# Marchon Collectors guide



## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

Just received this today.Very interesting & even had a lot of cars that I did not know existed.Any others get this ? Lots of interesting facts & great pictures.

Neal :dude: 


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Item=140193776352


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

I haven't gotten it yet, but it is on my "to get" list.
Finding an unusual Marchon car is pretty difficult. Finding a new Marchon car that doesn't look like it came out of a sixth grade modeling class is the biggest challenge.

Joe


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## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

volvo1:1 said:


> Just received this today.Very interesting & even had a lot of cars that I did not know existed.Any others get this ? Lots of interesting facts & great pictures.
> 
> Neal :dude:
> 
> ...



I sent the Author this letter;

Dear Chris;

I find your guide very interesting.I admire you for taking the time to research this.I am now aware of the Marchon cars that I did not know existed.You say the original Marchon chassis design was purchased from another company. I assumed from before it was TYCO as the chassis is almost a dead ringer for the old HP-7. I also use HP-7 parts kits to repair these cars as it only takes a little filing to adapt the HP-7 shoes to the Marchon chassis. Guide pins & gear/axle assembly's (Wheels & tires too) interchange along with the guide pins.The motor from the HP-7 can be used on the old chassis & I find the TOMY TURBO motor is the same as for the later MR-1 chassis.The only part I find that cannot be interchanged are the long p/u shoes on the later chassis.OEM parts are now a challenge as almost 12 years has elapsed since the "Empire" struck out.
One thing I notice is that the later chassis tend to crack if they hit the wall hard enough.They are not the same materiel as the TYCO or Tomy in that respect. The consolation I find is that repairs are easily made with Super glue Gel & plastruct.Perhaps this is why the early chassis were made of some sort of "Hard rubber" plastic.
I was not aware of the significance of the yellow & orange chassis but only a few had the circuit board on them. I did not know what it was for & removed them from the few ones that had.Many of the cars I bought with the yellow or orange chassis did not have this on top & the Porsches do not seem to have room for them any how. I was only aware a few were set cars such as the Night riders,Rescue & Dinosaur park. I am now trying to pair together those cars that were in the same set according to your book.
Most of the Marchon cars I have I bought at the Slotcar shows in the NY/NJ area & were sold loosely so I could not have know if they were set cars until now.Some I got on eBay or bought at the KayBee stores.
I find that some of the bodies were copies of other companies designs. The Testarossa seems like a copy of the TOMY testarossa.I notice a deformation where the front bumper is slanted towards the right side when viewed from the bottom. 
I also notice that the Marchon T-Bird, Porsche', Firebird & Corvette are copies of their TYCO counter parts that are modified.Was this authorized or a "Ripoff on Marchon's part ? The others seem to be Marchon's original design.
Some people thought that the Marchon cars are crude .I think they have a very cool "Funk" factor & are still great performers on track. I admit to some modifications,as for example I did take out the grey plastic windows & spray painted them black before putting them back in but the grey plastic made the cars to "Toylike" & crappy looking.They really look much better now . "Aerohoppers" ,Jets ,Mickey mouse/Donald Duck & Formula 1 do not have any appeal to me & so I do not collect them.
In any event I will always treasure the Marchon's I have. I just have a real soft spot for all of the "Fallen Flags" of HOdom such as Atlas & Lionel,etc & Marchon is one of them.Like the 1:1 Studebaker & Packards may they never be forgotten.Keep up the good work !

Regards, Neal


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## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

Does this book include all the Micro Scalextric cars and chassis that were Marchon based?


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## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

Montoya1 said:


> Does this book include all the Micro Scalextric cars and chassis that were Marchon based?


 :thumbsup: Affirmative !

Neal :dude:


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## zanza (Sep 23, 2005)

Bought it also a while back and was surprised at first how thin it was (10 or 12 color pages).
But I then discovered that I had one rare Marchon in my collection and was pleasently surprised


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## Abominus (Dec 25, 2004)

Zanza,

Congratulations on finding a green Porsche! It is one of the hardest Marchon cars to locate in any condition. Any chance you got it with the set? I would really like to find the name of the set that included it.

Thanks,

Chris


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

I was able to pick up the guide at the last Parsippany show. While it is a very thin book, it does give all the information necessary to see all the different Marchon cars. Trying to discover what went on with Empire/Marchon, and then be able to acquire them all, must have been a Herculean effort.
While I found that I am only missing 10 of the cars, I did discover that I have two versions not listed in the book (a different Testarossa #52 and I think the other was a Thunderbird #88). As Chris mentions in the book, the guide was built by using the combined knowledge of long time collectors and there may indeed be other versions out there.
Anyone who puts together a guide should be applauded.

Thanks...Joe


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## Abominus (Dec 25, 2004)

*Marchon Variants*

Joe,

I have been in contact with Alan, and he told me of the two variations you discovered. 

On the #88 Thunderbird (22097.3) with different color taillights... Without actually seeing the car, this might just be a production tolerance variant. The color of the taillights can vary on that car depending on the darkness of the blue paint underneath. I have access to quite a few #88 Thunderbirds and none of them are significantly different enough to say it was an intentional variation by Marchon. 

On the #52 Testarossa (22057.2)... Usually the taillights on this car are red and the entire rear of the car appears solid red. I am still looking into this one. It might be a difference between the Marchon and Empire production. My brother has one that is definitely an Empire car, but I have not been able to inspect it yet.

It would really help if I could see the cars. Can you send photos?

Whatever quality control was used at the Marchon factory, it was not very good. The #21 Lumina can be found with different size Goodyear logos on the rear wing. At first I thought it was a difference between a Marchon and Empire release, but large and small logos are found on cars released by both companies. Some collectors might consider these different versions, but in reality it was just poor production standards, not something intentionally changed. There are other cars with similar variations too.

By the way, do you remember selling a red 1989 Aerohopper to me a few years back? That is the actual one pictured in the guide. For some reason, that car could not be located, but it has since appeared often.

Chris


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

what makes the yellow and red chassis so special?


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## wheelszk (Jul 8, 2006)

Got my Marchon guide yesterday,real handy book. Thanks 
Bill


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## tjettim (Nov 29, 2005)

It's no wonder they went under,I never saw any for sale
when they were new.They must have had lousy distributors.


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## RMMseven (Oct 22, 2004)

I can't remember the details but Marchon's parent company was bought out and the slot car stuff was cancelled. They has some unique items like their NASCARs and Jet fighters. I remember the jet figther set was at some of the discount toy stores around Christmas time, it was expensive but a few were left over for after the holiday clearance sales. They displayed a Star Trek "Next Generation" set at one of the New York trade show toy fairs but it was never produced.


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## Abominus (Dec 25, 2004)

Videojimmy,

There is nothing special about the yellow or orange chassis on regular cars. But in AC powered sets, the yellow chassis was controlled by the yellow colored terminal socket and the orange chassis was controlled by the orange colored socket. The chassis in those sets came with a circuit board that allowed this to work. 

Chris


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Abominus said:


> Joe,
> 
> I have been in contact with Alan, and he told me of the two variations you discovered.
> 
> ...


Chris,
I will try to remember to take my camera when I go back to my house and get you some pictures. I was actually supposed to send you pictures of a couple Canyon Raider Jeeps which I thought might have different color lettering and I never got around to it. But that was only about 5 years ago, so I still have time...LOL

I believe both cars listed above are intentionally different. I am color blind, so I never pick up on slight variations in color; I sometimes have to put cars right next to each other in order to see the difference. On these two cars, the tail lights are dramatically different colors. I would say one is yellow while the other is dark orange or red.



> Whatever quality control was used at the Marchon factory, it was not very good. The #21 Lumina can be found with different size Goodyear logos on the rear wing. At first I thought it was a difference between a Marchon and Empire release, but large and small logos are found on cars released by both companies. Some collectors might consider these different versions, but in reality it was just poor production standards, not something intentionally changed. There are other cars with similar variations too.


 I agree with you on the quality issue. That would be another reason it is so hard to find all the Marchon cars in good shape. Even when they are new, they can look like they have been used.



> By the way, do you remember selling a red 1989 Aerohopper to me a few years back? That is the actual one pictured in the guide. For some reason, that car could not be located, but it has since appeared often.
> 
> Chris


 I think so. A few years back we did a trade; I think it was after I met your brother at the Parsippany show. I believe I sent you an Aerohopper with the older body mounts and you sent me a Porsche which I did not have. Pretty cool to know one of my cars made it into a guide. My five minutes of fame.

Joe


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

I have about 10 of these cars. I always thought they were underrated. Must be because the bodies are kinda of "cartoonish". Great chassis though. 


When did they switch over to the can motor chassis? 
I have one that has an inline motor, kinda like an early Life Like.

Thanks for the info Albominus.... I have both versions with the boards attached. I guess I should keep them, huh?


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