1968 French Blister Packs
68F-A - French Python Card

HK Blister Pack Menu
1968 French Blisters		Type 68F-A Blisters		6212 Custom Firebird

Green Custom Firebird - Courtesy of Steve Marcum

No Paper Insert Smooth Blister (Straight sides, button tab) Folded Tab Button
16 Car back Python Printed Allemagne(Germany) Copyright 1967
A closeup of one of the saples Has the German Mattel logo Has the added French Mattel distributor logo
Car is the HK version

According to Steve Marcum, this card and blister show typical attributes of the other early German-printed Redline (Heisse Rader) cards, namely the thicker cardboard stock, thicker blister and the fact that these blisters frequently "yellow" the cardboard - as you can see everywhere except for where the car sits. Jouets Rationnels was a toymaker and a wholesale distributor for Mattel toys in France in the 1960's, so the fact that it was discovered in France 7 years ago makes sense. There are 4 old staples holding the blister to the card, and no sign that : (a) the blister was ever glued to the card, OR (b) that this minty Firebird inside has ever been outside the blister. The staples show the proper age and positions of similar Heisse Rader Blister Pack examples known. I've owned a number of Heisse Rader Blister Packs over the years and one thing I found in common with them was the Redline car's "Model No." printed in ink on the back of the card. This card has no extraneous ink marks, just the French language on every line. My best guess would be that the blister, card and Redline car were mailed together, but individually, to "JR" and stapling the blister was the easiest way to complete the retail package for what was obviously an extremely limited run and most likely for "JR" only !

Value	Date	Ownership History
		Steve Marcum