MAC Forum

I have been looking now since several years for a tin F-104 Starfighter, preferably a Yonezawa, so far without success. Now I got one, which was sold as Masudaya (T.M.). This one is very close to the Yonezawa pictured in Ron Smith's book as T-85 (I would love to get a T-89 ) I can see differences from the Masudaya to the Yonezawa T-85 only at the front gear and the tip tanks, otherwise the models are looking identical.
Is someone there, who can confirm the maker Masudaya for this F-104 and explain the reason, why it is so close to the Yonezawa? Did they share part of their toolings?

Any help is much appreciated!

Wow!
Sorry I cannot help you there - I have not seen many tin F-104s and I do not have any large examples in my collection. I do know that Tomiyama and Yonezawa had a connection. Others were NikkoGangu/Toys Nomura/Line Mar.

I wish I had had a big tin F-104 when I was little. I liked playing with the fragile Bachmann Mini-Planes version.

Thanks Tony,

yes, the large tin F-104 s are quire rare. This one has 13" length, which makes roughly scale 1/50. And many other tin F-104 are not good in shape.

I just question the maker Masudaya, also since the pilot in the canopy is looking very close to the ones used by Yonezawa for their B-36.

As you may have realised, this toy is still on the way to me, the picture is provided by the seller. As soon as the jet is here, I keep you updated.

Regards,
Chris

The F-104 is meanwhile arrived. It is a phantastic toy in pretty good condition. It has no maker's name on it, just "Japan". The pilot is not the same as the ones used by Yonezawa for the B-36, nevertheless I still doubt Masudaya as origin. It is pretty well finished with sparkling action and a retractable nose (spring dumped) to avoid damage, when it hits the wall.

The search goes on.....

This is my latest tin F-104. The maker is OHTA of Japan, trade mark is visible near the plastic tail. It is larger than the other Ohta F-104 and still a caricature though a different sort of caricature. The engine exhaust reveals the tin is lithographed on the inside - pity I can't read it.




I actually got this plane yesterday in a second-hand shop in Lee, MA. I didn't even see it, as it was in a case covered with miscellaneous paper. A finds like this plane in such a shop is rare indeed today !

Tony, that's a great find. I know how difficult it became to find old toys in such shops and if you find something belonging to your collection it is even more exciting.

I was lucky as well to find this Aoshin F-104 mint/boxed. As one can see, it was made for the German market. It remembers me of my childhood. When I was young, I was living 3 km far from Noervenich military airfield. Until 1983 the Luftwaffe operated F-104 there. When they made an engine check on ground, it was not possible to talk to somebody even 3 km far from the airfield, and the cupboards in your house started to walk....... I loved it!