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.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

B is for Big Blow-Molded Boys

Biggest purchase at Sandown Park was these three, found on Steve Vickers table, I had to have them; A) because they are so different from the run-of-the-mill 54/60mm stuff, and B) because I need enemy for the commoner Soviet Era Russian toy soldiers in a similar style.

Made in Hong Kong, and presumably sold as beach-toys, probably with a large jeep or truck type thing, one of them is quite clearly General George C Scott . . . err . . . S Patton!

All around 135mm (just over 5") and blow-moulded to a reasonably substantial thickness, they nevertheless have a few thin areas at the boot-tips having been blown from the helmet end . . . Ooh-err missus!

 
Compared with 5 and 6½-inch Russians of the same era, the Russians are more solid mouldings, although also hollow, I suspect these are produced by what is known as rotary moulding, like large pieces of play-equipment, agricultural sprayer tanks or traffic barriers and such-like (road-side salt or sand boxes) the walls being much thicker and having no thin-spots. They also hold greater detail than yer'average blow-mould.

From behind; the Russian figures are from a much bigger range, with historical and naval subjects, and they come in gorgeous colours, rich reds, purples and greens, Chinese orange, and I have a sailor in storage in a nice shade of malachite green in the storage unit. There is a set of Russian ones in the same type of blow-moulding as these GI's, but they have funny little disc-bases on.

Three against three will do for now, and I have a large fireman in a similar style somewhere!



The one in the middle looks a bit like a young (Deer Hunter) Christopher Walken? Aren't they brilliant! Steve's got a couple left.

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