F is for Feedback - Triang and Husky

The following post is a complete update of the Triang post I published a while ago ago HERE and the Husky article from a few weeks earlier (link below) and is the result of several months of eMail traffic between Bernard Taylor and myself...emailing which it has to be said consisted mostly of me asking questions and Bernard providing the answers! As a result nearly all the images and most of the information in the text has come from Bernard, for which I am very grateful. As a result this as much his post as mine!

Bernard has a range of railway modelling accessories in various scales HERE and while of limited use to Toy Soldier collectors and Historical war gamers, there is a lot of stuff of use to Sci-fi/Car Wars fans, and anyone looking to populate their games or dioramas with civil bits, while one hopes the odd railway modeller visits these pages! So do please give his site a visit, he's contributed quite a lot to these pages in the last few months.

All above images courtesy of Bernard, showing clockwise from top; the Minic Motorways version of the Industrial Workers in their guise as pit crew, the correctly numbered catalogue image - this is an artists impression and shows some figures who were substantially different when they finally got to the retailers, and three more mint sets - again with the correct numbering. Later the combined Tri-Ang-Minic catalogues would have the figure sets photographed in the Minic section.

So where did I go wrong last time! Well the first mistake was one of a fundamental nature, I had taken the set numbers from one of the catalogues in my run, without checking the others, it turns out that those numbers were actually misplaced in most of the catalogues that carry the figures sets, both from the correct catalogue lists and from the numbers actually printed on the sets! I should have spotted that. So - while the numbers in the original article are correct, they are only correct to certain catalogues, not the 'Factory Door' issued products.

Another mistake (and again a pretty fundamental one!) was to assume, that because I'd seen them in Minic Motorway header bags, they must all have been issued thus, and further to assume that the codes would be the same as the Model Land catalogue codes. Assumption is a dangerous game and not something I'm usually that guilty of, luckily this is a blog and we can produce these corrections, updates or additions and anyone can contribute either through the comments section or by emailing me - so the picture grows whole'r!

Here is the correct numbering;

Tri-ang Model Land

RML.70 Pedestrian Figures Set No. 1.

RML.71 Workmen's Figures Set No. 2. ('74' in incorrect catalogues)

RML.72 Children's Figures Set No. 3.

RML.73 Urban Figures Set No. 4.

RML.74 Industrial Workers Figures set No. 5. (issued in blue overalls, '75' in incorrect catalogues)

RML.75 Road Workmen Figures Set No. 6. ('71' in incorrect catalogues)

RML 74 - Industrial Workers [Minic Motorways ref: was M1709]

Mettoy Minic Motorway

M1709 Mechanics/Pit Stop Crew (RML.74 Industrial Workers issued in white overalls)

Bernard has also sent both the images to the left in the above collage, showing the missing dog-handler from the Husky sets we looked at a few weeks ago HERE, along with a comparison with the Triang Model Land one. I have reproduced the comparison from last time and the Corgi version of the dog handler which is larger.

Another problem which had reared it's ugly head also from the Husky post, is the 'other' dustbin man ('refuse operative' in today's lingo). I placed him with the 'pedestrians' set, as I - again - erroneously felt that if some sets had six figures [Public Servants/Officials and Garage Personnel], and another - most obvious - set [Public Workers/Workmen] didn't contain the figure, he must go in the other!

It now looks as if he was a stand alone figure from one of the Husky, Corgi, or even Dinky (?) dustbin lorry models, but Google has not revealed the correct model. This sort of ties-in with the fact that he is far more common than the other figures. The shot of the Pedestrian set is also from Bernard. We need a die-cast expert to knock this one on the head...John!

Finally, between Bernard's picture of the Triang Model Land lollipop-man ('School-crossing patrol person' in today's lingo!), my picture of the Husky one, the original catalogue artwork and a recent feeBay lot with the Mastermodels metal one, we can see how social history is reflected in the change from square hoardings to round 'lollipops' and how much finer the Triang figure is in comparison with the Husky Hong Kong effort.

Also the artwork from the Husky catalogue which also shows the little road-sign set.