So we get to the first post on this subject last (if you've been following the last week or so!), being an introduction to the world of Robin Hood, and his band of merry men...or criminal outlaws depending on your world view! Robbing from the rich to help the poor? It's just not capitalism...
This is by no means all of them and I'd urge you to get Matt Thier's Robin Hood special published by Plastic Warrior (PW Link) for a better guide to all things Loxley and Notts!
Rear Left to Front Right -
Tourist Copy of Britains Herald (see note below), Marx US, Lido, Elastolin (see note below).
Dulcop, Rubenstein, Britains Herald 54mm.
Britains Detail, Res Plastics, Crescent/Kellogg's, Speedwell (?).
Cherilea, Airfix.
The Lido figures from America, these will have been designed to tie in with a movie or two, this was a popular subject in the 1950's and '60's and Hollywood was at the fore. They are designed (badly) to stand without bases and mostly - don't! Especially on a carpet.
The figure on the left is an apparently quite uncommon soft ethylene figure from Elastolin, and is from the Norman range, so snuck in here without permission! Next to him is an equally uncommon figure from Res Plastics in Italy, two big to go in a Kinder Egg, this was Res' own label product.
The last figure is a re-mould of the Speedwell (?) Robin, I use the question mark as while I'm pretty sure he's Speedwell, he looks a bit limp next to the originals I posted the other day (two posts below), but this may be due to the material and lack of paint?
This is a clear copy of the Britains Herald Robin Hood character figure, made in a dense PVC material. He has been found on various tourist items from the Nottingham/Sherwood Forest area, and some believe him to be made by Britains themselves. Without either Matt's book or Peter Coles's books to hand I'm not going to say it wasn't as there may be good evidence that it was, but Britain's didn't use vinyl until they moved production to Hong Kong, and no HK vinyl versions of the original set were issued, so it's unlikely they would have shipped the master over there for a new mould - but they might have. Otherwise it would be a copy by someone else?
I think Plastic Warrior has shown them with round and square wooden plinth type bases, and I seem to recall a larger item like an ashtray at one of the shows the other year? He's around 90/100mm.
This lot - like the Elastolin above - has very little to do with the Robin Hood stuff at all, but they can all be used as King Richard, Prince John or the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Photograph stems from the fact that I had the right-hand figure in with the Speedwell figures as a possible member of that set, the base looked Spanish, so I took it round to Paul Morehead the other day and he put me right, then Brian filled in the fine detail yesterday (see post below)...the figure is a Norev copy of the Lone Star king to the left, it was re-issued a few years ago unpainted in a fort play-set by JEM of France, see comments in post below.
The other three are the two versions of the Lone Star 'King', with the earlier one to the left with leggings, a Lion and a battle-axe, with the latter version in a blueish grey and the gold re-issue (Toyway). The inset shows how the alignment on the base has slipped over the years and the flash got worse - pressure from the injection process at the weakest point.
Thanks to Paul Morehead and Brian Carrick (His Blog) for helping identify these and while I was faffing about with all this rebel alliance stuff I found this very useful website;
2 comments:
Hi Hugh
The Rubinstein Robin looks like the 54mm Marx figure but it's not as sharp a casting, did they copy it?
The one you have as Speedwell(?) is from the Charbens hollowcast figure (see Joplin page 79) they never made it in plastic but it was later made from the original mould, I can't remember now if this was done by George Hill for Marlborough Military Models or by Giles Brown of Dorset Toy soldiers but it was one of those two.
Regards, Brian
Hi Brian
Thanks - I thought I was going to get that one wrong! I knew it was Marlborough or Dorset but not who - There's a chap on feeBay still selling the vinyl copies of Cherilea but while he shows a complete sprue in the photo, he sends an incomplete sprue, when you eMail him to ask why you've two figures missing and three of the same pose he writes back "I didn't think you'd mind"!!!
Apparently - from Kent Sprecher's site - the Rubenstein are from moulds of the Canada marked copies of the Marx 54mm and it's all in the colour I believe?!!
So the Speedwell Robin - was he similar to the Britains pose? I'll have to look out for one....
Hugh
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