Playart Police Van

I posted earlier about my Playart Batmobile. When I saw that car, it was a double-first for me. The first time I knew Playart made a Batmobile, and the first I had ever heard of Playart to begin with!

I'm sure my friends and I had some of these toys as kids - they were prolific in the seventies and eighties - but I was not aware of them beyond being a non-Hotwheels or non-Matchbox "also ran." They are of a lower, but undeniably charming, quality level than the "big two."

So when I acquired the Batmobile, I did some research. This Site is the most informative info I was able to find on Playarts.

A couple months later I was in an antique store that is a favorite of my dad's, due to it having a whole room of toy cars of all shapes and sizes. I looked all through the room with my newly acquired knowledge of an obscure "new" die-cast brand worth hunting for...but not a single Playart was to be seen.

As we were leaving and paying for a couple finds, I walked away from the register and peeked into a cabinet full of general antique store fare. On the bottom, in the back, and in the corner, sat this van! Mint on an unpunched card! A whole room full of toy cars, and the "gem" sat near carnival glass and old doilies!

So I bought it...for $3.75.

UPDATE: I traded this off to a friend of mine who is a big Playart fan/collector. It's in good hands!