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, December 8, 2008

A is for Aurora


I wanted to put something special up for my first post, and have spent some time looking for interesting things to post. Now being settled in a new home and busy putting the equivalent of three collections together as one, I came across the old box marked "Tubs, 24, 1 of 3 - ready-made vehicles" and the top tub was these Military Midgets from Aurora, which I think are pretty unusual?

They seem to be Copies of the old Rocco-Minitanks vehicles, and are basicly the same as the vehicles in the two sought after playsets; Rat Patrol and Anzio. Very simple clip-together construction and a poor finish coupled with the scale (approximately 1:87/HO guage) makes them curious toys rather than 'models'. All are marked under the base with the Aurora oval logo.

They were not the only people to copy these vehicles, and unmarked versions turn up from time to time. The Midori push-and-go 'kits' were also based on Roco, and I sometimes suspect Manurba (Manfred Urban) of up-scaleing the Panther and Sherman, as produced by Roco for their larger (closer to 1:72) range. Blue-box also copied some Roco stuff, mostly the post-war US tanks.

2 comments:

Jan Ferris said...

Dated in dead. When is the last time you saw something priced for .25 C? However, you are correct in you assumption as not scrolling too far back in time, although I have been tempted on more than one occasion. You have such a wealth of information here that it would take weeks, if not months to read through all of your post, both past and present.

Hugh Walter said...

Hahahahah! I deleated your comment in Hotmail, then went to answer it on the 'new' Aurora post and couldn't find it! Now my first post has comments I can retire!!!!

H