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.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

X is for Cross-shaped Wing-form Star-fighter!

I've been following developments over at Rob's shipyards with some fascination in the last few days, not least because the system is too small a scale for figures so I'll probably never partake, but they are lovely models and what Rob's done with his spare Millennium Falcons is superb.

In the Galoob stuff I found this morning were some Star Wars bits, and while most people are familiar with the Action Fleet toys from Galoob, I though the comparison with a lesser-known X-Wing was worth a short post...

Estes solid-fuel tablet rockets with parachute - the parachute is hidden from view in a little compartment like the old Quercetti catapult-rockets. Compared to a Galoob 'Red-Five' (red? they're both orange-fives!), you can see there's very little in it size-wise, but the engine nacelles are a bit different and the rear of the main compartment is very different due to need to put the fuel tablets somewhere.

I would like to open this and 'muck-about' with it, but I'd need a second one first, and they are bloody hard to find and tend to go for a premium when they turn-up...too many sub-branches of collectors after the one thing! One day I'll just think "F-it, other collectors must have carded ones, lets get it out!".

The other obvious difference is the solid canopy.

Galoob's Red-Three and Red-Five; a few years apart and a few variations in decoration, also - I'm assuming it's later production - the 'five' has no cockpit stickers?

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