North American Van Lines Transferred

 Months ago I picked up this old small North American Van Lines die-cast.

It's livery was battered.

I asked Bill if he would finagle some new paper transfers and voila!

What do you think?

SUPERMAN AND THE MOKES

 My handful of purchases today at Elsecar Antiques.

A quartet of old Superman Pocketbooks comics in superb condition, yet to be dated. £2 each.

Do you know them?

and a really interesting little boxed wagon, part of the MOKES range, again needing to be dated.

The Part 5 The Awakening box is slightly bigger than a Matchbox one and contains the small pink and orange wagon, four collectors' cards, a sheet of decals and a mini-comic book.

Turns out the MOKES are a race of vehicles that are in conflict with another race of vehicles, the STUKKAS. Each has a planet. It reminds me a lot of Transformers, with Autobots and Decepticons, except these tiny vehicles don't transform.

I have no idea where MOKES were sold but they originally cost 99p. Mine was £3. After pulling off all the sellotape from the box I'm quite chuffed with this intriguing boxed set.

Any good?

The Matchbox National Parks 1957 GMC Stepside Pick-up

Hi

 

Matchbox have recently done a number of National Parks models, all in a rather nice light green colour scheme. The models are not part of a series, but are scattered throughout various Matchbox lines. Several can be found in the basic Miniatures range, and at least one in the Sky-Busters aircraft series.

Apart from the Miniatures, Matchbox also do various themed sets, which are a little more expensive than the regular models. In 2021 there was a group of 12 models called the Truck Series, all of which were pick-up trucks. These came in different markings, and model 12/12 was a '57 GMC Stepside, in National Parks markings.

According to the Matchbox Wiki page for this series, they were sold exclusively in Walmart stores. That must have been only in the US, because I picked up my example in The Warehouse chain in New Zealand.

Truck Series (2021) | Matchbox Cars Wiki | Fandom

The model was originally part of the 2010 Matchbox range, and was modified in 2015.

1957 GMC Stepside | Matchbox Cars Wiki | Fandom

This version uses the modified casting. It has a green metal body, fawn plastic interior and pick-up bed, with a black plastic base that includes the bumpers and grille. Clear plastic windows. Tampo printing is confined to the sides. GMC V8 badge; National Parks lettering; a white, orange, and black Parks badge; and the number 07 in white. 

The smaller black writing on the door says Supervisor. On the rear mudguards it says Animal Protection Services, all in capital letters.

The underside of the model has both the Matchbox and Mattel names; 1:66 MB985; Made in Thailand, with the usual small Thai elephant; and two copyright dates: 2009, 2015. The name of the model is 1957 GMC Stepside - rather than '57, as on the card.

The card shows the truck driving through a small American town in timber country, with tree-covered hills in the background. Copyright date on the back is 2021.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Matchbox National Parks Police Car

This is the Matchbox '59 Dodge Coronet Police Car. I know this is a long way from space toys, or anything else you normally cover, but I thought the finish might be of interest to you, given your interest in parks and the outdoors.

Initially released in 2019 (copyright date on the base is 2018), this is a 2021 version. The model is a four-door sedan, with a single roof light. Being part of the main window moulding this is in clear plastic. The interesting thing about this version is the light green colour scheme.

It depicts a National Parks vehicle, with Superintendent Park Operations just ahead of the doors. The base and bumpers are black plastic, with a light grey interior.

Matchbox models are not as widely available in NZ as Hot Wheels models, so it is harder to get all the models you want. They are also a little more expensive, usually $4 each, rather than $3, which is the usual price for a Hot Wheels.

The latest card design includes the Dodge badge in the upper left corner. The artwork is rather odd, as it has the Parks vehicle driving through a brightly lit city, rather than a forest track.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

Dates on Die-Casts This Christmas

Hi Woodsy

Its Boxing Day!

I saw you piece on Hot Wheels dates. 

I encountered something similar a few years ago, but with Corgi Juniors. In November 2018 I picked up a pair of Tom and Jerry models at a fair, which I thought might date from the 1970s (actually they were released in 1980). It was only when I got them home, and had a chance to examine them closely that I spotted the copyright dates on the underside: 1940. Yes, 1940. 

Clearly, that had nothing to do with the actual models. Here is what I pieced together, I even ended up doing an entire article on dates for Model Collector - Dubious Dates, February 2019 issue. 

The cartoon characters Tom (the cat) and Jerry (the mouse) were created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who were then working at MGM. The two first appeared in the cartoon short Puss Gets the Boot, in 1940. 

At first they were called Jasper and Jinx, but became Tom and Jerry in 1941. The date 1940 therefore applies to the original appearance of the characters, and not to the models at all. 

Corgi first released a pair of Tom and Jerry models in 1971, as part of the Corgi Juniors line of Matchbox-sized vehicles. Tom's Go-Cat and Jerry's Banger. In 1980 they produced a second pair of Juniors, which were similar in theme, but completely new castings. 

Tom's Go-Cart was re-named, although Jerry's Banger kept its original title. Neither of the original models had a copyright date on them, but the later models do - 1940. Stunned by this, I had a look at my other Corgi Juniors, but these all seemed to carry normal dates.

It appears that Tom and Jerry are the only Corgi Juniors Star Cars that have copyright dates relating to the original characters, rather than the model, or the licence date allowing Corgi to use the character. They are also the only MGM-owned characters in the Corgi range. 

Yours Sincerely, 

Paul Adams from New Zealand