#413 BBURAGO – VARIOUS PORSCHE MODELS (1984, 1988, 1992, 1995 and 1996)

Here are a few Bburago models in 1:43 scale. They were never among my favorites, but these are especially beautiful, with very colourful decals. You can see a few more here.

The models shown in this entry are all from the late 80s or early 90s:

Porsche 911 Turbo – Ref. 4147 (1988-1990)

Porsche 911 Carrera ’93 – Ref. 4185 (1995-1997)

Porsche 924 Turbo “Boss” – Ref. 4103 (1996-1997, 2000)

Porsche 928 S4 “New Man” - Ref. 4110 (1992-1995)

Porsche 935 “Vaillant” - Ref. 4142 (1984-1990) – This same model was also made by Scalextric, and can be seen here.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: PORSCHE 911 TURBO (4147), 911 CARRERA ’93 (4185), 924 TURBO “BOSS” (4103), 928 S4 “NEW MAN” (4110) and 935 “VAILLANT” (4142)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1984, 1988, 1992, 1995 and 1996
• Company: Bburago (Italy)
• Size: approx. 9 cm

#412 FORMULATOR FORCE – F-FORCE TRANSFORMING TANK (Around 1992)

This transforming robot came to me in a lot with some Masters of the Universe figures, and I decided to keep. Although bootlegs and knock-offs do not appear very often in my blog, I love this type of toys, and this robot is a nice example from the early 1990s.

At the time, Chinese toys arrived massively to Europe, and they were available almost everywhere. Those first toys had a very good quality, compared to what would come next… it is quite robust and simple, but it still looks great.

This tank is a transformer bootleg. It is not a knock-off, because the design is not copied from any of the Hasbro’s robots. Only its head seems to be identical to Autobot Sunstreaker (G1). Note also, that there are a lot of colour variations, of this figure. All of them have similar colours, but not the same combination.

The same toy was available in different blister cards or boxes, but the ones that I could find, say the toy line is called: “The Formulator Force”, and it consisted of this tank, a car and a jet (but they did not combine with each other). The names are: F-Force Transforming Tank, F-Force Transforming Ground Vehicle and F-Force Transforming Jet.

The slogan of the Formulator Force is: “mighty mutating machines that transform before your eyes!”, with the word “transform” highlighted in white. In that sentence, “before” has been wrongly translated, I guess it should say “in front of”.

More interesting things which can be seen or read in the packages are that the toymaker is called “ES¬ Toys” (Ever Sparkle Industrial Co, Ltd.), and they’re made in China. Toys were marked with a little golden sticker, which in many cases has survived until today.

Box package - Pictures taken from eBay – seller: the_usa_girl05

The same manufacturer seems to have released some Micromasters-alike robots for the Formulator Force. These smaller transforming robots are called Mighty Minis, and the slogan has been changed to “mighty little mutating machines that transform before your eyes!”. I have never seen them, but the toyarchive says, they are their own desings, so again, they are not a knock-off.

 Blister package - Pictures taken from eBay – seller: theuniversalstore

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: F-FORCE TRANSFORMING TANK
• Toy Line: Formulator Force
• Year: Around 1992
• Company: ES Toys (China)
• Size of the figures: Around 16 cm.

#411 POLITOYS – MATRA SPORT (Y 11), RENAULT ALPINE (Y 12), CARABO (Y 13), ALFA 33 (Y 16), FERRARI 312 (Y 17) and ABARTH 2000 (Y-18) (1972)

POLITOYS J SERIES

The J series is a short, budget line made in 1:66 scale by the Italian manufacturer Polistil. This scale was not new, since they had produced around 50 different models between 1967 and 1970 under the “Penny” brand. Some of these models were later adapted and sold under the Politoys brand from 1970 on, and shortly afterwards, this J series would be released. My guess is it was around 1972.

There were a total of 10 models made. I will show only four of them, which are the ones I have so far.

The complete list is:

• Art. J 10 Porsche (917) in white
• Art. J 11 Matra Sport in blue or white
• Art. J 12 Renault Alpine (A220) in blue
• Art. J 13 Carabo (Alfa Romeo) in orange or red
• Art. J 14 Ford GT in orange
• Art. J 15 Lola Aston Martin in red
• Art. J 16 Alfa 33 in red
• Art. J 17 Ferrari 312 in red
• Art. J 18 Abarth 2000 in orange
• Art. J 19 Abarth 2000 Pininfarina in white

Art. J 11 Matra Sport

 

 

Art. J 13 Carabo

Art. J 16 Alfa 33

Art. J 17 Ferrari 312

Interesting that despite being the “J” series, the cars are marked with “Y” on the base. Most exactly, they are marked “N Y xx”.

The cars are roughly made, with very few details and very poor stickers. They have a metallic base and blue plastic windows. The interiors are casted in the chassis plate.

A further look at the box shows a nice logo, in the style of the late 60s with the words:

• “Flash Wheels” (English)
• “Route Zero” (Italian)
• “Super Blitz” (German)

I think these words mean, that these cars are built after the HotWheels “principle” of fast cars. Mattel models have been released and are gaining popularity, so all die-cast manufacturers create their own line of fast cars, so they don’t get behind are able to keep the sales high. The axles are very thin, and really allow the car to roll far away without much effort. Probably Polistil created those three slogans to sell its products in all three markets: Italian, Germany and U.S.A./Great Britain.

The models chosen are nice sport cars and prototypes from the late 60s. Despite all those impressive models, the cars didn’t sell very well, because the line was never extended. Why? Probably because the models didn’t look as good as those from other brands, and people chose not to buy Politoys. However, the J series was just a first attempt to counteract HotWheels, after it, Politoys would launch the RJ series, which look much better, and was quite a success, but already under the “Polistil” name.

UPDATE Comparison of a model marked Penny with another one marked Polistil:

UPDATE 2: I found a Renault Alpine made by Politoys.

 Art. J 12 Renault Alpine (A220)

UPDATE 3 (Dec/2020): Better Renault Alpine made by Penny.

UPDATE 4 (Dec/2025): two more models in their boxes: RJ-12 Renault Alpine and RJ-18 Abarth 2000. The Alpine will replace the previous bad-shaped Alpine by Penny.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MATRA SPORT (Y 11), RENAULT ALPINE (Y 12), CARABO (Y 13), ALFA 33 (Y 16), FERRARI 312 (Y 17) and ABARTH 2000 (Y-18)
• Scale: 1:66
• Year: 1972
• Company: Penny / Politoys (Italy)
• Size: 6 cm