The Rarest of the Post War Vintage Die Casts?

[Flyingtiger10]

G.R.:
There is a book called: "MERCURY: TUTTA LA PRODUZIONE", by
Roberto Bocco, Massimo Clemente et al., published by Libreria
Cortina, Torino, Italy, in 2005, 470 pp., that shows your rare
Fiat 212 in that livery. But not the Swiss military Vampire.
I wonder what the registration means? A friend sent me a
couple pages time ago, as I do not have that book.
(By the way, it costs 160 euros and it's still in production.
Size: 11' x 11" and weighs 2.4 lb.!)

[grwebster]

I have seen the book for sale on ebay italy but as I only want it for the aircraft, i declined- the other stuff doesn't interest me. Books are expensive to do, especially with color photographs, so I well understand the high price asked....even then I doubt the author ever made any money. {Do Not Ask Me How I Know!}
Any chance you could copy or scan the pages and send to me by email?
I know it mentions some gift sets.
I am in the middle of doing a section on Mercury aircraft in one of the series of books on Vintage Aircraft Toy Collecting {pre 1980} - each plane in a maker's series will be highly photographed -sides and bottom etc- good descriptions with collecting notes. We could collaborate on this if you want. I wrote the article in TPN years ago and have some general knowledge but you seem to be much more an expert in the subject.
In any case, I would like to include your Swiss vampire- {and a mint G212 civil if you or anyone else have one} but i need close up fine quality {300 dpi JPEG or TIFF}, 6x6 inch, in focus, images with an all white back ground- a plain white bed sheet will do fine or a piece of white paper with the plane in the center - no textured cloths.
This will not attempt to replicate Sue Richardson's definitive work, but hopefully compliment it. {If people are looking for detailed specifics -manufacture's numbers, etc- they should buy her book.}
All photos submitted are treated as donated contributions, but credit to the collector will be in print, so if you want to submit, please do so. Email me.
I also would like to have coverage of the Erie aircraft and we have a specialist for this, too. Flyingtiger10, aka Jose if he wants to write it up.
Dennis Ramsey has the 1:432nd field well documented and this too could find its way into the series of books.
I would like to see tin aircraft covered and Tone {aka Anthony Duva} is the expert here with a large collection. Perhaps Tone and I could collaborate on this and do a separate volume altogether - The subject warrants it.
BTW other forum members- same thing applies to other makes. If you have something email or pm me to see if can be used. The books and its chapters will be covering all the well known and some not so well known toy makes.
I will do the major writing, editing, photography and layouts.
This is the way The Plane News and MAQ operated - and without donated contributions, it never would have been printed. I will offer a finished copy of each book to anyone whose contributions are accepted and used in it.
I am not going to chase people to contribute, been there done that with The Plane News and MAQ. It is exhausting and generally not rewarding. I do not need the hassle and will not raise the issue again.
So think about it. It might be a nice way to show those family members and friends who think you are a bit crazy with your collection of toy planes, that there are many others who share the same passion.
BTW I am never sure how many of our forum members read all the posts so I will repost some of this in the General forum.

[fatalxsunrider43]

I remember looking for the Technica Jets when I was still collecting. I considered the Nakajima, Technica and Tomica's to be in a class of their own.
Even some of the rarest Japanese jets still go uncollected when available. I had some of the Mercury Blue planes, like the Cutlass in blue, was the only one known to exist, do not remember who bought that one. I have a rare Vickers Capital Viscount Trigger Plane that I figured was quite rare as it didnt pop up often if ever.

Hans Nesbitt

[grwebster]

Hans, admit it now, that Mercury Cutlass in Navy blue was your own creation. It was never issued.
BTW I still have some of those special ERTL jets you made up for the Editors of The Plane News. they were wonderful.

[Tone]

I have a rare Vickers Capital Viscount Trigger Plane that I figured was quite rare as it didnt pop up often if ever.

Die cast? I have seen them made of tin but not die cast.

[Flyingtiger10]

Hello All:
I recently bought this unusual Mercury Art. 412, Mig-15 in silver.
It has not been recorded, although in a Modellers' World magazine where they wrote about Mercury
Aircraft, the author mentioned a "silver" variation that was issued but never seen.
The one shown seems to be factory finished(as per photos) and even there is a trace of a red star marking
at the end of one side of the fuselage. if anyone has a seen a similar model, please confirm my theory.
If so, it would be another rare issue never recorded before.

Regards, Jose.

[MichaelB]

Thanks for posting. What colors did this piece "originally" come in? Do you have a photo?
Having some decals shreds remaining would be the important clue to it's being "original", as you note.

PS: Re-reading GR's note from 2010 is both like having him here with us and at the same time, like listening to a ghost. It leaves me with a heavy heart.
Michael

[Flyingtiger10]

Hi Michael:

The original Mercury Mig-15 was painted all white, with red star decals at sides and wings.
Unfortunately, I can't find a photo of it, but I will post a copy of a 1955 Mercury Catalog page that
shows all the aircraft, including the Mig-15. It's small, but the white color may be clearly seen.
Will keep searching for one. Cheers, Jose.

[Flyingtiger10]

Here's a couple photos of the original Mercury Mig-15.
Note the big red stars on the Mercury models. They were out
of proportion with the toy. FYI.