#786 DINO RIDERS - COMMANDO ASTRA (1989)

The Dino Riders Commando series is a short series of figures sold in blisterpacks during wave 2 (in 1989). The blisterpack included one figure and several accesories/weapons, and both the figure and the accesories are based in new casts that are similar among them, but that were not available or reused for any other reference in the whole toyline.

 

They were made in shorter runs than the classic 2-packs (see #704) and are therefore much harder to find today. In addition to this, some of the accesories were really small and if you are a completist, like I am, you´ll have trouble finding all of them. Buying them MOSC is most of the times the only way to get them 100% complete.

 

• The Commando figures were:
• Astra, commander
• Bomba, munitions expert
• Kameelian, Infiltrator
• Glyde, paratrooper
• Faze, artillery expert
• Rok, mountain warfare expert

As you can see, they are quite "military". Their specialties are related to war and weapons, something which is difficult to fit in the Valorian´s background of pacifism. My guess here is that Tyco got this figures from another source and instead of marketing them as a separate toy-line, they decided to sell them as Dino-Riders. This has happened many times before, being the better known example the Meteorbs in the MotU toyline (see entry #580).

 

Despite being the same size, the Commando figures are somehow casted in a  more detailed way, they have futuristic military outfits, the look more "human" than the original Valorians: one of them has sunglasses, another one a moustache, and a third one, a beard (which within the other figures only Mind-Zei has, not considering all the Ice-Age Cro-Magnons!).

 

The only figure from this subseries I currently own is Astra, as you can see in the pictures it is MOC, It is somehow the most impressive figure from all six, the one with the most elaborate uniform (he is the squad leader!)

 

 

The card depicts all 6 Commandos in action surrounded by a few dinosaurs. One of the commandos is seen riding a Valorian Deinonychus, while the Pteranodon and the T-Rex attack. The backcard is quite ordinary and shows all dinosaurs from wave 1 (including the Torosaurus) and the 6 Commando figures.

 

Note the retail price for this figure was 2.69 US$. Uhm, if I had know I would have bought hundred of these... And also a detail pic of the "1 Point" Proof of Purchase which, as in many other toylines, was used to access to special promotions.

 

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: COMMANDO ASTRA
• Toy Line: Dino-Riders (Wave 2)
• Year: 1989
• Company: Tyco (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 2½’’ or 6,5 cm

#785 CHIQUIVAL - CHIQUI-PESCADOR, CHIQUI-EXCURSIONISTA, CHIQUI-CARRERAS y CHIQUI-POLICIA (Ref. 577, 578, 582 and 584) (1983)

Here are two more Chiquival vehicles: the Sheriff´s Jeep and the fishing boat. As usual, both came in the nice "match box" with beautiful pictures on both sides.

The vehicles are 3 inches long and what we would call today "superdeformed", or maybe not "super", but only "deformed". They are specifically designed to fit one figure inside, so only certain models are suitable: cars are always cabrios, F1s or jeeps, truck come without roof...

I chose these two models because the figures that came with them are somehow hard to find complete. Note that the Sheriff comes with a very very small walkie-talkie and the fisherman comes with a long and fragile fishing rod (and that Spanis flag is really fragile), so tho have these references complete, you have to buy them new in box.

You can see other Chiquival in this previous entry #467.

Note the alternative design of the box in that entry. One of them is probably older than the other, and I tend to think that the small box was the original design, that was later replaced by a bigger one.

Note the lowest reference number, and the "less modern" text font in the front of the small box and no logo... theywould have used it, ifthey had had it at the time, it is a nice one!.

I would say the the references in small boxes seem to be somehow rarer than the ones in big boxes, although this is only an impression.

UPDATE1 (Feb/2019): From this series, the Chiqui-Carreras Formula 1. A model that wakes good memories in me because it is a model I have since I was a kid. I recently got this item boxed. unfortunately, it is not in the mint shape I expected from a boxed model.

UPDATE 2 (NOV/2019): Chiqui-excursionista (Ref. 578), one more reference for the collection. These are becoming more difficult to find... Note that the figure came without the equipment, I think most of the boxes didn't have the backpack and the ice axe.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: CHIQUI-PESCADOR, CHIQUI-EXCURSIONISTA, CHIQUI-CARRERAS y CHIQUI-POLICIA (Ref. 577, 578, 582 and 584)
• Toy Line: Chiquival
• Year: 1983
• Company: Guisval (Spain)
• Size of the figures: Aprox. 4,5 cm

#784 SHINSEI MINI POWER – DETOMASO PANTERA (Nr. 408) (Around 1980)

 This car was a little discovery for me, since I never heard of Shinsei before. It is the average size of a 1:43 car, although it real scale is 1:38. Probably the real DeTomaso was a very small car.

When observing it and deciding wether to buy it or not, I saw the Made in Japan text on the base, so I knew it had to be quite old, somewhere by the late 70s to early 80s, when die-cast was still being produced in Japan before moving to other countries in Asia.

Shinsei is another die-cast and toy manufacturer from which there is very few information online. I could just found that they are famous for several die-cast construction machines, a series of space toys and some other die-cast and toys. A weeks after I bought this car, I saw a mint on box truck by Shinsei, but I didn’t buy it.

Shinsei Japan shouldn’t be mistaken with the Indian toy company Shinsei, that is still active (it was founded in 1985) and also produces miniature cars.

The model I am presenting today is quite nice, it seems a bit bulky, but this is probably only because they had to put that pullback motor inside, so the car is higher than it should. Otherwise the cast is nice and has very good details, like the pop-up headlamps that can be activated by a lever under the car, practicable doors, or the nice stickers that it originally had (not the ones in my model), that actually correspond to a race decoration once used in this car (with black trunk).

I have seen this model in red and in yellow, although the red version could have either red or white spoiler.

Cool find! Find another great DeTomaso in entry #282.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: DETOMASO PANTERA (Nr. 408)
• Scale: 1:38
• Year: Around 1980
• Company: Shinsei (Japan)
• Size: approx. 9 cm

#783 TOMICA - MISUOKA OROCHI, RENAULT MÉGANE SPORT GENDARMERIE and VOLKSWAGEN POLO (Nr. 25, 44 and 109) (2007, 2013 and 2014)

These are three Tomica models from the last years that I bought several months ago during a trip to Singapore. We could say, they are some kind of souvenir. I was there in two toy stores and was amazed by the care Tomica takes presenting its models, with a display that includes several drawers (in which the boxes are ordered by number) and small windows in which the actual car is inside, so you can see exactly what you buy.

There were hundreds of models available, and despite I do not collect such modern toys, I had to buy a few from them, as I said before, as a souvenir, and also some kind of nostalgic action to remember when I received some Tomica models from my father 30 years ago.

I had a look at so many models, and from the ordinary series, I picked up these three. The Misuoka was the most impressive I could found, and the other two are two European cars that are quite common here: the VW Polo and the Renault Mégane Sport, although this last one has a peculiar decoration. European cars were actually an exception, but they appealed to me more than all Toyotas, Daihatsus, Nissans and rest of Japanese models, most of which are not available in Europe.

There were also "special" editions which costed much more than these. I had bought an Optimus Prime truck (from the Transformers series) if it had been available, but it wasn´t.

The Misuoka was I think the only unit available, it had probably remain hidden for a few years, until I found it in the drawer and took it home, because at the time, it was already an old model, not present in the "window", and already replaced by the next Nr.25 reference.

The other two were very very recent.

Misuoka Orochi Nr.25 1/63 2007
Renault Mégane Sport Gendarmerie Nr.44 1/62 2014
Volkswagen Polo N.109 1/62 2013

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MISUOKA OROCHI, RENAUL MÉGANE SPORT GENDARMERIE and VOLKSWAGEN POLO (Nr. 25, 44 and 109)
• Scale: 1:63, 1:62 and 1:62
• Year: 2007, 2013 and 2014
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#782 SCHMIDT SPIELE – COUNT DUCKULA (1990)

I do not have many quartett decks by Schmidt; they are difficult to find, both the technical quartett and the classic quartetts. One of the quartetts I’d like to buy next is the M.A.S.K. deck, which is somehow similar to this one and to the other with Real Ghostbusters I presented some time ago.

I didn’t know this deck existed, so it was an unexpected find. The character Count Duckula is very interesting, I remember watching the cartoons as a kid. Despite being a vampire duck, it is funny and suitable for all ages. The scenery and the stories are quite pop, as you can see from the images shown in each card.

The families are dedicated to one character each, plus two families with places and objects. The backgrounds in bright colours are typical for Schmidt. Besides Count Duckula, Nanny, Igor and the Professor, there are two families with two creatures I cannot recognize (anyone?) and two more with objects and places related to this funny character. I love the coffin with the lights! (card 5D)

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: COUNT DUCKULA (Ref. 03192)
• Year: 1990
• Company: Schmidt Spiele (Germany)

#781 STAR WARS - AST-5 (ARMOURED SENTINEL TRANSPORT) (1983)

I once wrote about the MTV-7, and there I already made some notes on these mini-vehicles a.k.a. mini-rigs. See entry #640.

I got this vehicle in a figure lot and I like its design very much. It is some kind of jet with orientable turbines/reactor/afterburner (?) and orientable guns, but the coolest thing for me is the coffin-cockpit, with capacity for one figure. It also has a cool colour ideal for dessert planets like Tatooine.

I was willing to write something interesting here and to expand my previous article on the topic, although I think it won’t be necessary . There are many "official" sources of information for this topic, and they are very easy to find using Google.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: AST-5 (ARMOURED SENTINEL TRANSPORT)
• Toy Line: Star Wars (Return of the Jedi)
• Year: 1983
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 9,5 cm (3 3/4'')