McDonalds
Happy Meal premiums, who have grown over a year or two
from two to 11 different sculpts, and while I know Macky-D's do some quite
large sets in these promotions, I wonder if there aren't more than one tranche
of these, and how many there may still be to find; one - for twelve, or loads?
Originally I got the two (red one [Papa Smurf] and Smurfette, in a creamy-white); pretty sure they were a charity shop
lot, back in January 2018 (they're actually dated 2017), then another came in (holding
the book) but I'd already lost the first two in the pile, so I shot him alone -
next collage!
Three more came in months later, but by
then I'd united and put the other three in the attic, so nothing happened 'till
October of this year. One was a duplicate and went back to charity in the next
bag of saleable tat!
On the 31st October (while all the
scheduled Halloween posts were publishing and Britain wasn't Brwreakshitting,
or stepping over its dead premier's body in a ditch?) I was photographing Smurfs (well; somebody has to!), and had
found five different sculpts - now I think at least two lots were Charity shops
here in Fleet, but I can't rule out some having been in Peter E, Chris S or
Jim's lots, so thanks to them, for everything, anyway.
Then, last week Mr. Evans sent me a parcel
which had seven, six new poses and a duplicate. When I first sorted them out, I
noticed the duplicate, thought the Papa
Smurf was a duplicate too and assumed one Smurfette was a duplicate, and just crossed my fingers that the
'missing' pose (or two - two Smurfettes,
knowing one was new, put my 'total' up to a likely eight figure set) would be
among the other four.
But, checking the photo's taken in October
(the five are temporarily lost again!) it became clear there was only one
duplicate, which raises the question over number of issues, as two duplicates
in total, over two years among thirteen figures suggest a lot of sculpts out
there, as does three Smurfette poses
and two Papa Smurf poses; you'd
expect only one of each per set?
So the hunt is on; had they been a set of
six, I may have shot them and handed them back to charity, but multiple issues
and suddenly they're collectably collectable! I suspect there are going to be as
many as eighteen, with maybe some Gargamel
sculpts and/or his cat?
I'll dig out a link if I can at the end of
the post, which may make it all clear to the interested, but I'm writing this
in the dark when I could have looked it up ahead of time, because it's new
stuff, the answers are all out there somewhere!
However, and . . . the really interesting
aspect of the set is that some of the figures are over-moulded!
Both of the Smurfs with one hand on the ground are pinned-through the white
base by their blue bits, and the tails seem to be drilled through the white to
appear Aires Rock-like as little batholiths! While Papa Smurf is also an over-moulding of red/blue, with a white
painted beard.
It's not as simple as 'they are all over-moulded' though - the Smurfettes' legs are stenciled-in in blue paint, as are some of the
tails and the way the heat has joined the colours on the obvious over-moulds
has left a feathered boundary-line which can look a lot like the spray-boundary
of the added blue, so I can't actually tell you all the bits which are
over-moulded, or on which of the other figures (some may have painted bodies?),
but some are definitely over-moulded to a high degree of tolerance . . . it's
another reason to find the rest!
Now, one shouldn't get too excited about
the fact, after all, these days fine-geometry over-moulding can be found on such
things as kettles, domestic irons, promotional biros, garden-tools, even sex-toys
or key-fobs! But it's nice to know toy figures - always the poor relation in
toys (we like think they're important, but with one or two exceptions - Britains, Hill, Timpo, Starlux - they weren't even the main
part of the main figure-makers catalogues!) - are still seeing the odd bit of
over-moulding.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Oh My Lord! . . . It's a whole damn conurbation . . .
4 comments:
The most satisfactory thing about this post is the image of the Berserker doing his best to save us from these blue horrors.
Rather my sentiments too Terra' but I have to serve a wide audience and this time of year is the right time of year!
H
Hard to believe there could be 'a right time of year' for Smurfs!
Never a better time Terra' Thanksgiving, Christmas, Midwinter . . . properly trussed and with a large apple or small grapefruit in their mouths, you must cook them 'till they're purple all over though, or you could find yourself in dodgy-sushi territory . . . if you know what I mean!
H
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