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, October 14, 2018

A is for Archive - Minimodels 'Scale figures'

It's funny, they thought to correct me on two 80-odd years old Spanish rubber figures last Christmas, yet seem to know nothing about anything, especially space figures! That was priceless the other day, they couldn't have got it more wrong between them if they'd tried, but then - by making it up as they go along - they are trying to get it wrong, comedy cretins and too funny, just too funny, he's got a little black box with his brain in it!!!

LP are not especially 'rare' and have been much covered here and elsewhere.
You don't know Co-Ma's Selenites yet?
They are not Thomas or Poplar; Thomas spacemen with bases are piracies.
Poplar were a Thomas offshoot.
Solpa are Greek not French - But then Schilling are American not German!

Amusing, yet pathetic - I mean it's painful to watch as you hear the gears clunking. If you're going to sit in my dust copying my recent output, at least try to get it right! Then the next day the idiot lectures the knowledgeable Frenchie and we get 'everybodyelsesstuff' Because Stadsstuff hasn't got the rightstuff and it takes ten of them and FacePlant.TwitSpacestuff to get it right!

Almark; Almarks; American infantry; German Infantry; Havent; Hornby Group; Japanese Infantry; Lines Brothers; Lines Group; Mini Models; Minimodels; Pedigree Toys; Plastic Toy Figures; Plastic Toy Soldiers; Scale Figures; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Triang Mettoy Playcraft;
Anyway, thought I'd put this up here as the Cock-whacking Monkey Lizard got a bit confused about these in his attempts to 'elucidate the Vichy' a year or so ago, despite it mostly being here at Small Scale World for some years!

Almark; Almarks; American infantry; German Infantry; Havent; Hornby Group; Japanese Infantry; Lines Brothers; Lines Group; Mini Models; Minimodels; Pedigree Toys; Plastic Toy Figures; Plastic Toy Soldiers; Scale Figures; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Triang Mettoy Playcraft;
If they are painted -

They are from Minimodels, of Havent in Hampshire (posh name for-/posh end of- Greater Portsmouth!), another of the many subsidiary works of Lines Bro's Tri-Ang/Metoy/Playcraft. Paint is minimal with gloss weapons and matt flesh and uniform/equipment-highlights. We have looked at some of the better pieces before here and they were sold from counter-display pick-boxes
Almark; Almarks; American infantry; German Infantry; Havent; Hornby Group; Japanese Infantry; Lines Brothers; Lines Group; Mini Models; Minimodels; Pedigree Toys; Plastic Toy Figures; Plastic Toy Soldiers; Scale Figures; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Triang Mettoy Playcraft;
 If they are unpainted -

They are Almark who offered them as boxed sets, on the runners as multi-pose type construction kits for home assembly, a few years after the Minimodels issues, in part to tie-in with their WWII publications. Almark didn't offer all the 'extras', but went on to commission some further sculpts from the original artist Charles C Stadden, which were issued as metal kits, we have looked at some of them too!

Minimodels were founded in 1947 by Bertram Francis (a former toolmaker) in London.

Minimodels moved to a purpose built factory in Havent between 1954 and 1956.

Minimodels were sold (by choice) to Lines in 1958.

Minimodels were the manufacturer of Scale Figures.

Minimodels were the marketer of Scale Figures.

Minimodels were a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lines and/or a administered as a branch of Triang-Mettoy-Playcraft.

Scale Figures was a sub-brand/brand-mark of Minimodels and sister-brand to Scalextric.

Minimodels were the contract-manufacturer for Almark.

Almark were the 'Jobber'.

Almark Model Products was a sub-brand/brand-mark of Almark and sister-brand to Almarks Transfers.

There is no, and never has been an Alamark Minimodels.

They are all dead! . . . Except Pedigree - strangely; they seem to be abeyance, possibly by/for the Hornby Group, the Pedigree name being held by a shell-office in Margate?

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