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, June 28, 2019

News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events; Saturday 29th June - Friday 5th July 2019

I'm pleased to say Putin is wrong, had he made his speech a few months ago, I would have agreed with him, but in fact Netanyahu, Erdogan, and the minor player's in Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria are on the slide, and while in Britain and American 'post-war Liberalism' is still in trouble, elsewhere they are starting to pull back from the divisive popularism driven by Moscow's twitfaceplant algorithms!

Even where the 'Right' (wrong!) did well in the recent Euro-elections, they have silently dropped calls for Frexit, Dexit, Italexit etc . . . and decided to work with the EU! Here, however we are about to let nought-point-nought-something of the population elect a blustering serial liar, resigner and runner-away as our next PM, while in the US they appear to be legalising gerrymandering, while kids drown! You can't make this shit up!

The two bodies in the Rio Grande are no different from the boy on a Mediterranean beach a few years ago, from the thousands who have drowned in the same sea, from the burnt cadavers in the charred ruins of Rwandan Churches, Tamil bungalows or Burmese huts; the beheaded of Iraq and Syria; the mass-graves outside Goražde; the kids barrel-bombed in Alepo, or those sunken-eyed skeletal children pressed against the wire in Belsen.

And behind the never-ending list of the pink-monkey's awfulness, are people like Mr Putin.

Seems to be a good week for railway fans . . . get out and buy yourself a toy - you deserve it, everybody deserves a toy, and remember old-toy buying is 'recycling'; very green!

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Toy Fairs

Saturday 29th June 2019

Ditton (Kent, not Thames-) - SRP Toyfairs
Ditton Community Centre, Kiln Barn Road, Ditton, Kent, ME20 6AH
Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)
10:00 - 14:00hrs
Admission charge unknown
New Date - New Venue

Nelson Treharris - Martyn Parry - Model Railway Exhibition
Llancaiach Fawr Manor, Nelson Treharris, Wales, CF46 6ER
Tel. - 01443 837 646
Mob. - 07990 752 102
10:00-16:00hrs
Admission £3.00, under-16's free
Free parking, disabled access, refreshments
Exhibision layouts and trade stands

Oswestry - Chris Dyer Fairs
The Pavillion, Owestry Showgrownd, Park Hall, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY11 4AS
Tel. - 01643 702 757
Mob. - 07966 694 579
10:30 - 15:00hrs
Admission £2

London (Chalk Farm) - Guideline Publications - London Toy Soldier Show
Haverstock School, 24 Haverstock Hill, Chalk Farm, London, NW3 2BQ
Tel. - 01908 274 433
10:30 - 16:00hrs
Admission £6, early bird (from 09:30hrs) £10, late hares £4 - after 14:00hrs
Parking £5 (reasonable for London!)

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Sunday 30th June 2019

Catterick Garison - Jim Corr - Toy, Train & Sci-fi Fair
Catterick Garrison Leisure Centre, Gough Road, Catterick DL9 3EL
Mob. - 07504 035 955
10:00 - 14:00hrs
Admission £3, child/seniors £2, early bird £5
Free Parking, café
Exhibition layouts

Colwyn Bay - Chris Dyer fairs
Colwyn Bay Lesuire Centre, Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, Conway, Wales, LL29 7SP
Tel. - 01643 702 757
Mob. - 07966 694 579
10:30 - 15:00hrs
Admission £2

Eastleigh - Steven Clements Fairs
Barton Peveril Sixth Form Collage, Chestnut Avenue, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO50 5ZA
Tel. - 01380 725 322
Mob. - 07958 101 891
10:00 - 14:00hrs

Newton Abbot - Ray Heard Train & Toy Fairs
Newton Abbot Racecourse, Devon, TQ12 3AF
Internet presence unknown
Tel. - 01823 480 097
10:00 - 15:30hrs
Admission £2.00
Free parking, refreshments

Orpington - SRP Toyfairs
Crofton Halls, Orpington, Kent, BR6 8PR
Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)
10:00 - 14:00hrs
Admission charge unknown

Spalding - J&J Fairs (J&J Webb)
Springfields Events & Conference Centre, Camelgate, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE12 6ET
Tel. - 01522 880 383
10:00 - 14:30hrs
Admission - Adult £2.50p, seniors £2, 1st child £1.50p

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Wednesday 3rd July 2019

Hertford - Joe Lock Fairs (Evening Fair)
Richard Hale School, Hale Road, Hertford, Hertfordshire, SG13 8EN
Internet presence unknown
Mob. - 07866 641 215
19:00-21:00hrs
Admission £1

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Auctions

Tuesday 2nd July 2019

Tunbridge Wells - C&T Auctioneers
The York Suite, The Spa Hotel, Mount Ephraim, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 8XJ (Venue)
Unit 4, High House Business Park, Kenardington, Near Ashford, Kent, TN26 2LF (Auction House)
Valuations - jamesopie@yahoo.co.uk
Tel. - 44 1233 510 050 (from abroad)
Tel. - 01233 510 050 (within the UK)
Viewing from 08:30hrs, sale starts 10:00hrs

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Other Events

From Now until Monday 9th September 2019

Cardiff - Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.
St. David's Shopping Centre, 7 Bridge Street, Cardiff, Wales, CF10 2EF
Interactive superhero 'event' running through the holidays

Previously announced here as London (Victoria Dock), that ended in May I think?

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From Now until Friday 30th August 2019

Various Locations - Scotland - DC Thompson Media - Oor Wullie's Big Bucket Challenge
A variation of the Nutcracker/Giant Animal trails held locally and reported here at Small Scale World passim, there is a statue trail through Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness, featuring the old comic-book character

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Saturday 29th June 2019

Plymouth - City Council/Babcock Engineering - Armed Forces Day
The Hoe, Plymouth, Devon
Live music (military bands and the Military Wives Choir), military and flying displays

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Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th June 2019

Afrika Korps; Announcements; Britains Deetail; Charbens 54mm Troops; Deetail Germans; Esci Toy Soldiers; Event Dates; Event Times; Event Timings; Exhibitions; German Soldiers; Jada Halo; Lone Star Germans; Matchbox Toys; Model Railways; News; News Views Etc; News Views Etc...; Newspaper Clipping; Preiser Figures; Revell DAK; Safari Knights; Show Dates; Show Promoter; Show Times; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Teddy Bears; Toy Fairs;
Perth - Perth & District Model Railway Group (PMRC) - Celebration of Model Railways
Dewars Centre, Glover Street, Perth, Scotland, PH2 0TH
Web. - http://smet.org.uk/show-pmrc (club page)
10:00-17:30hrs (Saturday June 29th)
10:00-17:00hrs (Sunday June 30th)
Admission £9.00 adults, £4.00 chirldren.'family ticket' (2 adults + 2 children) £20.00

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Overseas Events

Sunday 30th June 2019

Afrika Korps; Announcements; Britains Deetail; Charbens 54mm Troops; Deetail Germans; Esci Toy Soldiers; Event Dates; Event Times; Event Timings; Exhibitions; German Soldiers; Jada Halo; Lone Star Germans; Matchbox Toys; Model Railways; News; News Views Etc; News Views Etc...; Newspaper Clipping; Preiser Figures; Revell DAK; Safari Knights; Show Dates; Show Promoter; Show Times; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Teddy Bears; Toy Fairs;
Gujan-Mestras (France) - L'association Starlux Generation Beffara - Une Bourse aux Figurines, Miniatures et Trains (A market for figures, miniatures and model trains)
Maison des Arts, Rue Edmond Daubric (face à la gare - facing the station), 33470 Gujan-Mestres, Gironde, France
eMail - starlux.association@gmail.com
09:00 - 18:00hrs

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Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th June 2019

Deshler (USA) - Spring Creek Model Trains - Train Show & Open House
Spring Creek Model Trains, 304 East Bryson Avenue, Deshler, NE 68340, Nebraska, USA
Tel. - 4023 657 628
Times and admission details unknown

Afrika Korps; Announcements; Britains Deetail; Charbens 54mm Troops; Deetail Germans; Esci Toy Soldiers; Event Dates; Event Times; Event Timings; Exhibitions; German Soldiers; Jada Halo; Lone Star Germans; Matchbox Toys; Model Railways; News; News Views Etc; News Views Etc...; Newspaper Clipping; Preiser Figures; Revell DAK; Safari Knights; Show Dates; Show Promoter; Show Times; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Teddy Bears; Toy Fairs;
Stuttgart (Germany) - Eventbrite/Panini - Comic Con. Germany - 'CCON'
Messe Stuttgart, Messepiazza 1, 70629 Stuttgart, Germany
09:00-18:00hrs
Admission charge unknown

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News

More on Hornby
Several cutting have thrown a little more light on what's been going on at the home of Airfix/Corgi/Scalextric recently with Lyndon Davis of Hornby claiming the previous senior management didn't understand the business and that the company had been in chaos. Blaming the previous management for what was known throughout the toy industry to be supply-chain problems from a Chinese supplier (who's no longer in the frame), seems a bit harsh though?

Safety
The British Toy & Hobbycraft Association (BTHA) have blind purchased 200 toys from eBay, Amazon and AliExpress (retail arm/platform of Ali Baba) and found 22% of them to have failed UK (currently still also EU-) safety standards. Now obviously there's bias involved as they actually represent UK retailers/manufacturers rather than the consumers they are trying to scare with subsequent tales of 'risk of death and serious injury', however the most worrying thing they found was a superhero dressing-up costume with illegal levels of lead? Something to think about when looking for generic bargains on off-shore platforms!

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Toys in the Media
Three today;

Afrika Korps; Announcements; Britains Deetail; Charbens 54mm Troops; Deetail Germans; Esci Toy Soldiers; Event Dates; Event Times; Event Timings; Exhibitions; German Soldiers; Jada Halo; Lone Star Germans; Matchbox Toys; Model Railways; News; News Views Etc; News Views Etc...; Newspaper Clipping; Preiser Figures; Revell DAK; Safari Knights; Show Dates; Show Promoter; Show Times; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Teddy Bears; Toy Fairs;
More Preiser/Noch types; when they're not being used by artists (check this post out at Jan's) they are being used by advertisers! And there's a second (non-toy) recurring trope in there with the piles of small-denomination coinage, it's only piggy-banks missing for a full-house . . . and I think there are some in the queue!

Afrika Korps; Announcements; Britains Deetail; Charbens 54mm Troops; Deetail Germans; Esci Toy Soldiers; Event Dates; Event Times; Event Timings; Exhibitions; German Soldiers; Jada Halo; Lone Star Germans; Matchbox Toys; Model Railways; News; News Views Etc; News Views Etc...; Newspaper Clipping; Preiser Figures; Revell DAK; Safari Knights; Show Dates; Show Promoter; Show Times; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Teddy Bears; Toy Fairs;
This would appear to be the old, slightly cartoonish 'toob' figures from Safari? Helping to sell a drug-trial and because it's for Charity and may even appeal to some of you (not us fifty-something youngsters!); I've not obliterated the copy. I have the catapult somewhere and a couple of the knights . . . somewhere else!

Afrika Korps; Announcements; Britains Deetail; Charbens 54mm Troops; Deetail Germans; Esci Toy Soldiers; Event Dates; Event Times; Event Timings; Exhibitions; German Soldiers; Jada Halo; Lone Star Germans; Matchbox Toys; Model Railways; News; News Views Etc; News Views Etc...; Newspaper Clipping; Preiser Figures; Revell DAK; Safari Knights; Show Dates; Show Promoter; Show Times; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Teddy Bears; Toy Fairs;
Yeah! It's a Teddy Bear; apparently if you smoke over them they can get kapok-cancer or something . . . plush-pulmonary disease, even-glassier-eye? In the case of the above chap/chap'ess - it seems to be a chronic case of fatalistic-frown syndrome? Fee Fi Fo Fum; I smell the blood of Photoshop!

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H is for How They Come In

Afrika Korps; Announcements; Britains Deetail; Charbens 54mm Troops; Deetail Germans; Esci Toy Soldiers; Event Dates; Event Times; Event Timings; Exhibitions; German Soldiers; Jada Halo; Lone Star Germans; Matchbox Toys; Model Railways; News; News Views Etc; News Views Etc...; Newspaper Clipping; Preiser Figures; Revell DAK; Safari Knights; Show Dates; Show Promoter; Show Times; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Teddy Bears; Toy Fairs;
I think this is 11 of 12, but I'm not sure, and the post I thought I'd done on them is still in the queue, bar another, previous 'H is for . . . '-post, so I'll have to re-shoot it and do a better job at some point . . . but; still appearing in The Works are Jada's die-cast Nano Metalfigs 'Halo' clearance, and I picked up another this week, they also have HP, HP II and Amazing Beasts, or whatever HP VIII is called?!

Afrika Korps; Announcements; Britains Deetail; Charbens 54mm Troops; Deetail Germans; Esci Toy Soldiers; Event Dates; Event Times; Event Timings; Exhibitions; German Soldiers; Jada Halo; Lone Star Germans; Matchbox Toys; Model Railways; News; News Views Etc; News Views Etc...; Newspaper Clipping; Preiser Figures; Revell DAK; Safari Knights; Show Dates; Show Promoter; Show Times; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Teddy Bears; Toy Fairs;
This was interesting; Charity shop in Farnborough had five bags of 'gift aid'ed figures, three were the usual pile of Airfix Para's, Commandos and US Infantry (which I left), but two bags were Germans, mostly Airfix (DAK and Infantry), but a few vintage and what were 'modern' about 15/20-years ago, so I grabbed them for the gap-fillers,

Weirdly there are no less than five officers in the lot, yet no Airfix 'Rommel's' and while there were plenty of the Revell prone shooters (and the running guy) along with the officer, all the poses not seen on the right were missing, so I'm guessing these bags contain the unwanted's from an army-building exercise?

There were also a bunch of Deetail in a glass cabinet, individually priced, but I only took the two 1990's re-issue examples as I have the 'inherited' lot of the originals Also a bit strange, the two charity shops in Farnborough are next door to each other, and the other shop also had Deetail Germans in a glass cabinet, but they weren’t 'gift aid' and were scruffier, so it appears that they are having charity-shop wars, down the line there!

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