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.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

U is for Unknown Animals - Domestic

More 'Unknowns', this time domestic animals, I have a host of these and most are generic Hong Kong things no one will ever put a name to, the only hope is getting the undamaged carded or bagged set they originally came with. However some are of more interest, or poses the likelihood of having a 'named' history, these are some of they! [Yes, I know it should be 'them', but I served in the Glosters, not the City of London Rifles!!]

Top left bears a resemblance to both the Hornby 'O' gauge and Tri-ang/Hornby 'OO' gauge Horse-box horse, but is neither, and in size is smaller than one, bigger than the other, so; another model railway manufacturer? Top right is a copy of the Matchbox horse from the Horse-boxes of the 70's (Both 1-75 and Superkings), but made out of a more rigid nylon type plastic, it is very similar to some stuff carried by Lidl a few years ago which I think originated with Simba Toys?

The other two are hard Polystyrene plastic, maybe one of them is Plasticville or something??

I'm guessing these are from Christmas Crackers or some form of food premium? Either way it would be nice to put a title to them...

These will I hope attract the attention of bigger scale enthusiasts, as, while they are quite good for HO/OO adult sheep, I think they are in fact lambs for larger scale figures, and - more specifically - hope at least one of them will be recognised as Bo Peep's from the Gem/Culpitts range. Indeed if the other is Mary's from the same range, so much the better, but which is which? either?...neither!! [The one on the left is NOT the Airfix one]

These are much earlier, the lower one is blow-moulded celluloid and so fragile (not to mention - a fire risk!) I keep him (no udders!) in his own little wooded box! I think maybe a tourist type vignette? The Upper two bulls are in a relatively unique type of plastic, but there are hundreds of plastics around and most were tried on/for toys in the late 1950's and 1960's. The brown one has an attempt at a two colour run, and I'm guessing- again - that the die-cast guys may readily identify them as wagon/Horse-box passengers.

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