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.

Saturday, April 21, 2018

P is for Pencil-Perched Poppets

Not really Erasers, but you may have noticed by now that I try to do a larger post in mid-morning and a smaller one in the early afternoon, scheduled times are aiming for nine-thirty and half-past noon, but it's a movable feast, and 'subject to change', so having looked at the pretty-reasonable 'dinorasers' this morning we're sticking with stationary for this rather shite post!

Look at them; they're shite, aren't they? Don't ever think that just because I post it I must collect it, but I am a collector and if something comes in with a mixed lot and looks to have potential for a blog-post, or to enhance a thematic post, I'll run with it! And there are dedicated collectors of both erasers and pencil-tops out there; today's posts are as much for them as anybody.

They are very small, with holes that normally wouldn't take a pencil, however, they are made from a soft silicon-rubber and stretch over most 'normal' writing instruments. There seems to be more than one set's contents here, with characters from various Disney films, although aimed firmly at the pinky-purple pound - being all from the 'girly' films!

There is also - one assumes - at least one metafleck'ed transparent set, from which the castle comes, The other glassy item (next to the pencil sharpener) is I suspect damaged and missing anything which may have been a clue to its identity other than 'squashed cone' or builders safety-hat!

Backs are marked and branded to MZB Inc., a New York based importer/jobber also called MZB Imaginations LLC. You can see how they squidge-over the ends of the pencils, becoming slightly portly in the process. And . . . err . . . that's it.

This guy has an equally small hole and is made of similar material, I think he may be an earlier tranche of moshling, or zomling or something - there seems to be dozens of the same kind of pocket-money, blind-bag collectable around at the moment, with more released over the last few years. But he's not marked, most are marked Moose or Magic Box or something, this chap is 'clean'.

The oft-mentioned - back in the autumn - post on the subject is still in the pipeline, but A) it's not a priority and B) it keeps getting added to, which far from making things clearer - makes them more confused! But I will do a brief 'overview' at some point.

This came in half an hour ago in a mixed lot (Friday A.M.); not so much of a 'find' as a 'waited-in and signed-for'! Soft PVC or similar, marked 'China' in the bottom of the recess and a little smaller than Britains' earlier moulding, it's obviously pretty current, but fun! I imagine zoo gift-shops have a selection of animals on [writing] sticks?

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