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, February 24, 2019

Q is for Question Time - Soviets & Suchlike!

A call for help by Chris Smith today, to which I've added a maybe-clue, maybe red-herring! And we're back in the East for the first one, but I suspect further East, indeed; the Far east for the second?

410-729-3334; MMP; Plastic Officer; Plastic Toy; Plastic Toy Soldiers; Polystyrene Figure; Polystyrene Toy Soldiers; Question Time; Russian Infantry; Russian Plastic; Russian Soldiers; Russian Toy Soldiers; Russian Toys; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soldier; Soviet Era Toy; Soviet Era Toy Officer; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Russian; Tamiya?; Unknown; Unknown Model Kit; Unknown Toy Figures; Unknown Toy Soldiers; USSR Infantry; USSR Plastic; Vintage Plastic Figures; Vintage Soviet Figures; Vintage Soviet Toys; Vintage Toy Soldiers; Vintage USSR Toys;
These are the real question, Chris believes they came from behind the former Iron Curtain, but knows nothing else about them, and I couldn't help beyond the feeling they may be based on kit figures from a Western enterprise like Tamiya?

The first one looks to be based on a late-war German Panzergrenadier with MP44 assault rifle, although given a Russian helmet, the second is not so obvious, in fact he looks like he may have started life as a horse-rider? The third is larger and they are almost three scales!

The discolouration is due to some poor painting which has been removed and they are not kits themselves, being single moulding with integral bases, in a polyethylene/propylene type plastic?

Does anyone know anything about them? Recognise the sculpts? Polish, Czech?

410-729-3334; MMP; Plastic Officer; Plastic Toy; Plastic Toy Soldiers; Polystyrene Figure; Polystyrene Toy Soldiers; Question Time; Russian Infantry; Russian Plastic; Russian Soldiers; Russian Toy Soldiers; Russian Toys; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soldier; Soviet Era Toy; Soviet Era Toy Officer; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Russian; Tamiya?; Unknown; Unknown Model Kit; Unknown Toy Figures; Unknown Toy Soldiers; USSR Infantry; USSR Plastic; Vintage Plastic Figures; Vintage Soviet Figures; Vintage Soviet Toys; Vintage Toy Soldiers; Vintage USSR Toys;
Chris is also looking for help ID'ing these copies of the Airfix WWII Russian infantry, they are scaled-down substantially, but seem to have retained a high degree of detailing compared to the normal run-of-the-mill Hong Kong or Chinatroop shite.

The smooth flat bases are quite distinctive with a gentle ogee-edging and broad coverage of the ground and you can tell there is solidness to them even at this distance! Chris has found a few now, but always and only this pose (so far) and wonders if they accompanied a die-cast vehicle perhaps?

410-729-3334; MMP; Plastic Officer; Plastic Toy; Plastic Toy Soldiers; Polystyrene Figure; Polystyrene Toy Soldiers; Question Time; Russian Infantry; Russian Plastic; Russian Soldiers; Russian Toy Soldiers; Russian Toys; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soldier; Soviet Era Toy; Soviet Era Toy Officer; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Russian; Tamiya?; Unknown; Unknown Model Kit; Unknown Toy Figures; Unknown Toy Soldiers; USSR Infantry; USSR Plastic; Vintage Plastic Figures; Vintage Soviet Figures; Vintage Soviet Toys; Vintage Toy Soldiers; Vintage USSR Toys;
To which (the Airfix pirates) I'm adding this British Paratrooper clone, he seems to be poorer quality than Chris's figures, but there are similarities in the base, and solidness and when Chris first sent me his image I immediately thought of this chap.

I suspect the colour is similar too, but the photographs a very different with Chris using a flood of natural light, and me shooting flash against a pale background.

I don't know about the lable, the stock/product/order code is similar to the tampo-printed stuff we've seen a few times now, both at the top-end from Hasbro and at the bottom end with the similar clones from HTI (or HGL?), but the fact that it seems to have been scissor-cut from a larger sticker is a bit of an alarm-bell?

Although I'm not sure about the MMP branding, I'll stick it in the tags, and anyone clicking on the tag will find this caveat!

Can anyone help Chris, me or the rest of the loyal-readers with some more info/details on any of the above?

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