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.

Friday, September 2, 2011

P is for Plagiarism - the sincerest form of flattery

This is the second half of the article that was born from the Littlewood's catalogue page that the Moonbase boys published the other day. I was not so sure about these as being also Raphael Lipkin, and suspect they are actually Triang 'Minic'. The main reason being the large amount of tin-plate involved. (06-06-2018 [D-Day!] Now known to be Welsotoys (Wells-Brimtoy))

Based on the Bedford RL of the 1950's (some still in service in the late 1980's!), the real surprise is that it blows my Blue Box 'unique designs' claim elsewhere out of the water! And looking at the pictures I do vaguely remember a friend having the Radar truck when we were kids. The figures I thought were Lone*Star are - in fact - a slightly different design, clearly copied from [probably by!] LS, but in the same colour of plastic as some of the Spot-On's I looked at a while ago. It would appear that Minic based their figure on the Lone*Star figure, and Blue Box then used the Minic figure with the Lone*Star mounting position to make their HO'ish figure, giving him a  helmet net/cover to get over the straight-copy issue! The Lone*Star crew came in three poses and two base colours as seen above, the rear pose being closest to this truck pose, but with the feet together on the Lone*Star originals. Comparison between the two figures, Lone*Star is the dark green one in both shots. The main difference is the mounting spigots, which come out of the small of the back of the Lone*Star figure, and the nether regions of the other (Triang?) figure.

Blue Box took the second figure, re-positioned the mounting spigot to the LS position and gave him a helmet net.

2 comments:

Paul´s Bods said...

I also remeber having a radar truck when I was a nipper...the make I cannot remeber but I´m sure it came with a roket launcer and those tiny trees etc..one of the beach holiday bags of plastic soldiers and vehicles that were around in the 60´s.
Cheers
paul

Hugh Walter said...

Hi Paul

Tried commenting on your blog as 'maverickcollectiong' and it didn't like me! So had to comment annonymously as 'hugh'.

I've put some Sheriff of Nott's over at the Airfix site, and I did do the ACW for you the other day!

H