News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events

Well, what a difference a week makes huh? It's surreal isn't it? We currently have - collectively - the worst 660-odd MP's in what? A hundred, a hundred-and-fifty years?

While I genuinely think Mrs. Maybe Maybe-not is going mad; she was so keen to be leader, plotting for years, doing all the right jobs (badly is seems if crime statistics and/or the state of the Police Force, prisons or probation is anything to go by), then, having taken what was clearly a poisoned chalice, she's lost-it in less than two years. It took Thatcher 11, and that B.Liar was nuts by the end . . . they think they're gods if you don't get rid of 'em in a timely fashion!

Meanwhile, the 15-years we were given to save the world has been shortened to 12 by Chinese scientists (we still haven't done anything meaningful since last October), our own environment agency have said there's only 25-years water left (a Tory-boy Brwreakshiteer had to be told building more reservoirs wouldn't help as they dry out in droughts too!) and the UN have said globally there are probably only 60 harvests left on the whole planet.

From the good news department (it's not all doom and gloom) New Zealand have found in their [female] Prime Minister a hero for our times, perfectly measuring the situation and the will of the people and showing such compassion it shamed almost every other being on the planet!

Also, strip-clearing of rain-forest in Asia to plant palm-oil is slowing down a bit, although as Brazil's President (a mate of Trump) is parcelling-up what's left of the Amazon basin for his farming mates and hanging the last of the Amerindians out to dry, I suppose the pendulum is still swinging the wrong way, and the one insect species going extinct every minute rate will accelerate.

So, while they argue in Brussels and Westminster about where to put the full-back-stops, best get buying toys . . . Saturday's disappointing, but Sunday is packed so there should be a show near you!

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Toy Fairs

Saturday 23rd March 2019

Oswestry - Chris Dyer Fairs

The Pavillion, Owestry Showgrownd, Park Hall, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY11 4AS

Web. - www.chrisdyerfairs.co.uk

Tel. - 01643 702 757

Mob. - 07966 694 579

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission £2

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Sunday 24th March 2019

Aston Clinton - Joe Lock

Green Park, Stablebridgr Road, Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, HP22 5NE

Internet presence unknown

Mob. - 07866 641 215

18:00-20:00hrs

Admission £2

Great Bentley - R & G Toy Fairs

Village Hall, Plough Road, Great Bentley, Essex, CO7 8LD

Internet presence unknown

Tel. - 01206 251 351 (Gary)

Tel. - 01255 473 509 (Richard)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission £2.00, under 16's free

Free parking, refreshments

Lincoln - J&J Fairs (John & Julie Webb)

The Exhibition Centre, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN2 2NA

Web. - www.j-jwebbtoyfairs.com

eMail - jandjfairs@virginmedia.com

Tel. - 01522 880 383

10:00 - 14:30hrs Approximately

Admission £2.50p, seniors £2, 1st child £1.50p

Llandudno, Wales - Chris Dyer Fairs

Craig-y-Don Community Centre, Queens Road, Llandudno, Wales, LL30 1TE

Web. - www.chrisdyerfairs.co.uk

Tel. - 01643 702 757

Mob. - 07966 694 579

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission £2

Orpington - SRP Toyfairs

Crofton Halls, Orpington, Kent, BR6 8PR

Web. - www.srptoyfairs1.co.uk

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Plymouth - Plymouth Die-Cast Club - Plymouth Collectors Toy Fair (club event)

Jan Cutting Centre, Scott Business Park, Beacon Park Road, Plymouth, PL2 2PQ

Web. - www.plymouthdiecastclub.com

Tel. - 01752 846 250

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Free parking, refreshments

Seaford - Robert Horsecroft - Toy & Antique Collectors Fair

Downs Leisure Centre, Sutton Road, Seaford, East Sussex, BN25 4QW

Internet presence unknown

Tel. - 01323 899 879

Tel. - 01424 846 676

10:00 - 14:30hrs

Admission £1.50p, children under 12 free

Shepton Mallet - Bulldog Fairs

Royal Bath & West Showground, BA4 6QN

Web. - www.bulldogfairs.com

eMail - bulldogfairs@aol.com

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

Warrington - Barry Stockton

Warrington & Vale Royal Collage, Winwick Road, Warrington, Cheshire, WA2 8QA

Web. - www.barrystcoktonfairs.co.uk

Tel. - 0151 334 3362

10:00 - 14:30

Admission £2.00, children 50p

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Tuesday 26th March 2019

Garstang - Janet Pearson - Garstang Evening Fair

Kirkland & Catterall Memorial Hall, PR3 0HR

Web-presence unknown

01282 439 009

18:00 - Finnish

Admission fee unknown

Tonbridge - SRP Toyfairs (evening fair)

Angel Lane, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1SF

Web. - http://srptoyfairs1.co.uk/

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

18:00 - 20:00hrs

Admission £1.50p, Children Free

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Auctions

Reminder - 21st March 2019 (today)

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (last day of a three day auction)

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

Tel. - 01642 750 616

Trains/model railways

"The Model Train sale to be held on the 22nd of March features an exciting collection in the large scale category, "The North Wales Collection", it includes a 5" Gauge coal fired King class loco and tender "King George V", a coal fired 0-4-0 narrow gauge loco "Dolgoch" and an incomplete Britannia class loco and tender. There is a 2 1/2" gauge Southern class 70 overhead electric loco and 4-car EMU, both of which are believed to be apprentice or works produced locos. The collection features interesting historical items, Spirit fired Cardean loco and tender in LMS maroon and Milbro coaches plus others.  The sale will also include 60 plus lots of G Gauge garden railway locos rolling stock and accessories by LGB and others, and 100 lots of Hornby O gauge from a private owner collection. There is a further single owner collection - The Iain Gothard Collection; Japanese Brass & Other Commercial OO Gauge Locomotives; Meccano & Other Constructional Toys plus a selection of OO, HO, and N gauge, Triang, Kits and our usual good selection of general trains."

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Saturday 23rd March 2019

Newark - Northgate Auctions

17 Northgate, Newark, Nottingham, NG24 1EX

Web. - www.northgateauctionroomsnewark.co.uk

eMail - auctions@northgateauctionroomsnewark.co.uk

Tel. - 01636 605 905

Fax. - 01636 612 607

Mixed toys, vintage and modern

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Thursday 28th March

Spalding - M&M Auctions (day 1 of a 2-day auction, day 2 tomorrow: 29th)

Unit 4, Plover Court, Stevenson's Avenue, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 3SY

Web. - www.mm-auctions.com

eMail - info@mm-auctions.com

Tel. - 01775 724 939

Viewing Wednesday 27th March 2019 10:00 - 18:00hrs and on the day of the sale 08:30 - 10:30hrs

Sales starts at 10:30hrs - runs 'till finish

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

Tel . - 01642 750 616

Dolls, Bears, soft toys &etc.

"The Dolls and Teddy Bear sale to be held on the 28th of March starts with a large collection of over 500 Charlie Bears, predominantly designed by Isabelle Lee. With Kaycee Bears Dragons, Hermann, Deans Rag Book, Steiff and artists bears, plus Pelham Puppets and porcelain artist dolls. The sale also includes Part 2 of The Joan Donachie collection, over 150 lots of vintage dolls, bisque, vinyl, hard plastic costume dolls; Sindy and Barbie plus clothing and accessories, dolls houses, furniture, prams and chairs, plus a lovely collection of wooden bears and Teddy Bears from Chad Valley, Merrythought, Chiltern, Steiff, including hand puppets and animals."

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Friday 29th March 2019

Spalding - M&M Auctions (day 2 of a 2-day auction, day 1 yesterday: 28th)

Unit 4, Plover Court, Stevenson's Avenue, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 3SY

Web. - www.mm-auctions.com

eMail - info@mm-auctions.com

Tel. - 01775 724 939

Viewing Wednesday 27th March 2019 10:00 - 18:00hrs and on the day of the sale 08:30 - 10:30hrs

Sales starts at 10:30hrs - runs 'till finish

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Overseas Events

Herne, Germany - PB Toys - 47th German Plastic Soldier Show

Kulturzentrum, Willi-Pohlmann-Platz 1, 44623, Herne, Germany (venue)

PB Toys, Wickeder Straβe 32, 58739 Wickede (promoter)

Web. - www.ksfb.de (venue)

eMail - peter@pbtoys.de (promoter)

Pre-booking ticket site

Tel. - 02377 787 9322

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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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Toys in the Media

Strangely, BBC Radio 4 got in on the act this week, in The Archers (18/19th March) of all things, when fatuous-Freddy (the jailbird)'s equally fatuous-sister and her paedophilic boyfriend/sponger found some of his (fatuous-Freddy's) late fatuous-father's 'collectable' toy soldiers under his (fatuous-Freddy's) bed, it was suggested they should be put with the rest, the inference being that there was a cabinet of them elsewhere in the house?

The fatuous-father; 'Nigellllllllll!', being best known for a death which - it was calculated by fact-checking websites - involved him falling half-the-height of the Empire State Building, judging by the length of his scream . . . in leafy Warwickshire . . . sorry; Borsetshire!

The even-more fatuous-Mother was in another room having a breakdown.

Dat Eastender's got nuttin' on rural bucketshire, init gezzer!

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H is for How They Come-in

I had a good haul from charity shops this week, nothing exciting, but nice - if you know what I mean? For followers of graphic novels; I picked up a near-mint copy of the Mouse Guard - Legends of the Guard, which is lovely, along with another book; a work on the Hubble-telescope images.

There was a Minjah Tortoise board game (is that three now?) which has its own post along with this book (above) on Bears (another one Erwin won't believe I have in my non-existent toy library!) and a set of eraser-cactii (which I think we have to call cactuses these days; I always get confused by that one?) which are the same one's I got from WHSmith a few years ago.

The Smith's one had three plants for £1.99, these are six (with a new sculpt) for a quid, and a colour variation on the tall one, so 'bargain' all round!

Also coming-in this week were three odd vinyl figurines which I sorted-away without shooting; a sheepdog, a Disney and something like a Mr. Man but with an odd mustache! And then there was this for 95p . . . large chunk of Hasbro's finest superhero tat, licensed from Marvel and dated to 2015, I bet it was a lot more than ninety-five pee three years ago! 60-mil'ish figure, on a motorcycle, which doubles as a Space Tank, what's not to like?

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One More Thing . . . More

TJF's idiocy just got more idiotic;

"There is a sad person who is worried about my collection. He keeps getting the size of my collection wrong. He would be a poor weight guesser at a county fair. Now he has called my collection magical. This time he got it right because it is."

Which would be a quite amusing comeback, if it were true . . . which it 'aint! I've never called his collection magical, I don't use the word that often, it's a bit too Disney/girly for me, as words go.

I suspect what's happened here is that Mr. Stadinger, who only continues to confirm his stupidity every time he has a pop in my direction, seems to have conflated mythical collection (a phrase I used in the Kentoy/Cavendish Police post on March 13th) with the 'quoted' magical (last used in the 'Paint Your Own These are Mine' post of November 2017)? A pretty standard mistake if you have the comprehension skills of a five-year-old, but yet another example of him 'quoting' me falsely!

I quote him (with screen-caps), he puts words in my mouth, I just don't use and/or haven't used? Consequently the "...because it is" comeback-joke is a fantasy construct of his own rabid imagination!

At the risk of dropping to his 'black-book' level of humourlessness (colours, who gave, what's in &etc.), I was intrigued by the "He would be a poor weight guesser at a county fair" line.

A 'hundredweight sack' (hessian) holds a hundredweight of potatoes (or Potar'toes) give-or-take a few pounds, but filled with clean-riddled wheat (Marshall's thrashing engine - of course!) requires two or even three people to drag into the back of a pick-up, the same sack, filled with equally well-riddled oat seconds can be thrown over the pick-up's cab, by one guy, one hand.

You tell me what's in the sack and I'll guess the weight pretty accurately, but if this is what passes for amusement in rural America over the summer, I think I've found an explanation for a lot of what's not right with the world! Brazil, the Golan Heights and fake university entrants this week!

I have estimated his collection (without seeing it) to be a few boxes of stuff he thinks might be rare, or valuable (or even particularly interesting), and his showing us the odd single figure hasn't done anything to change my opinion, especially as the stuff he's showing us now is often on its second or third outing.

Really, what I've really, actually really said is this really - He's a dealer not a collector. Period. I've said it more than once and I stand by it. I'm not "worried" by his collection; I just doubt it's much more than the few bits and bobs he shows us! He's the emperor 'Legend' with no clothes.

AND - that facile comment of his was on a post where he failed to read the embossed Lone*Star on a figure's base and declared it to be Crescent! A trick he managed with a W.Germany-marked figure a few months ago, banging on about his Italy figure! He then hid his stupidity by whingeing about "...another party..." calling it Nardi, it probably never occurred to him the other party was taking the piss!

He's really a very stupid man . . . with a "mythical" collection! What's 'magical' about it is that it's yet to really show itself! What's 'sad' is that a man who doesn't know the difference between mythical and magical would put fingers to keyboard and fake a quote, for a cheap laugh.

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Links

Only the one story today, but two links;

https://www.whio.com/news/local/celina-city-schools-suspend-student-for-fallen-soldier-art-project/ZCSIJsbfI6OE6muBfkce3M/

https://fox45now.com/news/local/dozens-protest-after-celina-student-suspended-for-bringing-nerf-gun-to-school

They say 'only in America' but this has the same level of intellectual debate as the House of Commons this week! And before you draw conclusions PSTSM'ers, I'm with the kid, show the damn thing, although it's a bit derivative, but he's young; he'll get better!

Which reminds me; The Metro (right-wing Tory-owned rag) headlining with '...Brussels softens' today, is utter rubbish, Brussels didn't soften; they played a blinder last night! In an attempt to not get the blame from the right-wing Tory-owned press going forward (which sadly won't work; nothing is ever the Brwreakshiteers own fault), they offered up two scarves, each made of rope, slightly noose-like and let us (who have given ourselves the stiff nick) choose which one to wear!

Whatever happen in April or May is down to stubborn, short-sightedness, internecine jostling, political dogma or doctrine, or plain animosity in the House of Commons and between the two main parties equally awful showers sf shit, and no one else.

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