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, January 30, 2012

U is for Unidentified Infantry

It's been a year or two since I did a post of all unknowns so thought is was about time for another batch, especially as I seem to have proportionately more unknowns in the fledgling large-scale collection than I do in the small-scale stuff.


I think these are of French manufacture, and the paint is probably 'home-paint' to be removed - once that suspicion has been confirmed. I also wonder if they may have been either premiums or Sobre/Lucky-bag type product as metallics are unusual for everyday toy soldiers?

They are not that rare and I should know who they are by, I further think they are 1970's soft plastic (they are soft plastic!) copies of earlier 1950's hard plastic figures, possibly from two sources, the larger running and firing poses seem familiar (and are larger), from a book possibly? Can anyone help?

[The next day - I Should have mentioned that some of the smaller ones are similar to Tim Mee poses, Paul Morehead (PW's 'Ed.') thinks the larger ones might have originally been Clairet hard plastic poses, I wondered JIM?]

[12th December 2015 - These are actually by Vilco, two sets have been on FeeBay for the last few months with reasonable prices, but no takers..tightwads, all of us! And - it is home-paint which I can now strip-off]
 
[20th April 2023 - The non-Tim Mee poses are from Quiralu aluminium figures (thanks to Judicaël Btx le Gaulois on Facebook)]


This guy is about 70mm or he would be if he stood up, maybe 80mm even, he's made of a dense Polypropylene or Nylon type polymer. The lower picture shows him next to a Deluxe Reading figure for a comparison of the base marks. The materials are different and the base marks aren't close but DR were quite a large 'general' toy company in the 1960/70's over in the states, and they would have been sourcing/buying-in from all over, so it's a possibility? Can a US reader help here or am I wide of the mark?!


[Months Later - It's Remco, probably Star Trek, and thanks to err...me! For finding that one...looking for Tim Mee on Wikipedia!...Link]

My preferred suspicion for these two 54mm figures is Italian production; cheap bagged rack/dollar-tree toys? The bases would go on to be much pirated by Hong Kong usually with PVC copies of Britians or Timpo Wild West figures. But the figures themselves are similar to the Texas Cowboys & Indians also from Italy but they have deeper bases...can a European reader help us with these?


[The Next day - Paul also thinks probably Texas, but not happy with the bases - unlikely to be original. They are like HK copies of the Lone*Star swoppets, but unmarked and of better quality? Should add they have only one foot-spigot/locating stud each.]

6 comments:

mathias said...

Hello,
your infantry in soft plastic are from the French Quiralu molds. Quiralu made it in hard plastic under its own name and then under the name of Quiralux. I don't know if they made the soft ones. Some of them were sold as premiums. Wish I help.
Breizh44, admin of:
http://soldatplastique-1-32.forumgratuit.fr/

Hugh Walter said...

Thanks for that Mathias, you do help! Would I be right in thinking the two bigger ones (Running and Standing Firing) are from the Quiralux Aluminium range?

I'll Add your forum to my forum list, I won't join it as my French is appalling and I do tend to make the odd Francophobe comment from time to time...all in jest, we have 'French Letters', You have 'English Waistcoats'!

I think it all goes back to our Burgundian 'Allies' giving you half our state while we were busy killing each other?!!

Cheers again and do pop back -
Hugh

Anonymous said...

Greetings, The bazooka wielding soldier is Remco, a Blue Defender from a Hamilton's Invaders playset. A much adored but sadly short run series of sets with vehicles, soldiers and a really cool monster.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ot4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA153&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U0ye12qHHvs1KAjbfMOMpsP1QPXJw&w=685

Hugh Walter said...

Thanks Patron

I'm working on the Corgi figures at the moment, and several of the larger late figures have that slot in the base so I suspect they share a common ancestry somewhere in Hong Kong...possibly the whole Lucky/Hover/LP et.al group?

Hugh

Anonymous said...

Yeah the blue guy is from Hamilton's Invaders and the red guys were molded for the Star Trek stuff.

Hugh Walter said...

Thanks anon, sorry I missed your comment at the time!
H