[REVIEW] Siku Mercedes-Benz 250 Polizei

Lesney Matchbox time is here...oh wait, it’s another trick, as I need to pace myself. Today’s review is definitely not Matchbox. This is Siku 1020, the Mercedes-Benz 250 in Polizei livery. This casting entered the range in 1975, remaining until 1984, and is what one expects from Siku of this vintage:

I reviewed this model in one of my first posts here on LaLD, and it came to into line again, so I thought I’d put it into my usual format. Today’s review works well with the W116 seen last week. This model of a W114 (or /8), the workhorse of the era, looks right in police colors, and the tinted windows are definitely period correct. Detail and proportion are quite good, maybe even above average for Siku. Scale is claimed to be 1:60, likely accurate. This model sits on older style wheels likely dating it to earlier in the production run. I had one of these in my childhood fleet with the whitewall style tires, I bought it from old stock at Kay-Bee around 1987 or so. These were sold as a premium product, costing around $3 when regular MBX/HW were around $1 (and closeout Tomica Pocket Cars were 2/$1, a story for another day). This model features firm suspension and opening doors with tight panel gaps, along with the blue dome light and articulated antenna for play value and realism. From all angles, one can see it rushing to the scene in bellbottom and wide lapels-era BRD:

Doors open to reveal interior details, I don’t think the steering wheel is accurate:

Front and rear have similar quality detail, with a sturdy hood ornament similar to last week’s review, and a detailed license plate, along with a trunk star almost located on the badge area:

The base is metal, typical for Siku of this era, and also typical, does not contain technical detail, rather just some identifying data. Notice this predates the era where Siku included specs on the base:

I am pleased to have this in my loose collection. It reminds me of a childhood model (that I think I still have somewhere), and it being an old MB in somewhat unusual period livery just adds to it. A fine looking casting:

A couple 1:1s from blaulichtfahrzeuge.de and imcdb.org: