Flaming - Univers Autojaune

Discover a selection of models that will be on sale this week from tomorrow Monday, JANUARY 20, 2025 until Thursday, JANUARY 23 on our site AUTOJAUNE COLLECTION

Norev - Chrysler New Yorker avec bateau Rocca 92- Spot On - Lambretta scooter 229- Norev - Simca Chambord avec caravane Henon 91 - Vilmer - Lambretta scooter solo avec deux selles 460

en vente cette semaine: Norev – Chrysler New Yorker avec bateau Rocca 92- Spot On – Lambretta scooter 229- Norev – Simca Chambord avec caravane Henon 91 – Vilmer – Lambretta scooter solo avec deux selles 460

i remember

…the flamboyant colours of Shell petrol stations during the sixties. The golden yellow and dark red tones delighted the heart. I also remember that the bonuses (small cheap gifts) distributed at these stations when you filled up were not up to my affection for this brand. I remember the collectible shells. I was too young to have known the series of single-seaters manufactured by Injectaplastic in 1965-66 and distributed by this oil company.

The dynamic colours were associated with motorsport, an area in which Shell was heavily involved, responding to Esso’s commitment at the end of the fifties.

Elf, which appeared in 1966, at the time when I was starting to take an interest in motorsport, clearly had my preference for its bonuses with photos of champions, and later small racing cars. As for Esso, it had surfed on the theme of safari and wild animals at the end of the sixties. The famous tiger served as a pretext. I still have the album book where we had to stick the color photos gleaned from the stations. Later, these oil tankers would convey other, much less glamorous images.

Seeing the week’s programming, I made a connection between the attractive colors of these service stations and the bonuses distributed, which could guide the consumer’s choice, and our miniatures with attractive packaging and staging sometimes masking some weaknesses.

We are thus conditioned by the box of a toy as the motorist is by the logo of an oil tanker, although the quality of the gasoline is often similar from one oil tanker to another.

This reminds me of the scene in the film “L’emmerdeur” by Edouard Molinaro where Jacques Brel only wants to stop at a Fina station because his nephew collects the plastic figurines distributed by the brand. I noticed that in the sixties, miniature manufacturers had widely used red and yellow for their packaging.

And those who had originally chosen other colors, we think of Solido for its 100 series, Norev and its crates, Corgi Toys and its pale blue boxes, will all start using red and yellow.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Dinky Toys GB – Studebaker camion citerne National benzole 443

modèle en vente cette semaine : Dinky Toys GB – Studebaker camion citerne Mobilgas 440

These colours attracted consumers like magnets and our toy manufacturers will therefore use them with beautiful boxes to highlight their products.

This week, several Dinky Toys on the menu illustrate these words. When the Liverpool firm began distributing its miniature cars and small utility vehicles in individual cases, it chose this colour harmony: yellow to decorate the background and red to highlight its name.

We have for sale two empty boxes of the Studebaker tanker.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Dinky Toys France – bateau La Normandie 52C

Another model from the week’s program is revealing. When the French management decided to produce “La Normandie,” the background used as an illustration was made in yellow. The interior of the box, sumptuous, highlighted the ship. The illustrator had represented the entry of the liner into New York. And as I mentioned above, the object, ordinary, is enhanced thanks to the packaging and the colors used.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Dinky Toys GB – Bedford TK grue Jones 970 jaune

modèle en vente cette semaine :Dinky Toys GB – Bedford TK grue Jones 970 rouge

The two Bedford TK crane Jones are another example. Liverpool still kept its red and yellow to decorate the sides. Now, the two most important faces are decorated with a drawing featuring the vehicle. It’s beautiful.

We understand the interest of the box associated with the object. For reasons that I do not know, towards the end of the sixties, the two entities of Dinky Toys, Liverpool and Bobigny, will be satisfied with a drawing on a white background. It is more modern. Note that Corgi Toys will still continue, at this time, to illustrate the back of its boxes with drawings highlighting the object.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Dinky Toys GB – Coles grue automotrice 150T 980

We have a beautiful Coles crane scheduled and that takes us back to the “white box” period. These boxes are fragile.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Dinky Toys France – Muir-Hill brouette mécanique 887

In France we will have the whole series of GMC illustrated by Mr. Jouin. The soft cardboards make us regret the beautiful blue and white striped boxes of the Supertoys of the fifties/sixties, like that of Muir Hill on the menu of the week. These colors are forever associated with Dinky Toys and evoke quality. The cardboard used is in tune with the object it contains.

color and more color

Dinky Toys fans passionately talk about the improbable colour combinations that Liverpool dared to use on the peaceful Series 40 saloons of the immediate post-war period. The series sums up the English car industry of the time well. We would have liked to question the decision-makers at Liverpool to find out their motivations. I see it perhaps as a headlong rush following the launch of Corgi Toys. A fireworks display but also an admission of helplessness in the face of the steamroller of Swansea.

We have a great series planned.

The green and fuchsia Austin Devon is the pinnacle of the series in my eyes.

modèle en vente cette semaine :Dinky Toys GB – Austin Devon bicolore 152

The Somerset, ivory and black, is more sober.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Dinky Toys GB – Austin Sommerset bicolore 161

The Fordor, pink and blue must have confused more than one buyer at the time. I appreciate the satin quality of the lacquers used. Collectors have somewhat lost interest in these superb “toys”. At one time, some collectors were put off by the very high prices. Now, they are affordable and everyone can be interested in them without breaking the bank.

modèle en vente cette semaine :Dinky Toys GB – Ford Fordor bicolore 170

Do Dinky Toys fans know that Norev also, in its happy time, used extraordinary, improbable colors, de facto giving these miniatures their “toy” character.

These colors were despised by adult collectors because they were far from those used by car manufacturers, even if some had, at that time, dared to make some colorful combinations. The thing seems unimaginable in our current sad automotive landscape.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Norev – Citroën 2cv 51 AZ 27

On the program to illustrate these remarks, a Citroën 2cv “51” and a Volkswagen 1300 “apricot” and a 2cv 61 fuschia.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Norev – Citroën 2cv’61 AZ 56

modèle en vente cette semaine : Norev – Volkswagen 1200’61 62

The Ami 6, France blue is almost wise.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Norev – Citroën Ami 6 54

Norev utility vehicles were also treated to flamboyant combinations. As proof, this splendid blue and red Saviem S5c livestock trailer and the rare Mercedes equipped with an orange and grey telescopic handler.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Norev – Saviem S5C bétaillère 100

modèle en vente cette semaine : Norev – Mercedes LP2223 ridelles avec grappin 199

The “TIR” box set, which includes another Mercedes LP2223 tarpaulin-covered sideboard and a trailer, also deserves attention. It is a rare product.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Norev – Mercedes LP2223 porteur bâché avec remorque 125

matchbox

Like all manufacturers, Matchbox has also evolved its boxes. It will keep “its” yellow and blue colors which will evolve somewhat over time. On the first boxes, from the “Moko” era, the navy blue printed sides simulate the scraper of a matchbox…

modèle en vente cette semaine : Matchbox – Mercury Commuter 73

modèle en vente cette semaine : Spot On – Accessoire Public house coach & horses

It was when he saw his daughter Anne carrying live insects to school in a matchbox that Mr Odell had the idea of using boxes of this format to house the miniature scale models of his production. Pushing the logic to its conclusion, he would take up the colours of these boxes. The legend was in motion. On the copies on sale this week, dating from the mid-sixties, Matchbox softened its colours: the navy blue of the beginning became French blue. The illustrations fill the main face of the box and are in colour. A pretty profile drawing is taken up on the tabs, it is successful. Matchox would perpetuate the tradition, and this until its “Superfast” of the late sixties, unlike Dinky Toys which did not know how to keep and develop its “colour codes”. The idea of keeping “its” colours was therefore a good one. The consumer identifies them from one generation to the next.

en vente cette semaine: Matchbox – Mercedes 300se 46

my favorite for the solido

My favorite of the week is the Solido programmed, or more precisely the packaging and colors used.

At the start of the 100 series, Solido did not plan a color unit for its boxes: light pink, pale blue, navy blue, red… It must be said that the products are sufficient in themselves and may not need striking packaging to attract and retain buyers. This is a personal hypothesis. Management will understand that color codes are important and that we cannot be satisfied with the quality of the products. The packaging must also be up to par.

This will first involve using a thicker, more resistant cardboard in red.

en vente cette semaine: Solido – Alfa Romeo GTZ course 148

The drawings illustrating the box faces and the tabs are the work of Jean Blanche. They are in black and white. This week we have several examples dating from the mid-sixties: Alfa Romeo GTZ, Chaparral 2D and Ferrari 330P3. Three sublime miniatures that will later be distributed in the famous display boxes.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Mebetoys – coffret prototipi

modèle en vente cette semaine : Solido – Chaparral 2D 153

On this occasion, Solido will add golden yellow to its color code. We think back to the colors of Shell stations. The quality of the cardboard and the transparent film will make these boxes the reference of the time.

We have the sublime Ferrari Daytona. Seeing this very beautiful achievement I can’t help but add, in front of this unaffordable car: for want of having the real one!

modèle en vente cette semaine : Solido – Ferrari Daytona 165

In the mid-seventies and the launch of its 10 series, Solido will try to review its color code.

The Simca 1100 ti and its blue and yellow gearbox illustrates these words. The experiment will be short-lived.

Solido will fumble. Will return to red and yellow with softer tones (Citroën CX gearbox, Alpine A441, etc.). In 1975/1976, it will move on to orange with a yellow circle and white background. Then, at the end of the decade, black will be used. Mr. De Vazeilles had already left… and the visual effect is not so happy.

modèle en vente cette semaine : Solido – Simca 1100ti 34

Vincent Espinasse

also coming this week

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