I thought i would share some of the info i have been pulling together as i have been researching Die Casts so ill start with the Die Cast Tie Fighter

Its quite amazing just how many different issues there was and its probably impossible to get them all but for me its great to see how wide spread the intial Die Cast Wave 1 Releases were.

Here are some pictures i have put together from various sources including theswca, ebay and images on the net.

Some images are of course better than others and if i find better ill update the thread for me one of the fun things about Die Casts is they arent particually well documented so theres quite a bit to learn / find out

Great idea for a thread Jay. Love the pictures!

Nice to see you back on TIG Jay and some great Info on these Tie fighters mate, I never realised there was so many types and it's pretty cool to see them all in one place.

Never knew there were that many packaging variations Jay, I love the Toltoys one

Who else here collects or at least has a few die cast toys then?

Great idea for a thread Jay!!!

I love that Harbert version, and the Clipper off course for sentimental reasons.

Do you know whether there were also Meccano and Parker releases?

Thanks guys

I wanted to Do One Die Cast at a time because i dont think people realise how many different carded / boxed variants there were.

I wouldnt even know if they are loose / coo variantions on the ships! Its possible given the range of release especially with Wave 1 ships like the Tie Fighter.

Marco to my knowledge / research i havent seen any evidence of a Meccano or Parker Die Cast Tie Fighter release thats not to say they wasnt but no examples or info so far. Maybe some of the old Meccano adds could confirm if they exsisted? Paul maybe able to help there.

Cheers Jay

wasnt there a meccano a few weeks back on the bay :scratch: :scratch:

I maybe wrong...though

Hi Jay, nice thread! I also didn't know there were so many versions. Love the Harbert and Clipper. Can't wait for more additions now

Yes... there's evidence aplenty of die-casts being available in France from 1980/82 which can be seen on Meccano/Miro-Meccano adverts and catalogs:

In the 1980 Meccano retail catalog you have a full page of 'Miniatures en die-cast' featuring pics of the X-Wing/Tie/Landspeeder/snowspeeder/Cloudcar/slave1.

Also, in one of the Saynette scenes from Pif Gadget comic (664) there is a scene showing Luke and 3PO in a standard size plastic landspeeder but in the background you can clearly see a die-cast X-Wing.

You can also see die-cast vehicles in the ESB 1982 in-pack catalogue poster - which they used alongside plastic vehicles to create perspective.

I think there are a few other examples of die-cast popping up when it should have been plastic vehicles in the ads - Meccano are well known for using mix-and-match toys in their ads



So... definitely available here yes! But if they were packed on Meccano labelled cards I haven't seen any yet.


PS - Jay - I have an X-Wing mailer to add for when you do the X-Wing section

Awesome info Paul many thanks for coming through!

Do you have any pics / scans of the Meccano Tie Fighter Adds that we could add to this thread? It would be awesome if it is confirmed that the Tie Fighter was released on a Meccano Card but at this stage theres no evidence located. I guess its a case of keep digging and i feel the old meccano ads are a good route as they have shown previously unkown MOC releases in the past and considering the widespread release of the Die Cast Tie Fighter e.g Clipper, Toltoys, Harbert etc its certainly possible it came out on a Meccano Card.

If anyone has any loose Vintage Die Cast Tie Fighters and can add pictures to this thread including COO's shots then please feel free (I only collect them carded) it would be interesting to see if there are any loose variantions over its run.

Cheers Jay

wbobafett wrote:

wasnt there a meccano a few weeks back on the bay :scratch: :scratch:

I maybe wrong...though

Ive searched and searched Wolff but cant find one do you have a link. Ive been watching Die Casts on Ebay for some time and never seen a Meccano Die Cast of any ship buddy. Do you have a link?

Cheers Jay, I'll dig out my Meccano ads tomorrow and have a look see what I can upload here.

Here's a couple of images that show the Tie Fighter die-cast on Meccano ads/cats:

1981 saynette from Pif 660 showing die-cast Tie in upper background:





Die-cast page from 1982 Meccano retailer catalogue, taken from Stéphane's 'From Meccano to Trilogo' book:



I don't even recall seeing any loose die-cast on Ebay.Fr. So maybe they were not available here - despite being shown in the catalogue. If memory serves well the Luke, Ben and Vader DT saber figuress were advertised in Meccano literature but not actually available in France (none have been discovered yet anyway). I think there were also a couple of the smaller ships advertised that never made it to retail either. It's possible Kenner sent whole batches of stuff over for photography purposes. I'll see if I can find out from Stéphane if he has any info on die cast.

im not really sure anymore! Its more then 4 weeks ago! Waht a shame...cannot find it anymore! Im sure that I have seen a carded one in France or spain. The card then had to be meccano or pbp....and I think it was meccano. Im not searching this stuff at all and I wouldnt have looked at it if it was a normal kenner card.....I send the link to a friend and asked him if he knows someone who is collecting such stuff, because I thought this could be rare!

Thats all I can say....Im sorry! I mainly searching ebay.fr and ebay.es....so it was for 100% foreign and for 100% not kenner!

Next time I know whom I drop a mail

sorry again....Ill try further to dig up a pic!

Ill checked again Jays pics above. I could also think of stopping by this auction because it was a harbert card......ah damn....if would have been loose 3 3/4 I would still know...LOL

Ha...the friend I sent this link to (mike skywalker) saved it...thank god! The link is dead...but it was a harbert tie!

BIG sorry for confusing everybody here!

wbobafett wrote:

Ha...the friend I sent this link to (mike skywalker) saved it...thank god! The link is dead...but it was a harbert tie!

BIG sorry for confusing everybody here!

No worries Wolff i remember watching the Harbet

Paul those pictures are great im still leaning towards it not been released on a Meccano Card though the Die Cast Cards are a different size to Figure MOC's and there isnt any evidence it came on a meccano card not even a used card back. I would love to be proven wrong though! Either way i thing its awesome to see how many carded variations they are just for one Die Cast ship and ill be adding more ship threads in the coming weeks Some of the Die Cast Boxed Ships came with awesome special offer versions!

Jay

aha!

***** some late news just in - thanks to Stephane ******

Hi Paul; Meccano released only the landspeeder + Tie Fighter diecasts from Clipper cards + specific french stickers; I don't think the third one of the 1st batch (XW) was released.

Only those were released and there was no meccano printed card; the dolls have a similar thing with the stormtrooper for example being only available as a Denys Fisher box + white large sticker.

The meccano retailer catalog features the diecasts, but I really don't think they were not released expect these 2 ; each year, there was several products pictured which were finally not available..

stephane

Hi Paul, that is some great info on the Mecanno die casts. So the landspeeder and TIE fighter were released on Clipper cards with a french sticker!!!

Would be great to see a pic of those stickered cardbacks one day.

BTW: That Meccano advertisement rocks. Poor Tatooine Cantina Aliens captured by Hoth Rebel soldiers.

are all SW Canadian 20 backs? (middle pic) There is also a Canadian ESB back -11 vehicles (right pic) & Kenner 'transition' card SW front, ESB back( left pic). I wonder if all vehicles were available on them & how many more cardback variations there are?

edit: no Canadian 12 backs? : http://womprat.com/micros.html

aussiejames wrote:

are all SW Canadian 20 backs? (middle pic)

My Canadian Vader's TIE is a 20back, but I'm not familiar enough with the other diecasts to know if there are any Canadian 12backs.

The Canadian Star Wars Gallery shows the various releases as well, but only from the front:
http://web.ncf.ca/cn333/diecast.htm

aussiejames wrote:

are all SW Canadian 20 backs? (middle pic) There is also a Canadian ESB back -11 vehicles (right pic) & Kenner 'transition' card SW front, ESB back( left pic). I wonder if all vehicles were available on them & how many more cardback variations there are?

edit: no Canadian 12 backs? : http://womprat.com/micros.html

Thats some awesome info AJ can you take individual pictures of the backs and fronts of those Die Cast cardbacks buddy?

I know there is a number of ESB card backs when it comes to the Wave 3 Ships (Wave 3 = Slave 1, Cloud Car, Snowspeeder) im not sure of the specific details as yet as im still looking into it / waiting for people to get back to me etc

JesseVader08 wrote:

aussiejames wrote:

are all SW Canadian 20 backs? (middle pic)

My Canadian Vader's TIE is a 20back, but I'm not familiar enough with the other diecasts to know if there are any Canadian 12backs.

The Canadian Star Wars Gallery shows the various releases as well, but only from the front:
http://web.ncf.ca/cn333/diecast.htm

Hey bud would you be able to take a decent picture of you Canadian 20 back Tie Fighter Die Cast Front & Back buddy as the current picture i have is shit and im hunting for a better one

Cheers Jay

jaymassive619 wrote:

Hey bud would you be able to take a decent picture of you Canadian 20 back Tie Fighter Die Cast Front & Back buddy as the current picture i have is shit and im hunting for a better one

Cheers Jay

Mine is Vader's TIE, but here's a couple pics from a while ago. Unfortunately I don't have any other carded diecasts.

I only just read about the Canadian Vader Tie fighter cardback, it has the smaller pink section, just like the early 'short wing' Kenner version.

Here is front & back pictures of a 'transition card' - SW front, ESB back


it's one of my childhood items, still has the Yaohan price sticker.

nice thread Jay, I've had a side focus on die cast TIEs for the last couple of years and I was unsure what Canadian variants were out there until now.

I've also got a near complete run of the die set and always wondered which ESB card back came first - any ideas whether it was the all blue back or the three rows (I'd guess the three rows). I tried researching these way back and there is very little info out there.

What I also like is the prototypes on the back of the large boxes, and the way that the falcon and Y-wing are labelled as Imperial Crusiers





Spot the deliberate mistake on this back

"always wondered which ESB card back came first - any ideas whether it was the all blue back or the three rows (I'd guess the three rows). I tried researching these way back and there is very little info out there."
Just a guess from my 'transition' card (SW front, ESB back) I'd say the blue background

Cheers AJ I should have picked up on that. It's strange how the blue background is more like the later Esb card backs whilst the three line is more like Esb 31 backs

AJ just to complicate things your transition card doesn't make sense. The very first kenner dc ESB back is the equivalent of jesse's one above. The Kenner one has photos of the production toys.


Any Kenner transition should have this back - or is yours Australian Kenner?