#819 JURASSIC PARK - ALAN GRANT and ELLIE SATTLER (1993)

I have presented a few dinosaurs from this toyline based on the original Jurassic Park movie, but no figures so far. This is so, because the figures came with several accesories which are difficult to find, so completing figures costed me quite a long time.

Although they were great toys, I guess they didn´t sell very well. It was already a time were actions figures were decaying in popularity against videogames, and also being the movie a PG-13, I guess not many children bought the figures as Kenner may initially have expected.

The figures are copyrighted in 1992, and the movie was premiered in 1993, that is why the characters do not resemble the actors that played the roles. Also among the dinosaurs there are some which do not appear in the movie, so probably the toyline was made from the existing scripts before the movie was actually shot.

The two main characters with which the movie starts are Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant (Laura Dern and Sam Neill), two paleontologists specialized in dinosaurs. The third main character is Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum), that did not appear as a figure in this very first Kenner release (Fail! - this character is actually the most remarkable in the first movie). The rest of characters can be considered as supporting roles. This would be correcte shortly afterwards in a second wave of figures which included repaints of all 5 figures plus 6 new ones.

In total there were 5 figures made, being the other three the bad-guy Denis Nedry, then the kid Tim Murphy and the Dinosaur Hunter Robert Muldoon, whose story is also quite secondary (many scenes were removed from the final cut?).

Most figures came with some action feature, not in the figure itself, but in the accessories. In this case, Ellie came with a firing missile launcher (well, not a missile, but a hook) and Alan came with a backpack that releases one flying sauria trap.

I took the figures out for the following diorama pictures. Hope you like them.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: ALAN GRANT and ELLIE SATTLER
• Toy Line: Jurassic Park
• Year: 1993
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 10 cm long
   

#818 JUGUETES EURA S.A. – DON QUIJOTE and SANCHO PANZA (1979)

The cartoons directed by Cruz Delgado based on the masterpiece of Miguel de Cervantes was a major success in the Spanish Television in 1979 (when it was aired for the first time), and, of course, some merchandising items were made to make more money licensing toy figures, books and all kind of things for children.

These two figures are one example, maybe the best known toy made out of the Don Quijote cartoon. The two PVC figures were originally made by Juguetes Eura S.A., a company that also had the rights to produce Peyo’s Smurfs in PVC, although in 1980, this license was lost because Schleich had bought the rights worldwide for that same series, and they had to stop producing them. The whole story is told in The Cursed Country.

The thing is that Juguetes Eura, would later become Comics Figuras S.L. (also known as Comics Spain). Both companies have the same founders and the same address. The new company was founded in 1982, also by Ramón Magriña and Eulalia Camps, as a matter of fact, EURA is formed with the initial letters of the names of the two founders: EU (Eulalia) and RA (Ramón).

The topic with the Smurfs has been extensively studied, but the other figures are somehow forgotten. Eura did not only made these… they also had figures from La Abeja Maya (Biene Maja), Asterix, Barbapapas, several Disney characters and more… and their quality is quite interesting.

Back to Don Quijote, there were four figures made of this series. Don Quijote and Sancho Panza, plus the same two characters riding their Horse (Rocinante) and Donkey (Rucio), respectively. The riding characters could be removed from their mounts.

Don Quijote (standing) came with a very small and fragile sword that could be attached to his belt.

The same figures were later available marked with “Comics Spain”. Each figure was available with and without plastic base to improve the stability, but I cannot say if some were earlier than others, or which brand (Eura or Comics Spain) do each one have.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: DON QUIJOTE and SANCHO PANZA
• Year: 1979
• Company: Juguetes Eura S.A. (Spain)
• Size of the figures: Around 10 and 6 cm tall

#817 BIELEFELDER SPIELKARTEN - PS-MATADORE (No. 0228) (1972)

This deck of card is similar to the one in the previous entry, only slightly rarer (to my knowledge, Bielefelder is in general rarer than Piatnik) and also slightly older. Of course it focuses on F1 drivers, but also include other categories as well.

As a matter of fact, it includes two extra cards with the technical specifications of Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3 an Formula V, apart of one card with the instructions and the cover card.
Unlike the most common quartets with cars, here we have pictures of the pilots in their pilot outfits, most of them taken directly in the cars, circuits and the paddocks. There are a few of these pilot quartets, but they are not very numerous. I guess the cars are more attractive for children, and this quartet is more for hard-core fanatics.

Note the interesting selection of drivers, many of which are today great F1 legends. The current champion was Emerson Fittipaldi with Lotus-Ford and the following year Jackie Stewart won also with Lotus-Ford.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: PS-MATADORE (No. 0228)
• Year: 1972
• Company: Bielefelder Spielkarten (West Germany)

#816 PIATNIK - RENNFAHRER (No. 4230) (1977 and 1983)

I am (or at least was) a great F1 fan, and enjoyed watching races. One of the first memories I have is reading and re-reading a magazine dealing with the coming 1990 season in which Prost (current champion) changed from McLaren to Ferrari. Some seasons are very exciting, while others are extremely boring. In the last years, I stopped following F1 because of this.

That is why I enjoy watching this kind of decks, from a time in which Formula 1 was very different. Yes, very different, but most of the times it was also boring. Some seasons had only one or two strong teams and the rest were far away from these, more or less like today, but most times, we were able to see many different winners within one season, from different teams. Even more humble teams were capable of scoring some points due to technical problems (which were more common than today). Of course there were also more and more dangerous accidents, which I think the real fan does not like watching.

I wonder if the F1 will ever introduce some changes to reduce the inequality of the teams, or some inverse qualifying or something like this in order to make races more exciting and give the pilots the chance to show their skills (and not best car = champion).

Take a look at the pilots, many of them are still working somehow for the FIA or directing F1 teams. Also notably, a few of these people had children who later became pilots.

The first deck was released in 1977 or 1978, according to the pilots that appear in the pictures. It was most probably in 1977, after Niki Lauda had won its first championship in 1975 and the 1976 season was going great for him before the accident in Nürburgring. He missed two races and his comeback was not so successful, finally ending second with only one point difference to the champion James Hunt. This rivalry was partially portrayed in the movie “Rush” from 2013.

This deck came with two "Super Trumpf" cards, which are still present.

The second deck is updated until the 1st of January 1983, what makes me think that it was probably designed in 1982 just to be released for the upcoming season and also because of the comeback of Niki Lauda, who, like Piatnik, is Austrian. All pilots are F1 pilots (no other categories) from the 1982 season, and the former champion was Keke Rosberg with Williams-Ford. The season is also remembered for the fatal crash of Gilles Villeneuve in Belgium, the death of Riccardo Paletti and other accidents without fatal consequencies, but serious injuries.

In the year 1983 Nelson Piquet was the champion with a Brabham-BMW.

This deck should include a Mini-Puzzle, which is unfortunately missing.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: RENNFAHRER (No. 4230)
• Year: 1977 and 1983
• Company: Piatnik (Austria)

#815 LWNR/WINNER – SPACE EXPLORATION VEHICLE (Around 1990)

This is an interesting space toy from the early 90s. At the time, the space-themed toys were already declining in comparison to the previous decades. There were still some interesting toylines (most notably Starcom) and toylines subseries (for example G.I.Joe´s Star Brigade), but it was a time of a more down-to-earth fantasy and action times for toys.

I would say this toy, being much more humble, is inspired by Starcom. It is a land vehicle with distinctive features to be used on the Moon, Mars or any other planet (wheels, radars, cannons...). It has two LEDs on both sides and also a small loudspeaker to produce light and sound. Inside there is a small cell battery, that I removed because it was already a bit damaged. Another cool feature is that the cockpit can be opened revealing some kind of seat.

The toy has cool stickers in a futuristic style, as seen in many movies before.

About the company LWNR we know that it is still active. They are based in Dongguan, China since 1978, and they master the complete process of creating toys, from the concept and the design to manufacturing an packaging. As many toy companies these days, they moved from a more general production to toys for younger children, which are the ones that still get toys (and not Smartphones or whatever). They have huge facilities (factory, offices and warehouses) an they employ up to 2000 people. Quite astounding. Unlike other Chinese companies, Winner is proud to give its employees good labour conditions and work environment.

To see the current catalogue and get more information about the toylines, history and more, please visit http://www.winnertoys.com/.

UPDATE1 (Dec/2018): A few pics from eBay showing this toy and similar ones in their blister cards.

 

 

 
FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SPACE EXPLORATION VEHICLE
• Company: LWNR Winner (China)
• Year: Around 1990
• Size: approx. 8 cm

#814 BARAVELLI / BGM / GIODI – PORSCHE 911 S (Around 1979)

This is a rare Porsche 911 in a scale close to 1:64 (3 inches size). It is quite rough in its details, and has plastic base and dark windows, and, of course, no interior.

So, qualitatively, it is not a great toy, but still a very interesting one due to its maker: Baravelli.

There is very little information about this brand out there. The logo of the company is a circle with a three-pointed star inside with the letters B G M, which according to the Dutch Wikipedia comes from “Baravelli Giordani MAM”, although I cannot recognize MAM as an acronym (sorry, I don’t speak Italian). Other sources say BGM may come from “Baravelli Giodi Miniatura”.

I have seen many carded models marketed as “Giodi” that seem to be the exact same model that I am showing today, so I am almost certain that Baravelli (or BGM) and Giodi are the same company. Actually, Giodi could be a short name for Giordani.

The company produced, as you can see in the pictures, cars in the budget range during the 70s. If the Wikipedia is right, the company got absorved by polistil by the late 70s when the competition was growing both in the internal and the external markets.

What I knew of this brand is that they were used as giveaways in Ferrero’s Kinder Surprise. Not in the standard eggs, but in the bigger Maxi Eggs. Apparently, and according to my Kinder Surprise catalogue, there were two series from Giodi: VIP and VIP 2. The first one came in cardboard boxes with plastic windows, while the second one in cardboard boxes without windows. How they fitted inside the eggs, I don´t know.

According to this source, the “serie VIP. 1” had 12 references: BMW 520i, Cadillac Eldorado, Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Volvo, Lancia, Renault, Porsche, Mercedes; Stratos, Ferrari and Rover. They came without any stickers applied but a small sheet of plastic stickers to be applied by the happy owner of the car.

The “serie VIP  2” has also several references, although only three are mentioned: Mercedes 450 SL, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and Porsche 911 Turbo. Possibly there were more of them. Each one came with 1 sticker (the brand emblem) applied on the hood of the car. That Porsche is exactly the one I am showing in my pictures.

According to the guide, each of these models has a catalogue value of 100 Euro, something which I certainly doubt. They can be found on ebay for around 10 euros/piece

It is actually credible that Giodi/BGM/Baravelli might have been bought by Polistil, since at roughly the same time, Ferrero Maxi Eggs were also giving Polistil models away… at 1:43 scale.

UPDATE (June/2024): Mercedes 450 SEL. Unfortunately in bad shape.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: PORSCHE 911 S, MERCEDES 450 SEL
• Scale: Around 1:64
• Year: Around 1979
• Company: Baravelli B.G.M/BGM Giodi (Italy)
• Size: approx. 7 cm