B is for Big Blobs in Bags!

Just as the Montaplex New Zealanders had different contents, so some of the sets in the 100-code numbered series of pocket-money toy 'sobre' (surprise) envelopes had earlier incumbents prior to the better known Airfix/Matchbox/Atlantic copies, it is these we will look at now...

There is a forth set, being equally crude 30/35mm's; copies of the Blue Box GI's (possibly with a few Monogram poses to make the set up to ten poses).

Each set comes with a piece of scenery as the runner they are attached to which are missing from my collection, I'm not sure why the top set has only seven poses (there may be a clue below), nor whether there were three duplicates to make-up the total sought?

The set at the bottom were sold as Japanese, the set above them as Americans, the top set (Germans?) and the missing set (Brits?) are still a mystery to me...any ideas?

Here we see some 40mm Italian originals of the Spanish piracies, these are in hard metallic colours of polystyrene, very much in the style of the CoMa Spacemen and Galenites, although there is no actual connection known to me other then the obvious similarity?

The prone guy seems to have a control box for a rocket launcher or something (like the little Roscopf figures) and the kneeling chap (in gold) was 'using' or operating something. While I believe Serjan copied the mini-submarines (as flats), Montaplex didn't, neither did they copy the flame-thrower (damaged above), which may account for the lower pose count of the copied set?

Note how the Spanish efforts are not pantograph generated copies, but free-hand lifts, much reduced in size.