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 8, 2019

News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events - Saturday 9th-Friday 15th November 2019

Labour gutted by Watson's departure? He was a slightly-left Blairite-allie! If they are to get fully behind the utterly-useless Corbyn (nice guy, but he hasn't got a leadership bone in his body!), the last person they need hanging around is Watson.

Tories Gutted by the departure of two sexists and a fraudster? Qell souprise Rodder's! We've had 40 years of selfish, intolerant, pocket-lining Thatcherite-Reganomic Tories and/or Tory policy, yet they are apparently 10% ahead in the polls? There must be a tribe of Daily Wail-reading Trumpundbrwreakshiteers who haven't got it yet, who will never 'get it'?

Are you going to vote for either shower of shite? I'm voting Liberal and I never thought I'd be doing that again after 2010.

In Chile the police have blinded more people with baton-rounds (rubber bullets) than the RUC and IDF put-together, managed over 50-years . . . and they've managed to do so in about three weeks!

Brazil's Lulla de Silva's out and Bolsanaro's sweating . . . while in Bolivia the locals took their corrupt ruling-party Mayoress and shaved her head, painted her red and burnt her office to the ground, almost a good-news story, and at least she's alive!

Trump's also had a bad week, oh, he's had a terrible week, but then he's clearly insane and living on Planet Donald, so I'd imagine he's the least worried of all of them!

Luckily there are still some old toys to buy! Loads of 'em . . .

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Toy Fairs

Saturday 9th November 2019

Herne Bay - SRP Toyfairs
The Kings Hall, The Beacon Hill, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 6BA
Tel. - 07739 998 012
10:00 - 14:00hrs
Admission charge unknown

Torquay - Events Frontier - 'Devcon'
Town Hall, Castle Circus, Torquay TQ1 3DR (venue)
56 Radford Park Rd, Plymouth PL9 9DP (promoter)
Mob. - 07508 548 938
Hours unknown
Admission fee unknown
Sci-fi, film and comic convention

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Sunday 10th November 2019

Buxton - Barry Potter / BP Fairs
The Octagon Hall, Pavillion gardens, St. Johns Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6XN
Tel. - 01604 846 688
Mob. - 07966 527 177
10:30-15:00hrs
Admission £3.50 (early-bird £6, from 08:00hrs), OAP's £3, Children £1

Kidderminster - Tony Oaks Toy Fairs
Guilt Edge Leisure Centre, Zortech Avenue, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY11 7DY
Internet presence unknown
Tel. - 01270 652 773
Mob. - 07825 631 323
10:30 - 14:00hrs
Admission £1.50p
Free parking

Rayleigh - SRP Toyfairs
Sweyne Park School, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 9BZ
Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)
10:00 - 14:00hrs
Admission charge unknown

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Auctions

Saturday 9th November 2019

Elstree - Excalibur Auctions
The Village Hotel, Elstree, Hertfordshire, WD6 3SB (venue)
Chiltern Business Centre, Woodside Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP6 6AA (office)
Tel. - 02036 330 913
Free Tea or Coffee

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Sunday 10th 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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Other Events

Saturday 9th-Sunday 10th November 2019

Tolworth (SW London) - Hampton Court Model Railway Society - 'Showtrain'
Tolworth Recreation Centre, Fuller's Way North, Tolworth, Surrey, KT6 7LQ
Saturday 10:00-17:30hrs
Sunday 10:00-17:00hrs
Admission £7.00, children £3.00, family ticket (Saturday, 2+2) is £15.00 (a five pound saving), on Sunday only; child free with every adult
Free parking (limited disabled spaces)
Free bus-link from Surbiton station

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I haven't found or been notified of anything else which is toy, figure, military, space or pop-culture related worth listing here this week, there's the Classic Motor Show at Birmingham's NEC (National Exhibition Centre, from today 'till Sunday 10th) which will be fun for vehicle collector's, but that seems to be about it?

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Overseas Events

Saturday 9th November 2019

Auvernier (Switzerland) - J. Schetty - Toy, Train, Die-cast, Doll & Bear Show
Salle Polyvalente, Auvernier NE, Switzerland
Tel. - ++0327 312 212

Godorf (Germany) - Uwe H. Breker - Antique Toys & Technology Auction
Auktion Team Breaker;
PO Box 50 11 19, 50971 Köln, Germany (mail)
Otto-Hahn-Strae 10, 50997 Köln (Godorf), Germany (offices)
Tel. - ++492 236 384 340
Fax. - ++4922 363 843 430
Office hours 09:00-17:00 Tuesday-Friday, Central European Time

Joure (Netherlands) - E. Kramer - Model Vehicle Fair
Zalencentrum 't Haske, Joure, Holland
Tel. - ++0513 416 571

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Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th November 2019

Chartres (France) - Galerie de Chartres SARL - Toy Auction
10 Rue Claude Bernard, ZA du Coudray, BP 70129, 28003 Chatres Cedex, France
Tel. - ++33(0)237 882 828
Fax. - ++33(0)237 882 820    
Saturday sale - General toys, toy soldiers and model figures, boats & 'planes
Sunday Sale - Model railways; O-gauge, I-gauge and real steam

Houten (Netherlands) - R. Hobma - Train Show
Euretco, Houten, Holland
Tel. - ++0481 353 288

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Sunday 10th November 2019

Dublin (ROI) - Chris Dyer Fairs - Dublin Toy & Train Fair
The Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan Road, Dublin, Eire
Tel. - 01643 702 757
Mob. - 07966 694 579
10:30 - 15:00hrs
Admission £4
Just off N11 trunk road

Langenfeld (Germany) - Jürgen Hörner - Toy Fair
Stadhalle, Langenfeld, Germany
Tel. - ++0210 351 133
Oostmalle (Belgium) - Dipro BVBA - International Collectors Fair
Logistiek Centrum Frans Bevers, Lierselei 177, Oostmalle, Belgium
Web. I - www.dipro.be (organisers)
Web. II - www.verzamelbeurs.net (event)
Tel. - ++032 395 638
10:00-16:00hrs
Toy, Train, Die-cast, Doll & Bear Show

Spa (Belgium) - Retromobile Club de Spa - Toy Vehicle Show
The Casino, Spa, Belgium
Tel. - ++087 795 353

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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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Links

McDonald's (who recently announced they would be phasing-out toys) are re-issuing some old favorites!

Ross Mac's moving tribute to Stuart Asquith, which in turn links to other obituaries

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H is for How They Come In

After a couple of quiet weeks, it's been a bumper week, probably as people empty their cupboards to make way for Christmas gifts, Christmas guests and other merry-festive stuff?

Last Friday's trip to town procured the three on the left; a small quartz or white ('ish) jade tortoise which will be a small present for someone else in seven weeks (SEVEN WEEKS!), the boy (110mm with plinth) is some crypt/nativity thing; 'Hong Kong' (after an Italian figure, I suspect) and a key-ring of some recent cartoon character I don't recognise.

Then - on Saturday -  a friend went to the Maltings in Farnham (not the big, annual one I listed a few weeks ago, here, but the regular 1st-Saturday-of-the-month flea-market) and managed to find these three; A nice (but slightly chipped) Reisler drummer, flanked by a Pyro/Kleeware truck-crewman (with his locating spigot and no signs of glue - a clue as to his survival, loose,  in this condition!), along with a piece of ivory (or very fine bone) which I think might be Don Quicks Hot . . . Don Key Hoe Tay . . . Don Kay Hottie . . . you know, the one who tilts at windmills, or; his faithful servant Sancho Panzer.

Monday brought the third item for my collection/the Tag-list by 4M, it's a bit basic or juvenile/novelty-like, but it can go in the box with all the other siege engines! It needs a proper spoon . . . bowl . . . cup . . . you know, the thing the rocks go in! Rock holder?!!

Tuesday netted a bag of Chinasaur-dinosaurs, the big one's Schleich, the little one is a proper 'Chinasaur', the three at the bottom are the ones I was buying from WHSmith a few years ago, while the four larger ones at the top seem to be from the same maker, but a different line-code . . . and not carried by 'Smith's?

This little lot was also Tuesday, a three-quid-something speculative-bid on evilBay (or BIN? I can't rememeber!), and the poorest thing here is the Hillco Indian and horse who are both tatty (the other side of the horse is covered in mud or sand - in all the crevices) so they'll get stripped and washed.

I think the white horse is the Lone Ranger's, but I'm hoping (in the absence of the Zorro clone) he may take the actual Zorro which 'Wotan' Bill from Moonbase (cheers Bill) sent me a while ago (err . . . about seven years ago!?), even if Zorro's horse should be black!

I'm quite pleased with the early Timpo solid Indian (from a hollow-cast mould) and the Marx cowboy is in one piece, but has been mucked-about with I think; paint-wise, so I'll strip him with the Hillco's.

Which leaves two original Dulcop French Napoleonic factory-paints - to go with my unpainted PW-imported re-issues.

Finally yesterday (Thursday) brought two more bags of mixed dinosaurs. The upper shot has a large sample of 'Mini's', a glow-in-the dark raptor who must have been fixed to something as he doesn't stand up but has semi-ring hands?

The little orange one is pretty unique, but may be from a set of mini-wild animals as he has as much in common with a Komodo Dragon as he does with a more esoteric species of dinosaur! The other four are three small and one full-sized Toy Major's.

The other bag included more of the WHSmith set, and their cousins, a couple more Toy Major's, A large Safari, another Schleich and a 'new' (to me) set/handful of medium-sized dino's (the more colourful ones), along with a real cheap'o Dimetrodon (pink and jade, middle-right) who's really an old-school 'rubber jiggler' (hollowed out, cartoony) but in a more rigid material.

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Missed

The 'East Coaster' in the 'States which is daft 'cos I must have seen it you-know-where a couple-of-few-weeks ago sometime, but obviously didn't note-it at the time, so, well, at the end of the day this listing is never comprehensive and will never be definitive!

I also missed the Hanson's auction on 24th October with the Mike Stockwell tinplate collection, which is very naughty as I had the flyer, but it sort of got buried under all the other paperwork here!

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Toy News

The sad news of Mothercare's collapse this week has a direct bearing on our hobby, as they had bought the ELC (Early Learning Centre) stores awhile ago. I believe the franchised stores abroad will continue to operate - at least for now - but for how long, after watching the speed with which the Toysaurus collapsed worldwide, is anyone's guess.

It also means any figures with ELC on the base can now be considered 'vintage' . . . at least by the standards of evilBay's use of the word, that is! Although I think the same firm which supplied ELC (Bullyland?) is responsible for the similar 80/90mm fantasy and medieval stuff found in Wilkinson's/Wilco?

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Other Stuff

It should be big enough, if I just try harder I'm sure I'll fit . . . don't just sit there taking photographs, get behind me and push!

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3 comments:

Gisby said...

I suspect the catapult was designed so as an attempt to prevent the firing of any ammo beside the slotted balls they supply.

Years ago my nephew had a kit for a catapult that fired marshmallows. I taught him that you can fire flaming marshmallows. (But you have to be quick or they can stick to the catapult)

Andy B said...

Is the cat looking for Erwin?

Hugh Walter said...

Gisby - I'd imagine they stick to carpets too? And we all know what the fire brigade have to say about tragic, preventable, domestic marsh,mallow-related house-fires!

Yes - It's basically an 'educational' toy with three adjustable settings to teach trajectory and speed-distance/gravity or something highfalutin like that!

Andy B - She wouldn't bother with a pissant like that, she leaves such infantile behavior to the lower orders like me!!! But I do council against other people getting involved - It's my fight, or at least; it's their fight and my amusement!!

H