Tbilisi (USSR/Georgia)
Georgian copies of Politoys plastic cars, most likely
using the original dies. Tbilisi definitely used dies from Norev, but
perhaps also Polistil and Mebetoys.
Tbilisi
Panhard 24BT
Tbilisi
Panhard scan of bottom
Tintoys (Hong Kong)
(See
Tin's Toys, below)
Tintoys
Abarth in box
Tins’ Toys (Hong Kong)
It
seens that Tintoys and Tins' Toys are the same company -- it would make
sense, since the same colors were used for the logos (but what exactly
does the "W" mean?). I've sent an email to Tins' Toys in Hong
Kong a few times, but no one has ever answered.
Once again I bow to Doug Breithaupt's site: You'll find articles written by Kimmo Sahakangas here and here.
Trax (China for Australia), Xenita (Australia)
Although I was advised by someone at a diecast seller
in Australia that Xenita and Trax were one and the same company, I got
some other information from Mike Pigott of the UK (thanks, Mike!):
"...Trax and Xenita were not the same company. Xenita were a short-lived
company who only ever produced one model, the Holden VL Commodore. It
isn't
a very good model (editor: It sure isn't. Very crude, without an interior),
but was acceptable by 1980's standards, and there weren't very many Aussie
cars around at the time. This casting was acquired by Trax
when Xenita went bust.
"Trax were originally a producer of Australian model railway accessories,
but
diversified into 1/43 scale models of Aussie cars in 1987. Their first
model was an iconic Aussie car, the 1953 FJ Holden, availble in sedan,
panel
van and utility (pick-up) versions. These were followed by cars from the
muscle car era, such as the Ford Falcon GTHO and the Holden Monaro, which
proved to be very popular.
"Over the years Trax have made a wide range of models from the three
US-owned
Australian manufacturers: GM Holden, Ford and Chrysler (marketed as
Valiant), plus a single model of the short lived British/Australian car,
the
Leyland P-76. Some models will appeal to US collectors, such as the 1962
Valiant, 1960 Ford Falcon, and a very nice 1962 Falcon Squire wagon with
wood panelling. At present, utilities ('utes') and flatbed trucks are
proving very popular.
"More recently, Trax diversified into model trucks and buses under
the TRUX
banner. These include a range of 1/87 model buses (some sourced from EFE
in
the UK) and 1/64 American-style semi-trailers. Most interesting is a 1/50
model of a 1940's war surplus Chevrolet fire truck."
Updating, Chuan Chai kindly advised me that Trax was indeed orginally built in Australia:
""The very first Trax model is the Holden Commodore, made using
the Xenita cast. This is probably the only Trax model that was made in
Australia, and it even has the Xenita baseplate unmodified. The only
difference between the Trax and the Xenita Commodore is the use of
transparent window and addition of interior. Later on, this model was
made
in China, with a different type of packaging."
If you'd like a Xenita, you'll probably be waiting a long time on Ebay, but they do show up. You'll also usually find several at Model Cars of the World, although they tend to be a bit pricey. Trax is easily found on Ebay (hint: also try Ebay Australia!), or directly from the manufacturer.
Trax
Valiant
Xenita
Holden bottom
Trol/Matchbox (Brazil)
Not
much yet about this company which manufactured Matchbox cars in Brazil.
All the information I've been able to find is, of course, in Portugese.
And Google translations only go so far...
Copyright 2007 by Keith Bickford. All rights reserved. No portion of this site may be reproduced without written permission. Quoted passages remain the property of respective authors.