The Diesel, No. 50 - Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Ertl Collection (1997)

Description: The Ertl Company is an American toy company which formerly produced several Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends toys from 1985 to 2004. The most notable of these toy ranges made was a line of 1/64 scale die-cast models and playsets of characters from The Railway Series and Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. The 1/64 Scale Die-cast range launched in the UK in 1985 with a model of Thomas. By the beginning of 1993, the packaging had been revamped in the US, now featuring a Shining Time Station theme. By the end of that year, the UK and everywhere else received packaging featuring the character's "portrait" as illustrated by Owain Bell. Both card styles included a "collectors card" that could be cut out containing a brief description of the character and a card number. The Shining Time Station card is an aerial image of countryside with many fields, a few bridges and some village buildings. There is track coming along the left-hand side of the image which turns and comes across the card. The model is located on this track in a moulded plastic blister. Behind the model is a white box that joins to the typical smoke cloud and contains the model's full name. The Shining Time Station logo is situated above the image and uses a frame to encompass most of the image. The collector card on the rear of the card features a large illustration of the character, a small statement beneath about the illustration and the collectors card number to the left of the illustration. The portrait card was an image of the character towards the right hand side of the card, passing between a bush of flowers on their left and a mound of grass on their right. Between the character and the grass, aspects of a British village can be seen in the background. Depending on the character, there were rails, road or water between the flowers and the grass. The portraits form the front of the collector cards when cut out. The reverse side of the portrait contained a paragraph on the character and a paragraph of historical information; often containing the specifications of the real-life locomotive counterpart and when they were in service. The model was located below the portrait in a moulded plastic blister and the reverse side displayed a numbered list of available characters. Variations of the Shining Time cards include three packs of Annie and Clarabel with either Thomas or Percy, with the later having a different collectors card number. Culdee, Godred and City of Truro were marked as "Special edition engines", with City of Truro's collector card claiming to be the "Star of Gordon and the Famous Visitor". Also released in 1995 was a limited edition gold-painted Thomas on the portrait card to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Railway Series. This portrait card featured a gold foil ribbon under Thomas' name and the collectors card was numbered "1". George is unique in that two different portraits exist: one where he is similar to the model and one where he is entirely green (as depicted in the Railway Series). The Shining Time themed card in the US was discontinued in 1996, after that show ended and from 1997, the US would use the same portrait style cards as the UK. Further variations arose in 1998, with Bulstrode's portrait and the first wave of limited edition metallic engines. Bulstrode's portrait is the only exception to the illustrated location on the card. It is set at a dock with him tied to the right-hand side of the dock. There is a cottage, cliff face, lighthouse and fishing charter along the left-hand side and background. Thomas, Percy, Rheneas and Duncan formed the first wave of metallic engines in 1998, featuring metallic paint, their portrait images embossed with coloured foil, a limited edition plaque drawn above their names and no collectors card number. The second and final wave of metallic engines was released in 1999 featuring Duke, Sir Handel, Rusty and Lord Harry. Many collectors cards released in 1999 also featured bilingual (English and French) descriptions and historical information of the character. The portrait style packaging card was discontinued in 2000.

Price: 59.99 USD

Location: McAllen, Texas

End Time: 2025-01-28T22:03:16.000Z

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