The reverse of the card gives a hint at the
range of sets available in this scale/size and the most interesting one is the
Santa Land one, clearly designed to do seasonal front lawn or garden (front
yard over there) displays in O-gauge/O-027, of the 'full Griswold' type! But
they look familiar . . .
. . . not least than because I have Blogged
one here years ago; under Culpitt or Anniversary House branding I think,
might have been a smaller cake decoration supplier? We've also seen some of the
second set (see below) under the Doric
label before now.
You may have them as Wilton or Carrousel, but
in 1986 two Hong Kong factories (from Bill B's catalogue) were both advertising them as 'new'! The truth
is probably that Argeal made them and Greensward shipped them but a third
contract manufacturer could have made them, with both Greensward and Argeal then
taking them to load their novelty lines for wholesaling to Culpitt or Wilton . . . and
now Model Power have them!
I only seem to have one (on shelf), I
thought I'd got all of them, but they may be in with the Kinder stuff? A
second, more modern set also exists, clearly influenced by the mid-80's set
(possibly from the same source - decoration is spot-on - yet smaller
belt-buckles), but six new poses, also doing things you;d expect to see in a
gym, not from Santa Clause! We see three above . . .
. . . and the other three, with their
icing-spike (pick)'ed twins. Whether the spike came first or second I can't
tell you, but the spikeless set show no signs of the removal in the moulding
(lump or scaring), and they may have been two sets?
The spikeless set are the ones we've seen
before, I got them in a Christmas pop-up store in Basingrad a couple of years
ago, probably as old stock, but not that old, so . . . last ten years? The
Snowmen who accompany them have a large (almost but not quite pencil-top size)
hole in them and each gets a crude'ish fir tree and a motto/sign for the cake.
A seller was offering them with sleds
(sledges?) this time last year, but as 'assortments of three - six designs'.
Looking at the sledges (sleds?) they are drilled for a string or wire (to a
reindeer?) and might be the seller's marriage of two bulk purchases, rather
than an original commercial offering?
A third set of six Santa's is out there,
slightly smaller and probably another source, they either started life as
gnomes, or where designed to be both gnomes and Santa's, having all the boot
and hem trimming one associates with cake decoration Santa's, but clearly
engaged in a spot of more gnome-like gardening . . . or mining - the chap with
a lantern; is there a seventh pose somewhere?
Cheers again to Ed for the Model Powersets.
4 comments:
Oddly I had these tiny acrobatic gnomes from Tobar (or some such) advertised / with header (long lost) as some kind of incongruous comment about Tory PM John Major and his own or brother’s family connection to the garden gnome business. Early 1990s.
I hadn't made the connection Mark, but you're right!
https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2013/05/j-is-for-jolly-joke-against-johnmajor.html
On the Blog! It's only paint!
H
Thanks Hugh for reuniting me with the header card of such bizarreness, it’s just as odd as I remember it.
Most of my six tiny John Major commemorative gnomes were lost in a rockery c. 2001/2 on patrol whilst repainted in khaki colours as the Gnome Guard. Bad pun and I’m sticking to it.
Well Mark, it's funny because I'd made the connection on that post! Which only goes to prove not only can you not HAVE everything or KNOW everything, you can't even remember the things you once knew you had!
One of my secret pleasures is the Mouse Guard graphic novel line, and I would love someone to do them, but there may be vintage sci-fi/fantasy lead that would suffice . . . not vicious little rat armies, but fat, kindly mice?
H
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