Given the numbers of small scale
odd-&-sods I've picked-up over the years, I thought I'd throw the
contenders up here by way of listing those which are more, or less likely to
have been Charbens' cake decorations.
This post looks at the less likely candidates.
Plastic versions of the imported lead
solids known to the Hollow-cast collection community to have been carried by
BOTH Johillco and Charbens? The standing lady was found in
the US, the others (I have a few more; tatty ones) over here. I have never seen
or found riders, galloping horses, dogs or a fox from the metal set in plastic (but that
doesn't mean they weren't produced), and while there is an obvious connection
with Charbens, there is an equal
connection with Hill, who also used
some wishy-washy brown plastics?
Indeed my money is on Hilco, as the plastic (under the paint)
is the glossier plastic used by Hill,
not the chalkier-stuff one associates with Charbens.
The figures won't stand-up without being anchored with icing, lemon curd,
strawberry fondant or something, so they were almost certainly cake decorations
though - but they could just as easily have come from the same (believed
German) source as the metal originals? Do you have other items from the set in
plastic?
The previous set are firmly in the 35mm
camp, but these have gone down a gear and are HO/OO-gauge compatible, also,
they are technically Britains!
Actually plastic versions of the old lead-solid Lilliput/Dublo hunting set.
With both Charbens and Hill having
some poses of questionable origin in their repertoire it could be either of
them again, however, while the later (?), commoner ones (lower image) are in
the same glossy plastics (more colours though), there are an earlier tranche
with chalky plastic (upper image), so worth a punt on Charbens this time.
The quality of the mouldings suggests these
were produced from Britains original
moulds, and as such, rather leaves Britains
also in the frame, knocking them out as an unbranded side-line?
The packets look very much like other early
Culpitt's or Gem, but equally are the sort of thing that fitted in the
'prize-chamber' of a Christmas cracker, but they often turn-up like this in
multiples, so I prefer/fancy old baker's stock over crackers?
You get a woman riding side-saddle, two
guys one in a top-hat and one in a riding hat, two (identical) dogs and a farm
gate 'jump' per bag, which is a simple, open-ended polythene bag, stapled shut
in a vague arrow-head. Bottom-right image is the sample I'm working from,
that's 41-years of picking the stuff up!
I used to be amazed that Hong Kong (pale
one to the right) had copied something so esoteric as the fence/gate, but then it dawned on me
they had probably copied the lead original! As I don't even think the fox was
issued - it's one thing to have a cheerful, colourful hunt on a cake; it's quite
another to have a hunted animal on a cake! - here is the Britains Lilliput original.
Because I keep one of everything, including
OBE's, I have this one which someone has gone to some lengths to strip the
figure from, Airfix Federal Artillery
seem to fit just fine!
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