stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 2, 2004 5:09:47 GMT 1
Dear Sirs:
I showed its picture above, on the issue about Oldsmobiles. I had no ideia who molded the 1966 Toronado and I discovered today that Playing Mantis did it. It is done up to their quality standards; I got two of them in the end. Is part of their classic Gold collection.
They also molded a 1967 Plymouth GTX. Jack can convert that to a Belvedere. As a cop car, it was considered as a 4-door GTX and it could chase its more powerful Mopar breathen. Do I smell a new project?
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 6, 2004 2:59:17 GMT 1
Dear Sirs:
It is interesting to notice how the site of the manufacturers varies.
Matchbox site is stuck on 2003. Cars like the Honda Element or the Checker Marathon are not mentioned; at the 'search' feature the new Superfast series can not be found. Another annoying issue and it seems that all manufacturers are avoiding to give reference numbers to their vehicles. Matchbox does not and they list their Rest of the Word issues - a new feature for 2003.
Motormax does not give any listings of their 1/64 models; show these only as set issues. Their large scale issues are listed separately,however.
Maisto just did updated their site and lists the 2004 offerings. However,all of their 1/64 models, besides losing their interiors, are stuck with a single reference number (15001); yet, unlike Motormax. all of these are listed. Maisto's 1/18 scale vehicles have separate reference numbers. Alas,their first 1/64 offerings (from roughly ten years ago) had a four digit number; up to 2003, their vehicles were listed alpha numerically.
Welly did released its 2005 catalog which can be viewed on line. Their 1/64 are under collectable and toy categories and they all have - since they were an unknown Hong Kong brand in the 1980's - a four digit reference number. Alas, some of the vehicles that are under the toy brand do not appear at the collectable range; the vice-versa does happen as well. The numbertion for the toy range is on 2000's; the collectables,on the 8000's. Frankly,I can not determine any difference between the two series, but the reference number will tell all about the specific vehicle.
Majorette does not give any reference in terms of year of release; Majorette club from France gives one a good help on that. Likewise, no numbers are given at their listings. Again, Majorette club is the source of appeal for that.
Norev does not list their 1/64's at their site; likewise,few of their 1/87's are listed. This is normal, I think, since this is mostly an 1/43rd scale manufacturer.
Auto Art do give enough reference about their 1/64 models.Same priority as their 1/18 counterparts.
Jada Toys has an artistic approach to their listings. I am not sure if they give reference numbers to their vehicles on-line.
Playing Mantis classify their vehicles according to the series they belong to (e.g., VW series,Classic Gold,et all). No references numbers are given. A good book on this manufacturer was written lately.
RC2 has a massive amount of products;hence their vehicles will be classified by the series these belong to. As I can remember, their 1/18's will have a reference number. I should look a bit more at their site.
Hot Wheels are only listing a part of their releases, which is supposed to reach 100 items this year. The reference number is given at the site.
Yat ming's from the past had a 4-digit reference number casted at the vehicle. Their 'cheapo' models from the 1990's had one,either. Currently Yat ming does not offer 'new' 1/64 scale vehicles.
X-treme concept Modifiers do show their reference number on line. These are very nice casted 1/64's.
Muscle Machines are toys even for me,yet they releasead a very interesting batch of vehicles in 1/64. I am not sure if reference number are given.
Of course, if one wants to know which new models will be offered go under the new releases entry. However,is nice to see when a manufacturer updates its site once in a while.
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 14, 2004 5:18:18 GMT 1
Dear Sirs: It is the case of the 'unknown' manufacturers that yeld interesting toys or models. This is the case of Fast Lane. On the Internet,this is a company that is asociated to Toys R US,but as of 2004,these are all Motormax vehicles with very live colors-as Matchbox from the Tyco times. The Manufacturer released a series of vehicle set (two per package) in 1999 and these,by then,were different than the Motormax offerings. Thing is,at that time,Motormax Red Box and was not releasing any new 1/64 models;it happened by 2001. Fast Lane products by 1999 were similar to anyone else,but they released the redesigned Jeep Gran Cherokee before Matchbox or Maisto.And there were the usual Camaros,Corvettes,school buses,boats and at the time one of the very few newer Chevrolet Caprice at this scale (the front end,however,is just a big blob),including a civilian model.These sets were avaliable at Toys R US until early 2002 or so and then that was that.However,their range are by far more extensive than 1/64 and that includes a bit of everything,including large remote controls (and I mean large ones) all kind of sets ( something like an array of thirty or so Zee Toys vehicles) and many,many more items.Toys R Us is the place where you find these,but I saw these,at times,at discount stores.After all,these are considered cheap toys. As of March,2004,their range of sets (two vehicles per package,as before) is back and the vehicles are all from Motormax.New is the Chrysler Crossfire (I hate the lively colors,though) and BMW Z4 and Z8 is avaliable as well.I also spotted a new van-I think is a Chevy,but the tailights are at the wrong position;at the middle of the vehicle instead of the top and this is avaliable with a multi-vehicle set,including some 1/87 tractor-trailers that were molded by Zee Toys eons ago.Interesting is-the only model of it I know by now-the Toyota Tacoma pick-up and the Ford Ranger is almost a unique model. Their other ranges are mostly toys;yet,an interesting vehicle may pop here or there.The Crossfire looks somehow right,considering that is a toy;just repaint it.So do the BMW's. Some of the current Fast Lane sets have Realtoy vehicles in it; their Crown Victoria offerings are similar. I may assume that the latter - Fast Lane - was using Realtoy vehicles as now they are offering Motormax vehicles. Fast Lane range of vehicles, is however, very,very large in pratically all scales and Remote Control vahicles are included. Unfortunately, its site does not list the vehicles that one see in the store under its name. Also, last Saturday, I saw the Fast Lane/Motormax vehicles outside Toys R Us, at Sav On Pharmacy. which is associated with Albertson's markets (which bought Lucky markets in 1999). Accordingly, Albertson's is advertising that has a Toy R Us alley at their supermarkets. Hm. That is something. Some of the Fast Lane Toys can be seen at this site: toys.santas-wonder-land.com/cgi-bin/shop/amazon_products_feed.cgi?mode=toys&page_num=2&input_string=Fast+Lane&templates=2&locale=usRealtoy is a manufacturer that appeared in the 1990's and by now that have a nice range of vehicles,including a Ford Windstar van that is not offered by anyone;a Jaguar 'S' type and Ford Crown Victoria are molded as well and what I think it is an Opel Frontera.Their range of toys is large by now and new vehicles are coming.Some look like copies of Tomicas.Otherwise,it is another entry to the already crowded 1/64 market. By the 1990's,a good amount of Hong Kong based manufacturers were new to this scale;Realtoy is one of these. Its site does show its models: www.realtoy.com/index.php?UID=2004121322391164.12.117.14
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 14, 2004 5:59:16 GMT 1
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 15, 2004 5:16:35 GMT 1
Dear Sirs:
On the case of shared models,as descibed on the 1/87 vehicles thread, one can say that this happened often in 1/64 thanks to Hong Kong and China.
Welly first models were copied Tomica models. And copies from Matchboxes - some in plastic - were molded by Hong Kong manufacturers. The same thing goes with the Chinese. They even molded the Lledo 1939 Chevrolet (which was made in England then) on a larger scale.
Playart models were known on a variety of names when they were sold at Woolworth's or Sears. But only the packaging could tell from which store they came from; on the loose, no one would be able to tell.
Yat ming is the manufacturer that I know which vehicles came on an enormous variety of pacakagings.
As I remember, there would be the window-boxed ones; I can not tell which were their logo. These were avaliable at Kay Bee stores and had a different blisterpack than the final ones that were sold at Wollworths. But this is only the half of the story: some of them were marketed as Imperial Toy vehicles and had or not the Yat ming logo; and some of the molds were sold as generic vehicles - without the logo - that could be found at supermarkets. The Ford CL and Mercedes-Benz 450SEL comes to my mind as a generic offering with again,a generic packaging.
The case above involved their first series,from the late 1970's to the very early 1990's. Incidentally,as Welly,all Yat Ming vehicles do have a number marked at its base.
On the 1990's, I knew the vehicles from this distribuiitor and got a good amount of them. They have a number at its base and nothing else. As time went by, a few of these graduated inside a Road Tough packaging, and these is the current Yat Ming logo for toys. Incidentally, these cars are different than its first generation (cheap,but still with good details in at most cases).
Their final generation debuted at the late 1990's,under the Road Tough Logo at the packaging. Again,only the number was marked at their base and nothing else and this time the cars were extremaly cheap and not offered in many package variations. Interesting cars as the RAV4 were molded.
One can still find the third generation cars; otherwise, smaller Yat Mings are the 1/72 scale cars that are made by Hongwell.
The vehicles from their first generation were very good,hence perhaps, so many variations ocurred. And the Hongwells are Toy - as they were called in the past - masterpieces and that is that.
There is the case, at Walgreen's pharmacy, where their toy offerings are,under the same name,the offerings of Welly,Motormax or Maisto. Again,throw the package away and that will be that.
As I mentioned on two threads, these are the cases where the packaging can give 'real identification' to some interesting model combos. Also, as I heard, High Speed are 're-naming' some of their cars (eg., Peugeot to Packard); hence, it is the case when a casting have a very long and varied life.
New from Tiger Wheels: Ford Crown Victoria Police cruiser, with Puerto Rico police liveries. Discovered that at eBay. Their Ford Maverick grabber appears more often now.
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 18, 2004 17:35:09 GMT 1
Dear Sirs:
Marc S. wrote the following:
/As for Norev's 1/64th-to-1/58th scale models (they call them 3-inch items), these are promotional models, as well. They are offered by Citroen (see the webshop of Citroen Germany at citroen.de), Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Fiat, Lancia, Alfa, Renault, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi - and they are everywhere in Germany. I haven't ever seen these at toy or hobby shops but each and every car dealership seems to have a Norev 3-inch display these days./
I thought that something was going on,but not at first because these looked like any other three-inch models and very well done at that. Their packaging - high quality box,but places like Toys R Us and Wal Mart will not touch these because most of the models can be easily stolen. At first, I thought that the boxed version were hobby store issues and the ones destined to mass-merchadising places would come on blisterpacks,as the Mini-Jets from the past. Now, thanks to Mark's explanation, I comprehend what is going on.
I also know of other true fact: Matchbox silly lines is because of another occurence on the modeling/toy world: Manufacturer's model licescing. This way, the least 'real' cars the manufacturer produces, the fewer fees that will be paid. Hence,most manufacturers are in fact becoming 'promo' dealers because is a way to cover the tooling costs coupled with licescing fees and this trully......... well,you know.
Sylvain wrote the following:
/I’m sorry I can not explain anything. To me the way Norev models are distributed is more and more a mystery./
Well, I hunt for the 1/64 models at eBay. A dealer- govelocity - carries them from time to time. I also found some of the 1/87 models,but these are from French dealers who do not work with Pay Pal (too expensive is the explanation that I heard). I have at least six of the new three inchers and a very good assortment of the former Mini-Jets.
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 20, 2004 5:34:51 GMT 1
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 23, 2004 4:59:28 GMT 1
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
|
Post by stanhas87 on Dec 25, 2004 3:56:05 GMT 1
Dear Sirs:
I also got Corgi's Crown Victoria in 1/50 scale; very plane and has not computer detail or the division behind the driver. Otherwise,a nice effort,but the one from Welly is by far a better model except for the wheels, where the Corgi model shine.
Found the Maserati Quatroporte from Hot Wheels. It was very well done; got two of them.
I am also bidding for Norev Citroen Pluriel - minijet series. Tomorrow I will see if I win it. I also may get their Audi racer.
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 25, 2004 22:14:30 GMT 1
Dear Sirs:
On my visits thru the Internet I figured that Matchbox will release the new Dodge Magnum as a police version. That means that Maisto is modeling the Chrysler 300 and Matchbox is taking care of the Magnum. The latter will also release the new London Taxi.
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 26, 2004 5:02:10 GMT 1
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Post by cfesmire on Dec 27, 2004 2:23:19 GMT 1
Nick, I had ordered from IHC a 55 Chevy pickup and a 55 Ford Thunderbird and mentioned in another thread a 49 Ford woody wagon. They are all called HO scale on their site and are made by Kinsmart. The 49 Woody is scaled out at 1/81 and both the Chevy pickup and the thunderbird are 1/64. FYI.
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Dec 27, 2004 2:47:52 GMT 1
Dear Chester:
That is the thing about IHC: they claim that their articles are 1/87 scale,but often this is not the case.
Kinsmart has a wide range of scales,be it 1/64.176,1/87 and even 1/160 (their IH school bus). Their 1/87 scale article is a Chevy Caprice that now is sold as a Boley; yet the Kinsmart inscription can still be found on it. The line of truck and trailers from IHC are 1/87 hiowever,and seem to be knock-offs from another manufacturers. They also offer the 1940 Fords that were the topic of discussion on another thread.
Nick K
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Jan 1, 2005 6:16:16 GMT 1
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stanhas87
87thScale addict
1978 Dodge Monaco CHP
Posts: 4,906
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Post by stanhas87 on Jan 5, 2005 3:22:21 GMT 1
Dear Sirs:
The Norev Citroen Pluriel arrived today. It is truly a nice model. I will get some more later.
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