About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

B is for Bits and Bobs - Unknown figures and new production

In the pound shops as I write, these are by Funtastic, I have two play sets from about ten years ago marked Fun-Tastic, I assume they are the same import company? What they've been importing in the intervening years is anybodies guess!

They are skeletal dinosaurs, just what Fantasy role players need as heavy shock troops in their undead armies! And a pound for three? Arranged around some alien man-eating plants I'm working on!

Other resent purchases have included the two plaster figures on the left and the composition machine-gunner who came this week. He's marked 'Foreign' and will be from that period between the two World Wars when we wished to hide the fact that we were importing toys from our old (and soon to be again!) enemy; Germany. Indeed the base is similar to Elastolin with the square shape and a (hidden in the photo) raised edge.

Next to him - as I'm looking at large composition figures - is the only other from my collection, a Cossack I bought at the A3 car-boot about 7/8 years ago, he seems to be made of resin, or a very fine composition which gives a very smooth base, anyone know anything about him?

To the right of them is a pair of Fantasy figures approximately 42mm, I'm assuming they are either home-casts from something like the old Phoenix Atlantis white-metals, or unpainted members of a paint and/or cast-your-own chess set. Again any information gratefully received.

Back to the two rail officials, one of whom is clearly Japanese Railways, the other possibly having European features, they are both approximately 'O' gauge and I'm assuming they were made in Japan, if only because I can't find anything like them in Reinhard Schiffmann's book. Ideas? The bases are a temporary addition used to help them stand!

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