We sadly lack a release date for this product and we're also unable to attach some rotor blade and tail codes to some countries packaging.
Each toy contains a code which can be seen through the packaging. In this release, it is often under the tip of the main rotor OR under the tail boom.
The code defines the date the toy was manufactured and the single letter defines which plant.
The problem we face however is this, we have codes from unwrapped toys and we have card images with no codes for the toy. In turn this has complicated adding packaging art to some release screens because the packaging and dates are actually different.
Some are made in "British Crown Colony of Hong Kong" and some are made in "Macao" it also appears they were later released as "Made in China" and the china release appear the most common, however the Hong Kong appears to be a genuine 1984 release.
We need to no what codes are tied to what country so we can add the right country's box arts and chart manufacturing counts by the codes.
For the 1 piece blister card release in our software database we can confirm 1975W and 1051Q, we can also confirm seeing genuine 1984 releases wearing the codes 3294W and 3564W
Codes dates via the Julian calendar, as such the first 3 digits are the day in the year and the last number is the year it's self, as such the 3564W is 1984, the 1975W is 1985 and the 1051Q is 1991, we've also seen a 1091Q, proving at-least 2 product runs in 1991, this 1991 production run is not long after Das Buch was released in germany and RTL re-aired the show for the first time since 1984.
These codes don't just help us date each release, they also help us understand how many production runs this toy got and on what dates.
NOTE MANY FANS POST IMAGES OF THIS TOY AND WHEN I ASK FOR CODES "MOST" DON'T EVEN REPLY. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THIS IS BUT AS OF NOW IM DONE LOGGING ERTL MANUFACTURE CODES FOR THIS RELEASE.. CONGRATS...
HERE IS WHAT WE HAVE SO FAR
1/64: = 3294W (British Crown Colony of Hong Kong)
1/64: = 3564W (British Crown Colony of Hong Kong)
1/64: = 1505W (British Crown Colony of Hong Kong)
1/64: = 1975W (1985 China)
1/64: = 2045W (1985 China)
1/64: = 2465W (1985 China)
1/64: = 2645W (1985 China)
1/64: = 0836G (1986 China)
1/64: = 1467G (1987 China)
1/64: = 1001Q (1991 China)
1/64: = 1051Q (1991 China)
1/64: = 1091Q (1991 China)
1/64: = 1121Q (1991 China)
1/64: = 27178 (19?? Macao)
It's also been brought to my attention that sometimes a Card back has 1121Q but the toy itself has 1051Q.
If you wish to help, Please provide us with the Rotor Code or the Code Under the tail boom & the country of origin if you still have the packaging for it. Even a single code is useful as some blister card backs are hard to read. I will update this post as we receive more codes to keep an online real-time updated list (outside of the merch guide app) for simplicity.
We have most of the releases found so far above in the merch guide (so if a loose toy is bought) you can look up the code under the tail or the rotor and look it up in our guide to se its packaging & origins. If the codes not in the guide & its not on this page then we need the code ;)
We've managed to pair up some photo sets from misc online sellers, so a products code screen can actually show you a sealed blister card and also the loose toy (as they match that packaging with no iffs or butts) due to the manufacture code rather than the UPC or Product code ;)
You really do have to under stand the merch guide to truly see just how cool it is when it comes together from varied sources.
Note the rack hanging hole also changed at some stage, i have yet to see a China release with the triangle type hole and as such i have arranged the following images in order of what i ASSUME is the order of releases between 1984 and 1991
Hong Kong |
Macao |
China |
Sadly this blog link might change once we confirm a release date, as that post date change will then alter this pages current link, again this is why the Blog is way behind the app right now. This post shouldn't be sitting in the January 2019 section of the blog.