The M35 Deuce prime hauler was designed in the 1950s and remained in service for decades being used not only by American forces but by many other nations as well and having undergone a plethora of modifications. As such it would have been the one truck MPC's designers would have based a toy on. However, when you look at the M35 and look at MPC's truck it's apparent the toy designers went their own route, the cab of the real thing vs. MPC's cab are two different animals and the M35 is a 10-wheel rig vs. MPC's 4-wheel arrangement. And that's okay because it is just a toy and as such became an iconic, must have Little Green Army Man toy of the '60s and '70s. It was one of my favorite MPC pieces as a kid and was one of those vehicles you never had enough of - after all, it takes soldiers and supplies to fight a war and you have to haul 'em somehow! It measures 7 5/8" (19.36cm) L x 3" (7.62cm) W x 3 3/8" (8.57cm) H and has a removable canopy (sorry - I never got around to taking pics of the truck sans canopy). Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina
M35 (M), the older M135(R)
Courtesy Wikipedia
This series of shots shows the truck hauling MPC's cannon
..great pics and info: I remember the MPC vehicles, especially their tanks, being a very close competitor to the TimMee stuff...
ReplyDeleteThank You! I had a bunch of MPC and Payton as a kid but don't remember having a lot of Tim Mee or processed Plastic Army toys - header bags with figures but that's it.
Delete..I also remember the MPC stuff coming in a fairly large "play set" type box that included the tanks and other vehicles. My favorite color was the "metallic blue": I have a few of those but they are hard to come by...
DeleteTheir "Battle Front" playset was I believe their most popular. I have it (and had it as a kid) and will be posting it as part of this series. Stay tuned to this station :-) Most people associate MPC with OD colored vehicles but they actually had a fairly broad range of colors we tend to forget about.
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