May 7, 2001 CURRENT RUMBLE Retro Repro R.C. Josh Bernard 5.7.01 I found this gem at a local flea market last weekend. It was sitting on a shelf behind a dealer's booth. An elderly woman was working behind the counter. I saw it, and immediately asked the price. "Ooh special price, very rare." "Well how much?" "8 dollars." "Sold!" This is a bootleg of Bonaparte Tulcas, a tank from the Machine Soldier Dorvack line (see the excellent Datafile). It is 1:16 scale and RADIO CONTROLLED. it has a date of 1985 on it, and it was manufactured by Union Electric Corporation in Taiwan. I do not know if there was ever an officially released version of the toy. It could be that they took molds from a smaller toy and created an entirely new animal. If anyone has any info, Please let me know. This toy, named LASER FORCE, transforms almost exactly like its smaller counterpart. It does not include any weapons, but does come with a handy uni-directional remote. it is made of high quality plastic, and requires 4 "AA" and 1 "9V" battery to operate. And yes, after 16 years of storage, IT STILL WORKS. With all the hype and all the really expensive toys coming out, I was feeling a little overwhelmed. But nothing compares to finding something unexpected, a rare treasure in an unlikely place.  RUMBLE INDEX  |  CURRENT RUMBLE