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, July 26, 2019

News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events 27th July - 2nd August 2019

Well, such heat as might prove those hippies back in the '60's right, might prove the 90% of scientists who think we are suffering global climate change due entirely to human activity since the 1800's right, but don't worry peeps, some fatuous woman at the CityAM (Racheal Cunliffe - for it was she!) thinks capitalism (as practiced since 1979) will be the saving of us, more stuff! More production, more consumption, more digging in the dirt, more burning, melting, smelting, more cars . . . plane, trains and seagoing shit . . . poor some more concrete; that'll help lower temperatures and release greenhouse gasses . . . won't it?

Meanwhile . . . we have a new prime minister, nothing prime about him . . . actually, that's unfair; he's a prime clown! His cabinet seems to consist of people who have either been sacked in the past or forced to resign, people who have lied (including him) people who have breached protocol (including him), ex-leaders, failed leaders, ex-leadership bidders, failed leadership bidders and people who in any other age would have remained - slightly embarrassing to their own side - back-benchers, including him . . . oh, and Ester McVay, a woman who was unelected by her constituents, a lesson in democracy and 'the will of the people' totally ignored by the Tory Party!

How is this supposed to increase trust in parliament or parliamentarians? How is it designed to reduce division or increase unity? Never mind, with any luck the Iranians or Putin . . . or Trump will doubtless take our minds off the depressing truth of it all, any minute now!

In the meantime, there's toys to be sought and bought . . . if you can find the energy to leave the house in a car microwave-oven!

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Toy Fairs

Saturday 27th July 2019

Brentwood - J&J Fairs (John & Julie Webb)
International hall, Brentwood Centre, Doddinghurst Road, Brentwood, Essex, CM15 9NN
Tel. - 01522 880 383 (J & J Webb)
10:00 -14:30hrs (approximately)
Admission £3, seniors £2.50p, 1st child £2

Horsted Keynes  -  Joe Lock Fairs - Bluebell Railway Toy Fair
Horsted Keynes Station, Station Approach, Horsted Keynes , Haywards Heath, East Sussex, RH17 7BB
Mob. - 07866 641 215
10:00-16:00hrs
Admission included A) with a train ticket or B) production of Bluebell Line membership card or C) by purchasing a platform ticket (remember them) if you don't want a trip down the line!

Nottingham - Townsend Toy & Train Fairs (Malcolm Townsend) - Nottingham Toy Fair
Bluecoat Academy, Nottingham, NG8 5GY
Mob. - 07951 072 790
10:00-14:00hrs
Admission unknown, accompanied under-16's free
Light refreshments
Free Parking

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Sunday 28th July 2019

Minehead - Chris Dyer Fairs
Minehead Eye, Mart Road, Minehead, TA24 5BJ
Tel. - 01643 702 757
Mob. - 07966 694 579
10.30-15.00hrs
Admission £2

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

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Tuesday 30th July 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
Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)
18:00-20:00hrs
Admission £1.50p, children Free

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Auctions

Tuesday 30th July 2019

Newbury - Special Auction Services (SAS)
81 Greenham Business Park, Newbury, West Berkshire, RG19 6HW
Tel. - 01635 580595
Fax. - 0871 714 6905

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions
Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ
Tel. - 01642 750 616
TV and Movie memorabilia sale

"Introducing…..Mike and Sulley, Monstropolis’s top scarers!

These life size models have set up in the corner of Vectis’ Auction rooms in Thornaby and are ready to give anyone who ventures in a fright, however they definitely live up to their characters and are much friendlier in person; we hope they fulfil their destiny and supply Monstropolis with energy from providing joy and laughter from their new owners.

The pair are also joined by two life size Jack Skellington’s from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, they are being offered at Vectis by the same vendor, who has reluctantly placed the lovable characters up for auction due to moving house and no longer having the room to keep them, and they have unfortunately been relegated to the garage – pictured, he tells the tale of how they came to be in his possession…."

"Sulley was purchased over 10 years ago ....I hired a van and along with my youngest daughter we drove to London, across the Dartford bridge to collect him from a garage overnight after buying him on eBay.....we brought him home to Forest Hall and he ended up in my collection - he has been the centrepiece of my collection for many years, moving with us and creating a stir wherever he has been.....sadly, the bungalow is just not big enough for the both of us......but he raised a smile even from our garage....Mikey came a year or so after Sulley and the pair were reunited!!...they’ve been together ever since.......Jack Skellington came from New York and travelled one Christmas, initially as hand luggage and then in the hold....he was a definite hit from the start, with many people wanting their photographs with him in the airport.... my kids were very excited about this....fellow passengers on the plane cheered when he arrived safely back in Newcastle airport.......again he needs to be displayed and I sadly don’t have the space..."

For further information on these Lots please don’t hesitate to contact Vectis, the vendor is happy to answer any further questions.

The vendor's collection also includes the vintage Raleigh Chopper bikes seen in some [previous Vectis announcement] of the photographs.

Thanks to Louise at Vectis for the promo-images.

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Other Events

Now - Sunday 1st September 2019

Dartmouth - English Heritage - History at Dartmouth
Dartmouth castle, Dartmouth, Devon
Pirates, naval history, dressing-up, hands-on stuff . . .

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Friday-Saturday-Sunday 26th-28th July 2019

London (Olympia) - London Film & Comic Convention
Exhibitions, trade stalls, show exclusives, over 100 guest stars booked.

Welland - WSR - Welland Steam & Country Fair
Various locations & Woodside Farm Welland, Worcestershire
Steam Fairground, Train Rides, Vintage Tractors, Engines, Model Village . . .

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Saturday 27th July - Sat 31st August 2019

Wantage - MC Events - Lego Expo 2019
Vale & Downland Museum, Church Street, Wantage, Oxfordshire,

I'm getting bored with these now . . it IS a kid's toy and it WAS stolen from someone else! But great . . . for kids! I've also seen posters for the Lego event at Woburn Safari Park, previously mentioned here, it's still running - 'till the 1st of September.

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Saturday 27th-Sunday 28th July 2019

Avebury - National Trust - Teddy Bear's picnic
Avebury Manor & Garden, Avebury, Wiltshire
Web. 1 - https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk (organiser)

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Sunday 28th july 2019

Lothian, Scotland - National Museums Scotland - Scotland's National Airshow
National Museum of Flight, East Fortune Airfield, East Lothian, Scotland
Web. - nms.ac.uk

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Overseas Events

Friday 26th  - Tuesday 30th July 2019

Hong Kong - Tung Tak Enterprise Limited - Ani-Com & Games HK (ACGHK)
Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition centre

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Sunday 28th July 2019

Kelowna (Canada) - Fun Promotions - Kelowna Collectibles Show
Sandman Hotel & Suites Kelowna, 2130 Harvey Avenue, Kelowna V1Y 6G8, British Columbia, Canada
11:00-16:00hrs

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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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H is for How They Come In

An interesting week, I picked-up what I thought was an 11th Nano-Metal figure from the Halo set in The Works cleared from Jada, only to find that while it may be my 11th (of twelve?), I'd got one in the last few weeks, so . . . now I have two 'Spartan Vale's!

Something else came in this week but looking round the room I can't put my finger on it, so I must have sorted it away already, I do that sometimes, almost subconsciously!

Yesterday I picked up two bags, one for 50p - mostly duplicates (left hand image) and another for a £1 with mostly zomling/moshling/shopkin crap (right hand image), which I'll filter into the various posts on them which will - hopefully - all post on one day near christmas, when the diehards are more likely to forgive such indulgence!

I also picked up another of those Russimco-Ecotronic reto-games; The Amazing Magical Robot's, which [contents and packaging] all went the same way as the previous one, except for the robot which is in the image above. I'm going to leave him as-he-is and remove the pointing-wire from the previous (de-plinthed) one, with a bit of heat - and some pliers.

I literally found this in the street; it was damaged at both ends with torn tips to trunk and tail, and was leaking little beads from a tear in its throat, so I thought I'd investigate it for your amusement and our greater knowledge; as these are getting quite common now.

Consumer info' consisted of two lines

All New Material Rubber

Filling EPS Beads China

Turns-out that while they feel rather vile, even slightly sexual in a lady's hand-bag-sized, battery-operated, pleaser sort of way and rather cold or slimy, they are in fact not filled with a bead-gel, but just loose expanded-polystyrene (the EPS) beads, like their larger parcel packing brethren, but about 0.5mil. It'll all end up in landfill or the oceans where it will still be causing problems long after we've been pushed-off by mother-nature to the fields of the apocalypse and who can blame her!

The gel-feeling (which I'd associated with bead-gel via those equally weird/slightly-sexual continuous loop things which are transparent and clearly filled with a bead/gel soup!) coming just from the soft beads rubbing against each other and the silicon vinyl-like 'all new material rubber'!

The animal is filled from quite a large hole and then sealed with a shot of the same stuff, leaving a large scar under the head which was part-hidden by the over decoration and I've seen these things in The Works, Wilkinsons/Wilco, Poundland and [Flying] Tiger. You get wild animals, over-sized lizards, snakes and amphibians, Dinosaurs etc . . .

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Natural Small Scale World

Finally managed to shoot a White Admiral (, I'd seen one two years ago, been teased by several earlier in the year (early June I think?), but got this on my accidental walk from Odiahm to Fleet, don't ask; but I think it involves a world-famous pianist and his very kind friends!

Looking a lot like a female Purple Emperor, but with fuller or more 'rounded' wings, I think they are the same 'group' anyway?

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Couple of Other Bits

Shelfied, but I won't be giving it house-room! I thought Rowan Atkinson was very funny in Not The 9-O'clock News and superb in Blackadder, while the early Mr Bean sketches were fun, but it/he's more of a one-joke visual gag, and - in my opinion (which isn't everyone's!) -  it's been laboured to the Nth degree. From our bendy-friends at NJCroce via TKMaxx.

No doubt about who made this Spanish tourist-trinket donkey! The mark for Pech Hermanos (Peach Brothers) is 'branded' onto the saddle! Came in a while back, can't remember when . . . Sandown or a charity shop's mixed-bag? It's lost its cart!

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Link

Who knew he was a collector? "Williams created an alternative reality, spending hours on end commanding his collection of several thousand toy soldiers. “I had to use all these voices and sound effects with my standing army,” he said to PEOPLE in 1978". I wonder if he ever read SSW?

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