Like the figure we looked at the day before
yesterday, this started life in Herald's
stable, got taken-in by Britains,
simplified and sent to Hong Kong for its sins. It also got copied by nearly every
Tom, Dick, and early British plastic producer, along with several in the
colonies!
This image has been on the blog before, so
we'll get it out of the way before we look at the original, most of these are
now in storage, but more have joined the staff here until they can all be
reunited! And the trio of 'early British' were photographed again before incarceration,
while the Britains are here.
The top row - Britains, Britains - Hong
Kong, Paramount, Hong Kong
Middle - Hong Kong, Speedwell, Speedwell, Trojan
Bottom - all Hong Kong
So, the original Britains chap was a bad-guy (all in black - probably smoked, almost
certainly liked Country & Western music and definitely cheated on his
women!), greyed-out in PVC after the move to Hong Kong production, he was
finally brightened-up with a bit of a denim two-piece! He also got the separate
base. I don't think I have all the versions, but the blue one has extended the
sample slightly!
I don't know if my 'bad guy' is a shrinkage
variation, or that the moulding was simplified in HK, but he looks cooler
spitting death with his face hidden, even if you couldn't hit a barn-door at
twenty paces with the brim of your Stetson over your eyes! But really - he's
slotting some dude sneaking out of a side-alley, two cool for gun-play school!
The guys have swapped places from the first
image, so we have Trojan dropping the
hat to effect 'originality' on the left, while Speedwell - middle and right - didn't bother and just went with a
straight copy, However with hat, shirt and sometimes 'kerchief' painted
different colours, they make for more interesting figures than the Britains herald original.
Two recent additions, all the Speedwell figures are two-part moulds
with a split-line across the base, and I'm always hoping to find a hatted
figure with a smooth base, as neither UNA
nor VP seem to have been associated
with this pose yet, and a three-part version might be from one of them, but no
luck so far!
Another Paramount
has also come in; theirs is quite a different pose, although influenced by the Britians figure; he's an older, sheriff
type, with a ten-and-a-bit-gallon hat, swanky boots with a cavalry turn-down
type thing going on there, more balanced stance, he's begging you to think he
fired six - feeling lucky? Punk!
Painting on this one's fuller than my
storage copy with the hat, boots and fringe painted black, and further
red-highlights on the fringe.
This chap has also been seen here before,
but for completion - here he is again! The base marked MADE IN HONG KONG and
634. Following-on from Wednesday's post - I don't know if Benbros had a version of this figure? I certainly don't have
one/haven't found one, although both Lone Star and Benbros have a whip-handed chap with similar posing.
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