News, Views Etc . . . Vectis TV & Movie Memorabilia Sale - Palitoy

Vectis' sale next Thursday [week] contains a fascinating series of lots from a former employee of Palitoy (British Cascelloid), who joined just as they became part of the General Mills Group and worked in several departments/roles at the main plant in Coalville, Leicertershire, and the following press release has been received from Vectis Auctions promoting the Lady's sale items.

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Mandy Hurry (nee McCarthy) is an ex-Palitoy employee who worked at Palitoy for 13 years, starting just before the first Star Wars film was released.

Lots from this Vendor include Star Wars figures, loose and in baggies, plus Cascelloid Limited Handbook, and the Palitoy employee personal paperwork, dated from 1977 to Kenner Parker 1990.

Lot 5382

This unique record of employment for Miss M J McCarthy, spans thirteen years, and includes Palitoy Parker Bradgate Conditions of Service and Standard Contract of Service, Statement of Main Terms of Employment, Grievance Procedure, photographs and a detailed account of Miss McCarthy’s role at the factory, plus much more.

A Unique opportunity to acquire part of Palitoy history. NB: from an ex-Palitoy employee;

"My Palitoy Story

On 13/05/1977 Leicester education committee careers sent a letter to my home address regarding vacancies for Factory workers at Palitoy Coalville. As a 15 year old leaving school and looking for employment Palitoy seemed like a good choice as I lived a 5 minute walk from the main factory on Jackson Street. I applied for the position and in a matter of days was given an interview at the main site. On the 24/05/1977 I received a letter from Palitoy HR offering a full time position with a starting date of 13/06/2019, the starting date being 2 days after my 16^th birthday and only a few months before the release of the first Star Wars movie, little did I know how important that movie would be for my time at Palitoy.

Lot 5317

My first job at Palitoy was working on a conveyor belt boxing Pippa dolls, I remember thinking how friendly and helpful everybody was.

A selection of other areas and lines I worked on:

• Assembling Intruder dolls, part of the Action man range.
• Spraying white markings on the head of Action man horses.
• Packing Chic a boo monkeys.
• Starting the Tree House belt, this involved drilling and assembly.
• Making the boxes up and packing Tiny Tears dolls.
• Bagging Play doh accessories before packing.
• Dressing Action men before packing.

Lot 5315

I then moved over to the 3¼” Star Wars figures. When the Star wars figures first came into the Coalville factory for packing onto blisters there were only 2 machines with a team of 4 on each machine, 2 operators working opposite each other. The first person on the line would de-bag the figure and place it in an up-turned blister, second on the line (my job) was to put the blister into a mould and place a card on top of the blister (this was done in pairs), I then pushed the heat machine over to the opposite side of the belt where the operation was repeated and sent back to me, the completed blisters were moved over to the end of the line for cooling and packing. It wasn’t long before the demand for the figures increased and a new automated machine arrived, this was called the ILLIG and it’s the machine that appears in most of the Star Wars related photos taken at Palitoy, my job on the new machine was to open the figure bags and place the figure in the up-turned blister, the machine did the rest.

Lot 5316

I worked at Palitoy for a total of 13 years between 1977 and 1990. During that time I was involved in many games and activities that Palitoy arranged, a ladies football team and a Miss Palitoy competition (I came 3^rd) just to name a couple, the social nights and Palitoy clubs, the Christmas doo’s all fond memories. I had many visits to the factory shop in Baker Street, Coalville. In the early years my younger brothers and sister enjoyed all the benefits of having a sister that worked at a toy factory, in the later years my own children had bin liners full of toys from the factory shop, if only I had kept them all.

It was a sad time leaving Palitoy as it was one big family and looking back it was the best working years of my life. Living in Coalville I still see many people I’ve worked with and we often talk about the Palitoy days.

Mandy Hurry (nee McCarthy)" 16th Dec. 2020

Lot 5383

Lots include: 5315 – 5323, 5382 and 5383

For further information please contact Kathy Taylor on +44 (0) 1642 750616 or email admin@vectis.co.uk

The TV & FILM RELATED SALE will be held on Wednesday 29th January 2020 at 10:30am

Viewing is available before the sale and the catalogue is now online.