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Thursday, February 21, 2019

F is for Follow-Up - Potemkin's 'Pirates'

Chris Smith kindly sent this pair to the blog to highlight the point I mentioned in passing earlier today, and the other day in the Rasnoexport post - copies!

There's no mystery to it, as I pointed out; all countries have their copies and copyists, not excluding the Hong Kong thing, but specifically within countries, things are 'borrowed' or lent, influence or get influenced by; the difference with the Soviet Union back when it was a collective-economy was that the bulk of the copying was sanctioned, where in the west it was usually more problematical.

Раэноэкспорт; 15 Krasnoselskaya Street; 1917 Revolution; All Union Export Import Corporation; All Union Export Import Unit; Article no: 3207; B-140 Moscow; Made in Russia; Made in Soviet Union; Made in the Soviet Union; Made in USSR; Naval Infantry; Naval Landing Party; OTK 51; Pirates; Rasnoexport; Russian; Russian Flats; Russian Pirates; Russian Plastic Toys; Russian Revolution; Russian Toy Soldiers; Russianl Sailors; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soviet Era Russian Marine; Soviet Era Toy Officer; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Infantry; Soviet Plastic Toy; Soviet Russian; USSR Infantry; USSR Plastic Toys;
The one which is the same as mine is on the right, the one on the left has sharper detail, but it's a slightly smaller figure, so was probably pantograph-copied and then re-etched. It actually makes a better figure, except in the shoe department, where the wide flares of the Rasnoexport figure have been re-cut into shorter trousers and a pair of Olive Oyl's dancing pumps are worn!

While our makers copied each other purely for commercial gain - with or without each-others permission, I think that under the 'Soviet system' manufacturers were told or expected to share tools or designs; in order that toys (the same toys?) be available to kids everywhere . . . far rather that someone in Kiev made copies of something from Moscow, than 'another' truck burn fuel taking them there every few weeks or months? It's all conjecture but it will contain a kernel of truth!

No brand for the copy . . . yet!

Проƨрес; Пpоrресс; ӋanaeВцu; 1917 Revolution; 27 Vladimir Poptomov Street; Bulgarian; Bulgarian Progress; Chapaevtsi; Followers of Chapi; Made in Bulgaria; Made in Russia; Made in Soviet Union; Made in the Soviet Union; Made in USSR; Progress; Russian; Russian Flats; Russian Plastic Toys; Russian Progress; Russian Revolution; Russian Toy Soldiers; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sofia; Soviet Era Toy Soldiers; Soviet Plastic Toy; Soviet Russian; USSR Infantry; USSR Plastic Toys;
Nor for three of these! More copies, seen before; the green one is Bulgarian Progress and one of the red ones will be Russian Progress, but the other two are other works, and which is the Russian Progress is still to be confirmed - I suspect the first on the left of each shot, but without much confidence?

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