About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

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

So, to the interesting, odd or novelty items among the many Chris sent to the Blog, and I hope I've picked the right ones as I know Chris follows what I pick-up on for these posts!

Bears; Dinosaur Models; Farm Animals; Gygax Monsters; Jungle Animals; Mixed Animals; Mixed Figures; Mixed Lot; Mixed Novelties; Mixed Playthings; Mixed Toy Figurines; Mixed Toys; Polar Bears; Sea Life; Sealife; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Wild Animals; Wild Life; Wildlife; Zoo Animals;
I shot this bear seconds after opening the parcel, and them shot it again a few days later! I thought it was from one of the Hong Kong circus sets (and it may be) but realised it made an excellent cocktail-glass hanger! It is a variation of the skiing bear seen here previously, but without the receiving-holes for poles or skis.

The glass in the middle is a particular favorite of mine; now inherited, it's very thin glass (there are only four left, I think there were eight when we were kids?) and has been decorated with copper-wheel cutting, so quite old school, and they've always come-out at Christmas-time for the mulled gluhwein, a job they will retain until I cease to breathe; I like a hot-toddy by the fire on a cold day!

But that bear, though - brilliant!

Bears; Dinosaur Models; Farm Animals; Gygax Monsters; Jungle Animals; Mixed Animals; Mixed Figures; Mixed Lot; Mixed Novelties; Mixed Playthings; Mixed Toy Figurines; Mixed Toys; Polar Bears; Sea Life; Sealife; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Wild Animals; Wild Life; Wildlife; Zoo Animals;
Farm; The two vignettes on the left are New Ray I think, I didn't check, but of more interest are the 20mm'ish (sheep's over-scale) animals to the right, they are made of a very soft silicon rubber, possibly railway accessories, possibly something like a Polly Pocket - or knock-off of such, and I think three came from Chris and I already had the B&W cow hanging around from another origin (even a previous lot from Chris or Peter evans?).

When that happens (a 'new' thing happening multiple times close together) it's often a sign they are recent (last 10 or 15-years) and starting to come on to the secondary market, anyone know where they came from? The two lots are totally out of scale, mind, the New Ray's are a big 54mm - the four little animals wouldn't make-up one of the foals!

Later the same day - They are probably Kentoys (HK/China. 1990's) should have guessed from the bases!

Bears; Dinosaur Models; Farm Animals; Gygax Monsters; Jungle Animals; Mixed Animals; Mixed Figures; Mixed Lot; Mixed Novelties; Mixed Playthings; Mixed Toy Figurines; Mixed Toys; Polar Bears; Sea Life; Sealife; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Wild Animals; Wild Life; Wildlife; Zoo Animals;
Dinosaurs and monsters; the Stegi' (new to collection) and kerthunkasaurus (chewed!) are from my favourite range of childhood silicon-rubber dino's, while I think the trio of hatchlings are a recent/currentKinder thing? I don't know anything about the dragon who may have been marked (but has gone to storage) while the other two 'Gygax' Monsters are probably Holly Toys, but I haven't checked them yet and others made/issued them; LB/Lik Be, Agglo etc. . . read here first!

There is a post coming on them but not for a while now given circumstances at present, suffice to say they've been over-mythologised, over-rated and over-priced, but it's very kind of Chris to send them to us, and this isn't the first time he's done so.

From Chris - "The three dinosaurs on a base I think are from the “Ice Age” franchise of films, Sid the sloth hatches them and becomes their foster mother" Cheers, totally missed Ice Age and most of the Madagascar franchise!

Bears; Dinosaur Models; Farm Animals; Gygax Monsters; Jungle Animals; Mixed Animals; Mixed Figures; Mixed Lot; Mixed Novelties; Mixed Playthings; Mixed Toy Figurines; Mixed Toys; Polar Bears; Sea Life; Sealife; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Wild Animals; Wild Life; Wildlife; Zoo Animals;
A fine 'Disney'eque' fawn cake-decoration on the left, and the rest of the animals on the right. The purple elephant's head might be from a Duplo knock-off, but that might just be the coincidental shape/size of the locating stud? The blow-mould fawn looks even more Disney, and was probably flocked originally?

The RAE horse has been seen here before and I now think they were the Arco Noah's Ark animals, but from before Arco were handling them, I'm not sure but a few eBay listings of boxed examples would seem to be showing the same animals as later included in the petrol-station premium set, I'm not 100% sure, but confident it's the answer, read here first!

The little blue bear is also interesting as he's a scaled-down HK copy of the Merit Noah/circus-train animals who were - I think -  copies of a US makers animals! The white duck could be modern China or 1970's Macau via Portugal, he's very good! And the large rat boar/wild pig [I shot it at an awkward angle!] (top left) is a nice example of a fake Japanese Netsuke, while the vulture may be from a Wild West thing?

Bears; Dinosaur Models; Farm Animals; Gygax Monsters; Jungle Animals; Mixed Animals; Mixed Figures; Mixed Lot; Mixed Novelties; Mixed Playthings; Mixed Toy Figurines; Mixed Toys; Polar Bears; Sea Life; Sealife; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Wild Animals; Wild Life; Wildlife; Zoo Animals;
An eclectic bunch; the damaged cicada is interesting for being a copy of an older tin-plate clicker/penny-toy, although - in plastic - it doesn't click! One of the frogs will need cleaning, I don't think that black paint is original, the whale is different in brown polyethylene and they all have their place!

Bears; Dinosaur Models; Farm Animals; Gygax Monsters; Jungle Animals; Mixed Animals; Mixed Figures; Mixed Lot; Mixed Novelties; Mixed Playthings; Mixed Toy Figurines; Mixed Toys; Polar Bears; Sea Life; Sealife; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Wild Animals; Wild Life; Wildlife; Zoo Animals;
While saving the best for last - that is my finger in the background! This exquisitely decorated gecko or chameleon is no more than 5-milimeters long? About a quarter of the size of the similarly rubber Schleich-Mini's, I can only guess or ponder that it might be a 'companion' animal from a larger doll or action figure set? Does anyone know anything about it, are there others, are they all this small? It has a babyish or cartoon look to it, is it a character from film or print media, I've missed?

Thanks again to Mr Smith for donating such a bunch of interesting things, love the hanging bear, quite stunned by this tiny blob of green silicon.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Check Out The Disney Movie Tangled Rapunzel Has A Pet Chameleon Called Pascal

Hugh Walter said...

Thanks for that Anon . . . I'll do some digging!

H