We've seen the Argentinian Moon Prospector before on the blog. What's new about this one, which recently surfaced on Ebay, is that rather than being manufactured by CHIBI [like my own] it was made by BICHI. It's just a single letter change in the name but the logo, on the right of the box, is the same! The description says "1960", which improbable as it is as a year of manufacture [he meant the 1960's] does suggest that BICHI was the earlier incarnation of CHIBI. The description sort of confirms this where it says "Re edited by Chibi in the 1970's".
"XV8 PLANETARY PROSPECTOR SPACE TOY"
"EXPLORADOR PLANETARIO BICHI XV8"
"BICHI - ARGENTINA - 1960"
"VINTAGE SPACE TOY!. "XV8 PLANETARY PROSPECTOR SPACE TOY", IT`S A OLD HARD PLASTIC BATTERY OPERATED TOY WITH THE ORIGINAL BOX. INCLUDED ROTATING RADAR SCANNER. MADE IN ARGENTINA BY "BICHI", IN THE 60s (REEDITED IN 1970s BY "CHIBI"). THIS ARGENTINIAN CHIBI XV8 PLANETARY PROSPECTOR BOX HAS PROBABLY THE ONLY KNOW TRANSLATION OF THE FULL PROJECT SWORD TITTLE ON ANY NON-- ENGLISH TOY I.E SPACE WORLD ORGANIZATION FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT"
Anyone know the history of Argentina's BICHI / CHIBI toys?
This is a bit OT, at least regarding the Prospector, but I wanted to show you this, and people don't seem to read the Yahoo Group! Now, I know some of us Swordheads don't like white metal wargame stuff, but take a look at these:
ReplyDeletehttp://ravenstarstudios.blogspot.com/
In particular, the "XL51A" and the "Salvage Craft"...
Grif
I know what you mean about the forum. I don't have the time to keep it active I'm afraid. Thanks for the cool link to Ravenstar. Fabulous miniatures.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Woodsy
*Toad nods* It is a pity about the group. Still, the blog is the really important thing.
ReplyDeleteAnd Grif, thanks for showing those metal sculpts! I sure would like some of those!