About Me

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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.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

A is for Animal Crackers

As a direct follow-up to the Chris's Parcel posts, I wanted to return to the cracker animals before twelfth-night!

Animal Piñata; Animal Sobres; Animal Wundertüten; Camel Novelty; Christmas Cracker Animals; Christmas Cracker Novelties; Cracker Novelties; Cracker Toy Animals; Cracker Toys; Elephant Toy; Kangaroo Plastic Figure; Novelties; Novelty Figurines; Novelty Hippo's; Novelty Prize Animals; Novelty Toys; Piñata; Plastic Buffalo Toy; Plastic Dinosaur Model; Plastic Lion Toy; Plastic Novelties; Plastic Pig; Plastic Tiger Toy; Plastic Toy Animals; Plastic Toy Bear; Plastic Toy Giraffe; Plastic Toy Horse; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sobres; Toy Deer; Wundertüten;
The animals I'd found to date, less duplicates but showing three hippo similar-colour variations, I've been collecting these for about as long as I've been collecting, there may have been one in the old biss'quit tin back in '77!

They definitely came in Christmas Crackers as that's where two of mine came from, and probably also saw service in gum-ball machines, Piñata, Sobres, Wundertüten, and maybe got thrown from windows at kids in Malta; a very similar line to one in the 'school-novelties' post a few weeks back, but it's that kind of product!

Animal Piñata; Animal Sobres; Animal Wundertüten; Camel Novelty; Christmas Cracker Animals; Christmas Cracker Novelties; Cracker Novelties; Cracker Toy Animals; Cracker Toys; Elephant Toy; Kangaroo Plastic Figure; Novelties; Novelty Figurines; Novelty Hippo's; Novelty Prize Animals; Novelty Toys; Piñata; Plastic Buffalo Toy; Plastic Dinosaur Model; Plastic Lion Toy; Plastic Novelties; Plastic Pig; Plastic Tiger Toy; Plastic Toy Animals; Plastic Toy Bear; Plastic Toy Giraffe; Plastic Toy Horse; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sobres; Toy Deer; Wundertüten;
The three new poses in Chris's lot include a horse, kangarallaby (I still don't know how you tell!) and a fat pig, along with a dinosaur. The dinosaur is interesting for being a larger size; as Christmas Crackers - in the price-bracket that might contain these - are dirt cheap, they will be manufactured on a unit price per box, or per gross or per gross-boxes, or something like that, and the dinosaur would have been maybe 1-per-12 crackers to the animals 2- or 3-per-12.

It may be that they were animal crackers in which case it may be one dinosaur for every 11 smallies, or one in five? But the point is the dinosaurs aren't as common as the other animals.

Also of interest is that Chris's sample whether it came from one set, or a big corporate 'do' of some kind (best places for cheap crackers; works parties and those organised-event people) has a limited palette of colours taken from jade green and earth brown . . .

Animal Piñata; Animal Sobres; Animal Wundertüten; Camel Novelty; Christmas Cracker Animals; Christmas Cracker Novelties; Cracker Novelties; Cracker Toy Animals; Cracker Toys; Elephant Toy; Kangaroo Plastic Figure; Novelties; Novelty Figurines; Novelty Hippo's; Novelty Prize Animals; Novelty Toys; Piñata; Plastic Buffalo Toy; Plastic Dinosaur Model; Plastic Lion Toy; Plastic Novelties; Plastic Pig; Plastic Tiger Toy; Plastic Toy Animals; Plastic Toy Bear; Plastic Toy Giraffe; Plastic Toy Horse; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sobres; Toy Deer; Wundertüten;
. . . while many colours exist. This is the result of 40+ years of beavering-away and you can see Chris's donation increased the sample-size by nearly a fifth and the pose-count by a quarter - overnight! It leaves the question as to how many poses there are in total, how many dinosaurs there are and what colours of either have still to be found . . . questions, questions!

The dinosaur question might be part-answerable, as I may have had them come in separately from the animals on different occasions, which - if I didn't make the connection - might have led to them being put in with the unknown small, polyethylene dino's, so I'll check next time I get them out; it would only be one or two if there are any, but it would be a start

Animal Piñata; Animal Sobres; Animal Wundertüten; Camel Novelty; Christmas Cracker Animals; Christmas Cracker Novelties; Cracker Novelties; Cracker Toy Animals; Cracker Toys; Elephant Toy; Kangaroo Plastic Figure; Novelties; Novelty Figurines; Novelty Hippo's; Novelty Prize Animals; Novelty Toys; Piñata; Plastic Buffalo Toy; Plastic Dinosaur Model; Plastic Lion Toy; Plastic Novelties; Plastic Pig; Plastic Tiger Toy; Plastic Toy Animals; Plastic Toy Bear; Plastic Toy Giraffe; Plastic Toy Horse; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sobres; Toy Deer; Wundertüten;
The 'connection' between smaller animals and larger dinosaurs being the flat plastic 'shelves' running between limbs across the torso, to minimise undercuts and produce a simpler, or cheaper mould-tool. It's one of the reasons I've always had a soft spot for them - their very distinctive look.

In fact looking at them and following the join lines, it may be a sort of hybrid four-part mould, with two body-halves as the main tool and two push-through blanks which - at the same time - both create the negative space between the limbs and act as mould-release pins at the end of the cycle? Equally; it could be a single 'beam' doing the same job configured as a three-part tool.

Animal Piñata; Animal Sobres; Animal Wundertüten; Camel Novelty; Christmas Cracker Animals; Christmas Cracker Novelties; Cracker Novelties; Cracker Toy Animals; Cracker Toys; Elephant Toy; Kangaroo Plastic Figure; Novelties; Novelty Figurines; Novelty Hippo's; Novelty Prize Animals; Novelty Toys; Piñata; Plastic Buffalo Toy; Plastic Dinosaur Model; Plastic Lion Toy; Plastic Novelties; Plastic Pig; Plastic Tiger Toy; Plastic Toy Animals; Plastic Toy Bear; Plastic Toy Giraffe; Plastic Toy Horse; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Sobres; Toy Deer; Wundertüten;
The scale of the things! There is no scale as they are clearly (alluded-to above) unit-price sized . . . like box-size! So a water-buffalo is a bit small for OO-gauge compatibility, but would be Ok for Roco's HO US in Vietnam at a smaller scale, however the 'Roo will do nicely against the Airfix Zoo-roos!

I like these, you may be able to understand that, if you're a 54-60mm purist you may not be able to get your head round the fact, but consider this - today (I'll look them up when I post this) on evilBay the search (worldwide for posting to UK) for Britains Deetail has 1,300 results, while the search for Swoppet Knights (same parameters) gives 35 results, but where would you even start with these?

Cracker Toy Mini Animals gives 3 results and 15 similar results of which none are of any use!

You have to keep your eyes peeled at shows and in mixed job-lots on-line, finger-tip search rummage trays of broken detritus and check the junk boxes under model railway dealers' tables in cold village halls on Tuesday nights for the hope of finding one or maybe two a year! If you're really lucky though, a friend sends you six (and a dinosaur) for Christmas!

Many-thanks again to Chris Smith.

2 comments:

johnpreece said...

It's that time of year when I thank you for all the work put into this blog.

I always have a look at your new posts and 90% of the time am rewarded with something fascinating. Even on those rare occasions when I cannot think who would want that I would never disrespect another mans interests and it certainly gives an insight into the breadth of the hobby.

Well done, thank you and I look forward to the year ahead.

John

Hugh Walter said...

Cheers John

It's nice to know you get something from it each time!

H