[1scalevolvo]

Been comparing some Marchon & TYCO Porsche' Whale-tail cars.Some of the Marchon's were ripoffs of TYCO with just enough changed to evade copyright infringement.It is interesting how the rear side vents were filled & the front bumper was modified plus retractable head lights added on the front fenders but it is obvious that it was copied from TYCO.I wonder if there was any recourse that TYCO could have taken.It is academic now as Marchon has joined that gallery of "Fallen Flags" of the HO world & its successor,"Empire" struck out not long afterward. A lot of the chassis technology was copied since many TYCO & MR-1 chassis parts interchange with slight modification(guide pins,p/u shoes on some models,gears & motors,etc.)

:dude: Neal

 

[22tall]

I agree that they are all similar but different. I cannot agree with your conclusion. The real car manufacturer sells the rights and the toy manufacturer makes their take on the car. Look at the diecast world. A hundred different makers release the same car and they are all slightly different. Who is copying who?

The Ferrari TRs were both released in 1988. Which was first?

 

[Bill Hall]

Hi Neal, They're all a bunch thieves! LOL. I like these side by side comparos you've served up.

Well the Porsche cars are both slope nose versions. The white unit has the traditional DP 935 nose. Not sure what the heck other nose is, but it kinda looks like a facsimile of a later Kremer bros version. More like the later production turbo versions for the street. Both DP and Kremer bros were big time Porsche tuners of the era. The slope nose fender was actually a factory part offered on their streetable "wishlist cars" and was standard racer fare for the day. What happened below the hood and fenderline was a parade of everyone trying to build a better mousetrap.

The tails are quite a bit different. The red/yellow unit has a heavier more bulbous version of the double wing. The whole car appears thicker than the white 935. All in all very different animals. There were so many derivatives of the 911. It's hard to keep them all straight, especially the 934/935/936. They all appear similar.

Obviously I'm a Porsche nut. I've been working on them for 20+ years, so the subtleties appear humongous and many to me.

As for the other cars maybe some other nuts can give us some intel on their respective areas of knowledge. Like 22 tall, I think the makers are always tightroping litigation. True innovation and something completely different is few and far between these days. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and a slight styling variance keeps the legals at bay.

 

[Hank80]

If Marchon is no longer in business of producing, who cares? Like Bill Hall stated "is the sincerest form of of flattery"

And if Marchon was or is still around and producing. Dont you think the manufacter of the full size car would be after them for copyright infringement? Along with the other toy companies, who legally obtained the license to reproduce in miniature.

This is just a personal observation. I am not taking any shots or anything. Just speaking or in this case typing my thoughts on the subject.