#634 MAISTO – TRABANT 601 “TRABI” (Around 1996)

This is a rare die-cast model of a very iconic German car made in the DDR. The cast was first made by MC Toy and later reused by Maisto. Unfortunately, I only have the Maisto version, If I find the MC Toy version I will exchange them.

 

Since MC Toy/Maisto is a company from Hong-Kong it is a strange choice for a cast. Maybe they manufactured the car as a request from a German retailer, to be sold as a souvenir in Germany (it is available almost everywhere there, from tourist shops to airports).

 

 

Although the real car was made from 1964 to 1990, this scale reproduction is relatively recent. There are older toys of the Trabant dating from the communist era of the DDR. These are quite sought-after nowadays by German toy collectors. Maisto model is very common, and thus worthless as a collectable. The interest lies in the car model, which is an iconic car of the 60s, comparable to the Austin Mini/ Mini Morris in England, the Fiat 500 in Italy, the VW Beetle in Germany (FDR), the Seat 600 in Spain or the Citroen 2CV in France.

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: TRABANT 601
• Scale: 1:64
• Year: 1996
• Company: Maisto (Hong-Kong/ U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#633 MICRO MACHINES - 4x4 CRUSHERS (1991)

These cars/trucks do not resemble any other Micro Machine, they are slightly bigger, that's why Galoob chose only trucks, big american vans and military vehicles for this series. This way they could hide the scale difference between this series and the others in the "Ultrafast" series.

There were only a few models in this series made, each had a common base, and changed only the body and/or the colours/decoration. To be exact, there were 6 models, with 2 decorations each, 12 references. They were launched in 1991 and sold also in 1992. They were discontinued in 1993.

The base has "bigfoot" wheels, and place inside for a very small battery. The battery is completely hidden by the body. I dont know if this type of battery is still available in shops. I guess yes, but it is a very rare model, I am not sure if it is a AA or some other. They can be turned on/off with a small switch.

It is quite fun to play with, I guess, it should be quite fast, and have a strong traction. Note the spike behind that prevents the car to slide and turn upside down.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: 4x4 CRUSHERS KENWORTH
• Scale of the cars: 1:150 aprox.
• Year: 1991
• Company: Galoob (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 4 cm

#632 MADELMAN - CAÑÓN MADELMAN (Around 1972)

Madelman is a toy line I like, but it was over years before I got interested in toys. I never had any toys from this line, never played with them, and I have no special affection for them. In addition to this, they are really expensive. Being the first and one of the very few Spanish action figures gives it a cult-status that raises the prices from expensive to impossible.

 

A while ago, I got some Madelman toys from a friend of my father, who had kept them at home for 30 or 35 years. There are mainly accesories and vehicles, an I will be showing them during the next months. It is difficult to find out which sets are included, since the same accesories were often available in more than one set/reference.

 

 

Here's the Artillery Cannon from Madelman. It looks really great and realistic. It came with six bullets and two ammo boxes, I only have the boxes, maybe I can find the bullets (even if they are repro) to complete the set.

 

 

Very interesting is the original box with amazing illustrations. probably made by Luís/Lluis Bargalló, who worked at the time for Exin and made the artwork for Madelman and Scalextric, among others.ç

 

 

Not much information on this entry, but I promise to return to Madelman soon. Last Madelman entry was number #15.

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: CAÑÓN MADELMAN
• Toy Line: Madelman
• Year: Around 1972
• Company: Madel (Spain)
• Size: Around 30 cm
• Scale: 1:10 (estimation)

#631 YATMING vs. ZYLMEX - LAMBORGHINI MARZAL (1004 and D48) (Around 1970 and 1977)

In one of the latest flea markets I visited, I found these two great minatures of the same car: the Lamborghini Marzal. They are made by two Hong-Kongese companies that at the time were not very appreciated, but that today are very sought-after. This is our chance to make a quick comparison.

We should of course consider that the cast by Yatming is much older, and that Zylmex's model is actually a knock-off of a Matchbox's miniature, so in terms of cast, I preffer the Yatming model, that is, at least, based on an own design.

Interestingly, the Yatming model has a glass roof, as it had the original car model. I don't know why Matchbox decided to let the roof covered and instead leaving the rear window open. In the original car, the rear window was covered by a series of panels with that same structure that is imitated in Matchbox's and Zylmex's rear window design.

The doors of the real car were like the ones reproduced in the Zylmex model,

Curiously both cars are yellow, although the Zylmex model seem to be also available in green. The Yatming model is in bad shape, but still complete and Rolling properly.

More Zylmex models HERE.

More YatMing models HERE.

UPDATE (JULY 2018): I found a new Yatming Marzal in very good shape.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: LAMBORGHINI MARZAL (1004 and D48)
• Scale: Approx. 1:64 
• Year: Around 1970 and 1977
• Company: Yatming and Zylmex (Hong-Kong) 
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#630 FIGURAS EN ACCIÓN (F.E.A.) Nr. 13

The latest issue of Figuras En Acción is since a few days out. If you are readeing this blog, I am quite sure you would enjoy the magazine. It is Spanish, as always, and this time it has 6 articles plus news, museums and books.

The news in this issue are a new colleague, that many action figures (especially G.I.Joe and Star Wars) collectors might know: Rodrigo Pellegrini. He will strengthen the team as an editor and will surely provide high quality articles.

The new issue starts with his contribution on Mobile Action Command and Action Jack, but we can also find articles about Monta-Plex (and Monta-Man, which is a copy of Action Jack), figures from "the Planet of the Apes", the GMC Vandura model by Guisval, the promotional Matugomas (from Matutano) and some promotional Clever & Smart figures from Danone.

In this number I have written no article, but I have cooperated in the news and also in the museum sections.

Please download the pdf here: https://goo.gl/fP72V5
And don't forget to share it with your friends!

#629 UNKNOWN MANUFACTURER - DINOSAUCERS PVC FIGURES (Around 1990)

 

This PVC dinosaur is a bootleg figure from the Dinosaucers series. The cartoon was never very popular, and there were never an official (licensed) line of action figures. The only vintage toy products I know were a series of PVC figures (licensed by Telecon  Inc 1988) and another PVC figures by Yolanda (monochromatic). This plastic figure is almost completely unmarked (China is the only word marked on the figure) and came in a blister pack which was quite simple. Each package included one body and several heads (5, I think). I remember I bought one as a birthday present for my neighbour, so I recall well the figure.

The toy could be purchased in the early nineties in the famous cheap stores in which everything costed 100 pesetas (0,60 Eur) today, these shops still exist but most products cost 1 Euro. These shops were a small revolution back then, and they had some quality toys at the beginning, like MC Toy scale cars or several figure bootlegs of MOTU, G.I.Joe and other popular lines. Later, the quality would decrease.

I guess the figure is older than that, since the figures always came later to Spain than to the rest of the world. The TV show dates from 1987 (65 episodes for 4 months) but also came later to Spain, by the early nineties again. The figures were probably available earlier in other parts of the world, although I have only seen then on Ebay Spain or Spanish auction sites. Some Dinosaucers collectors worldwide also wrote that they got their figures in Spain, so it is difficult to guess on this point.

There were two body casts available, each of them painted in many different patterns, including some exotic colours. Most dinosaurs have a base colour skin in yellow/orange and the colour of the uniform would vary, but these exotic figures have for example purple skin.



Second cast available. Tail did not fit very well and it is very often missing, as in the picture.

The heads available are not very well casted, so it is difficult to name the dinosaurs and the name of the characters that each represents. One of them is clearly "Allo", the leader of the Dinosaucers, which can be clearly identified because he is wearing a helmet.

Other are Styraco, Tricero, Ankylo (missing) and an unidentified one, which could be Stego, Bonehead, Bronto Thunder, Dimetro, Quackpot or Plesio. All these dinosaurs had similar heads.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: DINOSAUCERS PVC FIGURE
• Alternate Names: ASTRO-DINOS (German)
• Year: Around 1990
• Company: Unknown Manufacturer (China)
• Size of the figures: Around 10 cm

#628 MC TOY – SEVERAL VOLKSWAGEN MODELS (1987 and 1990)

Volkswagen models are always valuable collectables, I have met people who collected only VW Beetle miniatures, and another guy who collected only VW Golf miniatures. To some extent, the Golf will be the Beetle for newer generations. Since the Golf has been available since 1974, it is already among the best selling cars of all times.

Volkswagen 1302 (Ref. 8731) - The classic "Bug" in dark blue. It is one of the most sought-after model by MC Toys, but not very interesting in my opinion, since almost every die-cast manufacturer had this model in their catalogues.

Volkswagen Baja Beetle (VW) (Reference Unknown) - One of the best models by MC Toys in my opinion. Those wheels were rarely used by the brand, and it has a very nice suspension, it is a lot of fun to play with it over rugged surfaces. The car has a simulated and chromed motor behind with a very long exhaust pipe, which is sometimes broken, since it is made of plastic. The car was origianlly released in yellow with tampographies in red and black, but the car was also availabe in other colours (not sure here if other versions were released as MC Toy or Maisto).

VW Caravelle or VW NR1060 (Ref. 9007) - One of the most used casts by MC Toy and later by Maisto. This van was redecorated and released in many colours, and this makes the model one of the less interesting ones in the whole range. In this case it´s painted red and decorated with Fire Brigade tampographies.

The only Volkswagen missing in this entry is the Golf GTI from 1984 (Ref. 8446), but I don´t have it here right now. The most common decoration is black with white or golden tampographies. The cast was reused by Sohbi, and you can make yourself an idea, how would this model in black look like: see entry #536.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: VOLKSWAGEN 1302 (Ref. 8731), VOLKSWAGEN BAJA BUG (Ref. Unknown) and VW CARAVELLE (VW NR1060) (Ref. 9007)
• Scale: 1:64 (approx.)
• Year: The two first digits in the reference number indicates the year of design and manufacture, so: 1987, Unknown and 1990.
• Company: MC Toy (U.S.A./ Macau)
• Size: approx. 3’’ or 7 cm

#627 DANONE – 4 COCHES FUERA DE SERIE (DIE-CAST PROMOTIONAL VEHICLES) (1996)

This is a extremely rare set. I got it in 1996 by collecting yogurt lids, cannot exactly remember how many, but it was not easy. The vehicles were depicted in Yogurt 8-packs and they looked really great. I had to get them at any cost.

So, when I received the packet I was completely disappointed. The box came in this white cardboard box, and inside, there was another cardboard box with windows and the four models inside. The quality of the models is low, or rather low... very badly finished, no interiors, rough edges... and even fragile. The motorbike model breaks easily. At the back of the box, you can read that this is a collectable, but not a toy.

The box is also very fragile: the cardboard is very thin and windows break easily, because they are also really thin. That´s why I guess there are not many sets like mine out there. I always kept it in the protective white cardboard box, and took it out of it maybe 2 times in 20 years: the day I received it and the day I took these pictures.

All in all, extremely rare collectibles, surely appeals many die-cast collectors. The four cars are reproductions of Danone´s delivery cars, trucks or motorbikes from different years/decades.

Ford A 1930

Derbi 1953

 Sava 1962

Trimak 1966

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: 4 COCHES FUERA DE SERIE
• Scale: Several scales: 1:24 1:64, 1:100
• Year: 1996
• Company: Danone (France), Iberpromo Group (Spain)
• Size: approx. 6 cm

#626 TOMICA - SHIDEN 77 BMW, ALPINE RENAULT A442 and PORSCHE 936 TURBO (1978)

These are three more old Tomicas, two of them belong to the foreign (F) series, while the third one belongs to the normal series.

NºF48 – Renault Alpine A442 – Scale 1:57 – 1978 – Original car from 1975
This car was available in yellow only, but counted with two decorations. It is made in Japan, but belong to the Foreign series “F” (read more about this series here #423)

Nº71 – Shiden 77 BMW – Scale 1:62 – 1978 – Original car from 1977Also known as Mooncraft Shiden 77 Coupé, it was a Japanese sport prototype, so I guess this one became really popular in the late 70s, and it was a best-seller among all Tomicas. Although it was bought in Europe, it does not marked as a model form the European series, the reference number is 71, without an F. This car was also available in orange and in white

No T22 - Porsche 936 Turbo – Scale 1:59 – 1978 – Original car from 1977
This car was already presented in entry #334, but it is repeated here, because it fits very well with the other two models. It is one of the "Made in China" reeditions from the early 1990s, also known as the “British Line”.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SHIDEN 77 BMW, ALPINE RENAULT A442 and PORSCHE 936 TURBO (Nrs. 71, F48 and T22)
• Scale: 1:62, 1:57, 1:59 (respectively)
• Year: 1978
• Company: Tomica (Japan)
• Size: approx. 6 cm