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Mercedes 450 SEL Bulgarian fire chief; #56 Superfast
Topic Started: Feb 25 2017, 11:37 AM (1,317 Views)
b2young
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Sad firefighter
Curious about whether this was ever released in the non-Bulgaria mainline as a fire vehicle. The only references I can find for a fire version are for the Bulgarian-made SF:
Posted Image

I see it was apparently sold in the (international?) mainline in German police livery.....and of the several well-known online databases I browsed for it, the Bulgarian models are glossed over or non-existent. I had never seen the police version until today (as far as I can remember, though I found a link to a post at Swifty's by EdeKa during my search--so I probably did see that post at some time). There are a bunch of police variations.....were there any variations of this fire car?*

This one came in the Bulgarian Mikrobox "FIREMAN" playset (Douglas or someone profiled that set last year, I think)....I bought one of the set on ebay recently. I also have one on Bulgarian short card along with one of the many Fire 160 Carmichael Commandos.

*I found a post by former Matchbox ambassador Nigel Cooper on Lamley back in 2014 which answered part of my question.....he showed a few Bulgarian fire variations, but there were also CocaCola versions, at least one white with a red cross on the door....but I'm still curious if only the Bulgarians produced this fire chief version.
Edited by b2young, Feb 25 2017, 11:49 AM.
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Douglas
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SUV
Blair, I think I have a few Bulgarian emergency versions of that casting, not sure if fire versions or police, but I'll try to remember to check later. Right now the only one I have in my bucket is this old photo of a police version. Oh and that wasn't me with the playset, I can't think of the members user name who used to post the Bulgarian playsets, but I enjoyed seeing them.

Posted Image

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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
Douglas
Feb 25 2017, 06:45 PM
Blair, I think I have a few Bulgarian emergency versions of that casting, not sure if fire versions or police, but I'll try to remember to check later. Right now the only one I have in my bucket is this old photo of a police version. Oh and that wasn't me with the playset, I can't think of the members user name who used to post the Bulgarian playsets, but I enjoyed seeing them.

Posted Image

Man...you can see this one coming a mile off...maybe even two! :lol:
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b2young
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Sad firefighter
I had a R10 (Renault) 4dr that was this color......never had trouble finding it in large parking lots. Ultimately knocked the transmission drain plug (had one of those transverse trannies) out of it while driving over what appeared to be a smallish rock in the road.....and kept driving, unaware. Ended up selling the engine to someone who needed a 'new' motor for their (gold) dredge.
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webestang64
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Minivan
I've have not seen that Fire 450 before.
The only 450 SEL's shown in my US pocket catalogs are the plain dk blue that came out in 1980 to 81 and the German police version that ran from 84-85.

Here is the topic on the 450 Taxi I found at the toy show..... http://swiftysgarage.net/topic/7469083/1/#new
Edited by webestang64, Feb 26 2017, 02:38 PM.
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Douglas
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SUV
No luck on fire versions of this car, but do have an ambulance and a couple other police versions I can show, and then I figured I might as well show the other fire decorated Bulgarians I had, a few Mercedes convertibles, and a Renault, I didn't get pics of my Carmichael Commando fire versions, but I think you were already aware that there are a number of them available.

Here is the original Polizei version by Lesney, or I guess by then it was Universal, although mine still says Lesney England on the base, from the changeover times I guess.

Posted Image

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b2young
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Sad firefighter
Oooh, I'd want one of those MB convertibles if I were a Bulgarian fire chief! (Heck, I'd like one of those for ME, NOW!)
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Todd
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Compact
webestang64
Feb 26 2017, 02:33 PM
I've have not seen that Fire 450 before.
The only 450 SEL's shown in my US pocket catalogs are the plain dk blue that came out in 1980 to 81 and the German police version that ran from 84-85.

Here is the topic on the 450 Taxi I found at the toy show..... http://swiftysgarage.net/topic/7469083/1/#new
Are we talking about this catalog?

https://www.mdiecast.com/mpictures/catalogs/Matchbox_1984-85.pdf

It's the only one online I see identified as U.S. and 1984/85, but that most definitely is not the U.S. line.

I know the police car exists in U.S. packaging, but I don't think it was ever officially part of the U.S. line.
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Todd
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Compact
I finally scored one of these in U.S. packaging, no number of course. If I didn't know better, I'd think it were another brand, probably because it reminds me so much of the Siku one.

Posted Image
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webestang64
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Minivan
Todd
Aug 13 2017, 06:44 AM
I finally scored one of these in U.S. packaging, no number of course. If I didn't know better, I'd think it were another brand, probably because it reminds me so much of the Siku one.

Posted Image
Nice find!! :bowing:
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Pegers
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Pony Car
the 1st one looks to be rather rough.
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bi-bib
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"Tear down this blister pack, Mr. Gorbachev!"
The red one came as part of two sets:

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Posted Image

Later it was released separately on a blister card with silver base.

The rarest of all three known versions to me is the one in the second set - with orange color tampos.
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