I love a parade!

John Kuliak’s habit of bringing interesting items to the shows paid off again last weekend. When he shared a copy of Auto Fare by Phil Alderman, it instantly snapped me back about a quarter century.

Flipping through those pages reminded me of a series that had completely captured my imagination back in the day: the Pinder circus parade vehicles made by a French company called MAP Models. They were wonderfully quirky—ornate, colorful, and unlike anything else being produced in 1:43 at the time. Exactly the sort of oddball subjects that have always appealed to me.

Seeing them again in the catalog brought it all rushing back. Just like that, I found myself falling in love with those models all over again and wishing I had picked one up when I first saw them advertised.

The funny thing is that in the twenty-five years since, I’ve never actually seen one in person. Not at a show, not in a dealer’s case, not even in an auction listing. For something that clearly existed, at least enough to make it into the catalog, they seem to have practically vanished.

So now I’m curious.

Has anyone else ever seen one of these MAP Pinder circus parade models? And even better, does anyone have one (or more) in their collection? I’d love to know if they’re still out there.