H is for How They Come In - Chris - October 2021 - Mixed Stuff

I think! I have another lot from Chris Smith which is in a folder marked December, so it was further down the list of catch-up 'H is for...' posts, but then I realised I had a sorting picture dated the end of November, so it had come in earlier, and yet these are dated the middle of October, so they too may have been put to one side and photographed a while after they'd come in?

It was all a bit hectic in the autumn . . . still is, just had four days in the garden trying to sort the stuff from the sheds, greenhouse and garage, but don't seem to have got far despite working till dark! Anyway, another 'junk' lot kindly donated to the Blog by Chris, with a view to sharing the highlights with the rest of you and seeing what I highlight!

Starting the sort, and you can see a lot which won't be in the two posts this time, and there's no rhyme or reason for what gets shot and what doesn't, and something which won't get included in one post, might make another.

The things which stand out on the day get photographed, it's all got a place in the collection, and things ignored on the day, might 'make' a thematic or maker post, years from now or provide the only example on an A-Z page entry - when they gather pace!

There was a nice selection of Dinosaurs, which varied from the poor, mono-coloured, multi-sub-generational copies of old US sculpts to the very realistically painted ones top-right and bottom-left (I do like a Dimetrodon or two!), and the two top left, who were fantastic!

Gotta'be a highlight of the whole box! Plug-together, articulated dino's in an HO-OO compatible size . . . bargain! Rather generic 'meat-eaters' and I suspect a cereal premium, or cheap carded rack-toy, mid-1970's maybe? But absolutely delightful - anybody know anything else about them, how many were there, who issued them?

This is interesting, the locating stud/perching spigot on the underside is (I believe) compatible with Lego technical stuff, now years ago I had some chrome-plated jeep stores (jerry can and spare tyre), probably Hong Kong, which went-on as they were beyond the scope of the collection, but they were useable with Lego, so it may be that this pterosaur is a Mega-Bloks, Tomy or other, more minor Kiddycraft-clone's 'playability' accessory?

Other wildlife! Another of those Indian plaster, wire and wood birds, a lovely 'styrene pig who's beautifully marbled and I love the fake netsuke monkey, while I had a scruffy example of the small (35mm) bendy-chimp, but I didn't know he came with a larger bendy-parent!

I think the red horse is from the R&L/Kellogg's horse box (can't remember if it was in two parts or what plastic it was now, and it's away, sorted!), while the flat pair of Dachshunds are a wishy-washy white plastic, so probably Christmas Cracker or gum-ball capsule machine prize, rather than a creamy-white Euro-'margarine premium'? All good stuff!

Chris sent the yellow ones in the lot we're looking at here, and I photographed them with some I'd already put on the side, which may also have come from him or Peter Evans, but may have come in one of a couple of real cheapo' HK-junk lots I'd purchased last year for one or two figures? Point is, solid piracies of Hong Kong swoppet copies (of the Star Toys type), of Timpo - that standard bearer is not bearing Timpo anatomy!

More annoying, I know I have now found a brand-mark for one of the two types (deep, hollowed or shallow, smooth bases), but I can't find the reference just now (the reason I had the others on the side!), so we'll have to return to them at some point when it turns-up.

An eclectic bunch, the Household cavalryman would seem to be a HK-copy of Britains Herald, but with a solid (clumsy) right-arm, the damaged figure is very interesting (one assumes die-cast or plastic vehicle accessory), as he's a scale-up (40mm'ish) in polystyrene of the Matchbox 25mm hunter from the 1-75 range.

Love the angel, she's a bit sexy for a nativity set, and looks vaguely familiar but I can't nail down the memory? The guy in the floppy-hat may be a cuckoo-clock barometer/weather-vane person?

Top left I think I've seen on an LRG forum described as a gum-ball copy of some better Japanese Kaiju/Anime character? Top right also looks very capsule-machine, while the broken gymnast finds a home here due to the number of different versions of them out there and plethora of sizes and colours;  - any sample is better than no sample!

Not quite in focus, sorry! I was going to do a whole page of firefighter figures (and various people; Chris, Brain B and Theo V-de-W helped with shots), and I will, but not as soon as I'd hoped, and when I do; these will all be there! In the meantime; obviously two large-scale vehicle accessories and a more 'army-man' rack-toy type who had a painted helmet when new.

There's a lot to ponder here! Love the 'Cleatus' teeth, because they're designed to give an over-pronounced 'toothy' over-bite, they have teeth-grips instead of being designed to slip behind the gums, or go-over the wearers teeth, consequently I haven't been spotted trying them on, as I don't know where they've been!

Two cracker/gum-ball pistols will join the growing bag of such novelty items and the sack of corn is another thing which I can't place but which looks familiar? Don’t know what the cow's head is from (orange blob), maybe one of the Mattel custom 'chopper' motorcycles?

The 'Tardis' is probably a European call-box, police or breakdown, and an accessory from someone like Majorette or Solido? The well is a nice piece, we had a bit of a mini season on them a while back (back in the early lock-downs?) with help from both Chris and Barney Brown, and this is a colour variant of the Barrat one. Chris actually sent me another well (in the Nov/Dec. lot) and I have in the meantime combined all mine - as they went to storage, so we will return to wells in a year or two!

Finally a nice late Giant-copy wagon, dog-kennel (or z-gauge locomotive shed!), and a standard Hong Kong army-man flag, but with an unusual design on the flag!

This is an amazing survivor; a very delicate, polystyrene, novelty 'plane, which I seem to recall makes a dive-bomber's wailing noise (or bee's hum?)  if you blow or suck on the large engine, but as with the Cleatus teeth, I don't know who sucked it last, so I gave that test a miss, but one day I'll give it a clean and have a go!

Many thanks to Chris as always, and part two will be the military!