish toys from the last decades, or for people willing to discover those jewels, unique to Spain, which were designed and manufactured mostly before the country was open to fluid commercial relationships with Europa and the United States.

The book has around 400 pages and deals with around 150 toy companies. Some of the companies, of course, are more important than others, so, wherever there is a toyline which was especially popular, you will also find notes about it in particular, additionally to the history of the company who was responsible for that success. For example, in the pages dedicated to Exin, you will also find subchapters talking about Exin Castillos only, Tente, Scalextric or Ibertrén.

Mosqueperros y Piratas... (Álex Algarra)

This publication is the third volume of a series dealing with Spanish PVC figures. Volume 1 was dedicated to Comics Spain, volume 2 to Comansi, Yolanda and Novolínea (all three are actually the same) and this third one deals with all the other manufacturers there are (or have been) manufacturing this type of toys in Spain.

I only own this third book, as I wanted to see if I could find more information on those smaller companies that made figures I like, but from which there is no information at all on the Internet. This books partially succeeds: the figures made by those companies are ALL reproduced in these pages (so it makes also a good collector´s guide), but the information is only to be found partially. I guess many of these smaller companies operated only for a couple of years and disappeared or changed names and production, so there is no place to investigate or no person to be contacted. Still, the book is great and collects everything that is is currently to be found about those companies, plus the comments and facts that the author gathered through decades of collecting plastic figures and commenting them with a group of fellow collectors.

It still surprises me how less is known about these toys. Many things I read in German catalogues or in older articles on the Internet is wrong, and even today, people are discovering figures nobody knew they existed, as it happened last October, when a tyrannosaurus from Comics Spain was found for the first time, and later sold for over 370 euro on todocoleccion.net. To this respect, I think it is great that Alex Algarra put everything down on paper as a landmark for all future enthusiast and collectors.

#1028 HEIMO - PLASTIC PVC BARBAPAPA (1979)

I don´t recall the series, never saw it on TV or had any merchandising as a kid, I knew them later, as an adult, so let's go directly to the toys.

The original release by Heimo comprised 9 pieces. 5 "male" and 4 "female" Barbapapas. The ladies can be recognised as they carry a kind of bun (hairstyle) at the top of their heads.

• Barbapapa (Pink) (waving hello?)
  
• Barbahelle (Blue) (scratching head?)
• Barbabravo (Red) (with bowling ball?)
  
• Barbazoo (Yellow) (with red bird)
  
• Barbabo (Black) (with palette)
  
• Barbalala (Green) (open arms)
  
• Barbabella (Violet) (sneezing?)
• Barbasophie (Orange) (with book)
  
• Barbamama (Black) (with flowers)
  

The figures are unmarked, what makes me wonder if they are original Heimo or not. The German brand is one of the most bootleged ever, and other original Heimo figures I own are marked with a round stamp on the back of the figures, but the stamp cannot be read, maybe it is a Walt Disney certification (all stamps are in Disney characters). It could also be that some are original Heimo and other aren't. See, for example, the following two Barbasophie. They are quite different from each other. The one on the left is better painted, I would say. Are both Heimo? both bootlegs? one Heimo and the other a bootleg?

I present here 5 figures, plus another one that I found later. There is still three missing that I expect to get sometime in the future.

 

Plastoy also launched a series of Barbapapa PVC figures in 2003.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: BARBAPAPA
• Year: 1979
• Company: Heimo (Germany)
• Size of the figures: Around 3 cm

#1011 STAR TOYS – MIGUEL INDURÁIN (1995)

   

This is a promotional figure made by Star Toys that represents the Spanish cyclist Miguel Induráin. He is the 5 times winner of the Tour de France, and the first person to win five times in consecutive years, between 1991 and 1995. There are other 3 people who also won that race five times. Lance Armstrong won the race 7 times, but was later disqualified for life.

Miguel Induráin also won the Giro d’Italia twice, as well as other prestigious races, and was also a gold medallist in the Olympic Games of Atlanta’96.

Right after the fifth Tour de France victory in the summer of 1995, El Mundo Deportivo, a sports journal from Spain offered this small PVC figure as a giveaway, presented in a plastic bag with a small card inside. It is an unique figure, does not belong to any series.

The figure is manufactured by Star Toys and it is relatively easy to spot in Spain, as it was probably made up to hundreds of thousands. It carries the corporate colours of the Banesto Team, named after a bank that is now part of the Santander group.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: MIGUEL INDURÁIN
• Year: 1995
• Company: Star Toys (Spain)
• Size of the figures: Around 8 cm

#993 STAR TOYS - DAVID EL GNOMO SEVERAL PLASTIC FIGURES (Around 1986)

 
Following the great success of the TV series, Star Toys released a wide variety of characters in PVC, from which I only own 7 of them. I think there are over thirty figures of David, Lisa and other secondary characters, as well as bigger toys, such as the fox Swift, the four trolls and the three Yetis, the swan, the artic fox, an igloo, the gnome house and several sets of furniture for that home.

 

I do not know exactly how many figures are there, as I could not find any collector claiming the ownership of a complete collection. What I can say, is that these few figures shown here are among the most common ones, while several species or families of gnomes, such as Africans, Arabs, Inuits, musicians… are much rarer to spot. Also some specific versions of David and Lisa are very rare to find. Especially nice is a couple of naked figures that came in the bathroom accessory set box. Or one in which Lisa is feeding two baby-gnomes.

The figures were sold in bags with several figures in them, or probably also as single pieces in certain toy shops and bakeries during 1986 (the series started in October 1985), but it was aired several times more in the following years, so it remained popular during a long number of years. And not only in Spain, the series was sold to other countries where it was equally successful, and the PVC figures can also be found in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy… so I guess Star Toys made good business with this license.

I got mine in a flea market in Austria, they did not cost much, so I decided to get them, even though I had none and I was not very interested in them. But now I love them, and I would like to get more if possible. I am checking the internet to see if some more are available at low prices, and I keep discovering nice figures that I would like to have.

For the time being, I am happy with these 7 figures, all of them representing (I think) David or Lisa in different activities. They are all marked BRB at the back. In my case, the figures are all in a great condition, other used toys present paint loss, especially at the tip of the hut, where their small owners used to chew on them.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: DAVID EL GNOMO (Several figures and characters)
  
• Year: Around 1986
• Company: Star Toys (Spain)
• Size of the figures: Around 7 cm