H is for How They Come In - December 2020 - II Chris - Civilian Life

Civi's this time, and Chris's parcels always have a fair few as I don't think he collects them much - like many of you (?) - and because there are many, many civilian figures out there as supporting actors in other dramas like Christmas, Easter and Halloween, and as added-value in die-cast sets, model kits, board games and novelty toys.

Starting with the sports figures and we have an unpainted version of the 'kicker', sans kick, as a kit, I believe these were handled by Palitoy at one point, but were also a game-piece and possibly a cereal premium? To his right are two more of the early Hong Kong 'styrene footballers, both tatty but they add to the size of the sample.

The diver is also damaged, she will be matched to the correct sample by plastic colour and/or size (I suspect she goes with the other two - bottom right!), as there are about 12 versions of these (in the smaller sizes). A soft PVC copy of Britains cyclist is next, with a cake-dec' footballer next to him.

The two blow-football figures are from different sources and I'm building ['putting together'!] a folder of evilBay images of blow-football games, just to ID the dozen or so I now have in ones or twos - along with a few full sets myself, so I can do an ID parade on them all one day.

Finally a duck-hunter who is - I think - stolen from someone like New Ray, by someone like Pioneer! And similar to the old Matchbox pose!

Infants and cakes! The upper shot are a few loose items from Lik Be (LB, formally LP!), and I have a couple of sets from this range which I must Blog at some point. Their fence is quite distinct with its 'outriggers' and the barn would make excellent 'old school' war-gaming scenery.

Below is a bunch of mixed cake decorations, some probably from Cullpitts, some maybe from Wilton (sometimes a full crossover/duplication on those two!), while the Chinese-looking infant in blue shorts is a current 'baby shower' thing. The driver might be a more conventional vehicle accessory, or a sledder/tobogganist?

TV-Movie (these days we should probably say 'mixed media' or pop-culture) figures, I think the Woody is a Tomy capsule toy, the Hulk key-ring was Kinder a year or two ago, so Jerry probably is as well?

The mini Topo Gigio (The Italian Mickey!) is the third now, all in different colours, and at less than 20mm; almost too small for a board-game, but I have no other ideas, more on him here, where we learn he made it to the Ed Sullivan show in the 'States and went global (I totally missed him?), which must have produced some steam in already steamy Florida!

Corgi batbiker, Kellogg's Golly, Mr Somebody who looks like a minion but probably pre-dates them by a decade or two (nothing new under the sun) and who might be a product mascot? A baseless Sam Gamgee (? Hobbit!) and others make up an eclectic line-up which highlights the words in the opening paragraph.

Seated figures; as I think I've said and like parachute-toy figures, these are so numerous it's untrue, but some come-up all the time, others are nicely new! Second blue one from the left might be a bus-driver, the green one could be from a milkman board-game - several versions with nice 'Dime Store' milk trucks.

Firefighters from various sources including the old Airfix kit (top right) who seem to have provided the influence for Matchbox's (reversed later by Jack Odell for his own Lledo line!) and a bunch of racing-car drivers add to at least two Tudor Rose figures (middle red and bright yellow) for the whole.

Mostly die-cast accessories; the dancer/snow babe flats are the European versions of the US 100 Doll comic mailaway, themselves partly copied from a better Euro-set, and which are not the soft 'ethylene Betterware dancers. the blue 'clippy' lady - bottom right - probably goes with the bus driver as his conductress; someone broke-up a plastic bus from Hong Kong?

I didn't look properly at the miniature doll (who is now in storage), but Chris mentioned the other day that she is marked Wales? Well that could make her Thomas/Poplar, or - more likely - an earlier minor make? Obviously for Doll's houses, she is very different, anyone know her origins? For Croyden-based Bartons? Tri-ang Toys had a plant in Merthyr Tydfil, their sister Mettoy in Swansea, but neither known for marking 'Wales'. However - she's a 'solid' so welcome in the collection!

I like the modern-looking girl/woman next to her too! Yellow-lady is usually found feeding dolphins on the back of a Corgi circus truck, the rubber police-man was a key-ring (another!) and top left appears to be Steve Erwin, the famous Aussie one, so, a board game?

The guy in-line with handbag-girl, to her right, looks very interesting, quite old and to be missing a wheelbarrow (nice find Chris), with commoner figures from HK (Shepherd), Matchbox (fireman and Edwardian 'bobby'), Corgi (milkman) and Mini Models (policeman) completing the parade!

These are the Hong Kong Kentoys (we've seen their 'Wheelers' here as emergency sets and military), and the mini rubber animals from two posts back came with the farm (if only I'd Googled them earlier, I would have looked knowledgeable!), you can see the modular construction of the scenery, although it was the trees which had me try Kentoy in the search-bar!

These don't look as if they go with the Kentoys, and you can't see any in the search results, but they may be hidden in a bag behind the packaging, and the drivers look similar in material to those animals, so it's a 50/50 question mark whether they are the same line or a different maker altogether!

But . . . you know . . . Wagons! Although if you were to utilise their given 1:72 scale (if they are Kentoys) for a model railway layout, I think you'd be wanting to incorporate them in a  fairground-ride on the village green rather than busying the station forecourt!

Again, Thanks to Chris for these, they all add to the whole, and make a fun and interesting post!