Hi Woodsy,
Hope all is well. I am certainly learning a lot about old toys from MC.
Further to the earlier post on toy divers, here is an old toy that I have had for at least 50 years. I do not know if you have covered it before, but I did spot the diver on another toy.
This is the Mechanical Fish by LN, it is No.304, and has friction motion. It was made in Hong Kong. The main artwork features on two sides of the box, with assembly instructions on one side, and illustrations of No.305 Space Combat Car and No.303 Space Radar Car on the other side. I do not have any of these other toys.
This is the Mechanical Fish by LN, it is No.304, and has friction motion. It was made in Hong Kong. The main artwork features on two sides of the box, with assembly instructions on one side, and illustrations of No.305 Space Combat Car and No.303 Space Radar Car on the other side. I do not have any of these other toys.
The box illustrations do not exactly match the toy. The teeth are different, there are no scales, and the spine is different. The eyes appear to be lenticular, and have a ribbed clear plastic covering, so they appear to flicker depending on the viewing angle, but this no longer works. I have no idea why.
The toy comes tightly packed in its box, and the parts have to be attached to the body. They have to be removed again before putting the toy back, which has resulted in some of the fixing lugs breaking off.
The main body comprises upper and lower halves in red plastic, with a separate cover for the friction motor. This seems odd, unless there was also a battery powered version that required a removable cover ?
The main body comprises upper and lower halves in red plastic, with a separate cover for the friction motor. This seems odd, unless there was also a battery powered version that required a removable cover ?
The separate parts are a red tail; clear windscreen (what is the proper term for a windscreen used underwater ? A waterscreen ?), silver-grey steering wheel, and a silver-grey diver - the inside of his arms and legs are flat. Overall length is about 190 mm.
There are three black plastic wheels, the rear being narrower than the drive wheels. Moulded in to the underside, between the removable motor cover and the rear wheel are the letters LN in three concentric circles, along with MADE IN HONG KONG, and No.304.
There are three black plastic wheels, the rear being narrower than the drive wheels. Moulded in to the underside, between the removable motor cover and the rear wheel are the letters LN in three concentric circles, along with MADE IN HONG KONG, and No.304.
It always reminded me of the Terror Fish in Stingray, although I never had any official Stingray toys.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Gobsmacked! A wonderful addition to the LN fleet, which readily brings to mind the sub in the LP Undersea Expedition Set.
ReplyDeletehttp://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2018/11/we-dive-again-lp-undersea-expedition.html
The box would seem to indicate that the LN Combat Car came also as a boxed version (named/renamed as Space Combat Car), which I think is yet to be discovered.
http://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2018/05/science-friction-ln-range-of-plastic.html
Thanks for sharing Paul!
I am glad this has been of interest. Not being a collector of old toys I had no idea that this childhood toy was something unusual. The diver seems to be identical to the diver riding the shark-like craft in the LP Undersea Expedition Set. Thinking about it, this undersea toy is a little out of place amid all the spacecraft. It would have been bought in NZ in the 1960s, probably by either my Mother or Grandmother, but I can not remember any details.
ReplyDeleteThat's a brilliant piece of vintage Hong Kong plastic, Paul. Yes, I can certainly see the possible Terror Fish inspiration. Well done on preserving it so well for so long. I like it :)
ReplyDeleteI think the motor plate is not intended to be removed, probably the glue has deteriorated over time. Lovely little thing, clearly designed to cash in onnthe success of Stingray
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