H is for "Houston - We Have Hing Fat!"

Although I'm pretty sure Hing Fat are themselves copies of a set I've yet to obtain and we're actually looking at two makers here the other responcible for unknown generic sets in the style of, shadow of and after Hing Fat! For some reason I've just written Hing Kat twice and had to correct it!

Part of the plunder pile from Sandown Park in May, for some reason (too much stuff to blog and a three month hiatus - two resons!) I've not done the show reports on the last three Sandown's, I might as well wait until next weekend and do all four on the same day!

Two very similar but completely different NASA-type, Moon-shot,  space-themed rack-toys, one credited to Hing Fat the other from a jobbing unknown with a Dollar Tree Distribution sticker. And hard to know which came first as I will discuss in a minute! Artwork on both shares elements and either could have contributed to the Photoshop'ing-efforts of the other!

A 2006 catalogue image of the Hing Fat figures (carrying the 'cabbage patch kids' logo) with a better selection of accessories, clearly a larger bag with adjusted card-art and almost certainly a high price-point than my recent purchase was originally aimed at?

Back to the two recently acquired sets and we find that the figures do differ, only the chap with pliers/snips (far right pair) is the same whole pose, the rest are either different, or slightly changed (middle pair), although both sets are using elements (arm/hand implements/general posing) of the old MPC Mercury/Gemini suited chaps but with chubby, Apollo-suited bodies.

Hing Fat have gone with a Marx flag, while the Dollar Tree uses the common 'pile of dirt' flag, and their set has the added play-value of a couple of blow-moulded rocks (meteorites?) and a small rocket which looks more like an ICMB than an Apollo-programme launcher!

Both marked MADE IN CHINA, with the Hing Fat having evidence of a previous, smaller-fonted, MADE IN HONG KONG mark scratched-out. Now - as hinted at above - I'm sure there is a third source of these, and that the third set is the best set, also wearing a Hong Kong mark and from the early 1980's.

The reason for which is that before I was collection this stuff myself (last ten years) I spent some time helping a well known dealer (as some of you know) and sorted a load of these, and can well remember the Hing Fat bag (from the second image above) being lesser quality that another sample. That other sample (lacking packaging) were as 'cleaner' sculpts next to the Hing Fat as the Hing Fat are, here, next to the (3rd generation?) clones. So there is probably another chapter to today's story, which will have to be for another day!

Dollar Tree's rocket disassembles into four pieces and it struck me that the top section would make an excellent comm's tower/objective in sci-fi micro-armour war-gaming!

From a 1986 catalogue (courtesy of Bill B) comes this image of some of the larger pieces from Hing Fat sets, the shuttle looks to be different to the one on offer in 2006 above but that may just be a question of the cutting-back of paint phases! It's a sub-scale model, while the (Soviet-looking?) satellite is more in-scale with the figures by the looks of it?

I photographed them twice! Doh!

Hing Fat are also responsible for some of the straight-copy MPC clones and again they are not the best quality copies out there, but neither are they the worst. Colour mixes aren't clear but I think one is red, white & blue and the other silver & white.