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, January 17, 2020

News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events; Saturday 18th - Friday 24th January 2020

Almost back to normal, I've not quite answered all the eMails, but I'm hoping to as soon as I publish this, this afternoon, but some may wait 'till tomorrow if the weather's going to be bad?

I will also return to my rants here, but it's hard to know what to rant about at the moment, do I rant about what's happening in Australia, vis-à-vis its implications for the rest of us? Do I rant about Trump and his idiocy, or the Middle East and Iran (more Trump idiocy if we're honest?), or do I rant closer to home and the Tory 'Landslide' with 43.6% of the vote and 2-million less than voted for Brwreakshit?

We have a new phenomena in the UK (seventh richest country on Earth); 'in-work poverty', yet they - the 'working poor' of the North East, the West Country, the fishing (ex-fishing) villages of East York's, Norfolk and Kent - voted for the people whose policies over 41 years have got us to this point, the people (Mogg, Weatherspoon, IDS and the rest) who pushed Brwreakshit to avoid the coming tax-regulations of Brussels . . . you can't make it up!

Or do I rant about Harry Hewitt and his wife, making their own way in the world? Well, I wouldn't rant about that, I'd rant about how the intrinsically, institutionally, hardly-disguised racists of the tabloid filth have treated them - since about five-seconds after 'the wedding of the century'!

So for now let's just look forwards to more old toys to buy . . . it's actaully still quite quiet, but there's enough about this weekend at least.

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Toy Fairs

Saturday 18th January 2020

Brentwood - J&J Fairs (John & Julie Webb)
International hall, Brentwood Centre, Doddinghurst Road, Brentwood, Essex, CM15 9NN
Tel. - 01522 880 383 (J & J Webb)
10:00 - Approx. 14:30hrs
Admission £3, seniors £2.50p, 1st child £2

Ludlow - Tony Oaks Toy Fairs - Ludlow Toy & Train Collector's Fair
Ludlow Racecourse, Bromfield, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 2BT
Internet presence unknown
Tel. - 01270 652 773
Mob. - 07825 631 323
10:30 - 14:00hrs
Admission £2.00
Free parking

Nottingham - Townsend Toy & Train Fairs (Malcolm Townsend) - Nottingham Toy Fair
Bluecoat Academy, Nottingham, NG8 5GY
Mob. - 07951 072 790
10:00 - 14:00hrs
Admission unknown, accompanied under-16's free
Light refreshments
Free Parking

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Sunday 19th January 2020

Coventry - Barry Potter / BP Fairs
The Connexion, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Coventry, CV8 3FL
Tel. - 01604 846 688
Mob. - 07966 527 177
Fax. - 01604 771 070
10:30-15:00hrs
Admission £3, seniors £2.50p, children £1, early bird (from 08:00hrs) £6
Free parking

Newton Abbot - Ray Heard Train & Toy Fairs
Newton Abbot Racecourse, Devon, TQ12 3AF
Internet presence unknown
Tel. - 01823 480 097
10:00 -15:30hrs
Admission £2.00
Free parking, refreshments

Orpington - SRP Toyfairs
Crofton Halls, Orpington, Kent, BR6 8PR
Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)
10:00 - 14:00hrs
Admission charge unknown

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Auctions

Wednesday 22nd January 2020

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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Thursday 23rd January 2020

Sheffield - Shefield Auction Gallery
Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 8UB
Tel. - 0114 281 6161
Viewing - Wednesday 22nd 10:00 - 16:45, from 08:30 on sale day
14:00 - Finish
General toy and collectable sale

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions
Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ
Web. - www.vectis.co.uk
eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk
Tel. - 01642 750 616
Sales commence at 10:30hrs
General toy sale

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Friday 24th January 2020

Elstree - Excalibur Auctions (day 1 of a 2-day auction, day 2: Saturday 26th January)
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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Other Events

Saturday 18th January 2020

Leicester - National Space Centre - Space Lates
National Space Centre, Exploration Drive, Leicester, Leicestershire
Interactive stuff

Swansea - National Waterfront Museum - Amazing Astronomy Afternoon
National Waterfront Museum, Oystermouth Road, Maritime Quarter, Swansea, Wales (it's not a sea-going mammal Mr. President)
Interactive stuff

West Stow - Anglo-Saxon Village - 420-2020
West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, West Stow, Suffolk

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Tuesday 21st-Thursday 23rd January 2020

London (West-Central) - British Toy & Hobby Association - The Toy Fair 2020
Olympia Exhibition Hall, Kensington Olympia, Kensington, London, W14 8UX
Tel. - 08458 685 820
Tue/Wed. - 09:00-18:00hrs
Thursday - 09:00-17:30hrs
Admission by pre-booking/invitation only, no children without authorisation or equity/ performers-card
Annual trade-fair; I'm hoping to be there on the Wednesday.

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Overseas Events

Saturday January 18th 2020

Brooksville (USA) - Regal Railways
Hernando Fairgrounds, 6436 Broad Street, Brooksville, FL 34601, Florida, USA (venue)
501 East Bay Drive, Apt. 1503, Largo, FL 33770, Florida, USA (promoter)
Tel. - ++17 272 441 341
09:00-14:00hrs
Admission, $5.00 children under 12 free, 'early-bird' $7.00 (reserve between 08:00-09:00hrs)
Vendors and exhibition model train layout, antiques and crafts
Lunch Available

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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 a link; if the event or your organisation has a web-page.

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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Toys in the Media

The British Government has got a figural trope going on their current pensions campaign, which will be familiar to UK readers, but for those of you further-afield;

Couple of Ger'Nomes! There is some gnome stuff in the queue, but I need to speak to the owner on a detail or two.

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Other News

Stadswatch

The bands must march! The bells must be rung! Call out the clowns, the jugglers . . . err and an elephant! The ticker-tape must flow in Allentown's Main Street; after 18-odd years of internet presence and more of computing, TJF has learned to crop images!

But he had to use some extra-special re-sizing software, which has apparently rendered them un-embiggen'able! So while his Blog shitestuffdotcom is measurably less useful, it now looks prettier! More Blue Box palm-trees should sort it all out, or some other cockamamie piece of bullshit cooked-up between him and Hildabreath or was it Lickshite? I wasn't paying attention!

Still - it was nice of them to visually confirm what I'd said 48-hours earlier! The hobby wins again!

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H is for How They Come In

Very little this week in the second-hand department, in fact nothing really, but I found something, lying, abandoned in the car-park at the railway station!

A flocked kitten who's commuter footfall-related mange led me to conduct a complete skinning, which - surprisingly - it looks all the better for! He's PVC so not a Sylvania', probably a modern In-My-Pocket type or a giveaway on the cover of a kids comic/periodical?

In order to have something else here I threw this in with a dino'lot (heading for a separate post) when the shopkeeper offered a discount; a lump of die-cast mazak, made in China (where else!), Great British, Little Englander, semi-privatised, half the collections for ten-times the postage, pillar-box! No branding.

Compare with the Dinky pillar-box appearing here next Monday at 11am local time!

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