#1085 SCALEXTRIC UK - B.R.M. (C72.85) (1964)

I was never interested in Scalextric slot cars from Lines Brothers for the English (and other) markets, I decided to focus on the Spain-made by Exin, Tyco or Tecnictoys). But, as a collector of toys, I sometimes get things I didn´t look for.

I got this pristine model of a B.R.M., boxed, together with a large lot of old toys from the 70s and the 80s, although this car was originally released in 1964. I guess it was sold during many years without any changes, so, maybe it was available until the early 1970s.

The model is done at a scale of around 1:32 (as most Scalextric models are) and is British green. The tip of the car is yellow, but in some other models is white. This way, two models could compete against each other if they had this small difference. 

The construction is slightly different from the other cars I have. These older models "hide" the motor inside them, so it is more difficult to oil, repair the cables or simply replace the contact brushes. This is usual in other models from this first years of slot cars, especially from the models from Lines-Bros.

The box is smaller than the ones I know from Exin. The car also looks nice, much better than I had thought, when I saw the pictures online. The detail level is similar to the early Exin models. So, nice to have it.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: B.R.M. (C72.85)
• Scale: 1:32
• Year: 1964
• Company: Scalextric UK (Great Britain)
• Size: approx. 12 cm

#1084 FIGURAS EN ACCIÓN (F.E.A.) Nr. 33 + RACK TOYS. CHEAP CRAZED PLAYTHINGS

Another year comes to its end and the newest issue of Figuras en Acción is out for everybody to enjoy it. This time, the articles deal mainly with toys from the 70s, with some bits of 80s and 90s toys as well.

The cover article deals with the figures of Hercules The Legendary Journeys by ToyBiz. In it, we  review all released figures including variants plus some other related toys. This article is followed by a shorter one dealing with the 80s bootleg crossover between Masters of the Universe and the Ninja Turtles called Amicable Herculeans.

Spanish Toys are also present this time with an extensive article on the history of Juguetes Rico and his most iconic toy: the Mini-Sanson truck, which is based on the Tiny Tonkas made by Tonka. But was it licensed or a mere knock-off? We discuss this issue as well.

The following article is another superextensive one dealing with the egg-shaped children figures Weebles, with a focus on the Spanish Weebles (made by Brekar), but commenting as well those from Hasbro, Airfix.

Finally, we analyse the Transtech concept of Transformers, what should have been in the early 2000s but it finally wasn´t. 

There are lots of other smaller pieces and sections that you will also enjoy. And remember that the magazine can be downloaded for free, as usual, as all the previous issues in our blog.

figurasenaccion.blogspot.com

Rack Toys is a book published by the Plaidstallions website and the Nacelle Company. The object of the book are cheap rack toys from the 70s and early 80s, and most pictures come from the collection of Brian Heiler, whose father used to be toy merchant at that time and made business distributing this particular type of toys.

The book is divided in several chapters, such as superheroes, monsters, TV shows... but the toys shown are so different from each other, that it is a pleasure to pass the pages and let you surprise for whatever comes next. Most of the brands that made these toys were unknown to me, I had only heard about Imperial, AHI, Lincoln or Fleetwood Toys before, and not much about each of them. 

The book has almost no text (just the introduction by Brian Heiler and a prologue), and the toys are commented in short captions. This is not very annoying, as the pictures are descriptive enough and there is not much to say about them, but there is something I disliked about the book, and it is that they only focus on very popular themes, leaving out everything else: for example cars and vehicles of any kind (except Batmobiles and co.), starships that do not belong any TV series or dinosaurs. I guess they just wanted to attract the broadest group of toy collectors and chose the most mainstream topics, probably also leaving many other pictures for a second publication.

#1083 PLAYLAND/WELLY – SEVERAL PULLBACK CARS IN 1:36 SCALE (Around 1993)

These kind of cars at a scale around 1:36 were relatively common in the early 90s. Somehow the 1:43s of the previous decade “grew” and became available in many places, including pound-shops, one dollar stores and their equivalents in each country. Some of the first “big” models I recall were some MC Toy cars with pull-back motor, such as the Porsche 959 or the 911 Cabrio. 

They also had the “standard” 1:64 series, but MC Toy came with this bigger series of sport cars that looked so nice and were so cheap. I guess many other brands followed, since MC Toy was the company that was doing best during these first years of the 90s decade.

PORSCHE 959 / OPEL OMEGA '88 “FEUERWEHR” / CHEVROLET CORVETTE '83 in dark blue

I have collected many over the last years. But today I will present only those which were marketed under the Playland – Mini Flitzer series in Germany. The identification is difficult since all the models are unmarked, and it is required to look for boxed models in order to be sure. Playland seems to be the brand used by the importer, which was AHG Wachsmuth & Krogmann from Hamburg. The logo depicts a cartoonish crocodile with a baseball cap. There were two designs for the box: a classic one in blue, and another more modern in purple, pink and green, very representative of the early 90s.

 

 

 

Several Boxed Items. The "Mini-Flitzer" with the Playland Logo, the other "Super Racer" with or without the Welly logo. All from ebay

 

These two pictures show the different styles of Playland boxes.

I found the firs four cars in on of those boxes on the Internet (mainly in German sites like ebay.de), but not the Ferrari, which I include here anyway, because it is so similar. This may belong to another, similar series.

CHEVROLET CORVETTE '83 in yellow

FERRARI TESTAROSSA

I suspect that the maker behind these cars might be Welly, although I am not 100% sure. Welly had their own lines like Super Racer or Old Timer in the same scale and also with a pullback motor feature. The models look in fact very similar, and so do the boxes, but one can never be sure. I include some picture of Welly Boxes for comparison. The same Chevrolet has been spoted in a Welly box, although that model was a cabrio and not a hardtop.

FACTS AND FIGURES: 

• Name: SEVERAL PULLBACK CARS IN 1:36 SCALE
• Scale: 1:36
• Year: Around 1993
• Company: Welly / Playland (China/Germany)
• Size: approx. 12 cm

#1082 - PLAYMAKERS/LARAMIE - PLASTIC WRESTLERS (Around 1986)

I bought this collection of 8 plastic wrestlers in Austria, but I didn’t know anything about them until very recently. They are unmarked and relatively small. At the time, I thougth they might come from those vending machines that sell plastic balls with some novelty toy inside, or, maybr, from a blister card from a Chinese or Indian bazar. The paint and the overall quality is very low, but the variety and body positions are great.

I later found out that they were manufactured in the 80s by companies such as:

• Playmakers, which sold them unpainted in a blister pack of 4 under the brand "Champion Wrestlers" (Made in Hong Kong)
• Ja-Ru, unpainted, under the brand "USA Wrestling Team" (Made in Hong Kong)
• Unknown Toymaker, painted, under the brand "Wrestling Champs/ Champions de Lutte" (Made in Hong Kong), using the same card as some of the "Wrestling Champions" bootlegs (same as the two-figure blister pack shown here, both on the front and on the back sides)
• Laramie painted under the brand "Wrestling Sper Champs" (Made in China, probably already in the 90s, as some colours schemes remind of Hulk Hogan)
• The colours used in my figures seem to be more "modern" than those of Laramie, I guess they could be even newer than these. However, for the "facts and figures" at the end of this article, I will use the apporximate year of 1986, as these is the educated guess for the Playmakers models.

I have eight figures, which are decorated in pairs wiht the same colour scheme, but two of them are not matching, so I supposed I was missing two more figures, but the truth is that I am missing 4 figures, as the original set from Playmakers clearly indicates that there are twelve models available.

Mine are: two blond wrestlers with long hair (note the same colour used in boots and trunks), two black-haired wrestlers with red trunks, and two brown-haired wresltlers with orange trunks. The two left-most figures the wrestler with beard and moustache and the bald wrestler with moustache do not have a second figure. 

They are somewhat similar to the plastic WWF wrestler shown here, but the singularity of these ones lies in that they are not bootlegging any known character.

Really cool, racket toys. 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: WRESTLER MINI FIGURES
• Toy Line: Unknown
• Year: Around 1986
• Company: Unknown Manufacturer (China)
  
• Size of the figures: 5-6 cm

#1081 MEBETOYS – FERRARI 312 B2 F1 (#6671) (1972)

Since I already covered the history of Mebetoys in a previous entry, there is not much I can write here. Just that, in the 1972 catalogue, Mebetoys introduced the Grand Prix Series, eight formula one refereces (#6670 to #6677) with the most important cars of that season. 

Here's the 312 B2 Ferrari from 1972. The driver was Jackie Ickx, who won only the German GP that year. The seaon winner was Jack Stewart for Tyrrell.

The model is a beautiful reproduction of the real car, as most Mebetoys are. What is not so common is the 1:28 scale. The Grand Prix Series premiered this scale and the following year they would release the Gran Champions at scale 1:25. 

FACTS AND FIGURES: 

• Name:  FERRARI 312 B2 F1 (#6671)
• Scale: 1:28
• Year: 1972
• Company: Mebetoys (Italy)
• Size: approx. 12 cm