P is for the Post-Plastic Warrior Plastic Plunder-Post Picture-Pile Pronouncements

So, did I mention there was a T . . . oh, we've had that meme before . . . well; this is what I carried back to the cave after the hunt . . .

This was the bag of bits I received from Gareth Morgan, in the car park before the doors opened! All sorts of nice things were present, and some of them will be in posts soon. The highlight was actually a small sealed bag of Hong Kong small-scale farm, almost certainly from 'Lucky Bags' or Christmas crackers, and tying two base-marks into one source - so very useful.

Two copies of Airfix zoo animals (already added to their posts) along with various capsule toys and other novelties were also in the bag, as well as several bits of wattle fencing from Britains Garden which make excellent stockade sections for Airfix Ancient Britons! I think the bendy-boxer, blogged last week, was in there as well.

Trevor Rudkin's bag was equally full of useful bits and bobs, although intercepted; it came to me in a roundabout fashion anyway! Highlight was probably the little trail-bikes with riders; I suspect from a board game, there was three (red, green and blue) so possibly another one (four players?) or three (six players?) to track down, along with the game's title - a BGG session I think.

There was also a cake decoration coach in a new colour, which was timely as I'm working on the wagons for the new HK Blog, although it will be a while before they get published. Cherilea cacti and a Lucky Toys Thames Trader with a broken back (easily glue'able) were other items of interest.

Adrian Little brought various bits for me to look at, and I had a few things off the stall as the day progressed; a bunch of Quaker gladiators which are destined for Italy if the reciprocal Co-Ma ever turn-up, an HK salesman's sample, some card flats from a cereal box so old I don't remember when Shredded Wheat was called Welgar!

Bag of bits, tub of bits, 'nother bag of bits . . . Starlux firemen, a large anthropomorphic mouse - playing guitar . . . a Portuguese donkey in a straw hat and green trousers, Wiking Stuka . . . the usual stuff! The Marx 'Sunshine Series' boxing of Blue Box's small scale wagon has been seen here before, but it's a clean one!

This lot mostly came from one stall, up the top of the hall near the entrance; a bag of Marty Toy knock-offs (probably Gordy) which are useful, the Merten sailors will be for a comparison shot with the Blue Box copies one day, the Secret Army Supplies card destined for a follow-up to the post I did - not long ago...timing huh? Thus it ever was!

The little pile of Tractors and things (a pig playing a sousaphone!) was from Steve Vickers's rummage tray - I think (?) - and the Merten knock-off cake decorations were blogged last week.

The LP/LG Buck Rogers bags were from the same stall as the other stuff, I have the robots and Matchbox clones already and have blogged them here and on Moonbase, but the character figures are a nice gap-filler...the Tweedle-Twaddle thing is missing, but at this scale it looks like a child and is no loss . . . I think my distain for that particular character has surfaced here before now? "Weeble-wooble?" Fuck-off, you demented, cutesy, family-living, low-brow, tea-time entertainment, future-past, hideously eighties, R2-unit-cloned, Nazi-helmet equipped pile of ducting: I don't care who's stuck down the space-well!

The same stall I think, also gave-up this bag of Kinder bits, mostly complete 'bits' as it happens, no nice RP figures, but various late-1980's/mid-1990's stuff I missed first time round, and while I have another lot of them somewhere (storage!), these have all the stickers and inserts intact. There's another mini racing-car for the board-game project, along with various trains, 'planes and automobiles. Competition time . . . no prize - find Micky's nose . . . warmer, warmer . . . cooler . . . left a bit . . . !

Above is my quick gathering of harvest from Peter Bergner's rummage boxes, this was five-minutes work, and you could spend all day just on the one task! I also got the Effigies paratroopers from him; the plan is to use the under-scale parachutes to produce in-scale papier-mâché canopies for smaller scale figures. Winner is probably the large blue-rubber polar bear, seems to be missing a plug-in belly-plate, but who cares, he's brilliant!

Other minor purchases included the Replicants medieval clerics, a Blue Box wagon I thought was a colour variation (it wasn't!), some more Lucky Luke premiums and a set of LOTR board-game Hobbits which were a gift from Graham Apperley as part of a deal which didn't happen fully, years ago!

Loot from the 50p box on the stall behind us; the Liverpool gang - as always: with nice things. There are some Blue Box Brit's and Germans, a BB knight, HK copies of Britains Khaki Infantry (destined for that page), a couple of Chinatanks (in the style of Zee Toys/Zylmex, but different, I suspect), a rabbit, a Spanish, terracotta, touristy, caricature, policeman and a couple of paratroopers. The three steeplechasers came from Brain Carrick's table, and at the moment are vying for 'best at show'!

Girly-girl thought she'd help sort-out, but didn't do much helping until . . .

. . . she decided to try unwrapping a 53-year-old card box with those claws . . .which I explained wasn't really helping at all!

I also got an Anzio Beach from Aurora: box was tatty but saveable and the contents - which were mucked about with and covered in gloss black, brown or green - have actually presented some paint-free smaller parts, plus the usually never present transfer sheet. There were also three Bellona bunkers and a bridge in the box . . . Bargain!

Mid-sort finds most material boxes ticked, most scale boxes ticked, most subject, era or object boxes ticked...you get the picture!

The 'junk' bag from Brian, there was one from Peter Evans too, similar contents, but I forgot to photograph it, and it's all been broken down and sorted now, but thanks to both.

It's the bags of bits I go to the shows for really, if you want a set of quality Timpo something's or Starlux something else's, you can ring a dealer, go on evilBay, or just ask around at a show, but the things that make the story whole, the things that make some of the posts here more interesting, or complete, the real 'gap fillers' are to be found in the oddment bags! So special thanks to Adrian, Brian, Gareth, Graham, Peter, and Trevor for looking them out for me, to share with you.

Less than a year to PW 32!