A is for Already?!!!

It is a fact that some shops, particularly larger chains and department stores already have Christmas stuff out and have had for several weeks, TK Maxx have managed to mix thiers in with the Halloween stuff which is a bit odd?

However, I thought this year I might be the first blog to annoy you all with a 'new' or 'this year's' early . . . really early Christmas post, TK Maxx was the venue and among the over-decorated, glass-bead encrusted skulls, I found this chap and just had to have it!

It's stretching the limits of 'toy', 'novelty' and even 'figural', but it's undeniably a guardsman (from one side at least!), gets India in the tag list for the . . . fourth . . . fifth (?) time (as it's made there) and kicks-off the festive season! 130mm, padded cloth, novelty Guardsman Christmas-tree hanger . . . brilliant!

PW is for Replicants

I can't honestly remember when this was issued, I think it was the 20th Anniversary show at Queen Charlotte Hall in Richmond, the old venue for the annual Plastic Warrior show, but it might have been the 25th, or even earlier . . . the 10th?

Anyway, Peter Cole at Replicants who's enjoyed a close relationship with the PW crew was approached to make a figure which could be given-out with the entry ticket . . . or in lieu of an entry ticket as - and I think I'm right in saying - there's only ever been a hand stamp for those wishing to take a break from the plunder hall!

This is the chap, as issued, in a glorious blood-hiding scarlet polymer, a late 19thC colonial type, originally suggested as/for the Zulu war but suitable for painting in various uniforms; the afore-mentioned scarlet, colonial 'blues' or the later khaki and usable with Boers, Mad Mardi types or other ner'do'wells who may have objected to the rule of the Great White Queen!

The seller had several colours of pre-production prototypes or test-shots and I took one as far from the final figure as possible, although some were marbled red and green and I now wish I'd grabbed on of them as a third!

Interestingly, the figures are made of a harder plastic than the figures I'm now buying from Replicants (which are an 'Airfix' soft polyethylene) and knock together with more of a hardwood or hollow-bones sound.

Been around for some time and seen elsewhere, if not everywhere else, but the box needed ticking . . . and is now ticked!

Ph is for Phollow-up!

A couple of few other Phidal or Phidal-like bits and bobs which have accrued since we last looked at them, and pretty-much covering the gamut of subjects the Busy Books visit.

We looked at these in a previous round-up, but as a part set and added the cat in another post, here we see the whole set in one place, those missing previously are the first fairy on the top row, the yellow one on the bottom row and the ladybird.

The Thor is definitely Phidal, so is the little Ice Troll chap (as we've seen him before - 'in set'), so the fact that they all have a third marking type from those we looked at yesterday may therefore be an indication of intermediate production, I may - of course - be reading too much into it, but it seems to be; . . .

© xxxxxx DIS1301      -      [early 2000's]

© xxxxxx      -      [intermediate - mid 21stC, so far]

© xxxxxx (s18)      -      [current, from s13 - 2013?]

. . . but they have already outgrown their container, so when I re-house them (I've just done the Fontanini) I'll try to annotate them a little more accurately and do a better overview.

I think I may have shown the other two before, but they're here now anyway! Action movies, cartoons, superheroes, princesses, idiot fish, square-panted Bob-sponges, Peter Rabbit, ninja reptiles, Peanuts from Schultz, Shimmer & Shine, fairies, Minions, a well-behaved dinosaur, Transformers, DC, Disney, Marvel, Pixar . . . the Phidal stable!

G is for Gurt Galaxy Guardians

As I've said before I think, I've not seen this in the cinema or since, and haven't followed any comics related to it, so I'm not particularly eau fait with the whole thing, story or character wise, but the toy figures are nice!

Good guys, from the left; Star Lord and Yandu, Groot and the alliterative Rocket Racoon, when I say 'good guys' I get the feeling they are more Han Solo than JC?

Which highlights my first piece of ignorance . . . if they pre-date Star Wars, there is a feeling quite a few SW characters are taken from GotG, but I don't remember ever seeing anything about them until quite recently - in which case Marvel are the plagiarists, except of Groot who's clearly an Ent?

I think these are also good guys, but one or two of them might have questionable loyalties? Not least the two girls Gamora and Nebula who are sisters serving different masters, but I'm not sure how seriously they try to kill each other? Marvel - everyone's there again next issue! Also I'm not sure who is who but I think Gamora (green?) is the good guy? And . . . err; they're not Rylothians twi'leks, oh no! Oh no-no-no-no-no-no-no; absolutely not!

The others are Drax Korath (good? See comments!) and a mini Groot?

Pretty sure these are all bad guys? From the left we have Ronan the Accuser, The Collector and Korath the Pursuer Drax (see comments!). There's also Thanos who's even baderer . . . badiest . . . badly-bad . . . I said that! But he's not in the set, which he could have been as the 12th piece was . . .

. . . a crappy micro-space-ship. I have a drawer somewhere with all the sub-scale sci-fi Micromachines that accompanied the Galoob figures; Star Wars, Aliens, Star Trek and even a set of fantasy stuff, this pretty-well matches them and will join them!

I is for Incomplete!

This set is missing one figure, but it's not clear from the book which one, I suspect a third green alien (which may have come in in one of the mixed lots in recent years, I seem to have dozens of these aliens in various sizes and materials), but Slinky the slinky sausage-dog, the wind-up walker binoculars (Lenny (the lenses - geddit!)) and Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head are also in the book.

As each set only has the twelve items and with only one item missing the pair of spuds is probably out of the running but the hang-apart hound or novelty opera-glasses are still in the frame.

However, my attempts to guess the missing item from what's illustrated in the Busy Book are thwarted rather by the fact that that the baddie (Emperor Zurg) and both 'Army Men' aren't in it at all! I could check Google but then I'd have no blurb as there's only so much you can say about 12-figure, booked-sets when you've already Blogged them umpteen times!

But, the point here; is very much . . . two more 'Tim Mee' type army men!

The current Phidal's tend to have only the licensee and a code, as a mark, thus;

© Disney (s18)

. . . the lowercase 's' is constant, I presume the numerals are the year-date? But, the above (whole back row), which are all Phidal like, but mostly baseless, are marked differently;

© Disney/Pixar DIS1301

. . .  yet with consistency across the range (so far they are all DIS1301) and are I suspect from earlier Phidal sets?

Anyway in the above we have signs of a previous Toy Story set, The Incredibles (there's a full-based one on the shops now), Monsters Inc., (or Monsters High?), one of the fish-ones and that belligerent babe we looked at in a Phidal Disney Princess set; Marida. The two 50mm's (Cat Woman and bloke) are newer 's'-something's and I think we've seen the whole set previously here at Small Scale World.

S is for Spandex-Suited Super-People and Seven Silly Sinners

Right - time for some catch-up on what Phidal's been up to, or at least what's come in from them in recent months, and starting with a return to Superheroes, DC, not Marvel this time and one or two of the figures may have been seen in previous roundups, or I may be over familier with them from the time they've spend in the TBS bag and on Picasa . . . That Darksied for instance, we may have caught him already?

This is the third Superman themed set we've seen I think, since the first Phidal Busy Book I bought 18-odd months ago, but they seem to issue about 15 to 20 titles each year, with a five or ten title rolling replacement every 18-months or so (conversational guesswork not fact - just how I've observed the titles changing in TK Maxx and WHSmith with each re-stock), and they've been doing it since the early-to-mid 2010's, so there have been a fair few sets now.

The good guys; we get both versions of the alien, and the three characters he most interacts with. These days He'd presumably be deported to Honduras via Mexico as a child and die of sepsis in a favella! The figures are perfectly sized for standard 'Airfix' 1:32nd-scale soldiers, but the two girls are proportionally-larger than they've been modelled in other sets?

The bad guys; they get sillier and sillier, but the names get more and more simplistic, and why do they never die, never stay in prison, and always have the $billions required to re-equip and build a new hideaway every time they get out? It's all very silly - but they are lovely toy figures!

News, Views Etc . . . Saturday 28th September - Friday 4th October

October? Where the hell did that come from? It was still 'Summer' last week!

Boris is out of control, Trump is out of control, I'm enjoying my free seat at the show to end all shows - the end of humanity!

Seriously, that little girl from Sweden gave one of the most heartfelt and stirring speeches this planet has heard in the last thousand years, and hardly anyone was listening . . .while the obviously racist and anti-islamist President of the USA found himself too busy to attend because he was chairing a meeting on religious persecution (?) . . . and then mocked her anyway!

You really can't make this shit up! In Courmayeur where I once spent the most wonderful two-weeks; some of the best of my whole life (coming-of-age thing, you had to be there!); a melting glacier is threatening to 'slip' into the valley crushing everything in its path because it's melted so fast this year it's become unstable and lubricated by its own melt-water might slide down its own channel, but Trump won't even acknowledge climate change!

Meanwhile, we've all had the Yahoo eMail which reveals that if we are Israeli, we can join-in the group/class-action for compensation? Never mind '51st State', whatever happens to the UK in the next few years the best we can look forward to is 53rd State, behind Israel and Porte Rico, given how Trump has been treating the Porte Ricans in recent years, I don't have high hopes for our chances . . . but the Brwreakshiteers think it's a brilliant idea!

Fuck! Democracy has been replaced by an Idiocracy

Let's see where we can buy old toys this week . . .

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Toy Shows

Saturday 28th September 2019

Gateshead - Jim Corr Fairs - Toy, Train & Sci-Fi Fair

Gateshead International Stadium, Neilson Road, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, NE10 0EF

eMail - jim_corr73@hotmail.co.uk

Mob. - 07504 035 955

10:00-15:00hrs

Admission £3, children/senior citizens £2, 'Early Bird' £5

Ludlow - Tony Oaks Toy Fairs - Ludlow Toy & Train Collector's Fair

Ludlow Racecourse, Bromfield, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 2BT

Internet presence unknown

Tel. - 01270 652 773

Mob. - 07825 631 323

10:30-14:00hrs

Admission £2.00

Free parking

Windsor - Maidenhead Static Model Club - International Toy & Train Fair

Windsor Leisure Centre, Clewer mead, Stovell Road, Windsor, berkshire, SL4 5JB

Web. - wwwwindsortoyfair.co.uk

Mob. - 07825 564 960

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission £3, concessions £2.50p, early bird (from 09:00hrs) £7, last hour free.

Refreshments

Said it before - one of the best UK shows on the calendar.

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Sunday 29th September 2019

Bolton - Barry Potter / BP Fairs - formally 'Macron'

The Premier Suite, Bolton Stadium, Bolton, Lancashire, BL6 6SF

Web. - www.bpfairs.com

Tel. - 01604 846 688

Mob. - 07966 527 177

10:30-15:00hrs

Admission £4.00, early-bird £8, (from 08:00hrs), seniors £3.50, children £1

Free parking

Carmarthen - Chris Dyer Fairs

Carmathen Leisure Centre, Llansteffan Road, Johntown, Carmarthen, Wales, SA31 3NQ

Web. - www.chrisdyerfairs.co.uk

Tel. - 01643 702 757

Mob. - 07966 694 579

10:30-15:00hrs

Admission £2

Enfield - Middlesex

See 'Other Events' below

Lincoln - J&J Fairs (John & Julie Webb)

The Exhibition Centre, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN2 2NA

Web. - www.j-jwebbtoyfairs.com

eMail - jandjfairs@virginmedia.com

Tel. - 01522 880 383

10:00-14:30hrs Approximately

Admission £2.50p, seniors £2, 1st child £1.50p

Midhust - SRP Fairs

The Grange, Bepton Road, Midhurst, West Sussex, GU29 9HD

Web. - www.srptoyfairs1.co.uk

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

[Probably] 10:00-14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Pudsey, Leeds - Steel Promotions - Leeds (Pudsey) Toy/Train Fair

Pudsey Civic Hall, Dawson's Corner, Stanningley Road, LS28 5TA

Internet presence unknown

Tel. I - 0161 283 1255

Tel. II - 0161 766 2012

10:00-15:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Café, licensed bar

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Auctions

Sunday 28th September 2019

Spalding - M&M Auctions

Unit 4, Plover Court, Stephenson Avenue, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 3SW

Web. - www.mm-auctions.com

eMail - info@mm-auctions.com

On-line (www.the-saleroom.com)

Tel. - 01406 422 848

Viewing - 29th May and mornings of sale days from 08:30hrs

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Tuesday 1st October 2019

Canterbury - The Canterbury Auction Galleries (1st day of a two day auction)

40 Station Road West, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 8AN

Web. - www.canterburyauctiongalleries.com

eMail - general@tcag.co.uk

Tel. - 01227 763 337

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (1st day of a four day auction)

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

Tel. - 01642 750 616

Specialist die-cast sale - Day 1

"The Specialist sale to be held on the 1st of October starts at the earlier time of 10am to incorporate the 819 lots, which include boxed and unboxed Dinky, including French, Spanish and pre-war; Corgi, Triang Spot-On, EFE, plus others. Lots include Military vehicles, buses and coaches, lorries and wagons, road and racing cars, construction, fire and farm vehicles. Corgi models include gift sets and Chipperfield Circus. The sale will also include TV and Film related models, Corgi Aviation Archive and Airfix plastic kits. "

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Wednesday 2nd October 2019

Canterbury - The Canterbury Auction Galleries (2nd day of a two day auction)

40 Station Road West, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 8AN

Web. - www.canterburyauctiongalleries.com

eMail - general@tcag.co.uk

Tel. - 01227 763 337

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (2nd day of a four day auction)

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

Tel. - 01642 750 616

Specialist die-cast sale - Day 2

"The Specialist Diecast and Tinplate Toy sale to be held on the 2nd of October once again starts at the earlier time of 10am. The sale includes 805 lots of cars, buses, lorries, aircraft, military and emergency vehicles from manufacturers such as Corgi, Dinky, Triang Spot On, Britains, Tekno, Metosul, Solido CIJ and Mercury plus many more. Dinky models include French, Spanish, Pre-War and trade packs. There are also TV and film related vehicles including James Bond, Batmobiles and Captain Scarlet; Rob Eddie Brooklin Models, Shackleton Toy Foden flat beds, and Lion Car truck groups. The tinplate section includes large tinplate and diecast car transporters, Bandai and other Japanese tinplate vehicles and toys; Robots and space toys, novelty toys, figures and vehicles from UK and European models such as Schuco, Wells, Chad Valley and Lehmann."

Warrington - Warrington & Northwich Auctioneers & Valuers

551 Europa Boulevard, Westbrook, Warrington WA5 7TP

Web. - www.warringtonauctions.co.uk

eMail - enquiries@warringtonauctions.co.uk

Tel. - 01925 658 833

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Thursday 3rd October 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (3rd day of a four day auction)

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

Tel. - 01642 750 616

General toy sale

" The General Toy sale to be held on the 3rd of October features cars, vans, buses and lorries from manufacturers such as Lledo, Matchbox, Corgi, Dinky, EFE, Oxford Diecast, plus Brumm, WSI and Vanguards. The sale will also include boxed models from Best of Show, Otto Models, GT Autos and Autoart, plus TV and Film related toys and vehicles. There is a selection of kits from Airfix, Revell and others, plus American Civil War "Accurate Figures Limited" groups of boxed soldiers; Playmobil, Robots, Mattel Hot Wheels vintage badges, jigsaws, board games, children's toys, books and magazines, cabinets and much more. "

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Friday 4th October 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (last day of a four day auction)

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

Tel. - 01642 750 616

Vectis' first ever dedicated Lego sale

"In October this year, Vectis Auctions will be holding its first dedicated Lego Auction Sale, which will be the largest of its kind in the UK.

The majority of the sale is the lifetime collection of Stockton based Lego builder and exhibitor Mark Willis who for many years has created intricate and astonishing dioramas for the enjoyment of others.  Mr Willis, who is well respected within the Lego community, has previously exhibited at York, Wakefield and London and was the subject of an episode of the popular BBC TV program ‘Collectaholics’, which featured his vast amalgamation of over 350,000 individual pieces.  Recent works have included a model of Saltburn Pier which was on display at Kirkleatham Museum near Redcar."

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Other Events

Now - Sunday 6th October 2019

London (Docklands) - O2 Arena - Marvel Universe Live!

The O2 Arena, Pennisula Square, Docklands, London, SE10

Web. - www.theo2.co.uk

Dr. Strange, Spiderman, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers etc . . .

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Saturday 28th September - Tuesday 24th December (Xmas eve) 2019

Bury St. Edmunds - Moyse's Hall - May the Toys be With You (Star Wars Exhibition)

Moyse's Hall, Bury st. Edmunds, Suffolk

Web. - www.moyseshall.org

Vintage Star Wars toys and posters (if it's anything like the one in Basingrad - covered on the blog - I can recommend it)

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Saturday 28th - Sunday 29th September 2019

London (Central) - Alexandra Palace - Tabletop Gaming Live

Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, London, N22

Web. - www.tabletopgaminglive.co.uk

Board, card, war and role-playing games, new and news.

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Sunday 29th September 2019

Enfield - Whitewebbs Museum of Transport - Toy Exhibition

Whitewebbs Museum of Transport, Whitewebbs Road, Enfield Road, Middlesex, EN2 9HW

Web. - www.whitewebbmuseum.co.uk

Tel. - 02083 671 898

10:00-15:00hrs

Displays of Dinky die-cast & Lone Star toys

Other models and railways on display on 4-floors

Some selling stalls will also be present

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Overseas Events

Saturday 28th / Sunday 29th September 2019

Bourgoin-Jallieu (France) - Club Maquetiste Nord Dauphiné - Replica 2019 (Toy Fair)

Salle Polyvalente, Avenue Professeur Tixier, Bourgoin-Jallieu 38, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Club-maquettiste-nord-Dauphin%C3%A9-157050558040073/

Tel. - ++0662 505 489

10:00-19:00hrs (Saturday)
09:00-18:00hrs (Sunday)

Admission €3.00

Toys, models and figures

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Saturday 28th September 2019

Chartres (France) - Galerie de Chartres - Auction

Espace Ventes du Coudray, Chartres, France (venue)

10 Rue Claude Bernard, ZA du Coudray, BP 70129, 28003, Chartres Cedex, France (organiser)

Web. - www.galeriesdechartres.com

eMail - chartres@galeriedechartres.com

Tel. - ++0237 882 828 (Mr. JP Lelièvre)

Fax. - ++0237 882 820

Doll and Teddy Bear auction

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Sunday 29th September 2019

Leverkusen (Germany) - J. Horner - Toy Fair

Forum, Leverkusen, Germany

Tel. - ++0210 351 133

Paris (France) - Association Gueules de Meil - Teddy Bear Show

Foundation Biermans-Laporte, 14th Arondisement, Paris, France

Tel. - ++0616 043 028

St. Michiels (Belgium) - Dipro BVBA - International Collectors Fair

Baudewijn Seapark, Saint Michiels, Brugge, Belgium

Web. I - www.dipro.be

Web II - www.verzamelbeurs.net

Tel. - ++032 395 638

10:00-17:00hrs

Wambrechies (France) - Museé du Jouet/Poupées (Toy & Doll Museum) - 'Eurotoy' 27th International Toy Fair

Salle Gilles Alain Billiet, Avenue Foch, Rocade Nord-Ouest, Sortie No.9, Wambrechies 59, Lille, Nord France

Web. - www.musee-du-jouet-ancien.com

eMail - contact@musee-du-jouet-ancien.com

Tel. - ++0320 396 928

09:00-17:00hrs

The museum also has two exhibitions ongoing; The Female Doll Today and; Meccano - the Collection of Monsieur Riff.

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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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Toys in the Media

Chess piece selling individualism at London South East Collages, it looks like a post-modernist production of King Lear - set design by Grayson Perry!

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Other Toy News

McBurger Joint Kingdom Chain

In a move which said more for inter-burger espionage that co-incidence, both Macky-D's and The King announced moves to phase-out free toys with kid's meals, Burger K are simply ending toys in kid's meals from last Friday.

McDonald's have come up with a more mealy-mouthed 'Happy Meal' scheme to offer customers a choice between toy or fruit-bag desert! From next year there will be a book offer (presumably a small thing with larger print or an 'activity' thing?) in addition to-, but instead of-,  the fruit as the choice.

Neither chain said whether this was a global thing genuinely wanting to make the world a better place, or if it's being trialled in the UK to see how it goes down with a modern developed population, will they (the lumpen pink monkeys) embrace the move or whine selfishly about the lack of a toy for little Kevin or Kim?

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Hobbycraft

The craft and hobby (see what they did there!) superstore chain have posted an 11% rise in sales to £81.9m, apparently fueled by the sale of sewing accessories and quilting gear . . . who knew! But for a lot of people it's the only place for miles around where you can find [limited ranges of] Airfix, Heller and Revell in the same place, ignoring the fact that it's chains like them who put the 'Indie's out of business in the first place!

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Nottingham Mafia

Games Workshop are to pay-out a dividend this year having done well, and 35p per share is not to be sniffed at, that's 35-quid per-hundred shares!

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Poundland

An odd story in both the 'i' and Metro the other day announced that Poundland were to experiment with prices above and below the magical quid, but while lower-prices (below) will be new (except that they've often had two for one deals (which is 50p each after a fashion), they have been selling higher-priced items (above) for over  a year now, so I don't know why it's suddenly news? Good PR team and lazy journo's I guess!

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Smellycat, oh Smellycat?

Lego have brought out a model of the Central Park café where the Friends used to hang-out, and Phoebe has a very realistic guitar . . . to sing Smellycat! But . . . it's got an RRP of £65, which for 1000-pieces is a lot of money, so if anyone is stuck for an Xmas present idea for yours truly . . . ?

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Lip-smacking, cool-talking . . . Mr Potato Head!

Mr. Potato Head has had a bit of a makeover; firstly he's been on a diet and is now a slimmer Jersey Royal 'newie' compared to his old, round Pentland Squire chipping-spud, no doubt an attempt to convince modern kids that Bibendum is not a look to aspire-to, and secondly he has moving lips which are synced to a series of phrases and songs - presumably in some expensive, electronic add-on?

As I thought he got silly as soon as a plastic potato was included in the box, I'm not that excited by the addition of something which will likely short-out with a bang if you stick it in a cucumber or a lemon - which was the original point!

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Hasbro

The US toy giant has bought the UK's Entertainment One Group, who own the Pepper Pig property along with PJ Masks and Ricky Zoom, they say it will enhance their 'storytelling capabilities' a classic piece of 'swamp talk' if ever I heard one!

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Card Factory Factor

Another example of the left hand and the right hand not knowing what each other are doing - in the papers on the 14th of the Month - we were told that the Card Factory were doing well despite the other trials and tribulations facing the High Street and despite slow sales for Father's Day (a recent and frankly crappy import), yet today's City A.M. (the UK's business & economy free-sheet) tells a completely different story of earnings being hit (14% drop in profits) due to Brwreakshit stockpiling, one of the tales must be untrue as you can't be both doing well and doing badly!

I hope they are probably close to bankruptcy for not restocking with dinoraser pencil tops the moment I wanted them to!

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H is for How They Come In

A bitty week really but a few chunks of polymer tat was added to the pile one way or another . . .

. . . the main purchase this week was a couple of bags of bits, one of smaller figures and novelties including a panda playing football (top left'ish) who looks like he should be a key ring but has no sign of ever having been such, so a baseless PVC cake decoration maybe?

The other bag was a series of Disney princesses, not something I'd paid any attention to until a few years ago (Phidal, Kinder and Kinder-like), but repaint them in the 1860's Parisian style, dark greens, maroons, black etc . . . and you've all the saloon molls you need for Dead Man's Gulch . . . and they come in a plethora of scales for any Wild West collection. I've already removed the two large bases (which were play-dough moulds or something?), rendering both women smaller - and easier to store! The purple eng-lit' supply-teacher is an ELC witch.

One of the figures in the other bag was this Disney monstrosity passing for the Pooh we knew and loved for the longest time, clearly a lid off something, he needed radical surgery which he received, and it looks like 'berserker' is about to give him some more - Yeah! Stick it to the simpering imposter, stick him like a pig!

I bought something new this week as well, it was half-price, and a bit of fun, being the Disney Little Mermaid on a knight statue, from Penn-Plax.

Four from the fifty-pee tubs or baskets, with the two Pooh animal (not so ruined by Disney's designers) pencil-tops (who need a dusting!) at the start of the week and the other two at the end of it, I don't know he resin character but could he be the Parker/Waddington's Monopoly man? He had a name I think . . . Mr Money Bags . . . or something? The pair of foals or horses (it's all a question of actual, intended or 'for-the-use-of' scale!) might be New Ray?

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Received with Thanks

Plastic Warrior magazine issue number 176 was wung this way courtesy of the mailing elves at PW Towers, a review is forthcoming, and hopefully should get out next week sometime.

Five minutes ago, images from Chris Smith (I'll have to reply later this afternoon Chris!) which will make a follow-up to something recent!

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Other News

Herald Toys & Models

New announcement from Barney "This week we are pleased to offer for sale not one but TWO new collections of Swoppet Knights - the Dorchester and Roseberry collections - all in very nice complete condition, together with some good Hilco toy soldiers, including a loose set of 3, seldom seen, 'Monarch Series' Highland Clansmen."

Missed

There was a two-day model railway show and exhibition in Aldershot last weekend, ten miutes down the road and I missed it!

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SSW Command Central

Staffing problems are not only ongoing here, but seem to have increased as the summer weather has decreased - Fontanini needed a bigger box; I should feel lucky my assistant eschews plastic I suppose!

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Other Stuff

Having seen what other people had managed to shoot, on-line, I went back to see if I could get a better or more interesting shot last Sunday, and managed to grab this bit of insect porn!

But it took 22 shots to get one usable image! The Rosemary Beetle, now I know where to look, I'll try to improve next year!

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