DynaFlites

[grwebster]

I had obtained from Hans Nesbit {California} in the 1980s his collection of Dynas which included every different variant he could get from all over the world.
On the old yahoo site, I offered up this collection and sold it. I found some old pics of the military ones that were in the collection. It shows the variants which Michael and Barry discussed above.

[Tone]

Well he had many more of the early ones than I will ever have, but I have one variant he does not have - a dark blue Hunter with multiple British roundels on the wings.

[MichaelB]

There are a number of "dated" items in GR's photos....no B-52 in gray, for instance. But he does show many of the Modern Toy issues from Japan - many color schemes which were only released by them...including some JAL and ANA airliners.
MJB

[angelreader]

Michael the HU-16 had been underground and was starting to corrode,the Hunter was purchased that way ie restored and painted blue as per the Blue Arrows aerobatic team,by restoring the HU-16 it was saved otherwise it would only have degraded,no way would I touch a decent model,the Hunter is the only one that I have ever come by.
So you leave the models in the blister packs ? is that right.
Yes I do aluminium rotors on my own remodelled examples,usually car boot finds in awful playworn condition,doing something good with them is a bonus.
I am a collector and a model builder and pick the best avenue for each item of tat that happens to come my way ! have you noticed the way they chew into plastic undercarriages etc,those kids must be hungry.
Barry.

[angelreader]

Now you see how good they look as a collection,the Jap Camel is new to me,never seen that rarity,that four engined Cessna Skymaster is very imaginative,some variations on those Futz Camel's as well,very interesting pictures and so useful for reference.
I just picked up a carded Skymaster,took me a while to get that one.
Barry.

[angelreader]

As requested the rear of the card with details,which year would this one be Michael ?
Barry.
The odd sticker must have been on the blister pack and had been removed on receipt

[MichaelB]

Thank you, Barry....gotta be early '70s...those are all early issues.

[MichaelB]

Just thinking about the DynaFlites and Miniplanes...the MP are easy to list - few variations. The Dynas are just the opposite - many, many variations by color, date and place of issue! They were never listed all at once by ZEE and never all shown in any catalog. Since it's marketing, pieces and colors would come and go year by year...some pieces that were shown didn't turn up, and others took their place. In one catalog an upcoming Cathay Pacific 747 is illustrated with a Matchbox piece! The ZEE item never got to the shelves.
Even the Super Wings card back you posted shows A127 simply as Lockheed...originally the L1011, then the SR-71! Both Lockheed!...and I don't think that was by accident - and who would know why?
BTW the L1011 has A127 cast in, but the SR-71 shows N127...for new, I suppose.
...just part of the game!

[angelreader]

All sent to test you Michael and your skills in sorting out a catalogue of them,so when did the first Zylmex aeroplane appear then Michael ? and what type was it.
Overall a good selection of types portrayed over the years with some novelties as well,the Boeing SST always intrigues me and is a piece of history in itself.
If they had provided better propellers and rotors with good plastic instead of re-cycled stuff,deployed transfers instead of stickers then they would have improved the line a lot,but they were made for a mass play market anyway.
Barry.

[MichaelB]

I gotta say they were made for the low-end of the mass market! Stickers were the norm for just about everything at the time, including Matchbox. ZEE moved to tampo over time; for instance the DC-3 can be found in both stickered or printed Air Canada colors. The trend was clear.
That's a good question about when they entered the market, but I am confident that they entered in a initial "batch" of aircraft, the parameters of which I am still trying to define. The oldest note I've found is 1972 and by then they had to have been working on it for some time. Wide distribution was obviously a plan from the start.
I'd have to put the Stuka as being the oldest of the line still in production, but even it was changed from a 3piece to one piece cast during it's life. Those early Stukas, with the tail wheel and bulbous prop spinner, are among the hardest to find. I'll put up a list of rarities in due time.
The whole thing about DynaFlites is that some of them are very nice! Well beyond what would expected from a very cheap toy. Detail level, clear canopies (not any more!) could be exceptional. Their best pieces are two of the last, and happily they are commonly found: the S-3A and EA-6A. Both are right at 1/200 in scale, and the tampo marks are very good. I spent a few minutes with a black sharpied and really picked out the detail.
Would more pieces of this quality have "saved" the line? I doubt it, as the target market didn't really care about scale. Matchbox continues to produce card scale airplanes of "toy" quality, so I suppose they got the track on that.
Of course Matchbox hit a rocky road in the mid '90s as well, and got sold a few times before it's recent return to the retail arena. I remember being flabbergasted in finding a stash of the "new" ones at an out-of-town grocery store - I cleaned them out!
Is this the end of $1 plane? Probably not, but it'll never be like the good ol' days!
Michael