[Closed] A little mystery car. . . well, kind of. . . (pics)

Thanks David re the Buick - I was surprised it was there and didn’t hesitate!

Politoys made under license. These also surface being made in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.

They were made in the 1970s and are quite uncommon. Some say they were licensed, some say they were knockoffs, but all that's really known is that they started production AFTER Politoys ceased regular (Italian) production. I think they actually kept on making these into the late 1970s and even early 1980s, but am not sure. I do know that Soviet production was in Donetsk Oblast of all places, and fortunately, most of the records of these were either duplicated or exported before Donetsk turned into a warzone. I'm not entirely sure why or when production ceased. The latter is generally assumed to be some time around 1980, but the Soviet 1/43 models were produced in Saratov Oblast, so there was no competing machinery. I wonder: did the machinery get sold to Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia? I know the Hungarian ones were outright copies, but the Czechoslovakian and Bulgarian versions have a lot of features in common with the Soviet-manufactured ones (the Bulgarian ones even say "Made in URSS" on the bottom, though NOT the box, so I'm guessing with them, they got at least some of the molds from the Soviets).

I don't know anything about the model you've posted, but I've ordered the NEO Henry J. I can't wait for it to arrive. It should be one day next week.

Chris & John William, many thanks for your insightful information. I really appreciate it!

And John M., you really know how to make a guy feel good. Thanks a lot! (LOL)

These were official.

I am not an expert in these, but being born in the USSR in 1975, I had a lot of these in my childhood collection. USSR got the original molds of Politoys and Mebetoys. There were also a few Norev molds. They were made in different cities; some were metal, some were plastic. The list is quite long.

The earlier ones carries the original inscriptions. At some point most molds were modified- the bottom plates were cleaned up and some parts were changed. The Toyota 2000, for example, got a rear hatch made entirely of metal, with no glass.

I have never seen these very models from any other country, except Italy and France (for Norev).

I've seen a few of the Bulgarian versions, Albert, albeit not in person. I do however have...

...a collector friend in Bulgaria who has versions with boxes that translate to "Made in Bulgaria" (I'm not sure if I can type in Bulgarian Cyrillic here). Oddly, the bottoms still say "Made in URSS", so I believe they, at least, got the molds from the Soviets. The Czechoslovakians? I've heard reference to their copies, but never seen any. The Hungarian copies can be found on the internet as pictures (there's a mint dune buggy somewhere I have the picture saved of); they have some distinctions from the Soviet versions and are NOT believed to have been derived from the Soviet molds (no timeline on when they existed, though).

Never said they were made at the same time. However, I do see conflicting references to...

...being licensed from Politoys or not. The Bulgarians got their molds from the Soviets, which fits the timeline; they were making them into the eighties. The Czechoslovakians? Can't say, as I've only heard references to their models. Maybe they're like the Bulgarians where the only difference is the box?

I have this Alfa in my collection, but would ...

... welcome another one, if you are downsizing. 🙂 The original Politoys is a higher quality casting, ie, seems to have better metal and sharper details. I think the molds may have been worn once the Russians got them... But it's fun to sit them side by side and compare!

1961 Alfa Romero Giulietta Sprint Speciale. Poly toys also made this car Ours was lost in a House fire in 1980. This one is a Russian version done after Polytoys made theirs. For some reason I remember ours saying Polystil on the bottom?

I've learned something today Chris. Didn't know that the M stood for metal. I treated myself to two Politoys from Auto Models on my 21st Birthday in 1969. One was a Lamborghini 350GT and the other was an Alfa Romeo Kangura. Beautiful models both of them. 21 shillings for the Lambo and 18/6 for the Alfa. That's just over a pound and around 85 pence in today's money!

This was one of my first models as a kid...

Sometime around my 7th or 8th birthday I received a handful of these Politoys/Mebetoys copies. The A-R Julia SS was one of them. Now it's common to call them remakes - as in USSR-made copies of European models made with old molds.
The Julia was made in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), not in Donetsk according to my info.

You are welcome John and Auto Models must have been a magical place …..

to visit. I remember their adverts in Model Cars and Scale Models magazines.

Chris