HOT WHEELS 1/64 FLINTSTONES FLINTMOBILE

Hot Wheels back in 1994 released this 1:64 sized (standard mass produced Matchbox, Hot Wheels size) version of the Flintmobile. It does somewhat resemble the one from the cartoon series in design but not in colour. The one in the cartoon was made out of red logs and had a white (with the same red coloured logs supporting it) canopy and wheels. It also didn't have a middle support log on the canopy but this is obviously present in the Hot Wheels version to give support to the canopy otherwise touching it, it would break pretty easily. In the cartoon the white canopy also hung down a bit at the driver end of the roof, this is not present in the Hot Wheels car. See the vehicle out of its blister pack in the customer images part of this page.

One of the reasons Hot Wheels may have gone with the wrong colour is that the canopy on this Hot Wheels vehicle actually changes colour if you dunk it in a sink full of hot water. 90's neons is the colour it changes to, I haven't personally done this with my vehicle as I'm not sure it changes back after you've washed away the brown and I'd prefer mine to be brown to whatever neon is. If you get one and do dunk it, I'd love to hear what it changes to and if it goes back in the comment section of this review.

The other thing that lets this Hot Wheels car down a bit is that it doesn't roll very smoothly (fast) and squeaks a lot when doing so. If you're planning on leaving it in the packaging the blister card it comes does nothing to enhance the display either. It's pretty much your standard blue Hot Wheels card of the 90s with the red Hot Wheels ribbon logo at the top. See my customer images for the back of the card but there's nothing special on there either other than telling you this came from some breakfast cereals that I've never heard of but seem to be rip offs of Kellogg's Coco Pops and Fruitloops. Cereal box coupon mail ins might have been how you got these in 94 but now they are quite commonly found on E-bay and elsewhere. However most sellers who sell this can't spell, so try variations of the correct spelling by leaving out the first t or other letters in Flintstones or Flintmobile when searching. As far as I know Hot Wheels are the only manufacturer who has released this vehicle in 1:64 size.-- James N Sympson Shop here

JOHNNY LIGHTNING - THE FLINSTONES 'BARNEY RUBBLE'S SPORTS CAR'

 Don't get me wrong this is a pretty cool car, that's why I bought it but that doesn't mean I'll just it rate it five stars when there are obvious flaws. Firstly and most obviously the wheels on this thing are rubber tyres with shinny hubcaps. Neither of these things had been invented back in the stone age. The TV show had circular rocks, I'm not saying they should have used rocks, plastic would have done the job as long as it somehow resembled rocks appearance wise. Plus the car in the cartoon was red, this one is brown and light brown (granted the colour of many trees and logs). So maybe you would let that slide except for the fact that for display purposes the card behind the blister bubble uses the image from the cartoon of Barney driving Fred in this very car so you can immediately see they are not the same. The blister pack in its entirety displays very well so it is a shame that the die cast car looks so different for those who wish to keep it in the unopened packet. You also get a nice little original filmstrip animation art cel. There are about 20 different ones of these so if ordering online who knows which one you'll get. The one I've got has Fred and Barney queing in a line behind three other guys. If you are going to take the car out and throw away the packaging you can actually get the cel with the exact same image as is on the card which would probably be the best one to display with the car out of the packet. 

The car itself also has a little hole in the floor for feet powering action. So it is a nice little die cast and to my knowledge no one else has done a 1/64 Barney Rubble's Sports Car so you can't really complain. What else is out there though that would go very nicely with this one is Hot Wheels Fred Flintstones Flintmobile. So you could park these side by side on display.--James N Sympson  Shop here

THE FLINTSTONES

The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It has since been re-released on both DVD and VHS. The show celebrated its 50th anniversary on September 30, 2010.

The show's popularity rested heavily on its juxtaposition of modern everyday concerns in the Stone Age setting. It has been announced that Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show) will produce a revival of The Flintstones for the Fox network. Development is set to begin in fall 2011 and the first episode is scheduled to air in 2013.

CORGI THE BEATLES YELLOW SUBMARINE

This is a completely casting of the Yellow Submarine. The new sub measures 67mm high and 114mm long. This compares to the original model's 69mm and 132mm respectively. The dimensions aren't that different and and yet the model seems much smaller and more squat. Gone are the opening haches, revolving periscope feature and white upper deck. Although a much simplified model, at least the painted figures are included and seem not to have been reduced in size. The box is most nostalgic with its lovely artwork from the film. See more

CORGI THE BEATLES YELLOW SUBMARINE SPECIAL EDITION

In 1999 Corgi revamped The Beatles Collection. Off went the AEC billboard truck, and the Dormobile; in came new packaging and figures for the Yellow Submarine.

The new window box with header card was a rather austere black and the pictures of The Beatles (more Hard Day's Night than Yellow Submarine) were given greater emphasis. But the new, separate figurines were excellent. The 54mm metal figures were very accurate renditions of the cartoon characters and dressed correctly for their journey as The Beatles and not Sergeant Pepper's band.

This was a limited edition and according to the certificate in my example, only 5,250 were made. This version appears in the 2000 fold out leaflet for Corgi's TV themed models, but it was replaced by brand new model. See more

THUNDERBIRDS 40th ANNIVERSARY 2 AND 4 DIECAST

Two of the price of one model with this release. They come in specially designed 40th Anniversary packaging. Thunderbird 4 fits neatly into the belly of 2. A lever releases this portion, a ramp lowers and 4 is away. The legs of 2 are retractable. Good fun. Shop here

Looney Tunes Vintage Bugs Bunny Die Cast Car

I really don't know why Matchbox didn't go with a sixth Looney tune character instead of two Bugs Bunnies. Sylvester would have been perfect, he could have been holding Tweetie in his outstretched hand while coming through the windshield of either vehicle Bugs uses. Plenty of other characters they could have gone with too if they didn't want to use him. Without the flag, this just looks like there was supposed to be another character but the deadline for design was coming up so they just used the same rabbit but without the flag. James N Sympson  Shop here

Looney Tunes Pro Racers Taz With Sprint Car

 

This car, Taz, is a nice yellow with blue stripe sprint car. It has TAZ OIL in big red black bordered letters on the side of the vehicles silver roof wings. Also written in black on there is Pure Tasmanian Oil. These words also appear on the front wing. The wings are very shiny and reflective so if using a camera to photograph and brag to your friends on Facebook or something you'll need to turn the flash off. There is a small Acme Safe and Co logo inside a red circle on the side, as well as the words TAZ TRANS, and Merry Melodies inside a red rectangle. On the rear sides of the vehicle is the red number 99. The prototype shown on the back of the blister card (see my images for this product) shows Taz wearing a yellow with red stripe swimming cap. He is not wearing that in the real versions. You'd think Matchbox would have at least retaken the photo with the produced cars but I guess someone got lazy in production. James N Sympson  Shop here

Looney Tunes - Pro Racers - Wile E. Coyote #99 Miniature Car

 

 

This car Wile - E Coyote is a nice car but I would have much preferred the black Nascar shown on the back where it shows all six to collect (see my images for this product). Obviously the prototype was a black car, who knows why they didn't run with that but it would have been nice when you consider how similar this looks to the white Bugs Bunny Nascar. I also like how on the prototype car Wile-E is wearing goggles, as are the other characters which don't in the real versions. You'd think Matchbox would have at least retaken the photo with the produced cars but I guess someone got lazy in production. Speaking of the card, you can also get all six vehicles on a black rather than blue blister card, the blue is a lot cheaper though. You can get the blue carded ones for well under $10 each if your patient enough on E-bay and elsewhere. This and the other Nascar one tend to go for the cheapest auction price, Road Runner and Daffy seem to be the most sought after and highest priced.--James N Sympson   Shop here

Looney Tunes - Pro Racers - Bugs Bunny - Looney Tunes Racing #1 Miniature Race Car

 

You can choose from two Bugs Bunny themed vehicles in the series of six Looney Tune Pro Racer vehicles. This is by far the better of the two both as a stand alone vehicle as well as in how it displays with the other five characters. Because Wile E. Coyote also comes on a white Nascar and is also coming through the windshield after failing to wear a seatbelt, the Bugs Bunny Nascar one looks very similar. Whereas this old 70s/80s Group C Racing Car looks very different to Wile E.'s one plus the figure also is holding a flag. It also looks way better with it's carrot themed paint (the white car's bonnet, roof and engine compartment are painted orange with the rear wing on the back painted green roughly resembling a carrot when viewed from above. Reinforcing this subliminal image are two actual images of carrots, one on each side with the words Bugs Bunny on them. Just in case somehow the figure was broken out of the car you've also got an image of Bugs Bunny on the bonnet (hood) with his catchphrase What's Up Doc? beside it. On the side panels are the words Looney Tunes Racing in a font you'd be familiar with if you ever watched the cartoons back in the 80s. I have uploaded some images for you but the car itself if you were a child back then is very similar to many that were around then so if you're an adult collector it will bring back some memories of your childhood. Not that kids today won't like the car either. The car's design on the base says 1984, with the new carrot paint job the Looney Tune Pro Racers came out in 1991. The figure is made of plastic and rotate slightly in the windshield. The flag and figure are obviously the most fragile, and this is the one of the six vehicles most likely to move and roll onto the floor if where they are being displayed is bumped. It is the lightest of all six pro racers by a long way.

The other three characters in the series are Daffy Duck on the roof of a green ute), Taz on a sprint car and Road Runner on another racing car. It is a shame they didn't include a different character instead of having two Bugs Bunny ones. Sylvester holding Tweetie would have been nice or any of the huge range of other characters. The Matchbox Pro Racers are a nice little set to collect, you should be able to find them for under $10 each on blue blister cards in online auctions if you're patient enough or even cheaper if you can somehow get a set. They also come on black blister cards which are rarer and more expensive. --James N Sympson  Shop here

LOONEY TUNES - PRO RACERS - DAFFY DINNER #13 MINIATURE RACE TRUCK

 

 This is easily the best of the six Looney Tune pro racers. Daffy comes on top of a green and purple off road racing ute. He spins 360 degree around so you can pose him however you like including looking like he is holding onto the roof and top of the windshield. He is sort of in a high diver's stance so you can use him in other displays as well as with the vehicle. Shop here

LOONEY TUNES - PRO RACERS - ROAD RUNNER #2 MINIATURE CAR

 

 The Looney Tune Pro Racer series is a pretty nice and still reasonably priced series of TV related Matchbox vehicles to collect. You can get five characters in six different vehicles. As well as this dragster Road Runner car you get Daffy Duck clinging onto a ute, Bugs Bunny comes in two cars, a carrot themed older style racing car, as well as a Nascar one which is very similar to the Wile E. Coyote flying through the front window after not wearing a seatbelt Nascar one. The carrot themed one is much better where he is holding a flag. You've also got Taz on a sprint car. All characters are plastic and do rotate slightly. The cars are of course like all Matchbox vehicles, die-cast metal. 

Roadrunner is sponsored by Bird Seed Company, written on the right side of the car before the number 2. From the left side the sponsor is also there but it's hard to read on the rear boot side. This sponsor means coyotes will have to come up with something else to use as bait to get roadrunner to stop in the middle of the road for him to pull a rope and make an anvil fall on him. Also sponsoring the boot (trunk) with their name in capital letters is ACME TAR & FEATHER CO. Sagebrush Headers is also a word sponsor on each side of the car, don't really get the joke of that one. 

The car has a massive silver oversized motor, it is impossible for a driver to see out the windshield with this motor so luckily this team found roadrunner with his long neck who can poke his neck through a hole in the windshield and still see. There is also a hole in the rear window for his tail. The head and tail are made of rubber and are pretty flexible, however they would easily be pulled out if a child or someone decided to carry the car around by either instead of picking up the whole car. 

This isn't the best car of the series but it is the hardest to track down.--James N Simpson Shop here

THE RUPERT COLLECTION

Rupert the Bear, in his red jersey, yellow check trousers and scarf, is instantly recognizable and is a time-honored classic-loved and cherished by generation  of children and adults.

He first appeared in the Daily Express on the 8th November, 1920, in the story ‘Little Lost Bear’, where ha was beautifully depicted by his creator, the talented artist and illustrator, Mary Tourtel. She very soon introduced other well loved characters such as Algy Pug, Bill Badger and Edward Trunk.

In 1935 Mary Tourtel retired and was replaced by Alfred Bestall, whose wonderful imagination inspired many new characters and the world of Nutwood we recognize, dragons, palaces and pirates all appear in a timeless round of action and adventure stories.

The Rupert Collection from Lledo is a highly collectable range of die-cast vehicles depicting Rupert and some of his best-known friends. See more

HOMER'S CAR THE SIMPSONS 2003 JOHNNY LIGHTNING DIECAST VEHICLE

Homer's pink car is of one of four Johnny Lightning Simpson's die-cast vehicles released back in 2003. The other three were Marge's Station Wagon, the Springfield Elementary school bus and Chief Wiggum's Police Cruiser. That police cruiser was all white but later Johnny Lightning as part of the 5th release of Hollywood on Wheels released an LA looking Black and White version. In that release Homer's car was also rereleased with tickets over the windshield, the station wagon had dirt spots on the sides and the school bus had a banner painted on it saying school charter.

All of the Simpson's vehicles look sensational! They are all brilliant recreations of the drawn vehicles from the popular Simpsons TV show. Of all the cartoon vehicles released by Johnny Lightning and other manufacturers, these 4 easily most closely represented the actual ones that appear week to week on your TV. I'd love to see Johnny Lightning release other vehicles from the show. The top of my wish list would be Snake's Hot Rod and Mr Burns' limo.
All of these four vehicles come with a little cardboard figure, it is important to note that you will not always get the same figure with each car so if ordering from an online seller and you are getting all four vehicles make sure you ask to give you a different character with each car. Any of the characters can appear in the blister pack of any of the four cars. Cardboard characters you may get are Marge, Homer with Maggie, Lisa, Bart or Auto. These are pretty common on E-bay and elsewhere so don't pay too much. --James N Simpson

OTTO'S SPRINGFIELD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BUS THE SIMPSONS 2003 JOHNNY LIGHTNING DIECAST VEHICLE

The Springfield Elementary School Bus is of one of four Johnny Lightning Simpson's die-cast vehicles released back in 2003. The other three were Homer's Pink Car Marge's Station Wagon and Chief Wiggum's Police Cruiser. That police cruiser was all white but later Johnny Lightning as part of the 5th release of Hollywood on Wheels released an LA looking Black and White version. In that release the school bus had a banner painted on it saying school charter. Homer's car was also rereleased with tickets over the windshield and the station wagon had dirt spots on the sides.

All of the Simpson's vehicles look sensational! They are all brilliant recreations of the drawn vehicles from the popular Simpsons TV show. Of all the cartoon vehicles released by Johnny Lightning and other manufacturers, these 4 easily most closely represented the actual ones that appear week to week on your TV. I'd love to see Johnny Lightning release other vehicles from the show. The top of my wish list would be Snake's Hot Rod and Mr Burns' limo.
All of these four vehicles come with a little cardboard figure, it is important to note that you will not always get the same figure with each car so if ordering from an online seller and you are getting all four vehicles make sure you ask to give you a different character with each car. Any of the characters can appear in the blister pack of any of the four cars. Cardboard characters you may get are Marge, Homer with Maggie, Lisa, Bart or Auto. These are pretty common on E-bay and elsewhere so don't pay too much. --James N Simpson Shop here

JOHNNY LIGHTNING THE SIMPSON MARGE'S CAR

Marge's Car is the title of one of four Johnny Lightning Simpson's die-cast vehicles. The other three in this series are titled Homer's Car, Chief Wiggum's Police Cruiser (you can get both the white as well as LA looking black and white versions) and Springfield Elementary School Bus.

Marge's car is the orange station wagon with blue roof racks one from the opening credits that almost runs Homer over. Not just Marge, but both herself and Homer drive it in the actual show.


All of these four vehicles come with a little cardboard figure, it is important to note that you will not always get the same figure with each car so if ordering from an online seller and you are getting all four vehicles make sure you ask if possible to give you one with four different characters. Cardboard characters you may get are Marge, Homer with Maggie, Lisa, Bart or Auto. The black and white Wiggum police car is a bit more expensive but you shouldn't be paying more than $10 for any of these vehicles, they are pretty common on E-bay and elsewhere.

The cars are 1/64 scale, the same as the normal Johnny Lightning, Matchbox, Hot Wheels sized vehicles. They all look great and even those not into collecting cars are impressed and pick up these vehicles when they come to visit. Hopefully Johnny Lightning releases other vehicles from the show in the future as well, such as Snake's hotrod and Mr. Burns' Limo. You can get a variation of this car with mud spots on the doors and sides which was released as part of the Hollywood on Wheels Release 5 collection, which is where the black and white police cruiser is also from. If you're interested them, the school bus was also released with a banner saying School Charter, and the pink car's windshield was full of parking tickets. --James N Simpson Shop here

JOHNNY LIGHTNING THE SIMPSONS CHIEF WIGGUMP'S POLICE CRUSIER

In 2003 Johnny Lightning released 4 vehicles from the Simpsons in an official Simpsons release. Chief Wiggum's police cruiser (white), Marge's station wagon, Homer's pink car and the school bus. Those 4 vehicles were brilliant recreations of the drawn vehicles from the popular TV show. Of all the cartoon vehicles released by Johnny Lightning and other manufacturers, these 4 easily most closely represented the actual ones that appear week to week on their TV show. So it was inevitable that these vehicles became much sort after possessions for both fans of The Simpsons and movie/tv die-cast vehicle collectors. 

Johnny Lightning cashed in on this success by releasing 4 more vehicles. Unfortunately they didn't go with completely different vehicles such as say Snake's Hot Rod or Mr Burns' Limo and instead just added something to the existing castings. With Marge's car they simply added a few spots of mud to the lower door and sides, with Homer's they attached parking tickets over the windshield (probably to resemble the episode where the family went to Manhattan and Homer needed to use the bathroom in the World Trade Centre). With the school bus they simply painted on a banner saying school charter. A new paint job was again what they did here with Wiggum's police Cruiser giving it the LA black and white cruiser look. However unlike with the other vehicles this actually changed it to a different car from the show as sometimes Wiggum uses the white vehicle and sometimes, usually when Springfield needs to resemble a bigger city this one is used. That's made this one a very sought after vehicle and the hardest to find of the second release vehicles, which were released as part of the fifth release of Hollywood on Wheels. 

For a lot of collectors, other than hardcore variation collectors or huge fans of the Simpsons who collect every piece of memorabilia they can find, this is the only vehicle if you already own the initial 4 that you'll probably bother with, unless the others are a really cheap price as these can no longer be found in department stores. --James N Simpson  Shop here

THE SIMPSONS

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a working-class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional city of Springfield, and lampoons American culture, society, television and many aspects of the human condition.
The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with the producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and was an early hit for Fox, becoming the first Fox series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989–1990).
Since its debut on December 17, 1989 the show has broadcast 482 episodes and the twenty second season started airing on September 26, 2010. The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, and grossed US$527 million worldwide.
The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 27 Primetime Emmy Awards, 27 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award. Time magazine's December 31, 1999 issue named it the 20th century's best television series, and on January 14, 2000 the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program, and in 2009 it surpassed Gunsmoke as the longest running American primetime entertainment series. Homer's exclamatory catchphrase "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English lexicon, while The Simpsons has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms.

ANIMAL! GREAT VEHICLE "THE MUPPET MOVIE"

Corgi re-released it's four 1979 Muppet figures in vehicles in 2002. These were a lot more mass produced so you're a lot more likely to find one in good condition and also still in it's original packaging than the 1979 versions.

Of the four Muppet vehicles, Animal is the vehicle/figure that looks the most similar to the 1979 original. The vehicle displays well on the orange base as it also does in the original box with a nice big plastic observation window. It is secured to the orange cardboard by metal twist ties which can easily be loosened so you can slip each wheel out without cutting them. Wheels all move, in fact the vehicle rolls very smoothly, you'd think with the wheels not being completely circular that the vehicles wouldn't move well but nothing could be further from the truth, in fact if there's a slight angle on the surface you are displaying it, Animal will roll away.

The other three vehicles in the Muppet 25 years release incidentally are Fozzie in a blue old fashioned ute (it was red in the 1979 original release), Miss Piggy in a pink car and Kermit in a yellow car.

Animal himself is pretty well detailed holding his drum sticks ready to bash on the large drums which make up the back wheels or the cymbal or smaller in front of the cockpit thing. Animal's signature is on the undercarriage as well as the two front wheels and top drum. The two rear wheels have the Muppet show logo on them with Kermit coming out of the letter O. It's a good car which you should be able to get boxed in new condition for just a couple of pounds (British sites are where it's the most common being Corgi and all).--James N Simpson

CINDERELLA'S COACH

'Cinderella's Coach' from the film The Slipper and the Rose, was a strange choice for release, appealing more to girls than boys, and was only available until the following year. The 1/42nd scale all plastic model was finished in gold with four white horses, a footman dressed in pink, and Cinderella herself, also in pink, seated inside. A photograph and signature of Gemma Craven (who played Cinderella in the film) featured on the window box, but as a TV/Film related model, this one is a pumpkin.