Tintoys Diecast Tanks

Mike Pigott looks at a small – and rather unoriginal – range of military tanks made by Tintoys of Hong Kong. During the 1970s, budget diecast manufacturer Tintoys of Hong Kong introduced a small range of miniature tanks, based on military vehicles from four different nations. However, the models were not particularly original, and appeared

HALO: Combat Evolved by Hot Wheels

Mike Pigott looks at the Hot Wheels models based on the futuristic Halo video game series.One of the most successful video game franchises of the past two decades has been the Halo series, which involves a future Earth army battling mysterious aliens known as The Covenant. The games were very well designed and featured a

Tintoys Armoured Cars

Mike Pigott looks at this small and rather unoriginal range of armoured military vehicles made by Tintoys of Hong Kong.During the 1970s, Hong Kong-based toy company Tintoys released a small line of four miniature armoured cars based on vehicles used by different armies from around the world. While the range was not particularly original, the

Mighty Jack by Imai

Mike Pigott takes a look at a rare model based on an obscure Japanese sci-fi espionage programme. Mighty Jack was a Japanese TV series first shown in 1968, involving a top-secret peacekeeping organization and their amazing flying submarine. The programme ran for a single season of 13 one-hour episodes and was created by Eiji Tsuburaya.

Corgi Juniors Military Models

Mike Pigott looks at the different military themed models that appeared in the Corgi Juniors range in the 1970s and beyond. Diecast models of military vehicles seem to come and go. They were very popular during the 1950s, right up until the late 1960s. Then they appeared to vanish from the market completely for several

Corgi Growlers

  Mike Pigott looks at this sub-series of the Corgi Juniors range from the 1970s with working sound effects. During the 1970s, model car manufacturers were constantly coming up with new gimmicks for their diecast vehicles. Matchbox introduced Rola-matics, which had parts that moved as the model was rolled along. Hot Wheels had Revvers, which

Hornby Minic Ships

Mike Pigott looks at Hornby Minic Ships, a high quality but underrated range of 1/1200 diecast waterline vessels from the 1970s. Our story actually starts in 1959, when Tri-ang, then one of the biggest toy companies in the world, introduced a line of 1/1200 model ships and accessories under its ‘Minic’ sub-brand. There was a

Trux CMP Lorries

Mike Pigott looks at this small range of diecast military lorries by Australian manufacturer Trux. With the threat of war looming 1937, Britain found itself with a dire shortage of military multi-purpose trucks. The British government approached Canada to design and produce a line of light infantry trucks, as Canada had a modern and under-used