C is for Ceremonial Christmas Cracker Cloned Copy Chaps

Finishing a brief look at the novelty end of the figure market as it pertains to British (or other) guards in bearskins with these Airfix clones, which we have seen before, and which I still need to put properly on the Airfix Figures Blog, but I only had one figure to-hand for the comparisons so these can go here and I'll re-shoot, pose-for-pose comparisons for the other Blog another day!

These are the better copies, and come with sharp-edged, smooth bases, also they copy both Airfix sets; Guards Band, and here; Guards Colour Party. Only the two poses have turned up so far as seen here - officer and ensign colour-bearer!

The band however (upper shot) seem to have been copied almost in their entirity, the exception being the drummers where both bass- and side- are replaced by a guy with a half-moon stuck in his tummy! In the top image the red sax-player on the far right is the Airfix original.

These are the lesser quality lot, they have both drummers, so while copying the same originating set, are otherwise unconnected to the other lot. Marked Hong Kong diagonally across the bases they are easy to separate into their respective 'groups', these also having chamfered or ogee edges to their bases. Airfix still to the far right - Guard's division; they're all a bit up themselves!

The second lot also appear in the Interesting Toys packaging, but both types seem to have been issued in Gum-ball machine capsules, 'Lucky Bags' and Christmas crackers, I'm sure they managed a window-chuck in Malta at some point and may have found their way into Piñata too?

W is for Wooden Warriors

I wonder (from the colour of the trousers more than anything else) if these weren't originally intended for, or commissioned by, someone in the Danish tourist industry? However I think I bought them over here, but to be honest I can't really remember when or where they came-in to the collection, just that they probably pre-date my visits to Herne in the 2010's, and wouldn't have been an eBay purchase?

The box is marked 'Taiwan' and nothing else, while it looks like a couple of the figures have 'Foreign' on the base but they are quite tight to the card sides of their shrink-wrapped tray, so that's not clear!

The blue collars and cuffs also point to Denmark rather than Britain and while other countries retain similar bear-skin headdressed ceremonial troops, I can only think of some in white uniforms or the Danes alternate dark (winter dress?) jackets. Also the cross belts are a bit of a giveaway!

A quick comparison with the closest similar figures; on the left is a current wooden guardsman with card arms, I've seen them being sold on feebleBay as cake decorations, but more commonly they are sold by crafters as doll's house's playroom toy soldiers.

The figure to the right is the relatively common Ertzgibirge figure, who would match the Taiwanese ones if they didn't have those large plinth bases! he usually comes one or two figures per little wooden village.

Evidence!

Danish tourist souvenirs?

News, Views Etc . . . A Few Links;

A Connecticut estate-auction is coming up on-line, with 'Lead Toy Soldiers' and 'Metal Toys & Figurines' in the descriptive blurb it may be worth  a looksee?

https://patch.com/connecticut/milford/classifieds/for-sale/185651/milford-connecticut-online-estate-auction

While Vivian Lord made the evening news on CBS and it looks like the 'Army Gals' will be out for Christmas, but what will be generally available as true toys, and what's only available as go-fund-me pre-order specials isn't made clear? She was briefly on Reddit too, but the post was removed?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christmas-how-a-7-year-old-won-the-battle-to-make-female-toy-soldiers/

I didn't realise Rahway was PSTSM! Oh well; he'll prove useful! In the meantime:

https://www.facebook.com/events/512899045951704/

And riveting Rosie's on Motherly, I wonder if Rahway will find a different link to the same story for this one!

https://www.mother.ly/news/how-a-7-year-old-girl-inspired-this-toy-company-to-make-female-army-soldier-toys

 

OTS's autumn number is now available in the Tradition shop

https://www.traditionoflondonshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=17149

Coverage of Tarn-et-Garonne: the Toy Museum of Montauban

https://theblend.ie/tarn-et-garonne-the-toy-museum-of-montauban-is-tf1s-christmas-favorite/

JFK and the Black Watch - 1963

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/nostalgia/1745173/jfk-and-the-black-watch-battalions-lasting-bond-with-president-john-f-kennedy/

This Is Colossal

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/11/simon-laveuve-miniatures/

and

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/09/miniature-calendar/ (more at the end of the article - Preiser again!)

N is for Novelty . . . Guards - Kinder?

I know these were given to me by Peter Evans (who sent me another parcel the other day - most of which has been forwarded to Rack Toy Month), but I think they were among the first things he sent to the Blog about 11/12-years ago, in with a bunch of other stuff. I recognised them, as I'd been to his old place several years earlier and seen them on a little self (and admired them), so it was a nice gesture; packing them off to me!

But in those days the 'H is for...' trope hadn't been invented (except I did do a couple of show reports) here, so they got sorted away with the rest of the lot - HK stuff if I remember correctly?

I've seen them described as Kinder, but suspect that was the over-enthusiasm of the early O-Ei-A authors who tended to label anything small enough to fit the capsule as a Kinder egg premium, when in fact these are probably cake decorations aping the Marx Babes in the Wood figures some of which were scaled-down for the Disney themed Miniature Masterpiece boxed 'playsets'.

I may even have a couple (probably damaged) in-with all the Marx Miniature Masterpiece odds somewhere, as these went almost straight into storage, and only came out recently. The guy in the middle is missing a plug-on bass-drum and has a truncated drum-stick.

I don't know how many poses there were in total, maybe six (an officer or drum-major being the obvious absentees?) would be neater than five, they're hard polystyrene and marked Hong Kong in tiny letters on the bases of the roughly 30mm figures. Cheers Peter!

N is for Novelty . . . Guards - Smaller

So, these were the ones that prompted the utterance that I would return to them nearer Christmas, with Peter sending some back in the Spring or early summer;

I couldn't find all the ones I know I have and I suspect some are in the minor-makes A-Z boxes, but there are enough to work with here and get the foundations across! This is the 'Hong Kong Guards' box, and from the small-scale only days it doesn't (and couldn't) contain the big wooden ones, the nutcrackers we’ve seen, the washing-up sponge one &etc.

This is the smallest iteration of the sample, placed in a snow dome above a pencil-sharpener, but it's one of those lame domes with lots of polystyrene 'bits' in. It's not product granule, that's larger and smooth, this is like they put some small off-cuts in an old Italian coffee grinder with the very fast blades and shredded them!

Next size up are these, originally earrings from a David Halsall (still in the tags as Hallsal! I will sort it! . . . Half an hour later - done!), and I think some of the missing ones are stored under Haswell, which was a sub-brand of the company now known as HTI. I removed the jewellery component to get two fat drummers!

These are the biggies, so far only the two poses have turned-up; sentry/guardsman and drummer/bandsman, whether they are all available in all three sizes or not I don't know, but they're clearly based on the lawn blow-moulds so popular in the US and spreading across Britain as if we have a better planet to go to when we're done buggering-up this one!

At this size you can get them as crafting accessories, earrings, cake decorations and whatever else anyone can think of for novelty guards! Added to the collection later, I left the earrings intact and on their card. You can still find these out there at this time of year, last year I think I saw the earrings in the British Heart Foundation charity-shops as factory-clearance/new stock.

Scaler!

N is for Novelty . . . Guards - Larger

Well, Nutcracker Suites are being cancelled left, right and centre, Sugar Plum Fairies are on furlough, Babes aren't  marching in the woods; 2020's turned out to be such a shitter, I thought we'd have a few novelty guards to brighten things up, and because I threatened to do so, around this time, when Peter Evans sent some earlier in the year!

So these are the medium-sized chaps, all about 45-60-odd millimeters. We have seen some before as they came in, but here they all are together. From the left;

• ·         Probably actually a circus ringmaster/compare he's resin - mostly!
• ·         PVC or even silicon-rubber key-ring
• ·         LED Torch in mixed materials
• ·         Resin guardsman who was probably a fridge-magnet once?
• ·         Silicon rubber key ring who was designed as a pencil-top first
• ·         Key-ring or Christmas tree hanging-decoration/figural bauble in chromium-plated polystyrene.

You can see how the left-hand key-ring began life as or intended for pencil-topping, or - indeed - pens; all writing instruments matter! And the material is a soft, squidgy silicon-rubber, against the stiffer rubber of the chap on the right.

The new one (who came from Chris Smith or Peter Evans earlier in the year I think) in the middle has the remains of a sting/ribbon loop, but whether it was for keys or Christmas trees only god knows . . . have you got one coming out of the attic any-day now loyal readers, or are you carrying one around with your keys?

I think both of these (lower pair) were new this year (same likely contributors) and while the one on the left does stand-up, some damage to the small of his back points to the careful removal of a magnet and hot-wax [glue-gun] glue I think?

The one on the right seems to be resin, but he has peculiar soft areas on his feet, almost as if someone had rebuilt the soles with Blue-Tac and painted over it, so he may have been removed from a larger vignette, maybe he's a band-master in one of those 'Christmas Village' band-stands, or something like that?

I nearly left him in the Guards, but after umming-&-arring for a while I put him with the circus stuff for now, although as well as Victorian bandstands, he might fit the bill of a foreign nations' police/traffic-police force uniform, making him more of a tourist-memento piece?

Seen before and I can't remember the branding (Puckator - I looked it up!), but it was looked at better then I think. There is a little pull-out tab at his waist-rear, to prevent the battery being in contact and running down, while he plays a bloody annoying little tune every time you press the button!

Largest were posted earlier this year!

News, Views Etc . . . Plastic Warrior - Oooone'hundredd-and-eigghhtteeeeeeeeeee!

Or; B is for Better Late Than Never!

Many apologies (mostly to the editor Mr. P. Morehead), this was always going to be a late one as the Postal Farce fed the first review copy to one of their sorting machines . . . probably, but a second one was kindly supplied by Paul before the end of September, after which it was all my procrastinating, and little of it Real Life stuff, although Real Life stuff is looming, and not just Christmas, so well over due, but here it is!

Plastic Warrior magazine issue No. 180

* Peter Nussbaum is back with part 2 of his series on early medieval artillery with the hand-held 'devices' of the suicide squad! Examples from Publius, Perry Miniatures, Merten, Replicants, Barszo and others are shown.

* Andreas Dittmann tells the tale of Fredy Martin Schulz's Perry Rodan sci-fi figures.

* Beginning what I think will be an occasional series (or straight run?) of articles on Hong Kong figures, Chris Smith covers his own memories and the M-Toys branding of swoppet-clones, along with other points of note.

'What The !&*$?' carries an eclectic bunch of nameless orphans this issue;

• ·         Trevor Rogers seeks more on Timpo clones
• ·         Dogs in need of makers from Barney Brown (the Dougal's are from Triang's sugar-hunt game I think?)
• ·         A Thunder-Box with BB on it needs deciphering
• ·         Italian military Musicians need their 'R' attributing

* The editor throws together what seems to be a comprehensive (and fully illustrated) check-list of the Hilco 60mm production - like a mini 'Special' within the quarterly mag'!

* An article on Wild West premiums by Gerald Edwards mentions, Tudor Rose, Woolworth's and Poplar along with Sugar Puffs!

* Colin Penn covers Peter Pan Playthings cricket games and accessories.

* 'What's New' only has time for one set this issue, US cavalry from Replicants, but a bit out of the ordinary;

• ·         US Dragoons of the 1840's (conversion potential?)

* Part the somethingth of Michael Hyde's ongoing series of ecclesiastical and religious figures brings us various Papal Guards, fascinating as there's ner' a Swiss pikeman among the interesting uniforms on parade this time.

* Finally - on the article front - 'Media Models' has a couple of interesting . . . no, you'll have to subscribe!

* 'Collectors Corner' is back with some very clever cavalry conversions using the Mexican officer from CTS, all the work (the Polish Winged Hussar is superb!) by Eric Kemp.

* There's also a sort of 'Letters Special' on Lone Star's white (and off-white) polymer production with imagery/contributions from - alphabetically; Brain Heaps, Daniel Lepers & Jack Shalatain.

* Reader's Letters is stuffed with items this time;

• ·         Chris Goddard highlights a Lone Star auction lot
• ·         Mathias Berthoux on JSF
• ·         Joe Bellis follows-up Linburn
• ·         Ian Thomson muses on Fontanini, HäT and 007, among other things!
• ·         Eric Critchley muses on Lone Star miniatures . . .
• ·         . . . and returns with more on Khaki Infantry
• ·         Feedback on the Cresent-copy/Lido Wild West is sent in by Joe Bellis, Les Collier and Erik Critchley
• ·         Nigel Lambourn sends more on Huntley & Palmer biscuit tins
• ·         Steve Vickers sends Hong Kong Trojans

* While 'Book Review' (that's all the regulars this issue!) plugs the Timpo special issues from Figuren Magazine in Germany.

* The Editorial Page; 'News and Views and Other Stuff ' covers

• ·         Page increase announcement
• ·         Chicago show news
• ·         PayPal announcement
• ·         Postponement of this year's PW show
• ·         Herne show news
  

* Covers this issue show shots of Replicants Navy & Marines, posed in vignettes by Ashley Needham.

All still presented in perfect technicolourfulness!

* PW's contact details;

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PlasticWarrior?fref=ts

Blogger - http://plasticwarrioreditor.blogspot.co.uk/

eMail  - mailto:pw.editor@ntlworld.com

Website's deader than a dead-thing that paid Charon, crossed the Styx and went to Hades to have itself declared very dead.

Tel: 01483 722 778
Fax: 01483 722 723

And they are on PayPal

M4 is for Sherman Calliope

Also from Poland (see previous few posts) and also soft polyethylene, comes forth this interesting beast from Centrum in Warsaw;

Mounted on a full [packaging] sized card, it's not so much a header as a backer! Also, while the main body of the tank, running-gear and turret are a straight copy from Atlantic's own clip-together 'readymade', the rocket-tube bundles and bed-frame seem to have been copied from the 1:72nd scale Esci-Revel-Polistil (and other brands) kit.

To the point where it is on a separate small runner, while the rest is on a runner which is also a copy of Atlantic's own with each component in the same place! To produce the M4 Sherman [with] Calliope therefore meant some changes to the Atlantic turret

Close-ups for those who can compare with the Atlantic set (I won't de-'sprue' this until I have a duplicate one!), while the reasons for assuming the Calliope is from Esci, are twofold, A) this predates the Airfix one and is clearly pirating other makers and B) see the T34/85 in a minute!

The card art shows an Allied star as one of the markings, bu what you actually get along with the bridging disc and formation sign is the Polish 'Winged Hussar' symbol, so presumably representing the Polish 1st Armoured Division in the Normandy/Western campaign?

The upper shots are another Sherman, slightly better card shot and slightly different plastic colour by the looks of it, below it is a T34, and a late war T34/85 at that, probably also copied from Atlantic? Both shots supplied by Tomasz Karpowicz about 12-years ago! Everything will appear here at Small Scale World . . . eventually!

Tomek also sent me this, which is quite delightful, as 'readymade' toys go, it's the same T34/85, but with the AMRCR (anti-mine reconnaissance castor roller) mine-clearing frame taken from the Esci Churchill IV kit (albeit greatly simplified) - hence the Esci assumption for the Calliope's origins. Again this would have required a change or two to the Atlantic clone, to take the Esci-cloned parts.

Markings for both T34's are - of course - the other Polish Army of WWII, that recruited by the soviets, but mostly trained at the Western Allies expense in Syria!

C is for Cold War Clones

As well as those sets we've been looking at, a sub-set were produced taken from and using the artwork of the 'Export Series' from Atlantic, the whole box design was retained, but with the red background pinkified (yes, I seem to have made that one up! Spellcheck offered 'zincified' so I think it's vaguely legit'!).

The Atlantic construction schematics were copied as well and copying is to a level where you'd be hard-pressed to tell between them however I suspect side by side there will be a slight size difference, but that check will be another day.

Contents are also the same as the export series; four of everything. I'm pretty sure this is the same set Eko copied in Spain?

All previous comments are true for this set too, with four of each of the smaller version of Atlantic's two similar sets, same artwork, pinkened (spellcheck say "No" to that as well!), same instruction graphic, similar colour plastic to some of those used by Atlantic . . . &etc!

Even the Titles are similar translating as 'Italian Contemporary Wards (modern units) - ...Machine Guns & Mortars or ...Anti-Tank Artillery, so they aren't trying to pass themselves off as Soviet, Polish or other 'Bloc' forces.

K is for Kioskowce III

Wondering whether or not we'd had that title I found that not only had we had it, but we'd had it twice, identically! A quick bit of judicious editing and this now 3-of-3! When you do a series of similar posts/similar subject, the old pink-monkey intelligence can fail you sometimes.

So these are the standard Spójnia sets I have and we're starting with the British, this one is titled British Infantry or 'soldiers' yet is clearly a set consisting of three poses of bereted infantry with the River Launch and crew, all taken from Matchbox, the vessel being cleverest as it's a two-part copy of a die-cast toy from the 1-75 range of original 'match boxes', the six commandoes being from the figure sets.

For accuracies sake, the RAOC (Royal Army Ordnance Corp) or RCT (Royal Corps [of] Transport) used to have a harbour unit with sailor-soldiers! Now both are part of the All Services [Except Fighting] Departmental Corps of Trades or something!

The boat in comparison with the Matchbox original, there are versions with red (fire launches), and black figures out there, and like some of the promotional vans and buses, I was amazed how many versions of it there have been!

My British Commandos seem to have British infantry in . . . humm . . . but this is how they came in so who am I to argue, again taken from Matchbox's 1:76th scale set with a straight two of everything they copied, being the other 14 poses and the mortar from which the beret wearing trio in the previous set were also copied.

The 8th Army and we move to Esci for a bit of plagiarism! Again all the poses have been copied, and one of each is supplied, these have leeched some horrid sticky additive, more usually associated with early, unstable PVC's, and which has rather affected the card which was in the bag with them, leaving brown stains all over it. The leechate remains now as a kind of varnish, almost like dried linseed-oil!

The British Paratroops are also taken from Esci, but using the US Para's with their quite distinctive uniforms, as Esci did a reasonable set of British airborne soldiers I don't know why Spójnia ran with these? Same additive problem with the same damage to the card . . . same colour plastic too, so a dodgy batch?!!

Soviet Russian infantry, only half a set ofEsci's sculpts this time, but two of each and as they are 'dressed up' with the next set as a two part 'Battle of Stalingard' pair, it may be that the other Esci poses are findable in a Spójnia Russian Infantry WWII set?

And that other half consists of the German invaders, taken from Airfix's Paratrooper set, which makes sense as we saw the standard infantry in a half Airfix-half Matchbox set from Spójnia. The poses paired, one runner of 'true' polymer, the other also leeching the sticky slime which becomes hard like varnish giving some of them a greenish or, rather aptly; field-grey hue.

Indeed as that set was called Monte Casino, and this set shares a Stalingrad card with the Russians, it may be that my pointing out of the incongruity last time (of Germans in a set depiction Allied forces) was actually a referance to another, shared, card? As in; with the allies available in another set bearing the same card?