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.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

M is for More Space Stuff!

This image was sent in by a reader/follower from Finland, who wishes to remain anonymous, however many thanks to him for doing so as there are two bits of real interest here...

First is the reversed colourway for the Space Hawk/Spaceship from Pyro/Poplar, which rather confirms my suspicion that the 'Tudor Rose' one below is actually another Poplar moulding. I was told it was Tudor Rose and the 'Made in England' rather throws you...but the Welsh (in the 50's) weren't as bothered by their status as some are now, and 'England' would get exports more recognition than 'Wales'?

Of more interest in the photograph are the four X-100 Space Scouts at the back, these are in a semi-transparent/marbled plastic, and in conversation with the guy who supplied the photo, the thought is they are local production. If not Finnish, then Scandinavian at least...Now, the Ajax/Beton/Everybody else mounted figures from the very early days of plastic, were carried/produced in Europe by an unknown French company, Airfix, Remsa and, in Denmark, by Riesler...could Riesler have produced these four?

The other two are a silver X-200 Space Ranger like the red one below [this is a pyro original] and an Atomic Space Ship (with a damaged nose), [marked] Tudor Rose.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,
If you have some problems to find a french manufacturer, perhaps, the "modelstories" website (specialised in kits)should help you.
This website is in French (and sometimes in English).
Best REGARDS,
Jay

Hugh Walter said...

Thanks, I'll give them a go Jay. The wagon in question will feature in an artical on those everyCo. horses, but I need to track a few down on eBay before I can write it!

Kent Specher covers the US end very well on his ToysoldierHQ site, and Paul Morhead covers the Airfix/UK stuff in the 'Airfix Special', available from the Plastic Warrior website.

Hugh Walter said...

Oh - Yes, I've had this page bookmarked for a long time, but you're right to remind me, I need to link to it on the main page, and the whole point of going over to a 3 column template was to make room for more links.

They are dealing more with 60/70's stuff. The space ships in the last few posts are all 1950's, originating in the US, we've had a death in the family, so I wasn't really bothering with text, the 5 or 6 posts will all be re-witten in time and make more sence, I just threw the first few up there as eye-candy!! Cheers for dropping by.

Anonymous said...

Hello,
I forgot to mention that the guy who work on this website (JC Carbonnel / modelstories) had written a recent book about the Airfix toysoldiers (in french and english).
best regards,
Jay

Iván said...

Nice spaceships!!