J is for Jean Höffler - 3: Wild West Bits & Pieces

Also written Jean Hoeffler for those who can't handle umlauts (like Google search-bots!), this is the bits which wouldn't easily fit into the other two parts of what was going to be one post!

As mentioned there are a lot of poor sub-piracies I will subject you too some other time, most between 40 and 50mm and you may know them, ugly little things with hollowed out bases from the bottom-end of the rack-toy market, but having suggested the main HK production may be from the Jean tools, these  - above trio - are proper copies.

The rifleman a third, fourth or fifth-generation copy (via Kwong Wah) of the old Lone Star 'Metallions', the Red Cloud still readable, but lacking the chromium coating and having the same mark as the two archers he came with; a very small HONG KONG.

Brian Berke sent me this from New York, and I can assure you both pictures are full-colour! It just happens that he's a grey-plastic figure on a white horse with white background and he looks to be a poorer-quality copy in a smaller size . . .

. . . as we can see; comparison shots with a Toyway-Timpo anti-insurgency cavalryman and the Crescent standing rifleman.

This was also sent in by a loyal reader who I won't name (I've thanked him privately as I hadn't seen it before) as I think it may be someone else's and probably active somewhere online? If it's yours - please email me for full credit and I'll happily remove it and replace it with a link to the original editorial site/page. (It's a current feeBay lot if you want one; but the link won't last forever!)

The interesting thing about this Peruvian Trioplast blister-card is that although it claims to be made in Peru, it seems to have the same figures I got at Sandown last year and which we saw in part two . . . well-travelled tools? It's hard to tell from the image, but the bases appear blank and the split-lines are a little more flashy?

 

08/10/2020 - They were also issued by the US 'Jobber' Imperial Toy Corp., from counter displey/stock boxes as Heroe of the Golden West (not sure what was 'golden' about anarchic mayhem and native genocide but . . . !).

Finally; this chap is an ex-Elastolin sculpt (6808-6808/4), but has several of the attributes of the Hong Kong 'versions' of the Jean figures even to the base marking, but the raised rim of the base is slightly wider and a bit wobbly compared to the Jean sculpts, as he was mixed in with a bunch of other stuff I can't say ouwt-about'im other than that he sort of looks similar to the others, but is definitely a poorer copy of the German original!

He is supposed to be holding his spear, at waist-height, under his cloak, but the poorly rendered tuft of feathers at the lance-head has left him looking like he has two left-arms, the other stretched-up gripping the top of the pole!