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

D is for Déjà Vu

Chris Smith sent me these a while back, with the possibility that they are related, as the Lilo are generally believed to have been sold as beach-toys, and therefore definitely 'rack toys', we're going to have a quick look at them if only to put the question-mark out there!

'British'; Brent Composition; Brent Toy Products Ltd.; Brent Toy Soldiers; British Army Toy; British Composition Figures; British Infantry; Lilo Copies; Lilo Model Figures; Lilo Plastic Figures; Lilo Toy Soldiers; Question Mark Figures; Question Time; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Unknown; Unknown Composition Figures; Unknown Composition Toy Soldiers; Unknown Toy Figures; Vintage 'British'; Vintage Brent; Vintage Lilo;
Chris wanted to point out the similarities between the Lilo figure (there's still only the one pose known) and those unknown larger-scaled composition figures we looked at here which was mentioned then.

There are slightly more cloth-folds in the composition figure, but that could be put down to the figure being deliberately smoothed for plastic production, as it was still a 'new' technology and mould-removal was an early identified problem (and remains-so, to this day), but away from the sculpting of the clothes we have an almost identical respirator-case on both chests, almost identical SMG, the same 'deep sea diver' treatment on the boots, and while the chin strap is deeper on the composition figure (and the helmet play-worn) that too can be put down to the material intended for/of the final product.

'British'; Brent Composition; Brent Toy Products Ltd.; Brent Toy Soldiers; British Army Toy; British Composition Figures; British Infantry; Lilo Copies; Lilo Model Figures; Lilo Plastic Figures; Lilo Toy Soldiers; Question Mark Figures; Question Time; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Unknown; Unknown Composition Figures; Unknown Composition Toy Soldiers; Unknown Toy Figures; Vintage 'British'; Vintage Brent; Vintage Lilo;
The overall size, the slightly two-dimensional approach to the figures and even the faces, are also similar. No one is saying - for certain - that these are from the same maker, or even necessarily the same sculptor, but it's fair to say both Chris and I are suggesting the latter, which may also point to the former?

Also it's worth noting, if you haven't already clocked-it; one of Chris's figures is painted (I've only ever previously seen unpainted figures - as you would expect from seaside kiosks), and even that painting mirrors the painting of both sizes of Brent figures' and the unknown composition maker's? Thanks to Chris for noticing the similarities and bringing them to our wider attention.

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