…that during the evening meal there were sometimes comments on the attitude of the customers who had come to my parents’ shoe store.

I particularly remember the change, after May 1968.

Children began to give their opinion on the shoes they came to buy with their parents. A small revolution. The child was now a being in his own right, recognized as a person with rights. He had his say on the color and shape.

The shopkeeper had to demonstrate psychology both towards the parents and the children.

My parents who lived through this change told us many anecdotes on this subject. This period also marked a small revolution in leisure activities.

Emancipation towards adult life was going to be faster. The consumer society would do the rest.

Other media would capture the child’s attention: records, comics, cinema …

I linked this memory to another element that I recently learned about. In 1971, the age of Corgi Toys club members was around 11 years old. Ten years earlier it was 15-16 years old. Many customers explained to me that they had bought small cars until they left for the army or until they got married. The end of the “collection” corresponded to the entry into adult life: we stop collecting as we cut the link that connects us to childhood. In 1971, the miniatures will have to be designed for a clientele ranging from 5 to 10 years old and no longer from 5 to 15 years old. The fun aspect, like the rolling of the miniature, now takes precedence over the veracity of the reproduced car. Better still, the car must also meet robustness criteria.

We will gradually witness a return to the past.

When I see the Corgi Toys on offer this week, they correspond perfectly to this state of affairs.

The Alfa Romeo P33 and the Adams date from 1970. They reproduce original cars. We know the importance that Corgi Toys attached to this type of car. They must be placed in context to understand their full interest. These products are intended to be used by a young clientele. No superfluous details. We understand that finding them new in box is far from easy.

… The Datsun also on the menu dates from 1972.

Corgi Toys is feeling its way, struggling to find its way. In this year 1972, imitating Mebetoys, Corgi Toys goes back in terms of the design of the wheels. Of course, the miniature is equipped with needle axles ensuring perfect rolling, but the one-piece wheels receive a chrome plastic insert that erases the “fast wheel” appearance.

These wheels were a real shock for many “collector” enthusiasts. The choice of the car is original. She shone on the roads of the Monte Carlo Rally in 1972 where she finished third and won twice in the Safari Rally. On the American circuits she won her category two years in a row in the SCCA (Trans Am) championship with John Morton.

Mebetoys with a “Hot Wheels” twist are also on the menu this week.

This revolution began in the United States. Major societal transformations are now coming from the West. Mattel, the American group famous for creating the “Barbie” doll, is the first to understand the change that is taking place.

It has perfectly analyzed the situation and offers miniature cars intended for a very young audience, simpler, fun, colorful, decked out in chrome… success is immediate. Nothing will be the same again in the world of small cars after the arrival of Hot Wheels.

The American group then attacked the 1/43 market. To do this, it approached Mebetoys. It was easier to acquire an existing manufacturer that already had a range than to start from scratch. This is a bit reminiscent of the story of the failed takeover of Ferrari by Ford.

Mattel found the arguments. The group then applied the same recipe as with these 1/60: metallic paints and very fine needle axles on which were positioned one-piece plastic wheels. Four superb racing cars are scheduled this week.

The oldest is the Ferrari 330P4, which was designed during the first period of the Milanese brand. To receive these new wheels and especially these needle axles, Mebetoys had to recompose a chassis. The Mattel Hot Wheels logo is now engraved. The car looks great, more stocky than in its first version. Despite the not very credible metallic red color, I have a clear preference for this second version.

Mattel was of course targeting the American market. It makes sense to include the Chaparral 2J from the Can Am series in its catalog. It is the most convincing of the existing versions, in industrial production of course. It is interesting to note that this revolutionary car but with a rather thin track record interested three transalpine manufacturers.

model on sale this week : Dinky Toys Jaguar Tye E 2+2 131

This week, a beautiful Jaguar Type E, painted in an improbable but contemporary color (metallic purple), a well-proportioned Ferrari Dino prototype and an original Swiss Monteverdi are there to prove it.

Dinky Toys (GB) returned to the reproduction scale (1/43 and above) that it had abandoned at the beginning of the sixties (1/45), with a view to making economies of scale. The Lotus 49, also programmed this week, is part of this wave of new products. It is much more interesting than it seems. The reproduction scale, approximately 1/36, is a first. It is another small revolution in Liverpool which with this model is in keeping with current events. Let us recall that in the mid-sixties Liverpool was still distributing Cooper Bristols and Maserati 4clts with front engines dating from the early fifties!

It was Politoys who were the first to offer a series of single-seaters at 1/38 in the early sixties. They were made of plastic. Since the switch to the rear engine and the change in engine displacement, single-seaters have become more refined, making their reproduction more difficult. The suspension arms are a headache for the design offices of toy manufacturers. Their reproductions are often fragile. By increasing the reproduction scale Politoys has simplified the task. Let us keep in mind that these are toys and not models. The second series of Politoys will be in zamac and also reproduced on a scale much larger than 1/43. Dinky Toys seems to have been inspired by this with this Lotus. It is intended for a younger clientele. A single-seater being a slender car, it is perfectly suited to the morphology of a 5-6 year old child. Fans were troubled at the time by this change in scale.

 

But looking at the whole of the post-sixty-eight production we see that Corgi Toys will also provide a large series of single-seaters in 1/38 like Mattel/Mebetoys. In the process, Liverpool will release the Ferrari 312B2, on the same scale. This car stood out during the 1970-71 seasons with some great successes.

The fanciful colors of these two reproductions can be questioned. During this pivotal period, we note a desire to deconstruct established values. Can a single-seater Ferrari be metallic brown and a Lotus metallic blue? I leave it to everyone to choose their answer. I of course have these models in my collection, like the Hesketh 308 also on the program. These models are an integral part of the Dinky Toys saga.

By chance, other miniatures produced on larger scales at the end of the Dinky Toys story are on the menu, including three variations of the Austin Princess. We can draw an interesting parallel between this car and Dinky Toys. The English automobile industry and Dinky Toys will sink together. I have never driven an English car but I have kept these three variations of the Austin Princess! The two white versions are difficult to obtain. You will have noticed that they are equipped with wheels with raw zamac inserts

My favorite is the Unic Lautaret semi-trailer van “international transport” from JRD.

No need to put this toy in its context and its history to appreciate it, it speaks for itself. It is a sumptuous toy.

An anecdote. My father had difficulty setting limits for the objects he appreciated. JRD trucks were among his favorites. He had found nothing better than to duplicate each color combination in two copies, depending on the color of the tires that equipped it. JRD had used white then black tires on a certain number of these models including this Unic “international transport”.

So we had in the window two copies of the version on sale this week, one with white tires and the other with black tires. The need to harmonize the windows and save space convinced me to keep only one copy of each color combination. which makes 4 convoys all the same

Collection Personnelle : Unic Lautaret semi-remorque fourgon « transports internationnaux » JRD collection autojaune