The Iconic Trucks of the PRL

Being brought up in Poland during the PRL era and never seeing a Jelcz or Star truck would be a bit like growing up in Germany without knowing what a Mercedes is. Of course, the quality of those vehicles is a completely different story, but you probably know what I mean.

A few years ago, DeAgostini launched a 1:72 scale series dedicated to trucks from the PRL period. It seemed like a good opportunity to start collecting trucks, but in my opinion the 1:72 scale was simply too small to show this type of vehicle with the level of detail I was looking for.

On October 30, 2019, the first issue of the test edition of “The Iconic Trucks of the PRL” appeared, featuring the Star 25. This time the models were produced in 1:43 scale, which was much closer to what I wanted. The first model impressed me with the quality of the detailing and paintwork, so I decided to subscribe. A big part of the appeal came from childhood memories and my long-standing interest in cars and commercial vehicles.

Unfortunately, it soon became clear that this was only a test run consisting of five models. On February 7, 2020, DeAgostini sent a letter confirming that the test series had ended. As a thank-you to subscribers, they included three additional issues and models free of charge. Better late than never — and it was still a nice gesture.

On January 13, 2021, DeAgostini finally launched the full version of “The Iconic Trucks of the PRL”, and I had been waiting for that moment for quite some time. The collection returned in 1:43 scale, with around 80 issues originally announced.

Subscribers could choose between Standard and the slightly more expensive Premium subscription. The Standard version included several additional gifts during the run:

Shipment #1 — three retro truck posters

Issue #5 — a binder for the magazines

Issue #10 — a mug featuring the Star 20

Shipment #15 — a 1:43 Scania LBT 141 model

The Premium subscription included all of the Standard bonuses, plus four additional 1:43 scale models:

Shipment #20 — Berliet GBH 260

Issue #25 — Jelcz Hydros P10T

Issue #30 — Jelcz C 620

Final shipment — Star C28 car transporter with a D91 semi-trailer

The gallery above shows the models from the series that have already been published on DMF2. The complete index below lists the collection issue by issue and is updated as new information and models are added.