There really only appears to be one set of
note out there which is the Lone Star
set of eight, upon which most others have then be derived, there are stand-alone
figures from smaller toys - the two Britains
Minisets for instance, Ideal -
and Jecsan did some nice ones with
sea creatures, but Lone Star seem to
have carried the day over four or five decades with this subject.
They were issued in three schemes, these
are the 'James Bond' set, referencing
the movie Thunderball (I think?) and
were the last version so the easiest to find, as (like the Afghans) there was a
number of ex-shop stock boxes, of near-mint examples, kicking around after the
hobby got organised in the mid-1980's.
They went alongside bare-skin versions (as
enemy), pink plastic with coloured swimming-trunks, while the first versions
were in the same heavy-rubber suited (military?) black of the mini-sub' crew we
saw in the previous post.
There are eight poses altogether, but I've
not found the chap carrying a wrench yet. Two of the figures (top left) are
designed to stand up (not very successfully!), one shining a light, while the
other chisels something off a rock-face or sunken hull . . . or sets charges on
a bridge!
Much copied, the little 'lamp' being replaced
by a more substantial arc-light type thing, they can be found in various sizes
- at least four. Most of these are later types, with the additional swimming
pose (middle-left) and have all had their tanks enlarged. Some of these may
still be out there if you're lucky, but are common-enough in mixed lots on
feebleBay.
The two larger (yellow and white) ones,
with both arms forward, are from another source and were just in the tub with
the multi-coloureds!
Most of the previous shot originate with
these reprobates; Hing Fat, although they will have copied them from the
slightly earlier (slightly bigger) ones! This is the 'two-kids' logo packaging;
from a 2006 magazine ad.
These are also based-upon the Lone Star
sculpts, although there are changes, and my 'young' collection is mostly Hong
Kong-marked (usually on the flipper) copies, although I think these are mostly
earlier than the previous multicoloured ones (some of which are 'China' marked),
with a possible original (Spanish?) top left, but he's so tatty it's hard to
tell - however he's larger and unmarked. The three main sizes are all painted
with the same scheme of yellow helmet/hood and red straps.
Likewise the pair at the bottom may be LS originals, but are so play worn as to
be un-callable. The major change with these is that they have a rudimantry
chest-pack breathing apparatus, rather than tanks on the back, a situation
reversed by the four newer HK/China figures who have had tanks added (middle
row), and a possible new pose with dart-gun, but he may be in the earlier sets,
I've only found a few of each?
The chap middle-right is from, or belongs
to, the previous 'hing fat' line-up where he's the smallest size, as a guide to
all of them.
The conversions; from Lone Star on the left, and back to air-tanks on the right, the left
is marked 'Hong Kong' on a flipper, the right is unmarked but has all the
hallmarks of a 1980/90's rack-toy/carded-bag type figure and I may have seen them in a set with a rubber boat, but I can't find the referance.
4 comments:
Fab post Hugh! Divers are just ace and still swim in my Sixties/ Seventies head! Ya know, I didn't know SCUBA was an acronym! Thanks!
Cheers Woodsy, did you catch Terra's follow-up this morning?
H
I'll dive in later Hugh. Got to go and get some super glue for my new hone made Jet Gyro! Emergency!
I get those multi-packs from the cheapie shops, and do each as a single-job, knowing they will glue their own lid on - in the bin! I hate super-glue, despite its uses!
H
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