Volume X, Last Updated March 21, 2007

The 2007 Nuremberg Toyfair
By Christian Falkensteiner

The 2007 Nuremberg Toyfair once again proved to be well worth a few hundred kilometers of traveling. At this event I regularly see more different model cars in real life on one day than on 364 days for the rest of each year. Many of them are in 1:43 and larger scales, and many others are 1:87 scale and smaller models, mostly made of plastic, but there is still a sufficient amount of three-inch sized diecast models on display to keep any collector of such items fully occupied all day just trying to see them all. As in previous years this article will attempt to provide an overview of them.

Unfortunately the Matchbox stall did not provide much for me to see, as it consisted mostly of large ugly plastic items. Only one small corner of the stall was devoted to diecast models, which Mattel seems to regard as the least important part of the Matchbox product line. No new castings were shown, just a part of the existing 2006 basic range and the Stars of Cars as issued in November 2006. Since Europe is still waiting for about one third of the 2006 range to appear in the stores, there would not have been much of a point in showing 2007 products anyway. Some exciting new castings scheduled for 2007, such as Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint, Austin Mini Van, Honda Ridgeline, Lexus GS 430 and most notably Bentley Continental GT have not even been seen in the shape of drawings yet. The most eye-catching part of the diecast section of the Matchbox display was the new "Best of British" range of recolors made exclusively for the UK market.

In spite of what Matchbox collectors think of Mattel, I have to admit that the situation at the Hot Wheels stall was not much better. The basic mainline models on display were all old ones from 2006, and the Acceleracers and Hot Wheels Classics ranges were not shown anymore. The most emphasis was put on Ferrari models, for Mattel celebrates that company's 60th anniversary with a large amount of new models, mostly in the larger scale "Elite" lines, but also with a new separate range of small-scale Ferraris, of which only some pieces of mock-up packaging containing old mainline models were shown.

As in previous years, the Siku display gave a strong impression of what the Matchbox display should look like in my opinion, with a delightful showcase of vintage models, with readily available catalogs and with the new castings planned for the new model year put in the spotlight. The only negative aspect was the continuation of last year's trend towards generic castings in the cheapest price group. That section includes only one new item which is based on a real car: the most welcome Wiesmann GT, which is the first small-scale diecast model of a Wiesmann ever.

Among the more expensive new passenger car models there are mainly Audis: R8, Q7, the new TT and A4 Convertible. Furthermore a Peugeot 207 CC (which was not shown as Peugeot had refused permission) and two very attractive vintage cars: a Mercedes 300 SL (new casting, not a reissue) and a Citroën 11 CV, which is the first small-scale diecast representation of that car since the Solido Mosquito model phased out fifty years ago.

The other brand beside Siku which comes close to being "today's Matchbox" from a European point of view is Welly. Although Welly put a lot of effort into the development of its 1:87 scale series introduced last year, the three-inch section was not neglected. The most notable new models in this section are as follows: '64 Mustang, '05 Mustang GT, '82 Corvette, Opel Astra GTC, Peugeot 407 Coupé, VW Golf V, Skoda Octavia, BMW 3 Series.

The Majorette stall was once again inaccessible for me, thanks to the strict "no collectors" policy of its parent company Smoby. So I can only imagine what the Majorette display probably looked like based on information from other sources. The main focus must have been on the recently introduced tuning and cartoon-licensed vehicles, which probably overshadowed the basic 200 and 300 series. However, we have heard of the following new models to be introduced in the 200 series: Toyota Prius, BMW 5 Series Touring, Lexus RX 400, Nissan Pathfinder and VW Golf V, plus some models which had previously been exclusive to the racing series, e.g. the Subaru WRX. On the other hand, a Citroën C4 Sport and a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo will be new introductions to the racing series. Besides, the whole 200 series has recently been revamped to feature some new wheel styles, which has created a large number of variations to collect - if you can find them!

Maisto marked its 40th anniversary with a Toyfair model of a BMW 7 Series which was so easy to get that even I got one. It is part of the Playerz series, which together with other similar series of "tuned" vehicles and muscle cars (GRidez, ProRodz, AllStars VBugz etc.) made up the largest portion of the small-scale section of the Maisto stall. Those series include lots of US cars from the 1960s, but I am not sufficiently familiar with them to be able to tell which of them are new castings.

Beside those ranges, Maisto's "basic" small-scale range continues as well, and while it used to be called "Transit Authority" in the past, it has now received a re-design and goes by the name of "Fresh Metal". The display did not single out any individual models but just included window box and blisterpack assortments, so I was not able to spot any new castings in there.

It is worth noting that Maisto's purchase of Bburago has resulted in a re-launch of that brand, presented at a separate stall at Toyfair, consisting of a mix of old Bburago castings with others originating from Maisto and Saico. Those models are now all made in the Far East, i.e. China and Thailand. The scales represented in the Bburago range go from 1:43 to 1:18, so there are still no small-scale models from Bburago. The Polistil brand, which used to belong to Bburago and most recently comprised various models made by Realtoy, seems to have been discontinued for good.

Realtoy was therefore reduced to displaying its models at its own stall only. The display consisted of various assortments of models under the "Action City" name, among which I did not notice anything new or unfamiliar.

While I did not spot any new castings in Hongwell's 1:72 scale range display either, there was a new line indeed named "Cararama 1:64" featured prominently. But alas those are not scale models of real cars, but rather unlicensed fantasy designs somewhat reminiscent of the Majorette Fiction series - although I cannot imagine why somebody found it worthwhile to copy that one.

New 1:72 scale models by Hongwell were very much in evidence, though, at the stall of Abrex. This Czech company still concentrates on issuing only models of Skoda cars, and it puts quite a bit of effort into promoting them and finding ways of distributing them outside the Czech Republic too. While it aims at producing 1:43 scale representations of all Skoda cars ever made, only some of the more important models will become available in the smaller scale. The 1980s 120L has already been issued, and the 1970s 110L will follow soon. Further plans include 1:72 scale versions of the 1960s Octavia and Felicia, and of the new Skoda models Roomster and Fabia II.

Schuco was another one of the companies which did not allow me to enter their stalls this year, so the information about its new products does not come from personal experience. Most of the new 1:72 scale items seem to come from Hongwell once again, like the Alfa Romeo Brera, BMW 3 Series or Volvo C 30. The Schuco Piccolo range continues to go strong, mainly emphasizing rally themes this year, with the likes of BMW 2002 ti, NSU TT, Opel Ascona A, Fiat 131 Abarth and Lancia Stratos. Other new items in the Piccolo range, which might be of interest to American collectors, are a 1970 Ford Mustang and a Checker Cab. The 1:64 scale range, on the other hand, appears to have been discontinued.

However, the originator of the former Schuco 1:64 scale range, High Speed, still keeps on producing that range and has introduced a few additions to it, such as Jaguar XK, Land Rover Discovery 3 and Range Rover Sport. The company seems to have put a much larger effort into enhancing its 1:87 scale line though, which is still shared with Schuco. Once again there was no sign of the models of eastern European cars as issued by beer breweries in Germany, which are supposed to come from High Speed as well. Obviously those models are not intended to be distributed via the toy trade.

The same situation still exists with the products of Universal Hobbies from France too. Three-inch diecast models made in China on behalf of that company are available at car dealerships, and its 1:87 scale diecast models are sold in conjunction with magazine subscriptions in France, but neither of those product lines were shown at its Toyfair stall, which was once again devoted to 1:43 scale models only.

Yat Ming's range of 1:72 scale models was not displayed at its Toyfair stall at all this year. When I asked about it, I was told that they had simply forgotten to bring it along, but that it is still available, albeit with no new castings. Instead the biggest effort seems to have gone into a new series of three-inch sized models of vintage US pickup trucks which look very attractive. The series includes the following: '38 Ford, '48 Ford F-1, '53 Ford F-100, '50 GMC, '37 Mack Junior, '37 Studebaker. The "toy" side of Yat Ming's business was represented in the usual way by some multipacks and some window box assortments, which I did not take the time to go through in detail.

New Ray introduced a new range of small-scale diecast models under the name of "Power Up", but unfortunately those are not realistic models of real cars but rather ugly Hot Rod type vehicles and trucks with various loads and cabs vaguely similar to their larger Freightliner models. Besides, New Ray's series of 1:64 scale racing models has been enhanced with an Audi R8 Le Mans racer.

Guisval celebrates its 45th anniversary this year. At Toyfair it showed some recolors of the recent rally models but no new castings. The company also showed a "new" range of passenger car models packed with plastic launchers, but those were all the old "almost generic" castings from the late 1980s.

Some of the most intriguing items I saw at the whole fair were Norev's new introductions to their 1:64 scale collectors' line - the three GM Firebird turbine cars and the GM Futurliner. Since the Futurliner is also "true" 1:64 scale, it is significantly larger than the usual three inches.

The "toy" lines (Mini-Jet, Tuners and Rallye) were displayed separate from the "collectors" line and only in the shapes of window box assortments and multipacks with no emphasis on any individual models. I did not spot any castings there that seemed new to me; perhaps some previously dealer-exclusive models are now included in the generally available assortments. Once again there was no sign of the vintage Renaults or any other models of vintage cars in those assortments.

The Corgi Trackside range of 1:76 scale diecasts appears to be successful, for the Corgi display included a substantial extension of that range, including some passenger cars for the first time - Morris Minor, Vauxhall Viva HA, Ford Anglia 105 - plus van versions of the same. I think that Vauxhall Viva and its Bedford van version have never before been done in small-scale diecast, so they are very welcome indeed. Other than those, there were no small-scale items on display at the Corgi stall.

Oxford Diecast has rarely been mentioned on this website before but deserves a mention now. During the 1980s, that company took over much of what was left when all the traditional UK diecast producers either went bankrupt or moved to the Far East - both diecasting machines and some employees. Thus the company became the very last one which still made diecast models in the UK. This was continued up to 2000, but then OD, too, transferred production to China. Most OD products are larger scale models reminiscent of Lledo, but now OD has introduced a new range of 1:76 (OO) scale models of vans, which is similar to the Corgi Trackside range (see above) and therefore should appeal to many collectors of Lesney-era Matchbox. The range includes Morris Minor, Mini and Ford Thames vans.

At the Motormax stall I saw some examples of the Fresh Cherries range (in 1:64 and 1:87 scales) for the first time. They look very attractive indeed, but I was told the company has no plans to issue them in Europe - let alone issue any models of European 1970s cars along similar lines. In their opinion, there is no market for such models over here, as collectors concentrate on larger scales. So the only small-scale Motormax models available over here will remain the basic range models sold at Toys R Us in Fast Lane packaging, among which I did not notice anything new.

Nothing new also at Golden Wheel, where I saw examples of the same castings which have been around for years. The company seems to concentrate mainly on promotional issues nowadays.

More Golden Wheel castings were to be seen at the Edocar stall, as has become the norm in recent years. However, the latest new introductions to Edocar's basic range appear to have come from a different source, which is as yet unknown. New models include Audi TT Sport, BMW Z8, Mercedes SLR, Mitsubishi Pajero Raid, Porsche Cayenne and 911/996 and a VW New Beetle RSi. None of those cars are brand new, but I have not seen those particular castings anywhere else before.

AutoArt had some of its 1:64 scale models on display mixed in among the larger stuff. I am not quite sure which of those castings are new, but the most prominently featured models were the Bugatti Veyron, 2005 Ford Mustang GT and 2004 Shelby Cobra Concept. On the other hand, I did not see any of the 1:64 scale WRC cars as shown on the AutoArt website.

As in previous years it was a joy to see the small-scale diecasts by Kyosho. As always most of Kyosho's rather big stall was devoted to their RC cars, so I had to search around for a while to find the diecast displays, and then to find the small-scale items at the bottom of the showcases, but it would have been a shame to miss them. The displays included series of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche models, a James Bond series consisting of slightly smaller models, and a series of Alfa Romeos which are much smaller in 1:100 scale.

Jada Toys from the USA has become a regular exhibitor at Nuremberg in recent years, and it was certainly interesting to see some of its products in real life, including an intriguing series of models of cars in badly battered conditions. Similar things have been done in larger scales before, but for small-scale diecast I think it is a novelty.

Diecast metal models in 1:87 scale seem to become more popular all the time and provide serious competition for the traditional plastic models. The 1:87 scale ranges of High Speed/Schuco, Motormax and Welly have been mentioned only in passing mainly because the quantity of models was already so large that I did not want to take the time to note them all in detail (and those by Universal Hobbies, which are my favorites, were sadly not shown at all). Another member of this section of the diecast model world is the German company Bub, which showed some more original and very attractive models, such as the Borgward Isabella Coupé, Lloyd Roland speed record car, and several variations of BMW 2002 and Mercedes W 115 (i.e. early 1970s "E Class").

Finally, I want to mention a few brands which had small-scale diecast models on display in the past but not at this Toyfair anymore. Guiloy showed only larger models this time, which indicates that their association with Joy City may have ended. In fact I did not notice any Joy City models anywhere at the fair, for that company itself was not represented either. Revell seems to have discontinued its former 1:64 scale series, which is a shame. Johnny Lightning and the other brands of the RC2 company were nowhere to be seen, except for some large-scale Ertl models at the stall of a Dutch distributor. RC2 itself did not have a stall of its own.

As always, this article is bound to include some inaccuracies and/or omissions, for which I apologize.

AUTOart - Bugatti Veyron