Mighty Wings and Wild Wings Diecast Aircraft

[hovermd]

I've had a blast talking to MichaelB about the Mighty Wings and Wild Wings line of aircraft out of Hong Kong.

I recently puchased a cool Piasecki Work Horse, which is #4401 in the Mighty Wings line. MichaelB informed me that the Mighty Wings line was relesed by Universal. 3 other helicopters were released in the Mighty Wings collection, but I don't have those (yet!). I particularly like the plastic display case in this series. The cases remind me somewhat of those in the AHI toy car/truck line. I've heard them referred to as "styrol," but don't know if that's accurate or not. Here's a photo:

Mighty Wings Piasecki Work Horse

The Cragstan Wild Wings helos came on what I would call a "blister card." Here's an example of the Piasecki Twin Jet in that line:

Cragstan Wild Wings Piasecki Twin Jet

My understanding is that both lines carried the same four aircraft. Release dates on the Cragstan Wild Wings were (I think) 1968-69. I'm not sure on the Mighty Wings set.

Not shown here are the Sikorsky HO4S-1 and the Huey Cobra.

Cool toys! Am I missing anything?

[MichaelB]

Well surprise, surprise, Mark!
I didn't know that any of the Mighty Wings ever came in a clear plastic box! Yes, they do look like the Showcase Miniatures! My Piasecki is also on card; I will attach a photo.
This line is interesting if just for the Piasecki alone! A most interesting selection of aircraft.
I am including a line card back and two different MW cards.
These also appeared as "Tuff Wings" from Hong Kong in 1971.
"Product of Universal, Hong Kong, made for SS Kresge".
Nice toys, larger and with more features than DynaFlites, but it doesn't look like the line lasted very long.
...thanks for posting!
Michael

[hovermd]

So cool to see that multiple companies/distributors released the same toys under different labels. I've seen that a LOT regarding Japanese tin helicopters. I guess the dies and templates were passed around quite a bit. It's also interesting to see when a company blatantly copies a popular toy, not even bothering to change the design much... It makes collecting and identifying toys a bit tricky, but also fun!

[MichaelB]

I do try and keep with with the release permutations. Obviously these guys in Hong Kong shared designers, planning and production. Now, whether it was all done above board - that's another matter!
I do know that the current crop of producers of plastic model kits in the far east unabashedly steal/borrow/copy kits from other makers. I think this situation is "normal" for industrial operation in China.
I think it's always been this way, ever since US producers moved to the far east to make toys, electronics - well, just about everything - cheaper. They found the home office cut out of the equation!
MJB

[Tone]

Those choppers look great. Do they have any tin plate parts? I really like that Alitalia "final livery" Caravelle. I think it's the only die cast Caravelle I have that has a lithographed tin upper body. The Concorde in that series is made that way also. I had always thought Universal began in 1977.

[MichaelB]

Tony, I don't know. I can't get to my box of Mighty Wings just yet, but they do look just like the Tin Toy planes.
I don't know the history of Universal, so, thanks for that bit of info.
I also need to check and see if the 4 WWII planes are the same ones that Universal/Kidco would release for the next 3 decades. Again, I can't get to my box to take a look. The giveaway would be that all four, including the Stuka, have "Spitfire" type retracting undercarriage.

[hovermd]

I recently acquired another copy of the Wild Wings diecast toy line. This one is made by a company named Jaru from Singapore. The Jaru version is called "Wild Planes." How original!

It's No. 1754, a nice little AH-1G Huey Cobra:

Wild Planes AH-1G Huey Cobra

There are no graphics on the back of the blister card to indicate if other helicopters exist in the line.

The scale of this toy is smaller than the Wild Wings line. But, I must admit that I have no experience gauging scale.

Could someone give me a lesson in how "scale" works?

Mark

[MichaelB]

Ok, you've gotten me confused...
Is the card shown a new issue? It was Cragstan than marketed a "Wild Wings" series using that type face and decorations...it's identical. It was that series that included an AH-1 Cobra in the series using the Wild Wings card.
Yours is Wild Plane but has a Jaru label? Could you show us that?
The Wild Planes name was used by Mandarin for one of their lines. Indeed, what you have illustrated should be the Mandarin Cobra issue, # 1106.
I always associate Jaru with a much later line of common reissues, under their name and card, starting in the early '90s. Really poor quality stuff similar to Mandarin pieces - but not as good. Things like a poorly done VC-10 in EAL markings.
The implication of your photo is that Jaru has recently reissued a Cragstan Wild Wings issue under the Wild Planes name?

Scale:
I suggest using the wingspan, but you can also use the length. You can also round some of the figures used, or even fudge them, especially if the model is especially small and difficult to measure. It really doesn't matter of the model is 1/252, 1/249, or 1/263 does it? It's about 1/250 and that may be sufficient. Often times models have different "scales" for the wing span v the fuselage. They can be wrong; they can be off. Be ready to estimate.
You need to know the actual wing span of the aircraft being examined.
For example (and only an example, your mileage may vary):
A B-17 has a wingspan of 73ft 9in...or...73.75 feet.
The model has a wingspan of 3 1/2"....or .29ft (3.5/12=.29)
Then 73.75 / .29 = 252, as in 1/252 scale.

Christian would want to do this in mm, but I'm old fashioned.

[hovermd]

My apologies if I've confused things - unfortunately, I don't think I have many answers right now.

This toy was purchased at an online auction, so I don't know when the toy was originally released. The packaging shows a fair bit of wear and there is a purple 10c (10 cent) stamp, which indicates some age to me...

If you enlarge the photo above, you can clearly see that the card is stamped "Jaru" inside a triangle next to "No. 1754" - it also says "Jacksonvile, Fla. 32207" along with "For Children Over 5 Years" and "MADE IN SINGAPORE"

A small rubber band orginally held the toy in place on the card, but is is lying loose in inside the plastic blister cover.

The toy is 1/242 scale, being 2 7/8 inches long.

You can clearly see that it's marked "Wild Planes" at the top in the same styling as the "Wild Wings" font... maybe this is simply a copyright infringement? The "No. 1754" implies that other aircraft or toys were produced, but who knows? Maybe this is a "one of?"

I'm not at all familiar with the Jaru name. I found a website for a "Ja-Ru" (notice the hyphen), and it does have offices in Jacksonville and Hong Kong. I wrote an email to them to see if they can tell me anything about this toy, particularly the release date. Maybe the "Jaru" was earlier and changed to "Ja-Ru?"

[Tone]

If this toy helicopter were made in Singapore it would likely be very late 70s-early 80s. The card art, on the other hand, looks to be early 70s, with that "psychedelic font." I remember that the Aurora A/FX slot cars I played with were made in Singapore in the early 70s. The "JARU" sign is a fine black outline, but nevertheless it is clearly visible when you click on the photo to magnify it.

Are there black/white "universal product code" scanner lines on the card's backside? Anything before 1977 would not have these. I have a green Mandarin B-58 with a card that reads "Happi Mates." One would think early 70s from the look of it, but it has the universal product code scanner lines, which would indicate 1977 or later.