#227 PLAYART – FIRE ENGINE, MERCURY POLICE and AMBULANCE (nrs. 7130, 7132 and 7167) (Around 1982)

I recently found three die-cast vehicles in a flea market. They are a nice sample of what Playart was doing in the early 80s.

The company was settled in Hong-Kong from the late 60s to the early 80s, and as many Hongkongese companies at the time, produced cheap(er) toys for the European, American and Japanese markets. Sometimes it was sold under its own “playart” brand, some other times under other names. Sometimes they were exclusively packaged for important department stores like Woolworth’s, Sears or Charles Merzbach as "in-brand". This way they could compete with more expensive toys like Matchbox or HotWheels. The first “Playart – Fast Wheels” packages are pretty much a rip-off of HotWheels packages from the early 70s. A more detailed list of the packages types can be found in Gary’sCars.

They made toy cars in several scales, being the most common 1:64. In this scale (by far the best selling scale), Playart made around 250 references, each reference belonged to one car model, but many colour variations are many within each model. In some models there are also different tampographies. Additionally, there are models with a large lifespan that might have different types of wheels, depending on when these were made. Earlier types of wheel (2 different) are two pieced with a chromed hubcap, somehow similar to Schucco or Mira. Later models present the type of wheels you’re seeing in these models, with exception to some models that had “Tomica”-wheels and models with two concentric circles.

From these 250 references, many of them are copies of models by HotWheels, Corgi, Matchbox, Tomica and maybe more brands. You probably have noticed that the Mercury car in these pictures is a copy from the one made by Matchbox (Mercury Police Car, nr. 55D from 1971). The ambulance is similar to models made by Siku,although it has big differences, and the truck is original by Playart and is available in many different casts, and different types of trucks.

I own a few more models by Playart that I’d like to show some other time, some of them are interesting because are models that were not made by many other brands in 1:64 scale, making rare collectibles. What many experts think about Playart, is that, even though they made cheap cars copying from other brands, the selection of the models tells us, that the people in charge of the production were real car lovers, and had very good taste.

Update (July/2024): I found this picture of a boxed set that includes the ambulance shown in this entry togeteher with other fire fighter vehicles which are not the truck I have been talking about. All of them are more realistic than mine. 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FIRE ENGINE, MERCURY POLICE and AMBULANCE (nrs. 7130, 7132 and 7167)
• Scale: Approx. 1:64
• Year: Around 1982
• Company: Playart (Hong-Kong)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#226 PAYÁ (S.C.V.L.) – SEAT 600D (Reedición) (1990)

 

Short history of the Seat 600 and Payá Coop.

I think I never talked about the Seat 600 in this blog before. It was the most popular car at its time, because it was the first car that was affordable for middle-class families. It was first produced in 1957 and there were several versions made until 1973.

The base, of course, is the Fiat 600. Some units were imported from Italy, but Seat soon started producing them under Fiat license. In 1957, its price was 65000 pesetas, that’s 390 Euros. There’s almost no family in Spain that hasn’t had one of these cars at some point, new or second-hand, a gift from an uncle who bought a new car… they were very common until the mid 80s, and now are have cult-status. There are hundreds of owner’s clubs all over the country, and from the 800.000 units ever made, there’re still around 10.000 out there (Wikipedia).

The car was not cheap at the time, but the 60s are the years of the “SpanishMiracle”. The income of families raised spectacularly as a result of the industrialization of some regions, the development of infrastructures, rural exodus and mass tourism.

The first 600 (named simply “600”) was manufactured between 1957 and 1963, and replaced by the “600D” model, that was manufactured between 1963 and 1970. There are several differences between these two models, mostly in a more powerful motor and a higher top speed. Both models are easily identifiable because of the doors opening in the opposite direction to all cars nowadays. This type of doors are called “suicide doors”.

Note the "suicide doors" typical for models 600 and 600D

Models 600E (1969-1973) and 600L (1972-1973) were already manufactured with the doors opening in the “normal” direction and with many technical improvements.

The only Seat 600 I have ever known belonged to my aunt, although my grandfather bought one back in 1960. He always told, they had to wait around one year until they received the car, because the demand was so great, that the factories could not satisfy it. In some cases, that waiting time, could go over two years. That car later belonged to my father, until it was sold by the mid 70s.

In “normal” conditions, the car was paid in two instalments. Half of the price when the order was placed, the other half 6 months later, and 6 months afterwards, you could go and get the car.

  

There have been many Seat 600s toys, and even today, there are many collectors or nostalgic people that look for reproductions of that car that they once had, knew or drove. In most collections, a Seat 600 is always the “star”. It is the most searched car between the whole Scalextric collection or the model made by Pilen are much more difficult and expensive to find than the other models in the same size and characteristics, just to name two examples.

This toy was made by Payá Coop. around 1984 (some sources say 1985). Payá history was already told here, let’s just remember, that when the company had to close, it didn’t disappear, because Payá Coop. continued making reproductions of old Payá toys, in a traditional style and producing in Ibi. This company doesn’t have any relation with the new Payá reproductions made for some newspapers or kiosk collectibles, these new ones are made in China.

The original Seat 600 in 1:20 scale was made by Payá in 1959, it already included a friction motor. It had a tin chassis with plastic body, and didn’t have windshields. The wheels were made of metal too and had rubber tyres. Shortly afterwards appeared the 600D version, with a less detailed body and plastic wheels.

The second version was reproduced in 1990. The model shown in the pictures is the "reproduced" model, not the original. It was available in 12 different colours. The box is original, and the price in the year 1990, was around 2000 pesetas (12 Euros). The production was so big, that it was common to find it under that price during the following years. Now it is gaining value, because of the difficulty of finding the original toy from 1959.

In second hand, played toys, the hubcaps are sometimes missing.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SEAT 600D (Ref. 1600)
• Year: 1990
• Company: PAYÁ S.C.V.L. (also PAYÁ COOP.) (Spain)
• Size: Around 15 cm.
• Scale: 1:20

#225 HASBRO'S WWF – OFFICIAL WRESTLING RING (1990)

The WWF Ring has already appeared in many reviews I have made about Hasbro WWF wrestlers. This toy line was one of my favourite and I remember spending a lot of time playing with these figures. My parents probably noticed that too and I received the ring as a Christmas present many years ago. In this entry I will show in detail the ring and I will talk about the “other” rings that were manufactured by Hasbro for this collection (there wasn’t only one made!).

The “basic” model is the one I own, it was released in 1990, together with the first figures. In Europe, and simultaneously, a second ring with sound was released. Both models were actually the same ring, but one included a battery operated box with 8 buttons each of them producing one different sound (punches, cries of pain, the bell…). This model was more expensive, and was sold in Spain for 3995 pesetas (approx. 24 Euro).

catalogue image - ring with sound (1990)

The ring has two tables at two sides of the ring: in one of them there's a television screen, maybe it was intended to be the place where the commentator sits. At the opposite side, the champion belt is kept during the fight. 

The other two sides have two steps each.

There is an alternative version with dark blue posts instead of black, and also another variant in which the top of the posts are not flat. It’s is unknown which versions are rarer than the others. The ropes do not age well, and after a few years, they must be replaced. 

Black, flat-top posts

The ring came with two accesories that are sometimes missing. First is the american flag, that can be attached to each of the posts in the corners, and the second piece is the belt that we mentioned before. With the use, it may lose its golden colour.

Some years later, in 1993, a second edition of the ring was released (this time, only the “basic” version, not the one with sound). This time, the “canvas” was yellow instead of the traditional blue. At this point most collectors already had the ring, so I guess this version had very limited sales. This would explain why the yellow ring is today so difficult to find (experts say there’s approximately 1 yellow ring for each 100 blue), and very expensive too. In this version, the posts were red, the flag had the WWF symbol instead of the American flag, and the main sticker and the floor was the “King of the Ring” logo instead of the classic WWF logo. I am not sure if there was ever a yellow ring in the TV-show.

If you want to see more pictures of the ring with figures, click here.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: OFFICIAL WRESTLING RING
• Alternative Names: RING OFICIAL DE LUCHA (Spain)
• Toy Line: WWF
• Year: 1990
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 35 cm x 35 cm

#224 MATCHBOX – TANK TRANSPORTER (K-106) (1974)

MATCHBOX BATTLE KINGS

The “Battle Kings” was the series of military models in a bigger scale than “superfast” models by Matchbox. Previously to the creation of this series in 1974, there were no die-cast military models (or at least I cannot remember any now) in the collection. From that year on, in the 1-75 series, there would be a few models released. Why Matchbox decided to release such a line in 1974, I don’t know. What I know is that the series was cancelled in 1980, probably because of a change in the mentality of the company and the society. War toys were not politically correct anymore.

The series was brief, although not as brief as the Sea-Kings. There were 18 references made, but some of the casts/ vehicles had more than one reference number, or like in this case, the reference K-106 includes the K-102 Tank. Most of these vehicles were ground vehicles with only two references including fighters or helicopters (Army Aircraft Transporter K-113 and Kaman Seasprite Helicopter K-118)

Planes and fighters were released in the parallel line “Skybusters”. Both lines were separated because they were made in different scales and the Skybusters line also included some passenger planes and non military models.

As in almost every model made by Matchbox, there were more than one edition of each model. In this case, for example, there are variations in which the tank came in gold colour (earlier references), or the plastic parts in the truck and trailer were made in black plastic instead of red. Some of the references included plastic soldier figures. Needless to say, these figures were the first thing that got lost, and are difficult to find today. You can visit our friend-blog “Small Scale World” for more information on these figures

Back to the toy, this model has the reference K-106, and comprises a truck (in a quite futuristic style), a trailer and a M48 A2 tank. The tank, as said before was available with reference K-102 and came with three plastic figures.

 

In this model, the truck and trailer are bright green and the tank is dark green (has some kind of black camo, zoom on pictures to see the pattern better).

The tank could be fixed to the trailer by means of a metallic “key” that can be seen in the following picture.

 

I might expand this article with other Battle Kings references in the future. As said before, they are difficult to find complete because of the figures, missiles, and small parts. Note that the figure on my tank has no head. This figure is made of plastic, and seems to be missing in many M48s I have seen on the internet. Another Weak point of these miniatures are the rubber bands on the tanks, if not stored properly, these might have dried and could be broken or directly missing. In my case, I was lucky, because they’re in perfect shape.

Tank gunner is missing his head

To finish this article, I provide here a list of all “Battle Kings” references

• K-101 Sherman Tank
• K-102 M48 A2 Tank
• K-103 Chieftan Tank
• K-104 King Tiger Tank
• K-105 Hover Raider
• K-106 Tank Transporter
• K-107 155 mm S.P. Howitzer
• K-108 M3Af Half Truck A.P.C.
• K-109 M551 Sheridan Tank
• K-110 Recovery Vehicle
• K-111 Missile Launcher / Rocket Striker
• K-112 DAF Ambulance
• K-113 Military Crane Truck / Military Mobile Crane
• K-114 Army Aircraft Transporter
• K-115 Army Petrol Tanker / Military Tanker
• K-116 Artillery Truck & Field Gun
• K-117 Rocket Launcher
• K-118 Kaman Spritefire Helicopter

These are scans from a 1974 catalogue presenting the first 8 references. References K-109 to K-118 were released later.

German Matchbox Catalogue 1974-1975

A similar tank transporter was shown here.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TANK TRANSPORTER (K-106) (includes M48 A2, reference K-102)
• Scale: Unknown
• Year: 1974
• Company: Matchbox (G. Britain)
• Size: Around 23 cm.

#223 GUISVAL – LANCIA BETA, FERRARI BB 512 & TESTAROSSA (1:43) (1985 and 1988)

By 1984, Guisval still had a series of car in 1:36 scale. In the early 80s, it was named “Escorpión” but at some point, this collection was renamed to “Fuego”. For some reason (maybe the appearance of the Italian 1:43 models by Bburago), Guisval launched in 1984 a brand new series between “Fuego” (1:36) and “Campeón” (1:64). The new series was named “Furia” and these toys were clearly more simplistic than “Escorpión” or “Fuego”, for some reasons: 1) because of the size, 2) because of the lack of practicable parts and 3) because of a cheaper suspension on wheels.

Nevertheless, these models were still popular and nice to play with. The reason for its popularity was in my opinion, that the models reproduced for this collection were sport cars with amazing rally decorations.

1984's catalogue Image: www.famobil.ekiwi.es / Credit: Raffotek

For the first “Furia” wave the available models were:

-Porsche 935

-Lancia Beta

-Toyota Celica

-Ferrari BB512

Each model was available in several colours (at least 3) and there were three different decals for each model, that means, the decals from the Ferrari (for example, these in my model are “GULF” decals), would only fit in the Ferrari.

It is also interesting to mention, that the same cars were available with and without a pull-back motor. The series with motor were named “Formula Retro” and available from 1985. If you pay attention to the chassis of the BB 512, you’ll notice that it has been modified to carry that type of motor, and the rear wheels have two parts to improve the grip.

Taken from 1987's Catalogue

In the following years, the collection would be expanded with new casts, and this time, all cars had practicable doors.

1986 (maybe 1985)

-Mercedes 500 SEC

-BMW 323i

-Ford Sierra

-Seat Ronda

-Renault Espace (not exactly 1:43)

-Nissan Patrol (not exactly 1:43)

The 1986 series was also available in alternative series. The four first were available as “Furia Rallye”, with the only difference of having decals. These were interchangeable from model to model. The last two were also released as “Furia Servicios Públicos” (3 versions each).

Other Guisval models in 1:43 scale include the Ferrari Testarossa, Porsche 959 and Ferrari F40, although they might be later releases (maybe 1988?). It is important to mention that these cars were available during many consecutive years, so there might be versions with different types of wheels, decals or tampographies, colours, packages and so on.

Around 1990, there was another “Furia” sub-serie released: the “Super Furia”, which comprised the same cars from 1986 with a trailer and a second vehicle on it (a boat, a formula 1, two motorbikes, a Testarossa).

If somebody reading this has the official Guisval catalogues from the mid 80s to early 90s and can confirm the exact years of release of each model, please write me a message. Thanks.

UPDATE: I add some pictures of two more models I own: Lancia Beta "Rothmans" and Ferrari BB512 "Shell"

UPDATE 1 (May/2017) Added Porche 935

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: LANCIA BETA, FERRARI BB 512, FERRARI TESTAROSSA and PORSCHE 935
• Series: FORMULA RETRO and FURIA
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1985, 1988
• Company: Guisval (Spain)