About Me

My photo
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.

Friday, November 15, 2019

News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events Saturday 16th - Friday 22nd November 2019

As part of my commitment to community programming in an esoteric clause hidden in the small print of a contractual obligation I was completely unaware of until I invented it, I present the Small Scale World guide to voting in the 2019 General Election . . .

In the meantime, Donald 'I'm so fuckwitted I told the people of Oklahoma we were building a big beautiful wall round their state-locked state' Trump, who last week was [also] saying he was the most open President 'ever' seems to have decided he's the least open in half-a-century when it comes to tax-returns!

Meanwhile over here Boris's Tories and Farage (rhymes with c**t)'s UKIP/Brwreakshit/NASDP goons are playing musical chairs, do you even know who's standing in your neck of the woods?

Vote liberal and buy toys!

Sandown this Saturday, it's a week early over previous years I think? So; don't miss it for a routine which is no more . . .

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Toy Fairs

Saturday 16th November 2019

Exeter - Ray Heard Train & Toy Fairs
Matford Centre, Matford Park Road, Exeter, EX2 8FD
Internet presence unknown
Tel. - 01823 480 097
10:00-15:30hrs
Admission £2.00
Free parking, refreshments

Hereford - Chris Dyer Fairs
Hereford Leisure Centre, Holmer Road, Hereford, HR4 9UD
Tel. - 01643 702 757
Mob. - 07966 694 579
10:30 - 15:00hrs
Admission £2

Sandown Park - Barry Potter / BP Fairs - 'The' Sandown Park Show
Exhibition Centre, Sandown Park Racecourse, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9AJ
Tel. - 01604 846 688
Mob. - 07966 527 177
Fax. - 01604 771 070
10:30-15:00hrs
Admission - Adults £6.50p, seniors £6, children £2, early bird (from 08.00hrs) £10.00
Tons of free parking

Wrexham - Barry Stockton Fairs - Hobbies & Model Rail Show
Wrexham Memorial Hall, Bodhyfryd, Wrexham, LL12 7AG
Web. - http://barrystocktonfairs.co.uk/
Tel. - 01513 343 362
10:30 - 15:30
Admission - Adult £3.50, children £1.00

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Sunday 17th November 2019

Chester-le-Street - Jim Corr Fairs
Lord Lawson Academy, Birtly Lane, Birtly, DH3 2LF
Mob. - 07504 035 955
10:00 - 15:00hrs
Admission £3, children/senior citizens £2, 'Early Bird' £5

Llanelli - Chris Dyer Fairs
Llangennech Community Centre, Off Hendre Road, Llangennech, Wales, SA14 8TH
Tel. - 01643 702 757
Mob. - 07966 694 579
10:30 - 15:00hrs
Admission £2

Malvern - Bulldog Fairs
The Seven Hall, Three Counties Showground, Worcestershire, WR13 6NW
Tel. - 01373 452 857
Mob. - 07917 125 641
10:30 - 14:30hrs
Adults £4, under 16's free if accompanied, early-bird (from 08:30hrs) £10.

Potters Bar - Toy & Train Fairs (Peter Levinson)
Elm Court Centre, Mutton Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 3BP
Internet presence unknown
Tel. - 01282 051 518 (Peter or Diane)
10:30 - 14:30hrs
Admission charge unknown

Spalding - J&J Fairs (J&J Webb)
Springfields Events & Conference Centre, Camelgate, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE12 6ET
Tel. - 01522 880 383
10:00 - 14:30hrs
Admission - Adult £2.50p, seniors £2, 1st child £1.50p

Walsall - Transtar Promotions (Geoff & Linda Price) - Toy & Train Collectors Fair
Oak Park Active Living Centre, Coppice Road, Walsall Wood, Walsall, West Midlands, WS9 9BH
Tel.- 01922 643 385 (Geoff or Linda)
10:30 - 15:00hrs
Admission £1.80p, seniors £1.50p, child £1.00
Refreshments

Worthing  - SRP Toyfairs
Charmandean Centre, Forest Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN14 9HS
Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)
10:00 - 14:00hrs
Admission charge unknown

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Friday 22nd November 2019

Alfreton - Toy and Train Fairs (Malcolm Townsend) - Evening Fair
The Leisure Centre, Church Street, Alfreton, DE55 7BD
Mob. - 07951 072 790
19:00 - 21:00hrs
Admission charge unknown

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Auctions

Saturday 16th November 2019

Bury St. Edmunds - Lacy Scott & Knight
Tel. - 01284 748 600 (general enquires)
Tel. - 01284 748 623 (Oliver Leggett - auction)
Toy and Collectors Models

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Wednesday 20th November 2019

Warwick - Warwick & Warwick
Charlton House, Scar Bank, Millers Road, Warwick, Warwickshire, CV34 5DB
(Auctions held in Court House)
Tel. - 01926 499 031
Facsimile - 01926 491 906
Catalogue on-line, printed version available on request
Trains, die cast, model soldiers and other toys

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Wednesday 20th & Thursday 21st November 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (2-day sale)
Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ
Tel. - 01642 750 616
Toy Soldiers military equipment & model figures

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Other Events

Saturday 16th November 2019

Ignore date on poster

Kensington (London) - London International Antique Doll, Teddy Bear and Toy Fair - 200 Years of Childhood (Doll and Bear Fair)
Pre-event seminars
Joanne McDonald of Vectis Auctions will be giving a talk on Chiltern Bears

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Sunday 17th October 2019

Bentley Heath - MGM - Doll & Bear Fair
Bentley Heath Community Centre, Widney Road, Bentley Heath, Solihull, West Midlands, B93 9BQ (venue)
Linnet Lodge, The Village, Wembworthy, Devon, EX18 7RX (promoter)
Tel. - 07818 462448  
10:30-15:00hrs
Admission - adults/seniors: £2.50, children: 50p
Free car parking, refreshments
Free Prize Draws

Kensington (London) - London International Antique Doll, Teddy Bear and Toy Fair - 200 Years of Childhood (Doll and Bear Fair)
Web - www.200yearsofchildhood.com
Tel. I - 01908642111 (daytime)
Tel. II - 01908610883 (evenings and weekends)
eMail I - hap@mkps.co.uk
eMail II - grandmasteddies@gmail.com
eMail III - daniel.agnew@hotmail.co.uk
Mob. - 07875874854

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Overseas Events
All timings; local time

Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 November 2019

Rondebosch (South Africa) - Cape Town Society of Model and Experimental Engineers - Open Days
Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa
Tel. I - 072 787 6709 (Geoffrey de Vartek)
Tel. II - 082 378 2437 (Andre van Breda)
09:00-16:00hrs (both days)
Admission R20 per adult, R10 per child, 6 and over; 6 or under - admission free
Rides (for children) on the 5-inch gauge live steam engine (cost per ride will be R5 per child, rides from 09:00-12:00hrs and from 13:30-15:30hrs)

York (USA) - Greenberg’s - Great Train & Toy Show
York Expo Center, 334 Carlisle Avenue, York, PA 17404, USA (venue)
Greenberg Shows, 280 Carlton Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188, USA (organiser)
Tel. -  ++6302 794 087
Fax. - ++2405 974 482

10:00-16:00hrs
Admission is $10 Saturday (for both days) or $9 Sunday (on-site ticket sales cash only), children 11 and under free
Free parking



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Sunday 17th November 2019

Soultz (France) - NEF Des Jouets - 18th Bourse aux Figurines et Miniatures
MAB de Soultz, Rue de la Marne, Haut-Rhin, France (venue)
12 Rue Jean Jaurès, F-68360, Soultz, Haut-Rhin, France (organisers)
eMail - nefdesjouets@soultz68.fr
Tel. - ++0389 743 092
09:00-17:00
Admission 2 (4 with entry to museum)

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If you are an event promoter/show curator/auctioneer and you want your toy, model, collectable, military, historical 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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Toy News

Rubik Brand Ltd.

Have lost their appeal to the EU court on such matters, to regain their Europe-wide protection which was originally granted in 1999 (years after the invention) omly to be withdrawn in 2017, as intellectual property rights are supposed to last 70-odd years this seems to need further investigation, although the original drawings for the mechanism (presumably in metal) date back to 1947, which may be where the stumble's come from?

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Good News Story

A Royal Navy Rescue helecopter managed to recover a radio-controlled 'plane which got caught on top of an old mine-workings chimney! The Sea Merlin was on a training exercise when the call came in for help, and the winch-man was lowered to the top of the dry-stone chimney and recovered the model aircraft.

The owner - Mr. Roger Bath had apparently managed to crash into the only raised item in the landscape as far as the eye could see? Members of 824 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Culdrose were happy to help as it made for a realistic and practical training example.

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Pompeii Under Fire

A sad (or sadish, it's laden with pathos) story in the Evening Standard the other day, of a piece of great 'British' eccentricity in danger of being lost forever, now that the Irishman (Co. Athlone) behind the whole 'edifice' has passed away.

'Gerry's Pompeii was created by the late Gerry Dalton, and is described as the passion of an autodidact, a monument to 'outsider art', there is much more than I can tell . . . and a fundraising page, give if you can, lots of figures, lots of dioramas, need saving.

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The Works

Issued a profits warning and watched their shares tumble last week, they're down 1.9% overall on this time last year, but have over-stocked on Squishies which have performed 3.6% below target - shit toys, shit performance. And - while the Works used to feature here regularly from 2008-16-odd, they haven't had much to interest us for a while now?

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Entertainment One (eOne)

Also reporting 'widening' losses as it prepares for its sale to Hasbro, the Pepper Pig licensee faced a one-off payment of £6.8M (small change!) for . . . I think I recall reading somewhere - a buyout of a German subsidiary or something, all corporate-shite & bollocks anyway; and Hasbro gets a bargain!

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Received With Thanks

A Card from the postman led to a quick trip down the sorting office to retrieve this bunch of plunder . . .

. . . for which I have to thank both Peter Evans and the good burgers of the Wirral and Merseyside attending the Widnes Collectors and Car Boot Fair, "Warrington's favorite" - I'm told . . . Cheers Peter!

Also, from the morning's earlier post, I meant to thank him last week; Nazar Marchenko for translating Russian for me.

And thanks again to Joe Walton for the other posts this week and Angelo for tomorrow's post.

And I also received some interesting images from Brian B which should come to something shortly!

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How They Come In

A quieter week (until Peter's parcel arrived!), but a couple of interesting things entered the collection;

This is an old McDonald's 'Happy Meal' giveaway, you sit him (Olaf Somebody-sonn?) down and a mechanism jumps him up again, it doesn't work very well, but may be tired - it seems to be about 12 years old? From the Golden Compass movie of His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman), I think it will prove to be in-scale with the board game characters we looked at a year or two ago.

And; it may be a sign of things to come as the imagery of the new TV/Streaming series is different from the movie, so people (fans) may think it's time to clear out the old 'look' and start collecting a new 'Expanded Universe'!?

Bits and bobs, the wooden elephant has ivory tusks, but they are home-carved replacements, a bit rough and a bit short, clearly a Sri Lankan elephant! And . . . three Chinasaurs! With four from Peter that's seven from four brands in a week, and I only sorted them away last weekend! It's like cleaning the Elysian stables, except I'm collecting the stuff and trying to keep it all in the stable; or painting the Forth bridge!

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Staff Issues

Another parcel and other work to rule-s which definitely aren't in the employment contract for warehouse/clerical!

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Other Stuff

From the you-thought-I-was-exaggerating department, it's N' euw's and views of the thumb!

The underside's done OK; almost a perfect weld! But the top's still not right and it won't be until that corner-flap of nail comes off, which won't be for a while as there's not enough for me to cut-under the connection 'till it grows out a bit.

So I'm washing it with alcohol and changing the dressing twice a day! Funny thing though; worth knowing - surgical-spirit doesn't sting. Warm salted-water (day two) stung to buggery, and in the old days that iodine-yellow Savlon spray (which seems to have been banned?) used to smart a bit, but pure alcohol just numbs it all with cold and kills anything untoward - bloody-good stuff, hic!

Some fungi I shot last Sunday round the pond, all this rain has proven to be a real boon for them, and there are more than I have seen since 2011/12 which were dampish winters too, but this year is better.

2 comments:

Maudlin Jack Tar said...

Your Flow Chart would get my vote!

Hugh Walter said...

Good to hear Maudlin! I was proselyting at Sandown on Saturday, and had some success with a couple of SA emigres at the weekend (natural Tories); I think I won her over, but he's a tougher nut to crack!

H