Some recent car boot and charity shop finds for my current obsession, Matchbox Superfast super and concept cars from the 1960's and 70's - my childhood - and later stuff from the1980's. Cheap and in decent nick are the watchwords!
Sneaking in here are a nice green Hot Wheels Dodge Charger I think [I love the film Bullitt!] far left - and next to it a knockoff Fandango, which is unbranded.
The rest are two Matchbox Super GT's and in between a pale blue Carabo, all three in a strange 1980's pale pastel colour palette I'm starting to recognise. What is that all about?
Oddly enough I had none of these as a kid, only the Carabo in its earlier forms.
I also picked up a Matchbox Thunderbird 2 body from the 1990's I think. No pod.
Like last summer's car boot sales and charity shopping and my hot fascination with small plastic toy figures, this year's keen interest I have in car boot Superfast is proving equally enjoyable and I have a few more since taking this picture. The collection is growing!
I find myself looking for 60's and 70's matchbox cars now (not the superfast, the old style wheels) as I've bought a Matchbox motorway and need to populate it.
ReplyDeleteI do see those older Matchbox cars at boot sales Kev. Let me know if there is something specific you want as I go to one every week. Having read a bit about Matchbox last night it seems that regular wheels turned into Superfast circa 1970.
DeleteCollectors commonly call the early style of wheels, pre-Superfast, Regular Wheels. All my original Matchbox toys are from the 1960s and 1970s, and I am now trying to fill in the many gaps in my collection of early 1950s and 1960s models. That can get expensive, so I usually only buy loose, and a few at a time to spread the cost. Good fun, as you can see how the brand evolved over the years, with plastic wheels appearing first, then windows and interiors, and finally plastic parts. A nice haul, much more fun than digging for pirate gold, and much less work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info Paul re the tyres. Is that right, that regular tirned superfast wheels in 1970? Your collection must be vast. Do you collect Super Kings as well?
DeleteI recall the transition from regular to Superfast very well. My dad bought me new models religiously on release and I recall him telling me there was a ew type of car coming out with 'hot wheels' type wheels. Shortly after, I got a simple track with loop and my first couple of cars. For me, the Superfast heyday is 1973/74, when they really went for it in terms of design. The company introduced lots of toy lines as well as the die casts and the box art for the cars was stunning. Fantasy and custom cars, as well as futuristic styling were the norm and models such as the Tyre Fryer (seen on Juniors garage post) Soopa Coopa, Woosh N Push and Gruesome Twosome gave Hot Wheels a run for their money, around the time that redlines were beginning to pale. Futuristic styling came with the Tow Joe, Stratcha Fetcha, Freeway Gas Tanker and Skip Truck. It also brought in the Scorpions motorised cars, in resonse to mattels Sizzlers line.The Super Kings lines blossomed too, with Gus's Gulper, Milligans Mill, bandolero and Shovel Nose. great times. Matchbox cars now, having been absorbed into Mattel, are among the most banal series available, concentrating on the more contemporary, real world cars.
ReplyDeleteI think I had a mix of both regular wheels and superfast as a kid being born at the start of the Sixties. I think I like Superfast more too. Your Dad was your toy patron!
DeletePersonally, I wouldn't bother with the late 90's Matchbox Thunderbirds toys, there were so many made they engulfed the market and rendered them virtually worthless. The Dinky and new Corgi Thunderbird models are worth buying, but finding them in good order second hand and cheaply is unlikely. Again, similar to Boba Fett, the iconic Thunderbird models have entered the collective concious of sellers as being valuable, irrespective of their age or condition. In terms of Star Wars figures by Kenner, its the last few releases of the original series which are desirable: Amanaman, Yak Face, imperial Dignitary, Imperial Gunner and a few others. The 12" Boba Fett in olive green and grey with the 'see through' visor figure is worth finding too.
ReplyDeleteIts part of my Thunderbirds graveyard, which one day will come back to life!
Deleteold matchbox model post: https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2011/10/tender-moments-in-matchbox.html
ReplyDeleteLovely old post Wote. I was looking at the Matchbox catalogues for each year. Theyre all on You Tube one by one. Fascinating.
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