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Reader's Digest..? Vintage Cars +Foam VW Bug

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  • #1

    Reader's Digest..? Vintage Cars +Foam VW Bug

    Found all this in a bag at the local thrift shop for $1.99.

    I've seen those vintage cars from Reader's Digest but these look like they have a Big Lots sticker, maybe sold through BL after RD did not sell them...?

    The NPC foam rubber Bug is a give away from a health products company out of North Carolina.






    Scotty "Mustang (+Matchbox) Mad Man!"

    RIP.....Pop.....David Blase Garascia 9-17-35 12-3-20.
    Tags: None
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  • #2
    Awesome - I have never seen those old High Speed/Reader's Digest cars sold in a package like that. A lot of times they came with a neat little box. It has been a long time since Reader's Digest offered neat little cars like these as a premium.
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    • #3
      There are so many variants of the brass era oldtimers from High Speed, I am still sorting them out. Back when High Speed went by the name Wondrie (Metal and Die Works?) they were producing these oldtimers. Readers Digest was somewhere in the middle of the road for these models, the blister packs shown here were made sometime after RD but I don't know how these were supposed to be sold...it is possible they were made for Big Lots, but I think at this period of time Big Lots was still focused on clearance and overstock items (that has changed over the years, now Ollie's seems to have picked up where Big Lots left off). A year or so back I found some of these oldtimers packaged and made by Yibao, so the tooling is still in use as of a year or two ago. I have examples of the High Speed issues with the bases marked as made in China, Macau and Hong Kong. So for such simple models they have been around for at least 30 years and probably a good bit more.

      Click image for larger version Name: high speed made in China.JPG Views: 0 Size: 115.6 KB ID: 35106

      Click image for larger version Name: high speed made in Macau.JPG Views: 0 Size: 111.3 KB ID: 35108

      Click image for larger version Name: high speed made in Hong Kong.JPG Views: 0 Size: 127.0 KB ID: 35107

      Click image for larger version Name: high speed yibao4.JPG Views: 352 Size: 101.8 KB ID: 35109

      The image file limits have been reset. Upper limits now are 100,000 when we have some images that exceed 5,000,000. I've set the pixels for no more than 1000 across the longest side, so if you resize to that all should be well. (The limits are larger than what I typically use, and my images turn out just fine, so I know it shouldn't be a problem)

      Thank you for your understanding.
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      • #4
        the rubber bug looks like one of the things they give you to squeeze while they take your blood.
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        • #5
          Somewhere in storage I think I do have some more of these RD cars but as mentioned in a box set and not blisters.

          All 4 of these say Made in China.

          Model numbers starting from top right going clockwise......304,303,305,306.

          And that Bug fits nicely in the palm of your hand.
          Scotty "Mustang (+Matchbox) Mad Man!"

          RIP.....Pop.....David Blase Garascia 9-17-35 12-3-20.

          Comment

          • #6
            I have this one I found at the thrift store in mint condition with the box.
            Click image for larger version Name: IMG-20190712-154524-086.jpg Views: 306 Size: 19.6 KB ID: 35283
            Click image for larger version Name: IMG-20190712-154553-780.jpg Views: 333 Size: 19.4 KB ID: 35284
            Click image for larger version Name: IMG-20190712-155207-367.jpg Views: 321 Size: 15.8 KB ID: 35285
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            • #7
              The Alco is one of the harder to find ones, but they are out there. I've managed a few copies over time (need to thin the herd, actually ). A full accounting is compounded by the fact that High Speed doubled up on most of the models, using the same casting with different paint to represent a completely different car...and since the details are sketchy at best, nobody really is the wiser. The Ford Model T is one of the exceptions...and also probably the most prolific, it seems like it turns up in every lot I find.

              There is another little roadster, but the casting is noticeably different, and I think they call it a REO.

              Click image for larger version Name: high speed 1906 REO green.JPG Views: 0 Size: 163.5 KB ID: 35394

              There is one more roadster, I believe it has been ID'd as a Hudson, but it is quite uncommon, found only in a 3 car box set. There are a few other models like that.

              Click image for larger version Name: high speed 3 car set.JPG Views: 0 Size: 178.6 KB ID: 35393Click image for larger version Name: high speed 1910 Hudson green5.JPG Views: 0 Size: 128.9 KB ID: 35391

              Actually, the Mercer Raceabout was in one of the 3 car sets as well, but also found (in Canada?) in a single box, but either one is not as easy to find as some of the others.

              Click image for larger version Name: high speed 1911 mercer raceabout.JPG Views: 0 Size: 184.8 KB ID: 35395
              Attached Files
              The image file limits have been reset. Upper limits now are 100,000 when we have some images that exceed 5,000,000. I've set the pixels for no more than 1000 across the longest side, so if you resize to that all should be well. (The limits are larger than what I typically use, and my images turn out just fine, so I know it shouldn't be a problem)

              Thank you for your understanding.
              • Likes 1

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              • #8
                Fantastic info Wes.....................and pics......

                Love the REO..........the company that Ransom E Olds built after he sold Oldsmobile to GM.
                Scotty "Mustang (+Matchbox) Mad Man!"

                RIP.....Pop.....David Blase Garascia 9-17-35 12-3-20.

                Comment

                • #9
                  I have the brown one in that 3-pack as a Hupmobile.

                  #HF 9087 1914 Hupmobile HA Touring:



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                  • #10
                    Yep, sure is! That one is more rare than the Alco, but it was available in a single issue box:

                    Click image for larger version Name: high speed 1914 Hubmobile red.JPG Views: 1 Size: 177.1 KB ID: 36577

                    But now the big blue limo that makes the third in the box set is a bit of a mystery to me. That one only came in the box set, so I don't have a single issue box to ID it with.

                    Click image for larger version Name: high speed 1907 Simplex blue.JPG Views: 1 Size: 116.2 KB ID: 36578
                    Click image for larger version Name: high speed 1907 Simplex blue2.JPG Views: 1 Size: 133.7 KB ID: 36579
                    Click image for larger version Name: high speed 1907 Simplex blue6.JPG Views: 1 Size: 125.0 KB ID: 36580

                    I have it tentatively ID'd as a 1907 Simplex

                    Dave told me once he was going to pass along the model list for these, but he never got around to it so I've been winging it. At least the ones with boxes have a model name even if not quite accurate. (Like Brougham or Victoria)
                    The image file limits have been reset. Upper limits now are 100,000 when we have some images that exceed 5,000,000. I've set the pixels for no more than 1000 across the longest side, so if you resize to that all should be well. (The limits are larger than what I typically use, and my images turn out just fine, so I know it shouldn't be a problem)

                    Thank you for your understanding.
                    • Likes 1

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                    • #11
                      Here's the other 3 car set with some rarities:

                      Click image for larger version Name: DSCN1789.JPG Views: 1 Size: 151.7 KB ID: 36583

                      The Mercer is in the middle, I think the topmost model is a Locomobile, I don't have a clue what to call this limo:

                      Click image for larger version Name: DSCN1797.JPG Views: 1 Size: 182.2 KB ID: 36584
                      The image file limits have been reset. Upper limits now are 100,000 when we have some images that exceed 5,000,000. I've set the pixels for no more than 1000 across the longest side, so if you resize to that all should be well. (The limits are larger than what I typically use, and my images turn out just fine, so I know it shouldn't be a problem)

                      Thank you for your understanding.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        So while there is a "short" list of a half dozen or so castings that go back to the Wondrie years (the same ones incidentally that Yibao popped up with a little while back), there are some other castings in the same vein that absolutely complement the originals but are made in considerably fewer numbers. And these I am showing are High Speed (or direct derivatives) and not the Summer lookalikes.
                        The image file limits have been reset. Upper limits now are 100,000 when we have some images that exceed 5,000,000. I've set the pixels for no more than 1000 across the longest side, so if you resize to that all should be well. (The limits are larger than what I typically use, and my images turn out just fine, so I know it shouldn't be a problem)

                        Thank you for your understanding.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Yes. The top one is the #HF 9090 1915 Locomobile:





                          What are the numbers on the ones you cannot identify?

                          I have three others on my list but don't have the models:

                          #HF 9085 1910 Hudson Model 21 Roadster
                          #HF 9086 1911 Brewster
                          #HF 9088 1907 S+M Simplex (Town Car)
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                          • #14
                            I am so happy that collectors are sorting through these little gems from the earliest days of motorcars. Very interesting information in the above commentaries.
                            • Likes 1

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by FourDoorFord View Post
                              I am so happy that collectors are sorting through these little gems from the earliest days of motorcars. Very interesting information in the above commentaries.
                              Me too.....very neat stuff. Going to hunt for more of these at the toy shows.
                              Scotty "Mustang (+Matchbox) Mad Man!"

                              RIP.....Pop.....David Blase Garascia 9-17-35 12-3-20.

                              Comment

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