Brian:

Front of Box Picture of Brian's Find -

image

Congrats Again on a Great Unusual Find I think. WtgWtg

 Probably I'd call it a "Tantal" diecast for the association of factories in Saratov and Marx that made the larger amount of USSR diecast - starting in 1971 - Some people prefer "Saratov models" but that name is for the area where alot of diecast were made. There were NO Marking on box or base showing manufacturer - only marking to show "Made in USSR" (English & Russian). All models were of their vehicles at the time.

By the way you should maybe call it "USSR" diecast not Russian because it was made before 1991 when the USSR broke up - after the breakup the Saratov factory was called "Tantal" and the Marx factory called "Radon" - Later they were called Arat (or Agat after translation) and Litan. Radon started marking bases and Arat the boxes - this I've seen in some pics.

By the way Information is lacking on these USSR and Russian diecast on the web so I wasn't surprised that I found so much conflicting info - on what little I could find  I decided on the above info as the best I could gather at the present time.

So here's some sites and links if you want to look at more USSR and Russian diecast-

From "Daniel Beck's Model Car Collection" site:


Probably a "Radon" - and a picture from site on links:




BELOW Quoted from Daniel Beck's Model Car Collection Site -

"Radon Model Cars -

During the Soviet reign the Tantal association in Saratov and Marx was the most important model manufacturer in Russia. Production of a wide range of 1/43rd scale
diecast models started in 1971, all models were of Russian originals. Most models were made at the "Radon" plant in Marx, but Tantal also let produce some model cars (various Ladas and UAZ, Moskvitch 403) in other factories. The models were also known under the brand names of "Saratov", "Auto USSR" or Zapchastexport". Originally the manufacturer's name wasn't indicated on the boxes and on the models, only the country of origin. In 1994 the company was restructured, and the model car production was maintained by two independent companies: Agat, where the production of the majority of the models continued, and Litan."

Another Site with more USSR & Russian diecast:

Max Paransky's Model GalleryMax's whole Site home page :


Max's Russian RAF 2203 gallery - Van is indentified as Both a "Radon" or a "Tantal". Click on thumbs on site for bigger pics.


WARNING :  BOTH SITES ARE VERY LARGE AND REALLY HAVE WORLD WIDE DIECAST.


Last Edited By: Zeezeerider Apr 27 13 3:25 PM. Edited 1 times.