O is for Ovoid, Ovid 'Old Friends'!

Having posted the small-scale ones several times and seen them also posted elsewhere on the Internet (or in my eMail's inbox) as 'unknown' before remembering they were Tombola, only for Paul Morehead to then remind me that they had been large-scale and branded to Party Pig in Plastic Warrior magazine's issue 82, they've only gawn and turned up again in't they! And they're in Easter eggs - double-bloody-bargain and the yolks on us!

As found on the Internet (left hand shot), there are two outlets on eBay.com that I know of, but there are other sources out there. I had to get a set straight away and what came is the bag on the right, 12 eggs with three each of four designs of egg-wrap, and two colours of polyethylene egg.

The bag has a header card that I think we've seen before (possibly from Brian Berke, but I can't remember if it was as a shelfie or donation) and which is trying to be the current card from  . . . err . . . Amscan - I think (Another Brian B contribution). On posting - Yes; the football erasers (among others).

As we shall see in October, rack toys with these cards can be sourced in the UK with an over-printed branding to Fun Express, here it's a sticker for the Oriental Trading Co. of Omaha, Nebraska (whispers . . . they share their postal code with Fun Express!). There's also a possibility of a Chahai being the actual manufacturer?

Ten poses have gone missing (all nine 'Blues' or 'Imperial Pilots' and the 'Greys' or 'Vaders' standing firing chap), but you get eight different figures and four [different] duplicates so it looks deliberate, and the missing poses don't feature in any of the publicity shots I found, so that seems to be it? I would further venture that from set to set the four duplicates will differ by thirds - thus a fourth tool-shot is split between three 'sets'?

The decoration is nothing to write home (or a blog article) about, but they will be a post-PVC substitute and should take PVA paints with no ill effects, although give them a good wash first, they are quite 'shiny' and that may be a leaching or a mould-release agent.

The guy pointing with his sidearm (bottom right) needs a bit of a hot-water treatment to straighten his weapon, and a few could use a flattening of the base with the same trick - I run near-boiled water over them then slide them across a cold, stone/marble cutting-board.

Sadly - even in the larger scale; their wellington-boots and gauntlets leave them looking as if their next task is masturbating a prize-bull into a jam-jar! Still they have face-mask/respirators so they've got nothing to complain about on the 'protective gear in the workplace' front.

With its usual brilliance for surrealism; Hong Kong/China use completely different figures on one of the shrink-wrapped egg-bands, being those hoary old favourites - a mix of three Matchbox US Infantry and two of the original 1990's Jaru 'fritz helmet' GI's, all five rendered in outline!

Happy Space-War'tastic Easter loyal readers!