Mazda Rx500 Blister Card - Artists Trial??

[numi]

Hi All,
I have in my possession this blister card but have little or no idea what it signifies.Could our forum members please tell us more.
The card is almost the size of other Lesney blister cards.
Has plain white rear backing.
The front has two piece sticker card (diagonal cut) viz, top half in vinyl coated yellow and the bottom half in spray-painted blue.
Matchbox logo at the top is a vinyl sticker.
Die Cast CARS print in the middle is raised with stencil-cut letters from thin sticker type board/thick paper and hand shadowed & hand brushed and the black outlines are done in marker pen.The tiny white sparkles at the bottom of CARS is hand painted in white similar to using white tippex.
The blister is still sealed and have no cracks.
I have included a Hong Kong blister card for comparison.
The Green & Silver Mazda is England made with Clear Windows and Pearly Silver Base.
I am leaning slightly towards this being an artists trial and i could be wrong but what do others make of this.
Thanks in advance,
numi

[just_lesney]

The clear window Mazda is defiantly pre-production so would assume the backing card is an artists trial or sales sample - very nice.

David

[SMS88]

Hi Numi - 1st time I have seen an artist´s pre-pro blister card, great find to be treasured

[motorman]

Very interesting and quite unique i would recon

[numi]

Im speechless...Wow. A pre-production artists trial blister card and a Lesney England pre-production model in a sealed blister....all in one go.How much luckier could one get.
Thanks Mr Mick,Mr Evans and MM. The truth of the matter is that i merely concentrated on just the card and not the model.This Green Mazda did not attract my attention in the least bit cos it resembles the Streakers line of models which gives me a toothache. I visited Christians site now and just couldnt believe my eyes.... pre-production clear window specimen by chance.
Im really chuffed so into a perspex card protector it goes.
Thanks again,
numi

[ritchie]

Yes, this is a hand-made blister card that never went into production. The same was shown on Nigel Coopers' Ambassador report #4 and a similar in black was sold recently in ebay. But none was as mint as yours! So very well done Numi on finding it, especially with a prepro in it too!

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[cOO7rgi]

This is an awesome find, Numi! Where did you get it - ebay?

Would be interesting to know when these cards were made. When did Matchbox use this version of the logo - black text on white background with double quotation marks? Are these the last designs from Lesney or the first attempts from Matchbox International?
I am not much of a Matchbox collector but I have one set from 1983 which already has a different logo (black text with single quotation marks).

[matchboxuk]

I have one of these blister cards. They were produced at the Lesney factory and were early mockups. You have to be very careful as the letters can easily become detached as they were only glued on.

Nigel

[numi]

Thanks Mr Nigel,Ritchie & 007. Yes these are interesting mock-ups and its good to know that more examples exist.I too was wondering whether these were made in England or the East but its now confirmed.

Ritchie,is your example of the Datsun car made in England or Macau?

Thanks Mr Nigel for the handy tip and i will make sure the entire card is protected so the lettering stays intact.
numi

[ritchie]

Hi Numi,
I didn't get that blister card, but from seller's listing description this Datsun car was made in Hong Kong (same as ordinary release).
Cheers,
Ritchie