Love Bug collectibles come in many different forms, including
Disney promotional items, licensed items, unlicensed items and custom pieces.
Promotional items include lobby cards, posters, publicity
stills and tie-in items, such as Viewmaster slides, coloring books and comic books.
Other promo items include games, puzzles and even cereal premiums. There were even
Herbie models available as souvenirs at Disney events.
Licensed items include scale models in kit form, diecast and
plastic. There was a very nice model kit made by Revell, as well as diecasts from
Polistil, Polytoys and Tekno. More recently Herbies have been made by Vitesse,
Solido, Schuco and Wiking, along with current releases by Playing Mantis (Johnny
Lightning).
Disney itself got into the act a few years ago offering
specialty items at its gallery stores. Items available included shirts, watches,
mugs, jackets, mouse pads, a trinket box, and some very nice figurines.
Unlicensed items run the gamut, and some of them are very
nice, the tin Taiyo car made in Japan being the most popular. Unlicensed plastic
cars were also produced by Mego of Hong Kong and Pepe of Portugal, and Bauer of Germany
produced a very nice slot car.
Finally there are the customs, and all that's required is
some imagination, white paint and (53) decals. We've seen custom Herbies in every
scale, made from metal, plastic and even ceramic.
It would be impossible to list them all, so we're including a
brief overview of some of the more interesting items. For more information on toys and
collectibles, visit our Herbie Toys
and Collectibles forum.
A nice example of a promotional book is this
"Cars, Cars, Cars" book produced by Disney artists.
This cut-out cardboard Herbie was available on
the backs of Cheerios cereal boxes.
This rare unlicensed Herbie friction car was
made by Mego of Hong Kong
A rare item is this Disney World on Ice Herbie
that was a souvenir of an ice show.
An unusual Love Bug item is this baseball
autographed by Dean Jones.
8x10 glossy movie stills were available in
dozens of varieties from all the movies and the television series.
A recent item is this Johnny Lightning
diorama, depicting a scene from "The Love Bug."
This smash-apart Herbie was made by Corgi and
was available only in the UK.
One of the nicer licensed collectibles was
this genuine Herbie pedal car made by Pines of America Inc. of
Fort Wayne, Indiana.
A must-have for Herbie collectors is this tin
bump-and-go car produced by Taiyo of Japan.
Tekno of Denmark made a nice diecast that can
be quite expensive today.
Disney Gallery Stores offered this Herbie
trinket box that has become a hot collectible.
Wiking of Germany produced this model of the
Herbie movie car on display at the Autostadt museum in
Wolfsburg, Germany.
These neat licensed Herbie cereal premiums
were available in Nabisco Shreddies cereal, and were available only in Canada.
Disney offered this wonderful figurine called
"Rarin' to Race" at its Gallery Stores.
This neat unlicensed Herbie model was produced
by Pepe of Portugal.
These charming coloring books were produced by
Disney and were given away in a Hunts catsup promotion.
This comic book was produced by Gold Key and
put on sale prior to the release of "The Love Bug" to generate interest in the
film.
Gold Key also produced comic books for
subsequent Herbie films.
A recent release is this fine diecast by
Playing Mantic (Johnny Lightning) in 1/64 scale. Johnny Lightning also offers a Herbie in
1/18 scale.
One of the first Herbie collectibles was this
fine model kit produced by Revell of Venice, Calif. It was later reissued for "Herbie
Rides Again" in 1974.
Polistil of Italy made this Herbie diecast in
1/25 scale. The car was available separately or in a gift set with the Lancia from
"Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo."
One of the coolest collectibles is this 33 1/3
rpm LP of the story of The Love Bug narrated by Buddy Hackett. The album features a
full-color story booklet and was available on Disneyland Records.
Whitman offered a frame tray puzzle as a Love
Bug promotional.
A nice example of a custom Herbie item is this
Love Bug conversion made from a plastic friction car.
Featured items are from the
collections of Greg & PJ Carr.
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