L is for Latecomers!

I was sorting the 'my pictures' folder the other day and found several folders which weren't registering in Picasa, they can drop-off for various reasons (renaming all the images [in the folder] will cause it to disappear [from the screen] in Picasa!), although it's usually if the containing-folder is moved, which occasionally happens by accident.

One of the folders was from the Guards mini-season back in 2012/2013? And it's that one we'll look at now, it's odd that A) I didn't notice they weren't Blogged at the time and B) has three random images of other figures, in with what are mostly the Timpo/Toyway variants?

Timpo/Toyway; oldest at the top, question marks at the bottom. And from the top, they are; first version better paint, a pair of simpler paint and the SLR Shoulder-Arms pose from the second version, the officer placed mid-way as his paint, being different is harder to place.

Then the rest of the second type with two officers, one having gold collar and epaulettes, the other black. Below them are four first version, re-issued in PVC and fine-painted as a third version by Toyway, and below them are some cruder ethylene or polypropylene 'bits' which I assume are Toyway, but whether they came before or after the PVC ones I don't know, they may be test-shots, especially the blue officer? French Guards . . . unthinkable!

The paint difference between the first versions is limited to gold paint on the collar/epaulettes of those with the earlier bases.

The other comparison is between the second versions SLR's, now I genuinely don't know if Timpo did a brown and black version, or if the brown ones are only from Replicants, who I believe did produce some. As Replicants use a grade of polyethylene very similar in properties to that used by Timpo, would you even know the difference? Ours were black when we were kids, but I've seen more brown ones in recent years!

A Toyway blister-card of these came-up on evil-feeble-feeBay a while ago and they went for a pretty penny to a bit of a bidding 'war', and why wouldn't they; they are arguably the best version, faces are a bit pale, but more realistic for being so, the PVC is hard-wearing, and they are painted to a high-standard with proper PVC-paint which takes a lot to remove.

The Attention pose's legs though are wrong for a Royal Salute, the twos being in-line, either they are the officers Attention legs, or Toyway had a new pair knocked-up? In fact - looking at the boots; they have used the second version legs with first version bodies for the whole set!

And second version bearskins with first-version heads? Bases are the mid-era one with a Timpo Toys cartouche in the centre. But the three 'odds' at the bottom of the big line-up shot shows first-version legs, so Toyway had them both?

These three shots were also in the folder, and yet I'm sure we saw most of them in the thematic posts at the time, so I don't know what I was playing at, but it may be a clue as to why the folder disappeared, moving stuff around?

On the left is a Charbens drummer, sans-drum! As the drum was missing from PW's in their recent excellent tome on the subject of Charbens; I'm guessing I'll have more luck looking for rocking-horse shit? Thinks . . . I might have a khaki-green drum with two studs close-together somewhere, could that be it? Or am I thinking about something I saw in someone else's stock - blue and white painted edge and red rope-work VɅVɅV's painted over, if the memory has any merit? But those studs were square . . . I'm thinking of the Herald Hong Kong one aren't I? Or even a copy . . . Doh!

Then we have a 'Brass Section' shot which avoided the Brass Section post back then, the two Reisler's (one with the gurt-big sousaphone!) were probably PW purchases the previous year? While I'm sure we saw the Cherilea 60mm and Lone Star trumpeter at the time?

That's it for today and probably a late post tomorrow.