About Me

My photo
No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

A is for Alice in Wonderland - II - Novelties


The other figure of 'Mr. Chamberlin' was a bit of a giveaway with his arse-written Hong Kong, but heay; it was a bit of a last minutes thing - which reminds me; apologies from any typo's over the Easter break, but I short of panic-loaded 11 posts over two days last week, while the cat's head was exploding - long story I won't bore you with, but suffice to say I learnt kitchen-paper doesn't soak-up much puss [euwww!] and he's fine now, but thinks the collar is an evil alien; out to get him!

Hong Kong 'Nodding-head' novelty, the difference between this and this morning's Marx figure is no greater than the difference between this morning's Marx figure and the Marx figure below.

Having never seen the movie I can't say for sure which of the three is closest to the movie imagining, or why the other two are so far off, I contemplated one of them being a different character, but they all have the price ticket in the top-hat, so are definitely trying to be the same chap!

A gratuitous shot of his feet, I shot this primarily to show it's unmarked (other that the rump-branding), so not necessarily made for Marx even though it looks like the sort of thing they were commissioning in the British colony, as the next piece [probably] ably demonstrates.

Marked clearly on the Dormouse's rump as being from one of the Hong Kong factories/suppliers; this ramp-walker - with the third distinct 'Hatter today - is in a polystyrene plastic and painted in the style of Marx's other HK stuff. Now the mad one has white hair (would have made a better Chamberlin - just not stuck to a dormouse!), but the nose is closer to the swivel-limbed one we looked at earlier.

Yet; he has a very different countenance overall? I'll look-up some movie stills before publishing (if I remember to read this in 'preview'!) and try and work out which is the more accurate, but I suspect the swivel-limbed figure from this, morning is the best likeness, being controlled by Marx in a US (or the Swansea?) factory, the ramp-walker is next closest having some Marx oversight of the contractor and the nodder -  an inaccurate, rushed HK novelty, not that they aren't all novelties - they are!

I rememebered - Marx swivel IS the closest (but the hair's wrong), the Hong Kong one is next, the Marx walker looks nothing like either of the movie characters, but has the closest hair!

No comments: