VBD2 is closed. Please go to https://vbd3.co.uk instead.

Hi All,
This is my 1st All Black specimen with clear glass,Lesney Prod & Co,made in England base and cast-shut doors.I understood that these came or were produced mainly for the TP sets.However,this specimen is in the original Uk bubble and the 1st ive come across.
Does anybody on here have one in a similar card or perhaps have seen or heard about others extant?
Thanks in advance,
numi

Hi Numi, hope all is well with you. I have shown 3 photos below of the all black Datsun 260Z, two have Opaque glass (light and dark glass variations) and the other is the same as the one you show with clear glass.

Although I put all 3 into boxes they did not originally come that way. The two with Opaque glass came in Twin Packs and the one with clear glass came in exactly the same US blister pack that your one is in. From my experience I think the clear glass variation is harder to find than either of the Opaque variations.

All the best
Rob

I have a loose one how it came originally I can't say

Thanks Reg

Hi Rob,im fine thank you and hope u are too and that u had a wonderful Christmas.
Thanks for the lovely clear pics of your variants and your indepth explanation,most appreciated . The strange thing is that ive never seen another in a Us blister before.It proves that that are possibly more extant in collections that havnt yet surfaced.
Thanks again,
numi

Notice that the Blister Pack is a U.S. style that does not have the name of the model on it. I remember that era well and these Blister Packs were used to "dump" a lot of strange models in the U.S. market. It was a great time for variation hunting.

Similar to how rarer models were "dumped" in the European market in 5-packs including the white Piston Popper, etc.

Yes, it was a great time to find rare models as you say, the 71a Blue Wreck truck was another from that time in the multi packs as well as the 46a Silver Mercedes 300SE.

The opaque model, dose it have anything to do with the glow in the dark track sets issued around the time these were available?

When I saw the heading to this thread I thought it was going to be about our national rugby team, who are known as the All Blacks.
We take on the Lions tonight in a game and next year get a chance to thrash England!!

Cheers, Steve
Matchboxkiwi

bobneumann wrote:Notice that the Blister Pack is a U.S. style that does not have the name of the model on it. I remember that era well and these Blister Packs were used to "dump" a lot of strange models in the U.S. market. It was a great time for variation hunting.

Similar to how rarer models were "dumped" in the European market in 5-packs including the white Piston Popper, etc.

Actually the blisterpack shown above does have the name "DATSUN 260 Z" printed below the model, as you can see in the close-up picture.

It does however not have a model number printed. In spite of the printed copyright date of 1980, this model cannot have been issued any earlier than 1983. The Datsun 260 Z had been retired from the basic range at the end of 1982, and its number 67 was thereafter assigned to the "Flame Out" dragster in the US range, so when this model was issued, it was not part of the basic range anymore, hence no number printed.

matchboxkiwi wrote:The opaque model, dose it have anything to do with the glow in the dark track sets issued around the time these were available?

These opaque windows definitely glow in the dark. There must be a connection with the track sets, although I am not sure if the Datsun 260 Z ever came in one of those track sets. At the time they usually contained the Porsche Turbo and/or Corvette. The Datsun and Ford Cortina with glow windows were more commonly found in twinpacks.

In UK the 55 Cortina with Glow windows is found quite a lot in the first issue light blue window box from 1982.