One of the stranger things in my old toy picture archive is this plastic Lotus Esprit James Bond 'Spy Bath' from 1977.
I posted it on MC years ago in 2015 and haven't really thought about it since.
Till now.
Looking at the box art the wheels of the car actually turn!
Intriguingly I recall that this was released by one Tarheel. Is that the Tarheel from the US who released American Project SWORD toys? I thought I'd have another look for further pics using the new-fangled Google lens I didn't have back in 2009.
And here's the new googles from 007 collectors online.
Further googling throws up the fact that the bubble bath was released in Australia!
Many sales sites describe this as a kit!
Incredibly I've seen one sold online for £440!
Still no evidence of the Tarheel brand yet, so I went back to source and that very first image. The Worthpoint sale gave up two further pictures.
And there it is .... on the label on the cars undercarraige are the words TARHEEL HOLDINGS.
I had originally thought that the T logo on the left-hand side of the box edge was the Tarheel logo we know from the Tarheel toy company as was in Tarboro, USA, pictured here ....
... but I now think its this old 1970's United Artists logo ....
So, taking all this into account I'm now sure that this Tarheel Holdings of Australia are a completely different firm to the old Tarheel plastics company from Tarboro, USA, who released Project SWORD toys in the US.
So, who are/ were Tarheel Holdings of Australia?
Nice detective work! Sadly Googling Taheel Holdings pty ltd doesn't really bring up any quick hits. These days it seems to be a Mining entity, so same name, no relation. Trove brought up a 1983 company, but I had trouble sorting through the myriad references.
ReplyDeleteI'm not the detective you are!
Trove eh! Maybe there's some treasure there Looey! I'll have a peek. Thanks for the tip off Agent Morley!
DeleteYep that's the old United Artists movie logo, probably had to do with the licensing of the product. James Bond Bubble Bath - for secret cleaning! SFZ
ReplyDelete