#362 HERACLIO FOURNIER – GRAN PRIX and ESTRELLAS NBA (1988)

I have observed, that most of the card decks that I have presented in this blog come from Austria (Piatnik) or Germany (various manufacturers), so I decided to give today a try to two Heraclio Fournier’s quartets.

They are “technical” quartets, the first one deals with Formula 1, the second one with NBA players.

Both decks are already 25 years old, and the pictures show a very different sport from what we can see nowadays. The cars look completely different, and some teams competed with only one car, in some cases quite amateur-made, but also the basketball players, with those haircuts. Check the spectators in the game which can be seen in some cards! And also amazing, that Karem Abdul Jabbar was still playing at a very high level when he was 41 years old!

GRAN PRIX 

This quartet has 8 families with 4 cards each. They show formula ones and formula 3000 from around 1987. Below each car is the name of the pilot, and then, we have 5 parameters to challenge other car: Engine, Cylinders, Power, RPM and Weigth. Some cars are much worse than others, so the quartet is not very well designed.

ESTRELLAS NBA (NBA STARS)

Again a quartet with 32 cards, although they are not ordered in families. They’re simply numbered from 1 to 32.

In this case, each card is an NBA player, and there is at least one player from each team in the 1987 season. The Boston Celtics and the L.A. Lakers have three players each, buth other teams only have one player represented in this game.

The cards have 6 parameters, although one of them cannot be compared, these fields are: Age, Heigth, Position, Points (avg. per game), Rebounds (avg. per game) and Assists (avg. per game). This is a great quartet to play with, since each card has strong and weak points, and you can choose your play accordingly to the card you have. If the player is very tall, he is more likely to have a good average in rebounds, if it is a base, might have a good assists average... One of my favourite decks by HF.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: GRAN PRIX and ESTRELLAS NBA
• Year: 1988
• Company: Heraclio-Fournier (Spain)

#361 FIGURAS EN ACCIÓN (F.E.A.) Nr. 9

And here’s again, like every Christmas, a new edition of the online toy magazine I write for. This may sound old, but this number is probably the best number ever. After the change of director in the last number, the magazine is taking form with some new members and some improvements in its contents and layout. Number 9 has almost 100 pages with articles, interviews and some surprises (longest issue ever).

The classic sections are again there, and this time, the articles deal, among other topics, with: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (an extensive article with around 20 pages), Bootlegs from the Masters of the Universe, Madelman, collecting original soundtracks or the Spanish board game “En Busca del Imperio Cobra”.

For the first time, we have two interviews. First we interview Roberto Fernández, manager of Kekoflex and then Isidre Monés, the great illustrator and comic penciller.

I would recommend you to download, and take a look at it, if you can read Spanish, you’ll enjoy it quite a lot. And if you like what you see, please share it with your friends. We would like to reach more and more people with it.

Download it here: http://www.bubok.es/libros/229942/REVISTA-FIGURAS-EN-ACCION-N9--DICIEMBRE-2013

#360 REAL GHOSTBUSTERS – HAUNTED HUMANS (Part I) (1988)

The Haunted Humans, or “Les Cache Demons” (French) or “Bezeten Buurtbewoners” (Dutch) are six figures in the second wave of Kenner’s Real Ghostbusters.

They are figures that look like humans, but that hide a monster inside. The first three will be presented now, the other three will have to wait a little, since I still need one to complete the series. So today: Granny Gross (a nice old lady), Mail Fraud (the postman) and Tombstone Tackle (the football player)

I’ll start with Mail Fraud, since it was my very first figure in this collection. I already recalled how I got this figure in the first entry dedicated to the Real Ghostbusters. A friend of mine picked Peter Venkman, and I picked this one, since it seemed much funnier to me, and I still think, the transformation from human to monster is amazing! For this reason, the figure has a special value for me. By pulling up his upper body, the monster reveals itself with huge jaws were the belly was, eyes in the pocket of the shirt and the tie turns to some kind of nose. If this was not enough, you can pull the hat (or the trousers) down to see how the jaws close and open. It is so funny! Arms are articulated, but not the head or the legs.

The bad part is that the figure has a weak mechanism, and the peg that holds the upper body up (in monster mode) tends to break. That is my case, so I took a toothpick and cut it in the exact length to hold the body from behind. It works fine.

 Granny Gross is a nice old woman, with her nice dress and her bonnet (hat). This figure has again articulated arms, but not the head or the legs. In this case, the front part of the dress opens to reveal giant jaws with a moving tongue, the bonnet goes up revealing a third big eye, the other two eyes pop out of the head, and a part of inner part of the mouth can be seen from outside (including the uvula!). The transformation is also amazing!

The weak point of this figure is the paint loss in the eye behind the bonet and the sun damage in the white parts, that tend to go yellow. The figure also moves its teeth, by pressing the head.

And finally, Tombstone Tackle, quite an impressive figure for its size, it’s really big. This figure is the most articulated in the series, with moving arms and legs. It was necessary to include articulation on the legs, so the figure could bent a bit forward. From its back, comes some kind of terrible mouth. The eyes of the creature are hidden on the number on the t-shirt. Also interesting is some kind of alien on the tongue, which can be moved by moving the head of the figure.

 

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: GRANNY GROSS, MAIL FRAUD and TOMBSTONE TACKLE
• Alternate Names: MAMY BEURK, FACTEUR CROQUEUR and ARMOIRE-À-GLACE (French) / GRIEZELIG GROOTJE, GHOST POST and BRULLENDE BRANUESCHOPPER (Dutch)
• Toy Line: THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS (Wave 2)
• Year: 1988
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 12 to 18 cm

#359 STAR WARS – BIKER SCOUT, AT-ST DRIVER, TEEBO and WICKET W. WARRICK (1983 and 1984)

I prepared a small diorama almost a year ago, and I never had the chance to show it here. I took 4 Star Wars figures from Episode VI: the Return of the Jedi, and placed them in my garden, I mean, in the woods of the Moon of Endor.

Ewoks aAttack!

These figures are:

BIKER SCOUT (1983)

In this case without the “bike”, I do not have it yet. The figure came with a small blaster in grey, which in this case is repro. It is memorable, how in the Return of the Jedi, this bikes drive through the forest and the Ewoks set some traps to destroy them. The Biekr Scout was available a few months earlier than the other three figures. It first appeared in the “65 back card”, while the other three in the “77 back card”

AT-ST DRIVER (1984)

The AT-ST (All Terrain Scout Transport) is the big two-legged machine seen in the Return of the Jedi (also shortly in the Empire Strikes Back) and here’s its pilot. The figure came with a small blaster, which in my case is again a repro weapon in grey-ish blue (same colour as the original).

TEEBO (1984) 

I can’t remember very well which role this character played in the movie. In any case, it was one of the Ewoks in the tribe. Apparently plays a major role in some novels, but not in the film. The figure is nice, a big Ewok, with three accessories, all of them original: some kind of hat/headgear, an axe and a horn to call for battle.

WICKET W. WARRICK (1984)

 
This tiny figure is one of the Ewoks that fight in the woods against the Empire. Despite being so small, I guess it sold well, since it was maybe the nicest character in the whole toyline. It was also funny in the movie, with a few memorable moments. The figure came with a hood and a spear. Both are original.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name ame: BIKER SCOUT, AT-ST DRIVER, TEEBO and WICKET W. WARRICK
• Toy Line: STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI
• Year:  1983 (Biker Scout) and 1984 (Rest)
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 3 ½¨ or 8 cms

#358 DARDA - BEACH BUGGY (Ref. 1280-140) (Around 1975)

In the first article published in this blog about Darda, we already talked about a Buggy, which was the first creation of Helmut Darda, and the first model to be sold with the new, revolutionary pullback motor. I am not sure if it was exaclty this model of Buggy the one which was designed first, since there are a few similar models, for example, one came with a folded canopy on the back, other with a soft top, while this one has a roll bar between front and rear seats. 

I own this model twice, although the second unit is actually a copy made in Hong Kong by another unknown die-cast company. The car is marked on the chassis only as "Made in Hong Kong - Pat P" (Patent Pending), plus a logo with two children faces. If you have more information about this Darda bootleg, please let me know.

Comparing both, you´ll discover almost no differences. The most notable are the motor and the plastic interior, that have different colours. The bootleg motor does not work, so it has been proven to be a lower quality product, than the original one, which is still working.

I have also found this nice ad on Youtube, which was aired in 1976 according to the person who uploaded it. You can see the most important features of the toy there.

NOTE: If you're interested in this particular brand, I have updated all previous entries dealing with it. See all my Darda articles here.

UPDATE: Second Buggy unit in green

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: BEACH BUGGY (Nr. 1280-140)
• Scale: Approx 1:64
• Year: Around 1975 / Unknown
• Company: Darda (Germany) / Unknown Toymaker (Hong-Kong)
• Size: Around 6 cms

#357 GUISVAL – PORSCHE “TURBO” and DRAGON (Nr. 22 and 26) (1976 and 1980)

The Porsche Turbo is one of the two Porsche models made by Guisval out of the same cast. One of them (“Turbo”, Nr. 22) is the one you can see here, the second one (“Dragon”, Nr. 26) is exactly the same, but has a simulated motor placed over the rear windshield. Unfortunately, I do not own any of the existing models from this second version, so I cannot show it right now. Maybe I can update this entry in the future with more pictures.

Both models first appeared in the catalogue from 1975, although they seem to have been sold for the first time one year later.

These Porsche Turbo miniatures are
1976-79 – Nr.22 – gold with stickers (appeared first in 1975’s catalogue)
1980-81 – Nr. 22 – red without stickers (catalogue image shows an orange model)
After that period was present in the Junior and Club series.

1976-79 – Nr. 26 Porsche Dragón (dark pink) (appeared first in 1975’s catalogue)
1980-82 – Nr. 55 – Porsche Safari Rallye

The third version is the “Safari” model (Nr. 55), in dark blue/purple with yellow spoiler and a front grill made of plastic (very fragile). It is much rarer than the first two and much more expensive to buy, because of the fragile parts.

Since these cars were made during many consecutive years, many variants exist. I will now point out some of the differences between them.

The oldest model among all four is the golden car with the stickers. If you pay attention to the picture showing the chassis, you’ll notice it still has the primitive two-hole subjection system.

In the second oldest model, this system has been replaced by the classic two side rectangles.

These two golden models have different colours of windshield, and the spoiler is also slightly different.
Both models have a silver-chromed plastic interiors.

The re-decoration of the model in red came with a few changes. First, the interior has been removed and the windshields are now darker. Although the catalogue image still depicts a model with black chassis, the produced models came with a white chassis, maybe just because of the better contrast with red. Again, I have two of these, but this time, they’re almost identical. They differ just in the colour of the windshields. This model was first part of the Campeón series, but was later adopted into the Club and Junior series.

UPDATE1 (Dec/2021): I finally got the Dragon version in quite a good shape, and not only once, but twice. Beautiful models in pink! The one without stickers is the first versin with two holes in the base, the other is an update just one or two years newer.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: PORSCHE TURBO and DRAGON (Nr. 22 & 26)
• Scale: Approx 1:64
• Year: 1976 and 1980
• Company: Guisval (Spain)
• Size: 7 cms