Sometimes manufacturers get things wrong. Here is a howling example from Matchbox.
The Amundsen-Scott Station is a US scientific base at the South Pole, in Antarctica. Not to be confused with New Zealand's Scott Base. The South Pole base was first established in 1956, and a new building complex was built in the 1970s.
This Matchbox set, 38160, is one of a series of Famous Places Around the World devoted to major construction projects that used CAT vehicles. The set includes a tracked Challenger tractor, a trailer, and a plastic hut which even has a coating of snow.
It is a very nice set. The problem lies with the artwork on the front of the backing card, which shows a couple of Polar Bears outside the hut.
There are no Polar Bears in Antarctica. In fact, there are no Polar Bears in the Southern Hemisphere at all, except for a few in various zoos. Polar Bears are confined to the Northern Hemisphere, and the northern Polar regions. Someone did not do their homework!
Two photographs from Worthpoint.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Well spotted Paul! I certainly would not have known that! You're right though, Matchbox ought to have checked! It reminds me of other things some people know and others don't. Someone once told me that white hens lay white eggs and brown hens brown eggs. I still don't know if that's true!
ReplyDeleteI wondered what Polar Bears would be doing at the South Pole...! :)
DeleteOh, and White vs Brown eggs is Generally true, but like everything in life: Not always.
Thank you. I expect this is something that someone from the Southern Hemisphere is more likely to know, and spot, than someone from the Northern Hemisphere. I guess no one working at Matchbox at the time was from the Southern Hemisphere.
ReplyDelete