#679 HASBRO´S WWF - CRUSH v2, KAMALA and NAILZ (1993)

SERIES 7 "YELLOW SERIES"

 
The yellow series was the first one in which Hasbro changed the base colour of the backcard. In this case it is yellow, unlike all the previous waves, which had light blue background, and so, is this series also known as the "yellow series". It is a more graphic way to identify the figures that belong to a same wave.

There are 6 figures that we are going to comment for this wave. Three in this entry and three more in the next entry. The figures are:

• Crush v2
• Kamala
• Nailz
• Owen Hart
• Razor Ramon
• Shawn Michaels v2

The figure of Shawn Michaels was changed in the last moment, and in some catalogues there is a rare variant that has never been spotted yet (a real figure, I mean), and that features the Jake Snake Roberts punch. The prototype is painted with the same scheme as the figure we will see in the next entry.

Crush (Brian Adams) or Kona Crush is the same fighter that was part of the Demolition Tag Team, and was released in series 2 carded with Smash. Unfortunately, I cannot remember seeing him in action, but I think he played one the characters that the audience usually dislikes. The figure has a (in my opinion) quite boring action feature, but at least is nicely casted has has some distinctive colours.

Kamala (James "Jim" Harris), the Ugandan wrestler can be defined as exotic. The fights in which he participated were always fun, with unexpected twists and also quite spectacular. The figure is also very appealing and colourful. The jumping feature is one of my favorite ones and also one of the best ones in terms of "playability". The figure has a star on its belly, but there should be another version with a moon on the same position. This version should be ultra-rare, with only a few units ever made, but many figures have been customized and even repackaged with the moon. Personally I am sceptical about this kind of things. It looks a little bit like the Pimp Daddy Destro story, if you know what I mean.

Nailz (Kevin Wacholz) is also a very peculiar character. I love the concept and also the figure. I think this character was specially created to fight Big Boss Man in an epic match, but the WWF didn´t have the time to use it more, because Wacholz and Vince McMahon had some dispute and Wacholz was released from the WWF after only a few months in 1992. The story is quite dark, Wacholz claims he was given steroids. The figure is great, with the orange suit and the punch feature is not bad. One of my favorite figures.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: CRUSH v2, KAMALA and NAILZ
• Toy Line: Official WWF
• Year: 1993
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 8 cm long

#678 GUISVAL - SEAT 131 (1976, 1977 and 1980)

I have commented it in previous entries, but I repeat it now. The Seat 131 is one of my favorite cars of all times, because it is a car we had in our family until 1993 or so. I have it several times in different scale by different manufacturers. Today, I am showing the Guisval models.

The car debuted in 1976 with two versions: a very rare "Fire Chief" one (nr. 27) and the more ordinary one in brown (nr. 32). Although the catalogue images look all the same, I show two different shades of brown, probably the colour was not even through the different batches that were built back in the 70s.

 

One year later, the "Fire Chief" version was removed and new white version "Police" was introduced (nr. 44). In 1980, the brown version would be replaced by a silver grey version (but kept the same nr. 32), and in 1981, this was the only version available. After that, the car disappears from the catalogues, but it is still available in blue with or without rally stickers.

1976
Nr. 27 - Jefe de Bomberos (red with white doors)
Nr. 32 - brown

1977, 1978, 1979
Nr. 32 - brown
Nr. 44 - White "Policia"

1980
Nr. 32 - Grey
Nr. 44 - White "Policia"

1981, 1982
Nr. 32 - Grey

1984 on:
Also available in blue.

In later years (up to the late 90s), the cast was reused and sold with rally stickers. This more modern models can be identified by its 4 spoke wheels or the 8 points inside a circle hubcap type. These have plastic base and are made with a worse quality. I also have some of these, I can show them maybe next time.

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: SEAT 131
• Scale: 1:64
• Year: 1976, 1977 and 1980
• Company: Guisval (Spain)
• Size: 8 cm

#677 PIATNIK - 200 Km/h CLUB (Nr. 4220) (1973 and 1981)

These are two sets made by Piatnik with the same name and reference. The older one seems to be from around 1973 and the more modern one from 1981. Each year, Piatnik (and other manufacturers) changed each year a few cards to keep the deck modern. There are 24 different cards from one set to the other and 8 years between them, that makes an average of 4 cards/year.

In this case, the topic is "200 Km/h", that is a mixture of race cars, rally cars and also commercial models mixed up together, all of them reaching more than 200 kilometers per hour. The "landscape" format used by Piatnik allows larger photos.

 

1973 Version

 

 

1981 Version 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: 200 Km/h CLUB (Nr. 4220)
• Year: 1973 and 1981
• Company: Piatnik (Austria)

#676 SCALEXTRIC - SIGMA (Ref. 4047) (1973)

One of the first models I had in my collection, belonged actually to my father or my uncle, and survived several years until I got it in 1990 together with the white Porsche Carrera shown in a previous entry. Other cars, like some old Mercedes didn´t.

The Sigma model was designed by Pininfarina in 1969 over the chassis of a Ferrari 312 V12 (a F1 model). It incorporated several security features. It never raced, because it was not intended to do that, but due to its futuristic design it became very popular in publications or as a toy.

Scalextric´s Sigma was not very accurate. The spoiler it is too high and the car it a bit narrower as the original, but still very impressive. It was available in three colours: yellow, orange and white. I only have the yellow one, twice. The original one described above, and another one boxed I got later. The first I got had no mirrors, so I had to buy repro ones, but the second is was complete.

A typical problem in this car is that the spikes ot the spoiler are very often broken. In the model in the picture these two spikes are broken (see picture above, right). The exhaust pipes are also fragile, since they stand above the body of the car

The car was very interesting for competition because it is very low and very stable in the curves and has long axles, so it is already very fast, doesn´t need much changes to be a winner.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: SIGMA (Ref. 4047)
• Scale: 1:32
• Year: 1973
• Company: Scalextric Exin (Spain)
• Size: approx. 14 cm

#675 JURASSIC PARK – VELOCIRAPTOR (JP03) (1993)

The velocirraptor was probably the "star" of the first Jurassic Park movie, the most remarkable dinosaur, and the one with the most impressive scenes, like the ending scene at the visitor's center.

The toy is very nicely casted and it even has an action feature. When pressing the legs to each other, the dinosaur opens the mouth and extends the head forward. This is called, according to Kenner “Dino-Strike Slashing Jaws”.

There were two versions of this dinosaur released by Kenner, a "sonic" one and the "ordinary" version. This dinosaur here is the ordinary version. I do not have the sonic version yet. Note that the tail tip is a bit fragile, sometimes it is broken or chewed.

The same dinosaur was also released in the "The Lost World" series only with a different eye colour (green instead of yellow) and some accesories (a dino-trap).

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: VELOCIRAPTOR (JP03)
• Toy Line: Jurassic Park
• Year: 1993
• Company: Kenner (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: Around 15 cm long

#674 HE-MAN - SPIN FIST HYDRON (1992)

This figure belongs to the last wave of the He-Man toyline an was released in 1992. It belongs to the same series than the He-Man and Skeletor figures shown in entry #601. It is therefore one of the 6 last figures to be released in the 90s, and also one of the most difficult ones to find, specially if complete with its two accesories, and in good shape. We know that this series has especially fragile articulations, and sometimes legs are a bit loose.

 

 

 

In this figure the right arm is quite heavy because it is also its "action feature", a giant claw, quite heavy, that can be turned and twisted from the shoulder. It is quite fun to grab another figure by its waist and twist it like an helicopter's rotor. Because of this fact, the right arm in this figure is always a bit loose, except maybe in MOC'd ones.

 

 

The price of this figure can reach up to 60-80 US$, and even more carded. Compared to the other figures in this collection, it is a very high price.

 

 

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: SPIN FIST HYDRON (Nr. 5788)
• Toy Line: He-Man (also New Adventures of He-Man) (Wave 4)
• Year: 1992
• Company: Mattel (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 14 cm

#673 KIDCO - DEMOLITION CARS (1983)

This Kidco car is the original model in which the cars in the previous entry are based, so this is some kind of continuation of what I wrote 2 days ago.

 

This type toy is known as "Key Car", because you can insert that plastic key in the rear part of the car and by pressing it, the car will run off at quite a high speed. This is achieved by means of a spring. Another quality detail is that Kidco made several different key models. Not every key is valid/do fit for/in every car.

 

 

The model looks a little like a Dodge monaco, although the front plastic car is different. I think this was added to protect the car from the many crashes that it would have during playtime, or to optimize the crash feature: When the car crashes with enough speed, the bonnet will fly out revealing the simulated motor of the car.

 

 

The car has been decorated according to this feature, since it is some kind of stunt car, in yellow marked "Demo". There are other versions in red of this same toy, as you can see in Matchbox's catalogue from 1984.

 

 

 

And finally the comparison of this Matchbox car with Kidco license and the Globetoys car: almost identical, except for the siren, the exhaust pipes behind the front wheels, the bonnet feature, the tampographies and the different key. The Globetoys model came without a keychain, which is a great detail and something that makes the Burnin' Key Cars really difficult to get complete.

 

 

 

You can read moreabout Kidco, and see this Demolition Car and other in catalogue images in old entry #25.

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: DEMOLITION CARS
• Scale: Approx. 1:64
• Year: 1983
• Company: Kidco (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 7 cm