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 10, 2019

B is for British . . . Troops From Matchbox

I had intended this to be a post on the Eighth Army, but is all went a bit pear shaped, in the course of which I remembered the British Infantry were in Picasa (since 2013 - it's a long-tailed, greater-spotted queue!), and by the time I'd tried to strainten the pear, I realsied it was easier to run them together and re-vistit them seperately (or at least the 8th') at some point in the future.

8th Army; 8th Army Figures; 8th Army Toy Soldiers; British Army Toy Figures; British Infantry; British Troops; Eighth Army; Eighth Army Figures; Eighth Army Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Sclae Toys Figures; Matchbox 8th Army; Matchbox Afrika Korps; Matchbox British Infantry; Matchbox Copies; Matchbox P-4001; Matchbox P-4005; Matchbox Toys; P-4001 - British Infantry; P-4005 - British 8th Army; PK-4001 - British Infantry; PK-4005 - British 8th Army; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
Supposed to be the group shot of the Matchbox 8th Army (knowing the officer (?) was missing), but spot the [not] deliberate mistake! Somehow there's a British infantryman from the European theatre set running along with his full battle dress! It'll all be clear in a sec'.

Given a Highland regimental-theme with a kilted bagpiper and some Tam-o-Shanter's (it's the Tobruk movie's scene isn't it!), they are a nice set and enhanced the Airfix set, also being well-equipped with Bren-guns - as well-equipped as the Cherilea 60'mil's!

Some colour variations and that dusty/chalky surface-deposit thing going-on again with all but three of them.

8th Army; 8th Army Figures; 8th Army Toy Soldiers; British Army Toy Figures; British Infantry; British Troops; Eighth Army; Eighth Army Figures; Eighth Army Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Sclae Toys Figures; Matchbox 8th Army; Matchbox Afrika Korps; Matchbox British Infantry; Matchbox Copies; Matchbox P-4001; Matchbox P-4005; Matchbox Toys; P-4001 - British Infantry; P-4005 - British 8th Army; PK-4001 - British Infantry; PK-4005 - British 8th Army; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
We have looked at several sets of copies already; Brian Berke has sent one, if not two, and others were pulled-together in a posts a year or two ago, these are very similar in plastic-type (tinny polyethylene) and colour (electric puke-green) as some Rado Industries stuff but the bases aren't typical for them so juries' still out on that one! And Ri-Toys had sets of Airfix-copies as their 8th Army, but they may have contract-manufactured these for someone else?

8th Army; 8th Army Figures; 8th Army Toy Soldiers; British Army Toy Figures; British Infantry; British Troops; Eighth Army; Eighth Army Figures; Eighth Army Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Sclae Toys Figures; Matchbox 8th Army; Matchbox Afrika Korps; Matchbox British Infantry; Matchbox Copies; Matchbox P-4001; Matchbox P-4005; Matchbox Toys; P-4001 - British Infantry; P-4005 - British 8th Army; PK-4001 - British Infantry; PK-4005 - British 8th Army; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
It was while taking the lower shot of these that I realised there were problems with the first shot above, beyond a missing officer (or two!), not only had a British Infantryman snuck into shot, but he was replacing the missing runner (third from right here), in that tub of the 8th Army 'zone', more than the photograph!

8th Army; 8th Army Figures; 8th Army Toy Soldiers; British Army Toy Figures; British Infantry; British Troops; Eighth Army; Eighth Army Figures; Eighth Army Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Sclae Toys Figures; Matchbox 8th Army; Matchbox Afrika Korps; Matchbox British Infantry; Matchbox Copies; Matchbox P-4001; Matchbox P-4005; Matchbox Toys; P-4001 - British Infantry; P-4005 - British 8th Army; PK-4001 - British Infantry; PK-4005 - British 8th Army; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
Now, I knew the missing officer was here (left image, right-hand figure), but had forgotten Monty! And they were in the WWII British (non desert) 'zone' in the attic where we have been dipping into them over the last few years (which is why they have been sitting in Picasa with a few ones' and two's!).

So anyway I dug this photo' out for the one officer, realised I needed both, but having already put the rest of the 8th Army away again, thought "Sod-it, I'll run the two sets together!". The right-hand image is cropped out of the Solpa set, which otherwise contains Airfix Copies and - as a whole image - is destined for the relevant page on the Airfix blog; picture courtesy of Kostas from Greece.

8th Army; 8th Army Figures; 8th Army Toy Soldiers; British Army Toy Figures; British Infantry; British Troops; Eighth Army; Eighth Army Figures; Eighth Army Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Sclae Toys Figures; Matchbox 8th Army; Matchbox Afrika Korps; Matchbox British Infantry; Matchbox Copies; Matchbox P-4001; Matchbox P-4005; Matchbox Toys; P-4001 - British Infantry; P-4005 - British 8th Army; PK-4001 - British Infantry; PK-4005 - British 8th Army; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
Of-course, I am still missing an officer (or officer-type); the guy in tank overalls from this set! So we will need to return to them both one-day, but perhaps only on the A-Z page.

In the meantime this is the rest of the gang, almost as well-equipped with Bren's, they also have a US bazooka and a mean-looking (but tad-fictional) flame-thrower - look out Fritz, it's June 6th and your card is well and truly marked!

8th Army; 8th Army Figures; 8th Army Toy Soldiers; British Army Toy Figures; British Infantry; British Troops; Eighth Army; Eighth Army Figures; Eighth Army Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Sclae Toys Figures; Matchbox 8th Army; Matchbox Afrika Korps; Matchbox British Infantry; Matchbox Copies; Matchbox P-4001; Matchbox P-4005; Matchbox Toys; P-4001 - British Infantry; P-4005 - British 8th Army; PK-4001 - British Infantry; PK-4005 - British 8th Army; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
I think I did pull the left-hand image out once before? There are two prone figures in the box, and for reasons known only to Matchbox's engineers, they differ, with one having a bayonet toothpick and the other a bare muzzle. I imagine damage to the mould cavity was behind the variation?

Colour variation and the surface-deposit thing again in the right-hand shot.

8th Army; 8th Army Figures; 8th Army Toy Soldiers; British Army Toy Figures; British Infantry; British Troops; Eighth Army; Eighth Army Figures; Eighth Army Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Scale Toy Soldiers; Matchbox 1:32nd Sclae Toys Figures; Matchbox 8th Army; Matchbox Afrika Korps; Matchbox British Infantry; Matchbox Copies; Matchbox P-4001; Matchbox P-4005; Matchbox Toys; P-4001 - British Infantry; P-4005 - British 8th Army; PK-4001 - British Infantry; PK-4005 - British 8th Army; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
We have seen these sub-scale copies before (in the post alluded to above - try the Matchbox tag), but I thought I ought to compare them as they were to-hand, came with a little bagged rack-toy from Peter Evans if I recall correctly?

The bottom right-image compares the Rommel to the two we saw the other day as a late 'can't stop the presses - they've already printed', Deutsche Afrika Korps picture! The other will have to wait for the US Infantry!

Thanks to Peter and Kostas for the extra's - they all enhance the whole!

2 comments:

tomholio said...

Ah, old favorites! Correct me if i'm mistaken, but i don't think the 1/32 British Infantry set had the tanker chappy?
Likewise, the 1/76th set of the same was short on prone bren gunner and his mate (hence i'm on a bit of a quest to find pantographed down copies of the 1/32s, just to get these two poses in small scale). All good fun!

Hugh Walter said...

You'r probably right Tomholio . . . one less for me to find! I may be able to help with prone gunners in 1:72 . . . not sure the were pirated, but I must have a spare or two for you somewhere!

H