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.

Friday, January 25, 2019

News, Views, Etc . . . Forthcoming Events

Well, on the day of publishing these dates, it will be a month since Santa emptied his sack! Hey; the oldies are the goodies - once a year and only down a chimney! And when these dates are spent, it will be the first of February, a month has gone by; we are a twelfth of the way through the year . . . where does it go?

I still haven't done the review of Plastic Warrior from December (issue 173) I'll try to get it written-up this coming week, I can tell you it was full of good stuff!

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Toy Fairs
 
Saturday 26th January 2019

Nothing, nada, nix, zilch . . . put your feet up or do a bit of admin!

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Sunday 27th January 2019

Barry (not '-Island') - Chris Dyer Fairs
Barry Leisure Centre, Greenwood Street, Barry, Wales, CF63 4RU
Tel. - 01643 702 757
Mob. - 07966 694 579
10:30-15:00hrs
Admission £2

Lincoln - J&J Fairs (John & Julie Webb)
The Exhibition Centre, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN2 2NA
Tel. - 01522 880 383
10:00 - 14:30hrs Approximately
Admission £2.50p, seniors £2, 1st child £1.50p

Shepton Mallet - Bulldog Fairs
Royal Bath & West Showground, BA4 6QN
Tel. - 01373 452 857
Mob. - 07917 125 641
10:30 - 14:30hrs
Adults £4, under 16's free if accompanied, early-bird (from 08:30hrs) £10.

Wirral - Barry Stockton Fairs - Merseyside Hobbies & Model Railway Show
Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight, Wirral, CH62 5DH
Web. - http://barrystocktonfairs.co.uk/
Tel. - 01513 343 362
10:30 - 15:30
Admission - Adult £4.50p, Children £1

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Tuesday 29th January 2019

Garstang - Janet Pearson - Garstang Evening Fair
Kirkland & Catterall Memorial Hall, PR3 0H
Web-presence unknown
01282 439 009
18:00 - Finnish
Admission fee unknown

Tonbridge - SRP Toyfairs (evening fair)
Angel Lane, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1SF
Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)
18:00 - 20:00hrs
Admission £1.50p, Children Free

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Auctions

Saturday 26th January 2019

Elstree - Excalibur Auctions (day 2 of a 2-day auction, day 1: yesterday)
The Village Hotel, Elstree, Hertfordshire, WD6 3SB (venue)
Ciltern Buisness Centre, Woodside Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP6 6AA (office)
02036 330 913
Free Tea or Coffee
Collectables, posters, memorabilia

Note - not 'Aversham' as advertised elsewhere

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Tuesday 29th January 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (1st day of a two day auction)
Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ
01642 750 616
Dolls, bears and soft-toy sale

Stieff monkey

The Doll and Teddy Bear sale to be held on the 29th of January features two private owner collections. The North Yorkshire Rupert the Bear Collection, features 51 lots of bears, diecast vehicles, jigsaws, puzzles and games, pictures, books and annuals, figurines and collectables from the popular character; and The Joan Donachie Collection Part 1, includes 163 lots of miniature vintage animals and bears, including Schuco and Steiff and "Solider Bob" a soldier bear. The collection also includes British vintage bears from Chiltern, Chad Valley, Farnell, Tyford and Merrythought, plus others, as well as French, German and American bears. Other items in the sale include Artists bears, Charlie bears, Chic-a Boo, Sally B Gollies and Gills Gollies and teddies, plus hard plastic, vinyl and porcelain dolls from Palitoy, Pedigree, Zwergnase, Anette Himstedt and many others. There is a selection of dolls clothing and fabrics, plus wigs, accessories and magazines, and a number of trade boxes of Barbies.

Joan Donachie

You would be hard pressed to come across anyone who was more passionate about teddy bears than Joan Donachie. Her quaint cottage, nestled in Barmill, near Troon held a treasury of furry friends in all shapes and sizes; from exquisite early Steiff, Chad Valley and Terrys, Chilterns, Pedigrees and Merrythought to more modern Steiff limited editions, mohair miniatures, Russ, Gantz and TY Beanies.

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Wednesday 30th January 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (2nd day of a two day auction)
Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ
01642 750 616
TV and movie-related sale

The TV & Film sale to be held on the 30th of January features a large collection of Star Wars items, including carded, boxed and loose figures, playsets and vehicles, signed pictures, trade catalogues, graded figures and the black series 6" scale models. Other items in the sale include Action Man figures, vehicles, accessories and clothing, Dr Who, Batman, Gerry Anderson and many others. There are trading, cigarette and lobby cards, film posters, comics and annuals, books, computer games, Lego, jigsaws, Subbuteo and much more.
 
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Thursday 31st January 2019

Sheffield - Shefield Auction Gallery
Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 8UB
Tel. - 0114 281 6161

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Friday 1st February 2019

Bedford - W & H Peacocks
Eastcoats Park, Wallis Way, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK42 0PE
Tel. - 01234 266 366
Viewing - Friday 25th January from 09:00-20:00hrs; Saturday 26th January from 09:00-16:00hrs; Thursday 31st January from 09:00-18:00hrs and from 09:00hrs on the morning of the sale.
Collectable toy auction

Poole - Cottees Auctions Limited
Mannings Heath Road, Poole, Dorset, BH12 4NQ
Tel. - 01202 723 177
Viewing 10.00-17.00hrs on Thursday 31st (10:00-17:00hrs) and from 9.00-10hrs on the 1st of February.
Sale starts 10:00hrs
General toy sale

Two auction-sale's on the same day? Never a good sign if you are a seller at either, lucky for buyers though!

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Overseas Events

Sunday 27th January 2019

Orleans - Mini Auto 45 / GTO - 40th Toy Fair
Parc Des Expositions, Orleans, France
Tel. - +33 (0) 683 195 676
09:00 - 17:00hrs
Admission 5

Five Euros for browsing 350-odd tables? That's cheaper than any equivalent show in the UK . . . but it won't be after march 29th!

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If you are an event promoter/show curator/auctioneer and you want your toy, model, collectable or popular-/youth-culture type sale/exhibition/event listed here - FOR FREE - or linked to; please eMail me -

maverickatlarge[at]hotmail[dot]com

- stating the date/s of the event, address of event, contact details, opening/viewing times, admission pricing and any other relevant facts/details or features - parking, travel notes, disability access, availability of refreshments, event subject matter &etc.

And please mention any flyer-art or poster-/leaflet-scans but send by separate eMail, in case they go to the 'junk' folder, from where they can be recovered and marked safe, but only if I know they're there!

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London Toy Fair

I am working on the Toy Fair stuff, but that'll start publishing fully next week, nothing really exciting, Papo have a couple of new figures and some lovely big-cats, Airfix have announced the WWI figures will be re-issued this year just in time for the 100th anniversary of the year after the year the war ended, which is lovely timing! They also have full D-Day 75th celebration stuff, including most of the WWII figure sets in both small scale and 54mm

They also have most of the small scale AFV range back in the catalogue (everything except the lost SAM-2 'Guideline' I think, both recent sculpts and the older ones. Of more interest to larger scale modellers is a range of 1:35 AFV's, mostly German (including two versions of Hetzer), but they are still only sketched-out with CAD-drawings  in the catalogue, so given Hornby's recent history of announcements, we'll see what develops later in the year - don't hold your breath!

Both Airfix and Revell have re-issued their Apollo 11 stuff for the 50th anniversary of Armstrong's small step, both companies also seem to be carrying the same lifeboat model! Airfix also have a boxed set with both the styrene Lunar Lander Module kit and the ethylene figure set in one box. Revell's other military stuff is very disappointing, but a nice 1:72nd U-Boot was on their stand.

I encountered the MD of Schilling on the Tobar stand, they are American not German, they are importers/wholesalers, they do work with Supreme in China and Mr. Sell needs to understand that bullshit will always come-out and makes a mess if you're the one holding it.

Schilling have some lovely retro tin-plate robots in their lists this year and are shipping into the UK by Tobar, to whom Hawkins Bazaar are (as suggested here in the past) a wholly-owned subsidiary, but with their own buyer/stock regimen, beyond that which Tobar imports.

HGL (Grossman as was) are about to set the UK alight with trick fly-filled, dog-poo slime, look for it under similar importer/jobber labels in your own territories (Jaru, Postler?)! Not a Small Scale World thing (although the flies would go in the fly bag!), but a likely next craze/summer craze, so newsworthy and a 100% improvement on loombands, or even glitter unicorn-poop!

I had a good chat with the people at GaleForceNine (GF9), and after explaining I had waxed lyrical over their Sci-fi and Fantasy stuff a year ago, but struggled to say nice things about the AFV stuff the other day was told that figure sets are on the way for those 'real world' gaming systems, and by 'on the way', it was explained they are in a container on the high-seas as I write.

They also had pre-production test-shots of a new 28mm game based on the Alien franchise, which make Nottingham's Genestealers © (P) ® Reg. TM, look like . . .errr . . . the poor imitation rip-offs they always were! They also had news of add-ons for Firefly and Star Trek and are still hoping to expand the figure range for the Dr. Who game showcased last year.

Also on the theme of 'nearly here', the Oxford Rail British rail-gun we looked at here (which looked questionable months later) is apparently about to hit the market. I wouldn't hold your breath, but a modicum of excitement is probably safe! While parent; Oxford Die-Cast, have a lovely RAF Bloodhound set with a better Lanny' than the old Airfix one!

Amerang are shipping NJCroce's bendable figures this year and a re-boxing of the Eaglemoss readymade die-cast & plastic AFV's, which are now in Solido-branded packaging. Schleich had nothing to report really. Bandai had nice (but 'New Movie') Thunderbirds stuff, which I will send toMoonbase in a week or so.

Gibson's Games (one of our longest-lasting, independent, board-game companies) have a new game with figures; Crystal Hall, the figures, four each in four colours, are witches around the 25/28mm size, but sadly all the same, single design/moulding.

And that's it for the headlines, most of the above will get separate posts in the next few weeks, along with a few others things I thought were worthy of a few shots . . . or this time next year if Picasa hides them again!

I didn't take so many shots this year 270-odd (against 400-odd last time), and no video (light was too poor), but - with a new camera - I've deleted less, so it'll work itself out and it's all grist to the mill!

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Violence

Away from the show and across the pond, a nutter in Wisconsin took an axe to the family car when he thought his wife had damaged his action figures! WTF? He also destroyed the family's TV and laptop in his fit of rage. Police reported the 34-year old gentleman had been drinking prior to the incident - no shit Sherlock; I bet he voted Trump!

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Weekend

I don't think I'm going to post anything else 'till . . . probably Tuesday? Been a busy week and while I had the last of the Kiwi's and a bunch of Caveman stuff for the weekend I haven't got round to the blurb and will probably spend the weekend backing-up my Dongles, there's 12 of them and they each take about three hours which is a chunk of spare time I haven't really got!

Ryman's have been doing a January deal on Intergral Easyslide's; two x 32GB drives for a tenner and I've decided to replace all my Verbatim Pinstripe's after the problem over Christmas, with two new ones; a 'worker' and a back-up, but it means splitting the 64GB drives into two, which is four, all-in!

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