N is for Nearer . . . but Further Away!

There was one thing in the recent donation from Chris that stunned me - a complete set or whole team of the footballers we looked at a while back here at Small Scale World . . .

. . . and it will help with the rest of this post if you go and read the earlier one again first . . . no . . . really - it will make things much clearer . . .

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Have you read it . . . have you?

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Really?

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OK! . . . OK, I believe you! let's have a look at the new ones again;

Each is numbered and all together are a continuous 1 to 11, with the un-numbered referee. Having read the previous post (as you did, didn't you?), you'd be forgiven for thinking it's a full team, having all the poses we have looked at previously, with the correct shirt numbers and enough missing poses/numbers to make a full team?

Well, so far so good then, the bases are new (from the old post), with each numbered to match the figure attached to it, here 1 and 5 (note that the '5' is reversed), also the 'landscaping' makes them very much a fourth type to the previous three, being light near-parallel striations on the surface of otherwise flat tops.

But, then, just when it's all making sense . . . it goes weird on us!

These were on evilBay about the time of the last post as someone sent me the link, there were more images, but this will suffice to illustrate the problem! There are at least two 'more' or 'other' poses! One almost definitely wearing a number-6 shirt ('our' number six being absent from the line-up) the other apparently replacing the missing 3, but it's not clear from the other shots. I assume the 9 is our 9?

And being sold as a team in a quite ornate paint-job (I found this link for those interested in which teams can be represented), on a backing card - from the other shots in the listing I can tell you each player is glued to a printed outline with his number on it in this un-sequential order, although I don't know what's printed in the referee's place . . . '0'?

From the bases landscaping I think they are the set I called type 2 last time, I think now they are the earliest, but I'll try re-sorting them next time we return to them - which we will, when there's more to tell or questions to be answered! Note also that shirt 1 is painted as a goalie.

It also struck me that both material and base type on these would tie-them in with the Wild West we looked at again recently which would bring Injectaplastic of Portugal and/or Jouets Super Plastic of France into the mix and to help with that theory, the backing card would appear to be set-up for a multinational customer base with various languages, found on the pitch-side advertising hoardings?

So, thanks to Chris (and this was very generous of him) I now have a 'full' team, but there's another one out there! Well; given the evidence in both posts, many teams, with any one of four base types and numerous strips - it could be a field of 'cameo collecting' that would occupy someone for years, just by itself!

And can anyone tell us what number is on- or confirm- a number 3 shirt in the new diving pose? The base-plug/locating-stud is on his left bum-cheek I think?

Cheers Chris, as is often the way; the more we know, the more we have to find out!