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.

Friday, February 22, 2019

F is for Follow-up - Polish Production

I mentioned the other day that a lot of stuff gets credited to PZG which probably never saw the inside of their workshops and this post is in some way to explain that point, while clearing the smaller samples from my Polish WWII/Soviet-era tubs, most of these are described as PZG somewhere on the Internet.

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
Stating with a scaler/sizer, we have the Airfix Cold War troops at either end of the top row, struggling to be 54mm at about 52-mil! Inside-one on the right is the full-on 54mm WWII Russian from the same maker, with two of the PZG's from the previous post - the rest are to be looked at below and vary from around 55 to 75mm, bases having a lot to say in the final height though, with 56mm as a starting point.

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
60-mil with base, but actually the smallest at around 55mm foot-to-crown, these are PZG, and I suppose (like 'assume' Erwin, but a different word, just for a change!) they may be an earlier incarnation by dint of a slight finesse over the chunky based ones, and the fact that they seem to turn-up less often?

Bearing in mind what Gisby said in the comments section of the previous PZG post, these appear to be copied from the Airfix HO/OO (1:76th) scale set! Which also dates them to no earlier than 1964; probably a year or two later.

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
Base mark, I've dealt with the PZG in the past; Polski Zwiazek Gluchych (Union of the Deaf or 'Polish Association for Deaf People'), the ZSP is an abbreviation for - in Polish - Zwiazek Syndykalistów Polski (Polish Syndicalist Association), which seems to be a second tier of bureaucracy, some collective/state function? I think it's a bit like our putting a 'Royal National' in front of Institute [of the] Blind to get RNIB, or RNLI for the Lifeboat Institution?

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
The largest are these 75mm prone figures, and the odd thing is no standing or based figures to go with them? Except, I think I may have the standing figures in the still missing box of Eastern Bloc flats, along with another BRDM-type like the ones we've seen here previously, which means they are probably Centrum not PZG?

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
Plastic Colours also match those Centrum AFV's, along with the flattish nature of the prone poses, the actual 'flat' nature of the upright troops and the AFV's and the fact that their material is cleaner (or 'purer') than the insipid, striated, flaky re-grind and recycled off-cuts PZG tended to use.

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
Now, these are interesting, I think they may also be Centrum, due to their semi-flat nature, size and the mould-release pin marks, but I don't know for sure. The second-largest at 65mm and carrying the same yellow paint on their bases PZG are known for?

What they depict is equally interesting, it's hard to tell from the sculpted-blob whether it's a soviet style paratrooper badge, Polish paratroopers (most likely) or a UN peacekeepers globe and wreath, if paratroopers it might mean they are Russian production, but the Poles did partake in several UN missions before the 'wall' came down and continue to, so it would be nice to think that's what is depicted here?

[At time of posting - Google suggests they are polish paratroopers Iin UN berets, WITH the polish cap-badge, which is just perfect!]

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
The Bases; the two central, evenly spaced release pins are similar to those on the Centrum AFV set, but under collectivisation, different toy firms would have been getting tools from the same machine-tool firms!

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
This chap is very interesting, and the only one I've found of the type, if you didn't know better or if the base was a glue-on, you'd be forgiven for thinking 'Bloody hell, un-documented, rare as rocking-horse shit, Malleble Mouldings khaki infantry figure?'

Sadly the base IS attached as part of the moulding, and the paint points East! But where in the East? . . . your guess is as good as mine . . . but someone knows?

With the leggings/puttees and helmet I'm thinking Czechoslovakia, Hungary or Rumania . . . Bulgaria . . . maybe; one of the lesser Soviet satellite-states anyway, but big-enough to have their own toy-production, over-and-above Russian imports? People use the Airfix Italians as Rumanian troops, from the puttees; so Rumania seems likeliest?

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
Two orphans, probably both PZG, the radio operator is in blue plastic under the paint, but has a late (?), solid, thick PZG type base, while the harder plastic, cruder-sculpted bazooka-man is less obvious - being baseless - and looks familiar, but I can't place him . . . cut-n-shut of the US Infantry bazooka and kneeling firing 2nd version Para' from Airfix?

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
Base comparisons of some of the above figures.

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
Three more which turned-up elsewhere; must have been from the November show in Birmingham 2011, and went straight into storage in the wrong 'zone'! All PZG, but one's a 60+mm against the two standard 54mm's.

1:32nd Scale Figures; 1:32nd Scale Russians; 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Airfix Toy Soldiers; Centrum Figures; Centrum Poland; Centrum Toy Soldiers; Polish Flats; Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Plastic Toy Figures; PZG Poland; PZG Polish Toy Soldiers; PZG Toy Soldiers; PZG ZSP; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Warsaw Pact; Warsaw Poland; Warzawa;
The larger guy's base in  a third or fouth variant of PZG's and the second hollowed-out type, with a clever PZG-ZSP with the zed used twice! The 1 - 2 will be a production code or batch number or something equally insignificant, I doubt it's a '1-of-2'!

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