Robin Hood's above and Will Scarlet's
below, along with the guy I used to think was falling or sitting, but who I can
only picture hiding in a tree now! The guy middle-bottom is an unnamed
character - one of the Merry Men - but could pass for Robin or Will!
Now, there is no discernible difference
between the two smaller Will's, and in the course of taking these mages I came
to the conclusion I'd had the Down Under version all along, which means I need
to find a Canada one at some point, just to satisfy myself as to their
differences/similarities, as all the other figures do have clear differences
between the sculpts and I believe the Canada issue is an unnamed figure?
The Maid Marion/ian's; Marx's 'ian is Rubenesque sexy in a Viking-court sort of get-up, the
antipodean 'ion is a bit Hippy-chick sexy in plain Anglo-Saxon villager's
garb, the Canadian 'ian sculpt looks like a rather dry Mother Superior or a
'Flanders mare' in full Norman aristocratic finery and Robin would be a fool to
get involved with her, she's just gonna' whine alot!
'The Tuck'; my kind of priest - a godless
one! I prefer the Marx sculpt, if
he's got a staff he can get fightey-bitey, but the smaller ones have him
holding a scroll or torch/brazier - it's not clear? This is the other pose
(after the archer, if mine are of different sources) which has little change
beyond base markings between Australian and Canadian issues - the Canada one is
better detailed/etched and slightly taller maybe?
The two sheriffs' (Nott's & Darby!) and
tree-climber/falling guy again! He's actually the most dynamic pose of all four
sets (I haven't shown/got the other Marx
set), but this may have meant he was a bugger to manufacture - lots of weird
undercuts, not in the pose per se, but in relation to the
layout of the other cavities/rest of the tool?
Little John; the difference between the two
smaller ones is clear here with heaver sculpting of the thin parts obvious,
while the dagger on the Canadian chap is longer. Neatly; both/all three issuers
have gone with a taller sculpt for the man whose name was a play on his notable
height, he's half-a-head above Robin and has a good [scale] six-inches on
everyone else.
Alan-a-Dale/Minstrel, a close-up of the
base marking differences, the 'Canada' sculpt is on the right. I find red plastic
a bugger to shoot (so don't know why I concentrated on this one!) but with a
black & white filter and some stopping-down it seems to show what's needed.
The unnamed 'minstrel' could used as/taken to be the Coeur de Lion's lover;
Blondel?
Much the Miller; I seem to remember him from
childhood stories, although Marx
haven't named theirs, they all share the same hood and similar kilt/surcoat
tails, so they were all watching each-other or the Saturday-matinee's for their
fashion leads, rather than historical sources, although they can all be
painted-up for medieval armies!
Down Under this one's Will Stutley, another
one I recall from tales told to me as a child, or read in comics, elsewhere
he's the anonymous 'signaller'! One of the missing Marx versions has the green guy shouting with cupped-hand and no
stowed-bow!
♪♫♪ Stick-fighting Maaaaaaaaaaaaan! ♫♪♪ The best candidate for
converting/repainting to court jester or fool!
The
other three! Australia/New Zealand give them all names, Canada doesn't bother,
but they still make-up the numbers. The rock guy needs a siege-engine, but
there are plenty around to chose from, and Will Stutley would make a good No. 1
to this chap's No. 2. While you can never have enough medieval archers, for
Crecy, Agincourt or the other one where we gave Frenchie a good spanking!
Done did!
The
lack of available information on the 50mm set from Down Under leaves questions still
outstanding, for someone to follow-up, somewhere, sometime;
- · Which cereal were they issued with?
- · Were they Australian or New Zealand-issued, first?
- · Who made/manufactured them?
- · Did Canada issue a license or are they pirates
- · Was there a Sherriff or 'tree-hugger'!?
And - to be honest similar questions remain over the 50mm 'Canada' figures!
Many
thanks again to Glenn Sibbald for revealing the
antipodean versions and donating a set to the blog - New to Hobby/Internet - cheers
Glenn!
2 comments:
I can answer some of your questions. They were made locally by crescent under licence to Marx.
The australian Robin hoods had 12 figures and were available in 7 colours (three of which were different shades of green). 11 of the figures had a base and one didn't. They were manufactured in 1961
The New Zealand robin hoods came in 4 colours and were the same as the 11 australian ones with a base but they added a maid marion figure in place of the unmounted one. Also the NZ series printed the names of each under the base. One of which was "Archer"
Both countries had the toys available in Rice Bubbles and Cornflake packets. Australia also had Frosties and Coco pops at the time. All bran was available as well but don't think they carried the toys.
Note also that the Sherriff of nottingham figure was not found in either country despite what some sites and AI tell you. It was in the UK set.
I am not familiar with the canadian issue as I have never been there so cannot help with that one.
Thanks Butterflyrobot, that's all very interesting and clarifying, would that be the Antipodean arm of Crescent Toys (UK), or a local firm which just happened to have the same moniker? I know Triang-Pedigree, Dinky-Hornby and others had offices/works overseas?
H
Post a Comment