#697 M.A.S.K. – BILLBOARD BLAST with DUSTY HAYES/VACUUM (1987)

Kenner offered both vehicles and playsets for this toyline, and these came in boxes with the same design. There is one huge playset called Boulder Hill, which is the headquarters for the M.A.S.K. team, but there are also three small playsets (this size or even smaller) that are also worth commenting.

The small playsets are The Collector, Pit-Stop Catapult and Billboard Blast, all from series 3 (1987).

 In this case, it is a billboard that hides a cannon and a missile launcher (with two big missiles), everything has place inside of the small flat box. The set is quite simple, I think vehicles are more interesting, and probably sold much better than these small playsets.

The figure included with the Billboard Blast is Dusty Hayes, in a repaint (although with very similar colours) of the figure that came with Gator (series 1). The mask is vacuum, a mask that “pretends to suck up objectionable objets”.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: BILLBOARD BLAST with DUSTY HAYES
• Toy Line: M.A.S.K. (Wave 3)
• Year: 1987
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the playset: Around 16 cm
• Size of the figures: 2½’’ or 6,5 cm

#696 JOAL – MERCEDES BENZ 350 SL (N°124) (Around 1973)

Amazing model made by Joal in the early 70s. It is a Mercedes 350 SL in brown/gold color. It was also available in other colours (bright yellow, blue, red…), and also as part of car+trailer sets, for example with a roulotte or a boat.

This was one of the first models that came with this jewel case with yellow plastic base. Previously all models came in a green cardboard box, as seen in entry #406 or #523.

The car has practicable doors, bonnet and trunk, and came with two stickers. Other features are chromed hubcaps, chromed front and bumpers, plastic headlights and realistic steering wheel.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MERCEDES BENZ 350 SL (Nº124)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: Around 1973
• Company: Joal (Spain)
• Size: approx. 9 cm

#695 ZEE TOYS/ ZYLMEX – SEVERAL DYNA-FLITES MODELS (Around 1981)

I have three plane models made by Zee Toys/ Zylmex. Unlike the major manufacturers (for example Matchbox), Zee Toys took very seriously this plane series, and made one of the most comprehensive catalogues of scale die-cast planes, from the 70s to the 90s.

The Dyna-Flites series, as I was called, included 162 references, some of which were used twice. In Europe these are hard to find, I could only find these three over the years, and one of them is not 100% complete. The Bronco is missing 3 wheels and the Space Shuttle in wheel.

These are:
A109 P-38 Lightning

A111 OV-10 Bronco

A148 Space Shuttle

In Spain there were also several toymakers that made die-cast planes, I wrote several entries some years ago. Click HERE.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: P-38 LIGHTNING (A109), OV-10 BRONCO (A111) and SPACE SHUTTLE (A148)
• Scale: Unknown Scale
• Year: Around 1981
• Company: Zee Toys (U.S.A.) / Zylmex (Hong Kong)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#694 ROBOTS, SPACESHIPS AND OTHER TIN TOYS (THE TERUHISA KITAHARA COLLECTION)

First I have to say that this is not exactly a book you read. It has exactly 3 pages with text, in which the author explains a couple of things about his collection. Mr Teruhisa Kitahara has established 7 museums in Japan and is a renowned and famous toy collector in his country.

The rest of the book (it has around 350 pages) are just (impressive) full page pictures of toys (photographed by Yukio Shimizu). There is a big chapter dealing only with robots and spaceships, and two shorter chapters dealing with cars and figures & scenarios.

The photos are impressive, because the toys themselves are amazing. Rare and mint pieces of toys from the 1920´s to the 1970´s, most of them from Japanese brands like: Nomura, Yonezawa, Line Mar, Horikawa, Bandai, Masudaya, Daiya... The fascination of Japan with robots comes since a long time. In the 10th issue of Figuras En Acción I wrote about robots, and there I learnt how the Japanese toy industry was created after WW2 and how they manufactured for American companies like Cragstan. This part is not in the book, if you want to learn more about Japanese tin robots, you´ll need another book, this one is only to look at and find marvelous old toys.

While watching it, I actually though of my recent visit to the Toy Museum in Singapore, that also features a great collection of toys, with one floor of their building dedicated only to robots and space toys.

So, I recommend the book for people who are interested in curious toys, but with the remark, that there is nothing to read about history or any interesting facts about the toys. Each toy has its name, the toymaker company and the decade in which it was built. In two particular cases, I detected that the deccade was wrong: in the car chapter, there are two different James Bond´s Aston Martin DB5 (from the Goldfinger movie), and they are both dated 1950s... while the movie is from 1964, if I recall properly.

#693 CORGI – LOTUS ELITE and VW POLO “POLIZEI” (1976 and 1979)

Here are two more Corgi models, the first one is the Lotus Elite, 315-C1 in red (1976 to 1979). This model was also available in yellow (301-C1, racing decoration), green (315-C2, “Wings Flying Club”), dark blue (382-B1) and black (GS 32-B3 Lotus Racing Set)

The second model is more interesting, since it is a VW Polo “Polizei”, 489-A1 in white/green (German Police) (1979 to 1980).

The Polo was also available in yellow “ADAC” (4894-A1, German road service), yellow “POST” (289-A2, German postal service), green (289-A1), grey (302-C1, Racing decoration), yellow “Swiss PTT” (no number, Swiss postal service), plus other variants that do not appear in Force (see #340)

The cast was later modified and sold as VW Turbo (312-C1, White or Beige with racing decoration)
What interest me about this Polo model is that is has a German Police decoration, and it is not the only model. I don’t know in which numbers they were sold, but it seems that the German market was very interesting also for Corgi (not only for Matchbox), and by the end of the 70s, Corgi also tried to gain some market share in Germany. No matter what, the Polo is a very curious and nice model, since I am not quite sure, if the German police ever used the 1970s Polo as a patrol car.

For more information about Corgi Toys models in 1:36 scale, please visit entries #99 and #563.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: LOTUS ELITE and VW POLO “POLIZEI”
• Scale: 1:36
• Year: 1976 and 1979
• Company: Corgi (Great Britain)
• Size: approx. 10 cm

#692 MAJORETTE – SAVIEM CITERNE (1975)

I have three different Majorette Saviem Tankers, which I want to show today. This particular model was manufactured between 1975 and 1983 in many different decorations.

I took a look at the catalogues and found this:

• 1975 to 1978 – 245 Cîterne – Red and Yellow “Shell”
• 1979:

• 1980:

• 1981 – 245 Citerne - Red and Yellow “Shell” and Red “Texaco”, this last one curiously marked “Gulf Tanker”.
• 1982 – 245 Citerne - Red and Yellow “Shell” and Blue and White “Gulf”, this time correctly marked.
• 1983 - 245 Citerne - Red and White “Shell” or Red and White “Esso”.

In 1984 it is replaced by a different tanker model (a Ford truck) with a more modern design.

During all those years, and although the catalogue images depicted four or five versions only, there were several colour variations available, like the Gulf version in red and white (instead of blue and white) or the Texaco version in red and white (intead of red only) among others. These variations are understandable because the Saviem truck was probably assembled on the go with one truck and then the tank. So if sometimes the colours did not match, this would not mean a big problem. Apart from that, the same casting was also available with a container box, a prefab house or some other load. The one with the house was first released in 1975 as well, and often comes with an older type of wheels. Both the tanker version and the house transport are “updates” of an older truck (a Bernard) which was available before in the same colour and with the same names (Citerne).

This six wheel model should not be mistaken with a very similar one with only four wheels.

The military version I am showing here is quite rare. It is the only one I have ever seen with those military symbols. There is another one with the text “US Army” and a white star over blue circle, but this decal is clearly different.

Other variations include a brown base or a black base (the brown one seems to be more common in older models). Most Saviem tankes have the classic mid to late 70s wheels (like the Texaco model), but some have the 3 spoke wheels too. Note that the Shell model have both types of wheels: 3-spoke front, the other on the rear. The mixing of wheel types is not rare, there are other examples on the internet.

The plastic base has two small tanks casted on both sides of the cabin. These are very fragile and often missing. Note that my only complete model is actually the Texaco model. The other two are “incomplete”.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SAVIEM CITERNE “SHELL”, “TEXACO” and “U.S. AIRFORCE”
• Scale: 1:100
• Year: 1975
• Company: Majorette (France)
• Size: approx. 7 cm