O F F - T H E - S H E L F

Regular contributor to TofTC, Brian Willoughby discovered a wonderful Web site for toy car lovers. The site is the home of the Zee Toys Collector Club and features the products also known as Zylmex, Zyll or Intex. In 1996 Zylmex sold out to Red Box who has continued to offer some of the castings but nothing new to date.

The site can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4882/index.html. It is the hard work of Zed, the Webmaster for this well-designed page. Best of all, Zed has included a complete list of Zee Toy production over the years, the first I have seen. It included several surprises for me, in particular #D41, a Citroen SM. My affinity for this particular car is well-known to readers and Zed was kind enough to post an image. As you can see, the image is a bit fuzzy as it came from a Zee Toys catalogue, but at least I know what to look for. Does any reader have one of these in their collection. I would be willing to make a great trade to get one. I have also posted up all my duplicate Zee Toys on a new 'for sale or trade' page. Don't miss this page.

First batch of new Siku releases hits the store!
contributred by Remco Natrop of Holland (Editor's note: Remco has become one of the Siku experts on the Internet. If you have not recently done so, visit his wonderful site dedicated to Siku at : http://members.xoom.com/siku.. Thanks Remco for the following update on Siku for 1999!)

The first of this year's four waves of new Siku releases has become available in stores! For those of you wondering what's coming I have made a short list and some pictures to show what the first new models look like.

Wave 1: first quarter of 1999:
1093 Porsche 911 carrera (new model), silvergrey metallic (right)
1410 Porsche Boxster touring, kadmium yellow/black with neutral print (below)
1411 VW Golf IV touring, white/red/blue with neutral print
1412 Mini Cooper touring, silvergrey metallic with red stripe (below)
1413 BMW 320 i touring, white/blue with neutral print (below)
1616 Lowloader with frontloader (small scale 75mm)
2018 Mercedes Vario small truck, silvergrey metallic with dark blue cover
2050 agricultural trailer (farmer serie 1:42)
3757 Massey Ferguson tractor with trailer (farmer serie)
3954 Fendt tractor with trailer (farmer serie)
6616 Vacuum-tank trailer (Junior serie - jumbo)
6617 Fendt Favorit 926 Vario with loader (Junior serie)
6618 Mercedes Actros (Junior serie)
6619 Wheelloader (Junior serie)

Wave 2: second quarter of 1999:
1094 Mercedes A 160
1095 Mercedes ML 320
1096 VW New Beetle, yellow
1097 VW New Beetle, red
1359 Silo transporter (small scale 75mm)
1932 Mercedes Sprinter rescue van
2051 plough (farmer serie)
3130 Camper with trailer and VW Golf IV touring
3159 Massey Ferguson tractor with sprayertank (farmer serie)
3859 Case tractor with equipment (farmer serie)
4113 Mercedes Actros lowloader with O&K wheelloader

Wave 3: third quarter of 1999:
1098 Renault Megane Scenic
1617Extended bus (small scale 75mm)
1618 Autotransporter (small scale)
1619 Truck with semi-trailer (small scale)
2233 Mercedes ML 320 with trailer and Porsche Boxster touring
2538 Eurocopter helicopter
2619 Linde H 80 forklift
3955 Massey Ferguson tractor with loader and haymachine (farmer serie)
4055 agricultural machine (farmer serie)

Wave 4: fourth quarter of 1999:
2870 Horsetrailer (farmer serie)
3160 JCB Fastrac 2150 (farmer serie)
3458 Grapepicker (farmer serie)
3726 Tram
3758 Landrover Defender with horsetrailer (farmer serie)
4311 Siku mega lifter (Liebherr hydraulic crane)