PW2 is for This Year's Themes

As always there is - once you've got the plunder home and sorted it - some obvious and some accidental themes revealed in all the little bags waiting for subsequent breaking down into the master collection, and this year was no different on that score. The first two are the same as two of last year's . . .

. . . with Gem/Gemodles/Culpitt's and/or other cake decorations making themselves felt again, this time it was mostly duplicates - but interesting nevertheless - and a fisherman who has the look of early Blue Box about him, but is probably a Wilton/Culpitt commissioned thing. The Crescent sleigh . . . isn't, it's the Hong Kong copy while the footballers are less common in powder blue, so I took them when offered (Kevin?), they are the type two with no ball-spigots.

Early Airfix is another regular trope at this Annual Show, although I only found the four items this year, the dog is a charcoal-grey colour variant (I've got half-a-hunt of these beagles now!), the paratrooper is in the Featherlite colour plastic and the [un-catalogued] 'Cigarette Pack' ship in a bottle is a bit 'hens teeth' so I grabbed it while I could.

The huntsman is just a clean sample of a figure I have several of, and I suspect the horse has been repainted? But it is a bent-tail Airfix horse; not one of the other designs, even Airfix seem to have carried some of.

I've been aware of the ships for a while now (over a decade), and you are supposed to decorate the ship (a 'Euro-margarine' premium in creamy/Ivorene semi-flat), glue it into the bottle and then glue the cap and bottle-base on. Four pieces in kit form within a blue & white cigarette packet, the range includes a Viking Longship, Thames Barge and this which is supposed to be the Santa Maria - I think; they may be bought-in or Airfix originals? I don't know how many there are in total; maybe four, maybe eight; probably six?

There's a fifth piece to a complete kit; a long base/stand in the creamy white plastic, which is designed to hide the scar of the glue on the 'ship-side', but no-one at Airfix had considered the overall foxing of the clear plastic from the fumes of the glue so it was not a successful novelty, and probably didn't run for long?

Now, the Cofalux motorcycle Nicolas Aulnette let me have for next to nothing ("For you? A pound") which we saw briefly in the previous post, has been put away, but should be in this section as it's purchase was the start of a mad 90-odd seconds, because as soon as I'd paid Nicolas, I saw across the aisle a small takeaway tub of vaguely familiar looking figures which were 'new' at the same time.

Going closer and picking one up, I felt it to be soft polyethylene and tuning it over found Cliaret France on the base "Never seen these before" says I, seller explains he hadn't either. I sort four different poses out and pay while Nicolas who had followed my gaze explains they are known but relatively uncommon.

Leaving about six for the next guy (I don't know if they'd had more poses earlier in the day, for this was heading toward finishing-time) I was about to leave Nicolas chatting to the two guys behind the table (sorry - I don't know your names!), when the other chap asks if I'd be interested in this . . .

. . . and hands me a little bag with the above in it. Again; obviously French, again; soft plastic, "Yes!" says I, and a price is agreed. While I'm paying the conversation from the previous Clairet's is adjusted to account for this new figure and Nicolas suggests that they may be UK copies, apparently they have (on the odd occasion) tended to turn-up here?

He also gave me the original maker but in all the excitement I forgot, I think he said either Clairet or Cofalux as I have a half-an-idea I made a mental note that it was connected to one of the other two purchases, but I can't find him in either archive, so that's probably a false memory? Like I say the whole series of purchases and a four-way rolling conversation over two tables was probably less than 90-seconds?

You don't hang around when there are bargains to be had! But with the missing motorcycle, that was the day's third 'trope' - uncommon/unusual French military!

The next theme, which was a big one two years ago, was not so evident this year, but I still managed a few Fontanini items starting with this chap from Mr Carrick's table, which looks like a Carrara Marble one, removed. Notable for his child-like face, he was, before the end of the show joined by . . .

. . . these chaps; all Fontanini sculpts, all Hong Kong copies, from two sources and seller was Peter Harris, who took me back to find the other three when I rocked-up in front of him with the hard plastic painted one in one mitt and money in the other . . . hay; it's only once a year, I can break the habit of the other 11 months - I save from February, and accept an austere Sandown two weeks later!

The multi-coloured one is probably a cake-decoration thing, while the other three are trying very hard to look like some of Fontanini's own production, with the bone-white plastic and over-wash of antique/dirt; technically, the painted one is a piracy, a 'civil' crime under intellectual property law, the undecorated trio are 'fakes', 'criminal' law crimes as they are deliberate attempts reproduce like-for-like or - to defraud.

Another minor theme on the day was uncommon/unusual nappy-types, and mostly cavalry, with - from the left above - a polish PZG (line-infantryman?), a Prior premium, poorly home-painted I suspect; I've seen similar WHW's turn out to be original! But I've also seen a few others in unpainted cream. Then another Polish figurine, but sub-scale and maybe not PZG, two non-matching French figures who happen to fit each-other . . . the horse being a harder styrene and looking older, although the rider may be repainted and is missing a wire sword, heat-set into his hand and finally; a Starlux officer in stable-dress or 'barrack dress'.