News, Views Etc...Plastic Warrior 159 (Yes! Totally hopeless; me!)

I've done it again...next issue through the door and last one not reviewed! I'm not going to do both of them, I'll do 159 now and try [really hard] to do the new one (160) in a week or two. The thing is (in my defence!) ... I try not to do the review as soon as the issue arrives because it's either been covered in the last few days on the PW Blog and Facebook pages (as 160 just has), or because sometimes I pick it up from Paul and it's a few days before the subscribers get theirs in the mail and it wouldn't be fair to wax lyrical before they've seen it!

As a result it gets read a couple of times, put to one side and buried in crap...usually quality toy-related crap, but once I can't see it...so anyway, here's the contents of 159, which was issued back in July sometime and is therefore now available as a back issue!

* Steve Morris reports on a Blue Box fort repackaging with the small-scale Wild West figures as Reddish Maid
* Colin Penn digs up new information and a new [old] figure from Lone Star
* Hearld 'Notes and Queries' by Daniel Morgan covers the Khaki Infantry, including the Zang variations and the 'Enemy' issues over 4 well illustrated pages
* Les White looks at the US Toy carded blisters - some very interesting sets
* P. Lopes Cunha covers the Regimento TV serial premium figures from Raja Ice Cream
* A very interesting article on the UK/Lines Bros. end of US maker De Luxe Reading (here; De Luxe Toy Co.) is penned by Stephen Dance
* 'The Mexican 'Dime Store' maker Amex is brought to wider knowledge courtesy of Paul 'Stads' Stadinger
* 'Converters Corner' also from Les White shows how to make Crimean War Russian infantry, using a mix of Timpo and Armies in Plastic (AIP) figures
* 'What's New' is covered by Stads' and Les White's coverage above and the letters section where the following are mentioned...

• Funtastic (Poundland) - Wild West - Stuart Asquith
• CTS - Korean War - Stads again!
• Lod Enterprises - Greeks and Trojans - yes...Stads!
• Takara-Tomy's 'Panda's Den' - 'Fat Cute Soldiers' - Mathias Berthoux

* Frank Langcaster looks at the pricing of Timpo knights colour variations on evilBay (lovely pictures, but the text went over my head like an aeroplane...you know my views on prices!)
* The diorama's of a company called Giocattoli Bambole are looked at by Andreas Dittmann, and fascinating they are, with figures from Elastolin - in the main - enhanced with Lineol, Isas and other pieces, along with shots of Cherilea figures in an Elastolin catalogue
* What the !&*$? seeks answers for some question-marked Wild West figures and horses from Dave Scrivener's collection
* The rest of the Reader's Letters section includes

• Horrible Histories (Eric Chapman)
• Timpo Displays (Barney Brown)
• Starlux (and other makes) Prehistoric Diorama (Alan Copsey - illustrated on the front cover)
• Bergan/Beton (Jack Shalatain, who's second letter is a show and tell...Trojan, VP, Miniplast and Gem)
• Corgi (George Nixon...who follows up on my letter in an earlier issue...thank-you George, I picked-up a couple more the other day, if you need a pair eMail me...free to you)

* Plus all the usual small-ads, news and views including sad news of the passing of Geoff Ambridge, a call for feedback, new on back-issues and the latest Eurofigurines magazine
* Cover images this issue are Alan Copsey's dino-rama (my pun!) on the front cover and a 1977 'trade' publicity card from Britains on the back.

I will try to get the next review out in a more timely manner, look out for 160 in a week or two...or order one anyway!