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.

Monday, December 5, 2011

T is for Tommy...

...old Mar' Attkins boy! Usually depicted as a muddy, toothless, miner's son in a 1916 trench or a cherry chappie in baggy shorts somewhere near Wadi-al-Summthing'oar'utha circa 1942. It is this latter stereotype we have in the next image.

A nice now-clean group of 8th Army from Britains Detail, with the tricky bayonets still intactum! The Vickers needs it's 9 little ball bearings found but there's a hardware store in Camberley (AHC) that will have a shed-load for a few pence, so that's not a problem!

The Daimler Dingo Scout Car can be used with either desert or standard infantry, and while there was a desert version in the end; designed for the 8th Army figures, the crew were made of the same plastic in both cars so match up quite well, especially when your brother had...

...such a small selection of the British Infantry! These are in the European theatre garb and I've only included them as they show well the difference between the early semi-transparent wash over cream plastic (the two single figures) and the later solid-colour plastic of the mortar team, which also needs ammunition, but I won't be getting a sprue of 10 (or was it 12?) mortar bombs from AHC!

4 comments:

Paul said...

I always liked these Hugh, the seem very collectable. Do they hold their price well?

Hugh Walter said...

The British Infantry aren't that rare, but are rarer than the US or Germans, the 8th Army are very collectable, and along the the DAK quite sought-after.

The Japanese are the rarest (because they wern't that popular at the time), but demand is still not that great as only rhe completists really want them.

The problem with the 8th is the amount of potential (and actual) damage the bayonets and Vickers vignette can be subject to, damaged ones are easy to find!!

However it depends what level you want to collect them at; If one were to make a feature of Detail within a collection, there are the second versions of first type US, the 2nd type US and Germans, the two finishes of British Inf. Then you start to find paint ommisions getting to market, unpainted (from out-painters), red and black bases on US figures (Board game pieces?), brown for black on 8th army, the two vertions of detailed painting on the recent re-issues, the dozens of DSG types etc...and like colour variations with Timpo swoppets now (a lime-green Roman fetched over £300 the other day!)I suspect they will command higher premiums in years to come.

But right now you can pick most of the range up for very little. The big money goes on the Wellingtonians and the Mexicans and Apaches from the Wild West series.

Re. Matador wheels -- They are the 'Airfix - Wheel, Allied, Mark 1, All Softskin Kits, For the use of' aren't they!!!

We had Unimogs in Berlin, uniquely to the Brtish Army at the time (1980's), but only hard-tops (ambulances).

Paul said...

Cheers Hugh, I only like the British Infantry myself, I think it is the helmet netting!

Too true about the wheels, I think the ones on the quad spoil it as well.

I am pretty sure that the GS body makes any army truck look the same from the rear.

Our Unimogs appeared in the 80's to replace the RL Bedfords, and while much newer and shiny I do miss the ruggedness of the Bedford. You were not scared to go anywhere in one of those!

Coincidentally I wrote a RL off in my younger years, some business over a railway crossing. The diesel train won!

Cheers Paul

Hugh Walter said...

Diesel Trains aren't known for loseing!!

I nearly wrote of a 432B with rarden turret once...and a year or so later watched the whole unit shuffle each other at 4a.m. on a frozen square!!

I'll try to find a better sample of the Brit's to post. The PW show is less than 6 months now! I'm sure I'll find some there...

H