#958 GUISVAL - TALBOT HORIZON (Nr. 26 and 52) (1980)

The Talbot Horizon has, like most Guisval cars, several versions, colours and decorations. From these there is one which is very common, while all the others are very difficult to find.

The model was released in 1980, directly in three different variants:

• Nr.26 Talbot Horizon (golden version, no decals), later replaced by (red version, no decals)
  
• Nr.40 Surf acuático (red car with blue plastic surf boards on roof, no decals)
• Nr.52 Raid Oasis (white with roof rack and rallye decals), later replaced by a similar version with alternative decals, different roof rack and no front plastic bumper), and even later with plastic base versions with rally decals but no roof rack.
  

We start with the Raid Oasis version, which is the rarest I own. It is not in perfect shape, but keeps its roof rack, and this piece is very hard to find. They are extremely fragile, and most of the times are only available with boxed items, not with played-with toys, as it is the case. Because of the decal in the bonnet, this model is often referred as "Rey Racing" instead of the official name "Raid Oasis"

It was common at the time that the same cast was offered in very different versions, so the "artificially" increased the number of references in the catalogue.

In 1983, the "Surf acuático" reference is replaced by a Renault 9, but keeps the surf boards on the roof. Also this model is very rare, as all ones carrying stuff in the roof are.

That same year of 1983, the B70x series (car+trailer) was launched. There were several Talbots Horizon packed with different trailers. Some of these packs included a blue Talbot, and others a white one with Red Cross stickers on the doors. In these packs the cars were sometimes chosen randomly, so the blue model might be offered with a horse box or a trailer carrying an F1, just to name two examples.

The models continued in the Campeon series (or Campeon Rallye, if stickers were applied to it) for a few years more, probably until 1990 or so. These two series had plain colours, like blue, red, orange, yellow... that were sharedwith all the other miniatures in the series and were applied randomly. There are also models with different types of wheels, as they were evolving as the time passed. The car survived on the selves until relatively late (mid 90s), although it can be that it was removed from the the series, and then introduced again, as it happened with other models.

Note that this Campeon model has a modified cast, as you can see on the back part, where the license plate is. This is due to the fact that the base (made of plastic) attachs to the body of the car in a different way and does not have suspension. Note that the doors are still practicable, some cars that were recasted lost that feature in the process. 

Cool! Not many Talbot die-cast out there!

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TALBOT HORIZON (Nr. 26), TALBOT HORIZON "RAID-OASIS (Nr. 52) and TALBOT HORIZON CAMPEÓN RALLYE (No Nr.)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: 1980, 1980, 1984
• Company: Guisval (Spain)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm

#957 PIATNIK – AUTOS, EXOTISCHE TIERE & TIERBABIES (HYPO BANK PROMOTIONAL) (Around 1993)

 

Here a set of promotional card sets given by an Austrian Bank in the mid 80s. Bank giveaways are very common, they were made by millions and given to children in the International Savings Day (31st October) or some other occasion. However what is interesting for me is that the banks gave card sets on old coins, an adult hobby, although back in the days, some children were also brought into collecting coins by their parents. Today it is a rare hobby among young people.

Apart from that rare coin set, the most popular references were usually chosen by the banks: animals, cars... sometimes they chose a country-specific set, like animals from the Alps. Not a big variety in these.

The three sets shown in this entry have the same back design and the same boxes, but the title card from “Autos” has a different desing than the other two. Maybe this deck was older and Piatnik made a better offer for it, maybe they just got rid of some title cards on stock for this order, we will never know.

The year of the promotion is calculated after the cars in the Autos deck, I think the deck must be from 1991, maybe 1992, I think the newest cars depicted were released in 1990.

AUTOS + 2 Mini Puzzles

EXOTISCHE TIERE (This set was also presente in its "TIGER" version, see #337) + Zaubertrick

TIERBABIES:

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: AUTOS, EXOTISCHE TIERE & TIERBABIES (HYPO BANK PROMOTIONAL)
• Year: Around 1991
• Company: Piatnik (Austria)

#956 TMNT - TRICERATON + WINGNUT & SCREWLOOSE (1990)

These two figures are the only ones that I have completed so far from series 3. Like every other TMNT fan, I adore the figures from the Playmates toyline that represent other characters than the four turtles and the other main characters. They are so well designed: colourful, funny, with great playability (for example, unlike theturtles, most of them are very easy to set them standing) and cool accesories.

I am observing that the line is gaining value in the last months and some figures are really expensive already. Will this trend continue?

Well, the two figures today are:

TRICERATON:

Most mutant characters from the TMNT universe are humanoid animals living today, but in this case, it is a dinosaur. It looks like a crazy Playmates idea, but it is actually already in the very first issues of Eastman and Laird´s. Actually they are living on some other planet in Dimension X and are intelligent beings. There are many of these, although in the comic, they are wearing a different suit and look slightly more aggressive.

The figure comes with a grey belt and two rather big blue guns, that contrast with its orange skin.
It is an enemy of the Turtles

WINGNUT:

Wingnut is a bat, and Screwloose is a mosquito, maybe two of the strangest creatures in the toyline, because, how do you make a bat look human? It has strange proportions, with short legs, big belly, and the strangest of all is its head, and more particularly, its nose.

Besides the small Screwloose, the blister pack included two mechanic wings, in which we could insert a revolver and a grenade, both in light yellow, and a yellow belt.

From this figure I also have the bio-card, cut from the original blisterpack in English. These are very funny to read, as they always include many jokes and puns. Although I have this notes about its background and origins, I am still unsure if the figure actually appears in the comic books at some time, or if, in this case, it is a Playmates invention.

Wingnut is a friend and helper of the Turtles.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: TRICERATON + WINGNUT & SCREWLOOSE
• Toy Line: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) (Waves 3)
• Year: 1990
• Company: Playmates (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 3.75’’ or 9,75 cm

#955 HIGH SPEED PULLBACK - ABARTH 2000, FORD ZAKSPEED CAPRI and TRANS AM (W13, W15 and W16) (around 1986)

Thanks to my friend Steven, who corrected me here.

These cars are not Summer/S.M., but High Speed. For some reason I got them wrong in my collection and so I passed the error to this entry. I will try to write some alternative text to it, since it is the first time that High Speed appears in the blog.

I have to say, that these High Speed are Summer knock-offs, so maybe that is where the confusion comes from. To my knowledge, all Summer/S.M. cars are marked with the brand name or the logo, so, if not marked, as in this case, they are not made by S.M.

Sorry for the confusion!

The first Summer/S.M. cars I ever had were two pull-back cars in 3 inches size. My father got them for me in the year 1990 or so. One of them was a dark blue BMW M1 with white tampographies and the second one a Mercedes (500 SEC?) in green, also with tampographies. Compared to my Guisvals, Matchbox, Tomicas and so on were objectively ugly. I think I still have one of them somewhere, but I do not know where did my father get them from, where did he buy them (might have been  abroad). That was the first time I saw an S.M. product.

This series seems to be slightly different to me, but may also belong to the same. The models presented here are recent acquisitions, I bought them altogether in a flea market.

The models are well done, mostly compared to other newer Summer models, so I thought I would include them in my collection. They are Made in Hong-Kong and  are based on own casts. I even like the tampographies and the colours used. Nice sport cars!

W13 ABARTH 2000 (1:66)

W15 FORD ZAKSPEED CAPRI (1:65)

 

 

W16 TRANS AM (1:70)

UPDATE (June/2026): M3 (shouldn't it be W3?) Trans-Am in red and W6 BMW M1 (not the one I had as a kid). Not sure why the reference number is changed on the base, but these models are no equipped with a pull-back motor, they are common free-wheeling cars.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: ABARTH 2000 (W13), FORD ZAKSPEED CAPRI (W15), TRANS AM (W16), BMW M1 (W6)
• Scale: 1:66, 1:65 and 1:70
• Year: Around 1986
• Company: Summer / S.M. (Hong Kong)
• Size: approx. 7 cm