#160 MATCHBOX LESNEY – MILK DELIVERY TRUCK, LYONS MAID ICE-CREAM MOBILE SHOP and TV SERVICE VAN (Nrs. 21c, 47b and 62b) (1961 and 1963)

These three vans or small trucks are three of my best Matchboxs, I bought them last Christmas boxed, and are in a relative good condition, they have a couple of chips, but since they are very old models and hard to find, I guess they’re ok like that. These vans were released in the early 60s: the Milk Delivery Truck was released in 1961, while the other two were released in 1963. They were discontinued in 1968.

Milk Delivery Truck or Commer Bottle Float:

The first model, the Milk Delivery Truck (number 21, or sometimes referred as well as 21c) was available with the old grey metal wheels, and with black plastic wheels. Mine is the later version. There are many different variations of this model, including different colours for the bottles’ load, windshield and the decals (at least two types of decals). The colour of this van has slight variations in a pale shade of green, and the decals on the doors show a cow (like mine) or a bottle of milk.

On the base it is labelled as “Commer Bottle Float”, which is another common name for this vehicle.

Lyons Maid Ice-Cream Mobile Shop or Commer Ice Cream Canteen

The second model, the Lyons Maid Ice-Cream Mobile Shop, or as labelled in the base: “Commer Ice Cream Canteen” is another great model from 1963. It has again a few colour variations: at least two shades of blue and light brown, and again, several different decals (at least this one –Lyons Maid- and Lord Neilson). This one seems to be the most common. It is a very nice van for children, since kids love ice-creams and the seller inside of the cabin is a very nice detail. I guess it was massively sold. Curiously, some other brands like Majorette have also produced die-cast ice-cream vans…

TV Service Van:

The last model presented in this entry is the TV Service Van, available in light brown only but with two different decals: “Rentaset” or “Radio Rentals”. My model is the first of these two, and is complete, something very rare in this model. It came with a few accessories attached to a plastic “tree”. I also have the tree with three televisions, butthe ladder and the antenna have been removed from it. If the model is complete, it is quite expensive to buy it. It was also available with grey wheels.

As you can see in the pictures, the antenna and the ladder are placed at the top of the van, while the televisions can be kept inside of the van. It has a practicable door that opens up andcloses down.

I have to mention, that matchbox models made in these years have a problem with the paint and the lacquer, and if they have been played, or uncorrectly stored, they present great paint loss, as well as rust. It is also important to mention that they can also suffer from sun damage. Some variations in the plastic part or in the body colour can be produced by a long sun exposure in the past, so be careful before you acquire some “ultra-rare variation”. Decals are also rarely complete, always partly missing.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MILK DELIVERY TRUCK, LYONS MAID ICE-CREAM MOBILE SHOP and TV SERVICE VAN (Nrs. 21c, 47b and 62b)
• Alternate Names: COMMER BOTTLE FLOAT, COMMER ICE CREAM CANTEEN.
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1961, 1963 and 1963 (all discontinued in 1968)
• Company: Matchbox Lesney (G. Britain)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#159 DINO RIDERS – TOROSAURUS with GUNNUR and MAGNUS (1988)

This is the Only Dino Riders new and boxed that I currently own, the Torosaurus was one of the “big” dinosaurs in the first wave, one of the four with “walking” action, together with the T-Rex and the Triceratops (Rulons) and the Diplodocus (Valorian). Tyco reused some casts for different dinosaurs (for example: two Deinonychus; the Monoclonius, the Styracosaurus and the Chasmosaurus shared its body, and the same happened with the Pteranodon and both Quetzalcoatlus)

The Torosaurus is built with the same body of the Triceratops, but a different head. Curiously enough, the Torosaurus is of current interest because recent studies suggested, that the Torosaurus could actually be an adult Triceratops, although shortly afterwards, it was denied by other studies.

Anyway, the toy is by far the biggest dinosaur that I own, around 50% larger than the Stegosaurus, and also very well done. The (usual) details like the skin, the colours and the eyes are the same as commented in older entries.

Apart of the walking feature, this dinosaur has light effects, which, to my knowledge is something unique in this toy-line. Here’s a commercial of the toy, pay attention to the cannons in (or inside) the armour by the end of the video. (Video not available anymore)

This dinosaur came with two figures: Gunnur and Magnus. The figures have the usual cast for Valorians figures in the first wave.

The new "thing" in this article is that I can show you an unopened DR box. Although the box is identical to those of smaller dinosaurs (with a flap, featured actions, and so on), bigger dinosaurs came in an expanded polystyrene inlay, instead of a cardboard/plastic inlay.

On the upper level, the dinosaur, the figures and some interesting parts of the armour were placed, since items in this tray could be seen through the box window under the flap.

The rest of the armour, including instructions, comic book and figure’s accessories, was placed below that tray and closed with a paperboard. A sticker on the upper part indicates were to find the rest of the accessories. Note that “Accessories” is written in English, while the rest of the message is written in Spanish.

And talking about languages, this box is the Spanish edition, distributed by Comansi, and with all instructions and texts in Spanish.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TOROSAURUS with GUNNUR and MAGNUS
• Toy Line: Dino Riders
• Year: 1988
• Company: Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figure: Around 30-35 cms.

As an annex, I’ll put here a list of the dinosaurs released on each wave:

WAVE 1

• Tyrannosaurus-Rex with Krulos, Bitor and Cobrus
• Diplodocus with Questar, Mind-Zei and Aries
• Triceratops with Hammerhead and Sidewinder
• Torosaurus with Magnus and Gunnur
• Deinonychus with Antor
• Deinonychus with Sky
• Pteranodon with Rasp
• Quetzalcoatlus with Yungstar
• Monoclonius with Mako
• Styracosaurus with Turret
• Ankylosaurus with Sting
• Pterodactyl with Llahd

WAVE 2

• Brontosaurus with Ion, Serena and Ayce
• Stegosaurus with Tark and Vega
• Kentrosaurus with Krok
• Pachycephalosaurus with Tagg
• Saurolophus with Lokus
• Dimetrodon with Shado
• Edmontonia with Axis
• Struthiomimus with Nimbus
• Protoceratops with Kanon
• Placerias with Skate

WAVE 3

• Pachyrhinosaurus with Atlas
• Chasmosaurus with Llava
• Quetzalcoatlus with Algar

WAVE 3 (ICE AGE)

• Wooly Mammoth with Grom
• Killer Wart Hog with Zar
• Sabre Tooth Tiger with Kub
• Giant Ground Sloth with Ulk

#158 JUGUETES Y JUGUETERAS: ANTOLOGÍA DE ARTÍCULOS (XAVIER ARUMI)

This is the third book I read by Xavier Arumí, and it won’t be the last. This time, instead of taking one only toymaker, Xavier writes about several  toymakers and toys, what makes the book very amusing to read. 

Each of the 14 articles have an extension of around 7 or 8 pages, and mostly focus on the history of some toy company (both Spanish, like Geyper, Congost or Airgam, and international, like Meccano, Lines Bros. or Lego). Other talk about one particular toy or game, like Monopoly or Cinexin.

The book is a compilation of the best articles appeared in Rosaspage.com, chosen by its author. They are still published there, so if you want to read them (for free) you can just visit that webpage and look for the articles you are interested in. If you do this, you’ll probably find other things that might interest you, because the webpage is constantly updated with new and exciting articles, dealing not only with toys, but with many other things.

Even if the articles are available online for free, I find that it is very nice to have this collection of article as a book (o e-book) for better clearness. 

If you’re interested in this book, you can buy it here. The book is written in Spanish, and has a price of 14 Euros plus shipping costs, or 3,75 Euros in electronic format.

About the autor: Xavier Arumí is the host of www.rosaspage.com, has already written a few books about collecting and about toys, comic books (that he also illustrate), and novels. He is a collector himself, and as you can check on his website, or reading his books, a great expert on toys, apart from a good writer.

#157 TEKNO – JAGUAR „E“ TYPE (Ref. 926) (1961)

Tekno is a toy maker from Denmark. Its founder was Andreas Siegumfeldt, a plumber from Copenhagen, who started producing construction games in 1928 and model cars in 1945, being one of the most renowned die-cast makers in Europe and a direct competitor of Dinky, Schucco or Gama.

Andreas Siegumfeldt

In 1953, the company celebrated its 25^th anniversary. By this time, the company was already producing many different cars, but also trucks and other vehicles. In their catalogue there were also miniature kitchenware and wooden toys, produced in associating with the Swedish company Brio. With occasion of this anniversary, a small brochure was printed with much information about the company, including pictures of Teknos factories, design studios, toy fairs and so on. It is very interesting. Take a look at it here (specially if you understand Danish). 

 

The Jaguar model I am presenting is an amazing cast, and it was available in white, cream, light blue, red and met. dark grey decorations, and there was also a hardtop version of the car. Tekno is known for the great number of variations in colours and decorations. It was also one of the first companies to produce promotional die-cast models by decorating its models with stickers including the most different types of products, for example, Amstel beer or the Politiken Newspaper.

As it often happens with local toy manufacturers, Tekno offered some unique, never done before models, and this included some Saab and Volvo cars. It seems that Tekno inspired some of its models in already existing Corgi or Dinky toys. It is also known that Joal and Auto Pilen reproduced Tekno models. Dalia-Solido bought in the 60s some Tekno original tooling, so some models were also reproduced by this Spanish brand.

Tekno still exists nowadays. In 1972, the company was sold to a dutch firm named Vanmin, BV. And Tekno Toy continued as a firm in the Netherlands. Later the “Toy” was removed from the name, since the models Tekno builds now are expensive and high quality reproductions of trucks, not intended for children.

 

Going back to the car, note that doors, bonnet and trunk of the car are practicable, and the front wheels can be oriented in one or the other direction. It also comes with windows and windshield, spare tyre, detailed motor… all great details. It is also very important to make attention at the windows and bonnet, which are extremely fragile, and is mostly missing or broken. I own this same model made by Joal, but unfortunately in a very bad shape. The model, however can be seen in a catalogue in this entry.

I bought this model boxed a few months ago, but the box belongs to another model, a Mercedes with almost the same reference number. I leave the images here, and I’ll wait until I find the model that fits the box to make another review.

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: JAGUAR „E“ TYPE (Ref. 926)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1961 (discontinued 1972)
• Company: Tekno (Denmark)
• Size: 10 cms

#156 M.A.S.K. - T-BOB with SCOTT TRAKKER (1985)

One of the most popular toys within the M.A.S.K. series was T-Bob with Scott Trakker; for two reasons:

• First, because Scott Trakker always appeared in comic books and cartoons: He is the only son of the main character in this universe, Matt Trakker, and T-Bob is his clumsy robot. Scott is a smart kid and is always trying to help the rest of the M.A.S.K. team against V.E.N.O.M., although he is sometimes kidnapped or brings problems either than help, T-Bob is the funny sidekick to the rest of the team, he is most of the time scared about everything, a little bit like C-3PO in Star Wars. This character is “key” in the M.A.S.K. universe and, of course, children’s favourite.

• Another reason is that this toy was sold in a blister pack (2^nd wave, 1986) including only these two figures or in a box (1^st wave, 1985) with the same content plus a sheet of instructions. This made the toy the cheapest M.A.S.K.’s toy in the first wave, and also one of the cheapest in the second wave only comparable in price to the sets including two figures or one figure with accessories. The retail price at the time was 3,99 US$.

  

Surprisingly, no more versions were made of these two characters, while all the others: Matt Trakker, Bruce Sato, Miles Mayhem… were made each several times. 

Condor Verlag Comic Book

Bastei Comic Book

You can see here a couple of pictures taken from German comics, in which this nice couple is depicted. The first picture comes from a “Bastei” comic book, the second from an “Condor” comic book. Note that T-Bob is in normal and in scooter mode.

T-Bob in Scooter mode

About the toy, I can only say, it is a very nice little toy. It is simpler than other M.A.S.K. toys (see #11 or #58) since the transformation is very simple, and it doesn’t contain small parts that can be missed.

T-Bob turns, as said before, in a scooter, and it comes with two pegs to attach firmly the figure of Scott. The pegs are placed slightly closer to each other than the distance between Scott’s feet, what tends to break the feet of the figure. It is rare to find a Scott Trakker without this problem.

T-Bob in scooter mode with Scott riding it. Note the broken foot in the right picture.

The last picture of this article is a small diorama, in which Scott Trakker has been kidnapped and T-Bob, his father Matt Trakker and Hondo MacLean try to avoid it. Hope you found the article interesting and thanks Romain for trading them.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: T-BOB with SCOTT TRAKKER
• Toy Line: M.A.S.K.
• Year: 1985
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figure: Around 6 cms.