P is for Parachute Battalion

And I mean IS!

I was struggling to convince someone of my theory vis-à-vis the Trojan Parachute Battalion figure next to the Airfix donor-sculpt the other week, hopefully this will convince him (and others) and put the matter to bed?

One the left we have an Airfix 'early figure set' compatible example, 60mm high,  like others in the set, mould-release pin-mark showing front-centre on the small, round, domed base, as the rest of the set do and it's oozing age. He's soft polyethylene, earlier examples are found in hard polystyrene or even earlier semi-synthetic polymers like cellulose-nitrate or cellulose acetate.

On the right we have a smaller copy, painted to match other figures in the "Trojan" Series of Modern Khaki Soldiers, he is a soft polyethylene also, and has lost some of the detailing of the original in the copying process, including - as I pointed out last time - the helmet netting.

He's also lost the 'shorts' effect of pulling the smock-hem in to the legs with the fastening of the crotch-flap. You can see that all the differences I highlighted last time are clear when they are side by side.

By the time you read this a rear-view will be up in the Trojan section of the Khaki Infantry page.

Trojan mention quite a few items in the 'Airborne' line of Parachute Items and we can see from the catalogue that there are two clues to help us ID the figures/items; one - the price per dozen (or unit) and two - the numebr of items in a unit.

None of these is likely to be 1136 Air Commando Tommy Gunner, but he probably looks like some of them! In other words he will be a blow-moulded parachute toy like the Red Devil (1127 - below) being the same unit-price per-item.

I don't know if this - specific figure - is Trojan or another of the makes this figure has been ascribed to over the years, but a version of the sculpt is generally acknowledged to be 1136A Paratrooper (with raised arms), a bit costly for a smaller figure, but he's not part of the Khaki range, is a tad larger and comes in a  range of what would have been toy-like colours (when new), I've seen blue and green as well as this red (PW reports grey) and the - dare I say - commoner white and browns. If he isn't 1136A, we'd be looking for another blow-mould?

Also the expense will include the parachute, which we can see is very similar to the Red Devil below and seems to have been folded to fit a similar card.

Finally, we have 1127 New Red Devil Paratrooper, which leaves 1128 Moon Rocket - yet to be ID'd and the 1193 Parachute Battalion. Their coding comes within the OO-gauge Tiny Trojan line, and while they (OO) would be too small for parachute toys, do share some of the paint and plastic colour features of the chap at the top of the page. Both he and they share those same features with the Modern Khaki Soldiers who have a changing code-sequence, unlike most other lines.

The Parachute Battalion is priced at one-shilling & sixpence for three figures; all 50/54mm figures in the Trojan catalogue with the exception of the Japanese* are priced at sixpence-each, three sixpences were one-shilling & sixpence! Ergo; Parachute Battalion must contain 3 standard-sized figures.

Last time I posted this; I was "pretty sure", and apart from disagreeing private-emails, there was no feedback, this time - I'm telling you . . . the figure at the top of this post, on the right-hand side of the pair is from the "Trojan" Series 1193 Parachute Battalion and he can't be from anywhere else.

Photo' courtesy of Barney Brown

The question still remaining is - was there three of the same pose (he's certainly commoner than the Airfix original), or maybe two of these and one of the Timpo-copy with binoculars? As the binocular guy isn't listed under the Modern American Soldiers, my guess is one of them and two of the Airfix piracies?

That doesn't actually matter as it was this pose which was the real mystery, while a carded set will turn-up one day, probably - like the Red Devil - for a reasonable buy-it-now with no watchers!

* back in the 1950's British trade (and elsewhere - I'm sure) still held on to Victorian (or Edwardian) principles, and therefore if you made anatomically smaller figures (less plastic) you charged less; profit margins normally aiming to be between 1 and 10% - anything more being considered greedy and not a little vulgar! Consequently the diminutive Japanese were only 5d-each, actually a bit of a pain when we worked in sixes, pre-decimalisation!

Nowadays - of course - you have the Russians wanting a working-man's half-a-week's wages for half-a-handful of figures, while Lanard will sell you a bucketful for a fiver!