Volume VIII, Number 2

Korean Cars: The Unusual Suspects in Small-Scale
By Kimmo Sahakangas


I was surprised to find a modest diecast car offered by a seller just about three months ago. It is a replica of the Daewoo Matiz. It was offered along with three usual suspects in small-scale. After posting images of the model in the Matchbox Collector's Community Hall, at www.mboxcommunity.com, there was plenty of feedback from collectors and new information about other few interesting models in this series.

Two other Korean cars are represented. The Daewoo Lanos Saloon and the Hyundai Atos. Until very recently, the only other known Korean car in small-scale diecast was the Hot Wheels Hyundai Tiburon. Diecast were manufactured in Korea, but the small-scale models were replicas of foreign cars.

You may be wondering who the manufacturer is. My contact in Hong Kong provided the following: one translation for the Chinese characters on the package is "Di Ya Duo". That is all I know. The smaller lettering is "Guangzhou City Co. (or Ltd.). This is likely an importer. The underside of one of the packages identifies a Hong Kong firm named "Bingo Toys", perhaps a distributor. I imagine the manufacturer is another firm. The textured black plastic baseplates only identify "Made in China".

The quality is comparable to models from Pioneer Toys, higher end Singafund and Wang Sing (Win Star). It is certainly welcomed when a lesser known manufacturer will produce replicas of cars no other has offered.




Hyundai Atos


Daewoo Matiz


Fiat 500


Mercedes-Benz A-Class


Daewoo Lanos


VW New Beetle

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