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Polistil J-Series; Budget Racers from the late 60s
Topic Started: Dec 2 2011, 11:31 PM (1,885 Views)
diecastdingo
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Minivan
It is hard to imagine today, but there once was a time when Politoys / Polistil was a major player in the diecast arena.

They were probably most famous for their larger scale cars, but also offered a range of terrific 1/64 scale models in their”Penny” and "RJ" series, which these days are much sought after and can only be found at a premium. Think “Italian Tomica” if you are not familiar with them.

Their "J" series offerings are much less famous, and don't even rate a mention in their Wiki page, or on any other online resource I could find. So let's have a look at what was happening there.

First, let's have a look at the line-up from a cardboard insert in one of the boxes:

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On the left hand side you can see “Mozzafiato Polistil-J” - which translates to “Breathtaking” - advertising hype even then! The logo reads “Flash Wheels Route Zero Super Blitz” and by now you get an idea where this is going. The design screams late 60s, early 70s and the car line up confirms this – all of them are racing cars or prototypes made between 1967 to 1971.

Looking at the models themselves, you notice that they are of all metal construction, with blank bases which inlude cast-in interiors. The proprtions are slightly cartoonish, the colour schemes and stickers decidedly simple.

Let's have a look at the 10 models that comprise this series:

J10 – Porsche 917
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J11 – Matra MS630
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J12 – Alpine Renault A220
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J13 – Alfa Romeo Carabo
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J14 – Ford GT
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J15 – Lola Aston Martin T70
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J16 – Alfa Romeo 33
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J17 – Ferrari 312P
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J18 – Abarth 2000
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J19 – Abarth 2000 Pininfarina
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So, in conclusion, what are we to make of them? It seems obvious to me that this series was introcuced as a reaction to the then-new HotWheels. A budget series of hero cars of the late 1960s, squarely aimed at what would appeal to young European enthusiasts.

But, they also obviously missed the mark. They can't have been around for too long, as I've never seen any colour variations and no other models in this line-up were ever announced to the best of my knowledge.

Maybe they weren't cheap enough to compete with HotWheels head on, and not detailed enough to compete with the more accurate offerings. Hard to say. But what they do show is how seriously the competition looked at that new upstart from Mattel, and how quickly they reacted to it.

In any case, Polistil managed to hang in there until the early 90s, but never transferred their production to Asia like the others did and eventually went under.

It is tempting to think just what an “Italian Tomica” would look like in today's market – but it was not to be.







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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh man! Those are sweet! I've seldom seen Pennys, I have never seen these before! They remind me in a way of Muky.

Swifty, if you see this and Dingo agrees, this info rightly belongs in the database. These are just too scarce to let this info get buried.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
I see, and I have no objections to adding a Polistil database. The Penny series could use some documentation also... And I know someone who has a few models I could take pics of the next time I visit him.

As for these J-series cars, I have never even heard of them, let alone seen them! Way past cool!
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
I do believe I still have my Polistil J series models packed away...someplace. If I ever get organized...then again if I did...I could actually find my desk in my office. :D A while back I posted pictures of the Penny series models I have in my collection and can add some of those to the database - think I did group shots at that time so will separated them out one by one.
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diecastdingo
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pjedsel
Dec 3 2011, 12:58 PM
I do believe I still have my Polistil J series models packed away...someplace. If I ever get organized...
I think I bought some off you, didn't I? I think three or four of these came via you a few years back.
Edited by diecastdingo, Dec 3 2011, 04:29 PM.
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
diecastdingo
Dec 3 2011, 04:28 PM
pjedsel
Dec 3 2011, 12:58 PM
I do believe I still have my Polistil J series models packed away...someplace. If I ever get organized...
I think I bought some off you, didn't I? I think three or four of these came via you a few years back.
It is very possible Patrick - I know you got the Penny formula one cars I had - the J-series may have been part of that sale as well as I was parting out a lot of race car type models at that time.
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bunkerjim
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Station Wagon


Great little summery and pics Dingo,

Sure wouldn't mind having a few pieces in my collection..

How do you think they would do on a track as compared to Hot Wheels at the time..

The few Speedy's I have from Italy, I believe would perform pitifully..

.
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diecastdingo
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Minivan
Nah - they wouldn't be any good at all on the track.
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