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, October 12, 2019

S is for Shelfies - Catering Novelties

It's shelfie weekend everyone! Don't worry, it won't be a regular thing, but they have been building-up for about 18/20-months now and I thought I'd clear a few here while I've got them all together, although I know there are one or two others somewhere!

Staring with catering novelties which were mostly shot in TKMaxx, but with the last lot a more conventional toy thing photographed in Sainsbury's.

Bottle Opener; Chameleons; Deep Divers; Flying Tiger; Four Parachutists; Geckos; Ice Cubes; Jan Habraken; Kikkerland; Luchador; Mexican Design Challenge; Novelty Kitchen Utensils; Party Favours; Plant Support; Plant Ties; Plastic Novelties; Sainsbury's; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sub Zero; Tiger Stores; TKMaxx; Unique Products; Wrestler Bottle-Openers;
I'm loving these 'Mexican Wrestler' bottle-openers! Marketed by Kikkerland and presumably the result of some competition or sponsored thing (as our own Design Museum puts on or supports from time to time), and while I could only find two designs, there may be more and/or other colours?

Bottle Opener; Chameleons; Deep Divers; Flying Tiger; Four Parachutists; Geckos; Ice Cubes; Jan Habraken; Kikkerland; Luchador; Mexican Design Challenge; Novelty Kitchen Utensils; Party Favours; Plant Support; Plant Ties; Plastic Novelties; Sainsbury's; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sub Zero; Tiger Stores; TKMaxx; Unique Products; Wrestler Bottle-Openers;
I really ummned and arrrhhed on these, not so much the submarines as the divers, but the deciding factor on leaving them on the shelf was that they were full of liquid and might leak one day, quietly on the shelf, or in the attic or garage, messing something else up? I suppose you could get a plastic-surgeon (geddit!) to syringe the water out and replace it with clear silicon!

Bottle Opener; Chameleons; Deep Divers; Flying Tiger; Four Parachutists; Geckos; Ice Cubes; Jan Habraken; Kikkerland; Luchador; Mexican Design Challenge; Novelty Kitchen Utensils; Party Favours; Plant Support; Plant Ties; Plastic Novelties; Sainsbury's; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sub Zero; Tiger Stores; TKMaxx; Unique Products; Wrestler Bottle-Openers;
Close-up of the little divers, who could just as easily be spacemen or astronauts? Eight for three-quid is about 33p each, and Kikkerland again.

Bottle Opener; Chameleons; Deep Divers; Flying Tiger; Four Parachutists; Geckos; Ice Cubes; Jan Habraken; Kikkerland; Luchador; Mexican Design Challenge; Novelty Kitchen Utensils; Party Favours; Plant Support; Plant Ties; Plastic Novelties; Sainsbury's; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sub Zero; Tiger Stores; TKMaxx; Unique Products; Wrestler Bottle-Openers;
It was frog plant-ties which kicked-off our occasional visits to bendy-toys here at Small Scale World a few years ago, well now you can get chameleons in pairs, in at least six colours, although they don't change colour so more; 'big-eyed geckos'! These were in Flying Tiger (formerly Tiger) a while ago.

Bottle Opener; Chameleons; Deep Divers; Flying Tiger; Four Parachutists; Geckos; Ice Cubes; Jan Habraken; Kikkerland; Luchador; Mexican Design Challenge; Novelty Kitchen Utensils; Party Favours; Plant Support; Plant Ties; Plastic Novelties; Sainsbury's; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sub Zero; Tiger Stores; TKMaxx; Unique Products; Wrestler Bottle-Openers;
Found in Sainsbury's at the beginning of April; within a month Peter Evans had sent me the one on the right with the same green/yellow colourway! The sad thing is that Sainsbury's were selling these internally branded in 12's, three-each of four colours, while a few years ago they were in eights (2x4's), thus we see 'shrinkflation' come to Toytown!

One the left are the Henbrandt aliens (six to a set) in fours . . . Doh! 

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