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.

Monday, August 24, 2020

B is for Blistered Buildings

Coming in at a vague 1:70th, these were probably designed to provide basic scenery for a first model railway, Jean Höfleur had a small railway system, but it was hand-push and go only? Whatever the reason, I have two carded samples and RTM is the best time to show them!

Bundespost Van; Carded Toy Buildings; jean Buildings; Jean Civil Models; Jean Germany; Jean Höffler; Jean Hoefler; Jean Originals; Jean Plastic; Jean Service Station; Jean Toy Village; Jean Trucks; Postal Truck; Rack Toy Month; Rack Toys; RTM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
Enough buildings for a whole village in war gaming terms, while the card shows other recognisable Jean products - I have the earth-mover somewhere, or a copy of it! A church and three chalet-style dwellings with shallow roofs for collecting snow (both for insulation and for not falling in a heap suddenly and killing someone!) are all very 'Bavarish', as they should be; it’s the home of Jean!

Bundespost Van; Carded Toy Buildings; jean Buildings; Jean Civil Models; Jean Germany; Jean Höffler; Jean Hoefler; Jean Originals; Jean Plastic; Jean Service Station; Jean Toy Village; Jean Trucks; Postal Truck; Rack Toy Month; Rack Toys; RTM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
Construction is much simpler than the diminutive HO-scaled buildings from Vollmer, Faller, Nock and Co., so these are definitely cheaper, infant toys, they are also quite robust so will take a fair bit of punishment, despite being polystyrene rather than the polyethylene of the companies figure production.

Bundespost Van; Carded Toy Buildings; jean Buildings; Jean Civil Models; Jean Germany; Jean Höffler; Jean Hoefler; Jean Originals; Jean Plastic; Jean Service Station; Jean Toy Village; Jean Trucks; Postal Truck; Rack Toy Month; Rack Toys; RTM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
These are all polystyrene as well, and the vehicles can suffer from the kind of damage you would guess-at with such a material, however smaller hands delver less stress, and they can (or could - back in the day) provide good inspiration for conversion, I have a few from some old war games army somewhere, stripped-down and painted matt olive!

Bundespost Van; Carded Toy Buildings; jean Buildings; Jean Civil Models; Jean Germany; Jean Höffler; Jean Hoefler; Jean Originals; Jean Plastic; Jean Service Station; Jean Toy Village; Jean Trucks; Postal Truck; Rack Toy Month; Rack Toys; RTM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
All three vehicles are marked J&H, even the Post Office (Bundespost) van! The service station has two pumps and a car-wash . . . big enough for the lorries, which is why they are so shiny, silly!

That's it, two carded Jean sets in the collection, the trouble with this carded stuff is, that really they can only sit there on the card, and there's only so many shots you can take (these were shot in too bright sunlight and are a bit fuzzy as a result) but it would be a crime to take them off the card now, not that they are as rare as the 1950's/60's stuff,; one seems to be dated 1979
 
Couple of weeks later aaannnnnnd . . . TJF posts two (count them!) carded Jean sets! Nice to know he's paying such close attention!

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