Way back at the start of the blog I posted the little 'bubble-car' saloon of the 1950's type
VW Beetle/Morris Minor shape here;
S is for Siblings
I then returned to them again here;
M is for Mysteries (which included a look at the probably
Tudor*Rose version with thermo-printed star)
And recent purchases have caused me to return to them with a little more info and another variant...
Firstly a bog-standard set of three
Kleeware versions from the Service Station play-set, the nice thing about them is that they are all in a 'pearlescent' plastic, giving a metallic effect. Also I noticed that all three were slightly different mouldings, most noticeable on the grill, where the vertical strengthener varies from partially to fully down the whole grill (yellow one) and the horizontal vents are different , but also windows vary and one of the tow-hooks is more pointed (yellow again).
Then this turned-up - An
Ideal version, same size as the
Pyro/Kleeware/Tudor*Rose and
Lido ones and having similarities with both the other
Pyro/Kleeware moulding (licence plate
DP 7189) and the unknown (larger sized) one from the first post above with its more boat-tailed shape, but without the separate rear wheel-arch feature of those two, having instead a continuous body moulding line running the full length of the vehicle in a more rakish and 'futuristic' manner.
This one - like the
Lido one, the
Empire copy and the smaller, angular
Mohawk effort - has no licence plate. It came as a load on the inset transporter, but didn't fit well, being a bit small, a different red and a better finish, so I suspect they don't actually go together, but if anyone knows the lorry's make I'd be grateful for an ID. It's poor finish leads one to suspect Hong Kong, but it's unmarked, which is unusual for a HK toy of this type, so it may be an American or European rack-toy/dime store thing?
Any thoughts of a compilation on these? They pop up on eBay all the time, usually as part of a larger lot and are attributed, well, to just about any toy maker out there as people have a difficult time identifying unmarked versions.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest...if you take this and the previous post and copy them into a word.doc with Kent Sprecher's similar post, you'll have as good a compilation as you're gonna get!
ReplyDeleteThe Kleeware's are - usually unmarked - copies of the Pyro originals and were issued with a service-station in three's, usually primary colours, but I've seen pastels, and now this set of opalescent/metallics has turned-up.
In the UK I suspect the thermo-printed one might be Tudor*Rose, because similar markings are printed on Marked Tudor*Rose military stuff and the Kleeware military were a different shade of Khaki, but with the complicated relationships between all these companies it's only conjecture on my part.
The Ideal, Mohawk, Wyandotte, 'empire' and Lido ones are marked and have different body-styling, with the Wyandotte having a different licence-plate.
There is a third Pyro licence-plate floating about...but I'm beginning to suspect a typo is involved!
Hugh