About Me

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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.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

O is for Odd Squad!

Some, but not all the National leaders (neither US President), a couple of famous Generals, but most missing and two Göring's ('Goering'), this was always a bit of an strange line-up for a set, but it's quite popular (although not particularly rare in either size), and is overdue for a box-tick here!

Adlof Hitler; Adolf Hitler; Army Leaders World War II; Art. Numer 271; Austria; Austrian Toy Figures; Austrian Toy Soldiers; Churchill Figure; Churchill Model; De Gaulle Figure; De Gaulle Model; Dwight D Eisenhower; Eisenhower Figure; Eisenhower Model; Göring Figure; Göring Model; Hitler Figure; Hitler Model; HO - Gauge; HO - OO Figures; HO OO; Ing. Heinz Roessler; Made In Austria; Minitanks Churchill; Minitanks De Gaulle; Minitanks Eisenhower; Minitanks Göring; Minitanks Hitler; Minitanks Mussolini; Minitanks Rommel; Minitanks Stalin; Mussolini Figure; Mussolini Model; Nr. 271; Plastic Churchill; Plastic De Gaulle; Plastic Eisenhower; Plastic Göring; Plastic Hitler; Plastic Mussolini; Plastic Rommel; Plastic Stalin; Roco - HO Model Miniatures; Roco Churchill; Roco De Gaulle; Roco Eisenhower; Roco Göring; Roco Hitler; Roco Minitanks; Roco Mussolini; Roco Rommel; Roco Stalin; Rommel Figure; Rommel Model; Saltzburg; Set 271; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Stalin Figure; Stalin Model; Toy Churchill; Toy De Gaulle; Toy Eisenhower; Toy Göring; Toy Hitler; Toy Mussolini; Toy Rommel; Toy Stalin; Winston S Churchill; Z-271;
271 Army Leaders World War II, also issued in the larger 1:35th scale a few years later as set 450, itself an odd act, as while it made them compatible with the Italeri and Heller kits of the day, there was no history of 50mm stuff from Austria (or Germany), nor any forthcoming range of matching vehicles or other kits from Roco.

The 'data list' on the back of the card is in a different order to the presentation of the figures on the other side, who are each in a separate blister with their title below. I seem to recall the large scale set come similarly packed, but in one row?

Adlof Hitler; Adolf Hitler; Army Leaders World War II; Art. Numer 271; Austria; Austrian Toy Figures; Austrian Toy Soldiers; Churchill Figure; Churchill Model; De Gaulle Figure; De Gaulle Model; Dwight D Eisenhower; Eisenhower Figure; Eisenhower Model; Göring Figure; Göring Model; Hitler Figure; Hitler Model; HO - Gauge; HO - OO Figures; HO OO; Ing. Heinz Roessler; Made In Austria; Minitanks Churchill; Minitanks De Gaulle; Minitanks Eisenhower; Minitanks Göring; Minitanks Hitler; Minitanks Mussolini; Minitanks Rommel; Minitanks Stalin; Mussolini Figure; Mussolini Model; Nr. 271; Plastic Churchill; Plastic De Gaulle; Plastic Eisenhower; Plastic Göring; Plastic Hitler; Plastic Mussolini; Plastic Rommel; Plastic Stalin; Roco - HO Model Miniatures; Roco Churchill; Roco De Gaulle; Roco Eisenhower; Roco Göring; Roco Hitler; Roco Minitanks; Roco Mussolini; Roco Rommel; Roco Stalin; Rommel Figure; Rommel Model; Saltzburg; Set 271; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Stalin Figure; Stalin Model; Toy Churchill; Toy De Gaulle; Toy Eisenhower; Toy Göring; Toy Hitler; Toy Mussolini; Toy Rommel; Toy Stalin; Winston S Churchill; Z-271;
Two Göring's; there are two Göring's for some reason, a hundred allied or axis generals missing, but two sculpts of a fat face-feeding Nazi airforce arsehole, when Roco only made a few aircraft and all of them post-war helicopters - did they do a Storch? Where's Himmler? It's a very odd choice of figures, no Monty or MacArthur? Patton's absence explained by already being in the early US figure-sets (seen earlier today).

If you're going to have even one Göring, where's the Dowding or 'Bomber' Harris? A De Gaulle, but no Vichy? Speer, Franco, any Jap, Manstein, Guderian, poor old Paulus . . . Zhukov? It's an eclectic line-up to say the least, but they are very well sculpted and all pretty recognisable as to whom they are meant to be!

While back to the Goering thing; I guess the sculptor played with a few alternative sculpts and two of them - for the one personality - were considered so good, they couldn't choose which one to run with, so ran them both? It's also worth noting that the two figures are to all purposes the same sculpt - from the waist down! But even then - you have to ask - why didn't they then make-up the set to a ten-figure count?

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