S is for Shot at the Show

I only shot one thing at the show, if you need pictures of tables about 20 were published on the Friends Who Like Plastic Warrior Faceplant page the next day! But I did shoot this as I thought it was a bit special.

Malleable Mouldings circus set, beautifully boxed and had you found this under your family's Christmas tree in the 1950's you would have been well made-up! Actually quite simple with two horse trainers, two clowns and six prancing horses, but most sets in those days were a bit simple and contained duplicates - it was only when Plastics took a full-hold that the variety we're used to now, became the norm, I guess that's why farm and zoo was so popular, their sets' tended to have lots of different items rather than six-to eight identi-men and an officer, bugler or standard bearer!

The outer is a generic gift box, laminated in patterned wrapping paper, and was probably bought-in for the festive season, it is very age-faded now, but was once a bright primrose background with scarlet and navy motifs.

Quite a Germanic or Scandinavian look to the repeat pattern, both must have had good paper industries with all those forests, maybe it came from the Hertz Mountains? All a bit Grimm or Hans Christian!

Not brilliant shots and I've placed them sideways to concentrate the eye on the colours, not the figures, but the marbling of the clowns' plastic was stunning, if you like such things (I do!); one having what seems to be every colour in the factory that day, the other centered more on the reds/yellows, but after the gloom and greyness of six years of war and blackout and ten-odd years of post-war austerity, these would have lit up the parlor/living-room when that lid came off!

A lovely thing and so rare . . . thanks to Mercator Trading for letting me shoot it.

M is for Matters Arising

A few things which got a closer shot or a comparison of one sort or another as this year's show plunder was being put away . . .

A quickie comparison between the unknown cloaked fantasy figure on the left and a Dimensions for Children (DFC) cloak wearer on the right. The unknown one is more sci-fi than swords & sorcery though and I wonder if it might be from the large Toyco set which contains the solid copies of the Colourform space alien figures?

The pilots in close-up, the larger one is a patch above Zang to be honest, and like the better versions of the standing infantryman, has a much neater base, so I think definitely another maker, or a later second version?

Cleaned-up the Airfix bikes; but they're shot to bits! I needed two riders and I didn't have the cap-wearer, so they are useful, and two pairs of blue wheels will prove equally useful at some point in the future I'm sure. I suspect the 'cutter' was trying to make them look more like scramblers, and I may clean them-up by removing the stunted remains of the mud-guards and guard supports

Because they were both to hand as I was putting-away; comparison between the Cavendish (etc.) on the left, and the KT/Shackman et al, novelty plinth/pencil sharpener figure on the right. Cavendish is a stiff 'At Ease', the other is 'easy'!

I thought he'd gone up here already, but I got the left-hand figure a while ago, the one on the right - last Saturday (Sandown tomorrow!), they are the fourth Airfix non-beagle dog, so I now have all four which will go on the Airfix Blog's Bergan/Beton page shortly! I think it's meant to be a Springer Spaniel, which means they are all working/hunting dogs - Setter/Lurcher-Greyhound /Alsatian . . . or; farm dogs.

Three of these are from forthcoming posts on the latest donation from Chris Smith, one was here and five came-in on Saturday. Colour, shade, base marks, copies - the more we find, the more we discover we still had to find! Mostly ABC (or their tool) but there are others!

Two of the figures from PW's show needed the old hot water treatment to get them standing up, one also wasn't shot clearly the other day so I've re shot him here, I suspect another Argentinian figure (silver paint) but more original in the sculpt than the other five which were added to the pile last weekend.

The Jecsan circus (clairvoyant/soothsayer?) figure didn't really respond to the hot water, despite two pouring, straight from the kettle! She stands better, but not flat, the infantry man did much better but needed a jiggit pared-off first.

Well, the blue one didn't clean-up as well as I'd hoped, the black marks seem to be some kind of bituminous splashes which have stained the substrate, so I'm stuck with the 'new' faint ones but he is an improvement on a week-ago!

While the silver one did need a clean, it was only the flash than made him look cleaner, the two other colour ones however have cleaned-up to the point where the flash has rather washed them out! On the left a 5th which was hanging out in the 'TBS Space' tray, from Chris as well I think.

Not quite as nice as the other one, and more Romanesque than Greek (I've seen them online as 'guerrier Grec/Romain', so it's an acknowledged factor of the set), but still a lovely figure, this one has had his replacement weapon blobbed to his hand with glue, at the 'other end' I will drill the hand out as with the previous find.

PW is for Plastic Warrior Show - 5 of 5

The last of the purchases and all from one big tub I was talked into at the end of the show!

I had seen it, and there was useful stuff in it, but I have it all already, and it will - in the main require a lot of work in the future, but maybe we'll get some posts out of the sorting, but for the Giant or What? Blog, not this one!

The main lot was a thousand-odd (?) Hong Kong hollow-horses, loose, together in a big tub! Whether there are any Giant originals in there only time will tell, and it's time I don't have right now, but there were also some smaller bags which we will look at in a minute, and I have a feeling the larger bag, also mixed hollow-horsed Wild West (there are some Romans in the bigger tub) came from someone else? Peter Evans or Brian Carrick?

Blue Box Germans and Triang Motorway construction workers are probably the highlight here, along with the off-white sailor who I think is from a  big-box ship/play-set. the yellow figure is also new to me, being a football goalkeeper, probably from a game.

Micro-armour from board games and rack toys, mini-vessels - likewise and a ship's turret from a kit, there's nothing new here! Someone has started painting the Axis & Allies tanks, which gave me the idea to have a bash at some point in the future!

Farm animals and some useful wagon wheels, again I think I have all this, but I'm pleased to get the little guy with his plug-in hoe; I think I only have brooms . . . 25mm, Hong Kong, with a plug-in hoe!

The orange guy at the front belongs with the little pile at the back, best lot is probably the large pile of really poor 3rd/4th generation copies in four colours, as - from memory - I only have them in white and pale blue?

The LB astronaut is also a late copy, with a chunk of flash, in front of him is a none-to clear Marklin copy (shots were a bit too high!) and the two seated figures may be new to collection, look like farmers, probably from a die-cast vehicle?

Blue Box; a bit bashed but glue'able, and one from the Hornby-Triang Battle Space sets, but he's had his penny-base cut back to a slot! these are the earlier ones with the 'kidney' bases, later replaced on the Brits, with the penney-bases carried over to the soft plastic ones like the light-blue one in the second image (above), in which guise they got a Giant Plastics Corp., issue!

A few kit-bits and oddments which will top-up the spares boxes at some point! A nice Roscopf wagon, no horses, and two Huskey/Corgi Junior forward-control Land Rover canopies, but the rarer brown one has been drilled! The Matchbox Stuart Tank just needs paint (once I've worked-out what the additions are for?), the spare HK Jeep windscreen may prove useful in the future and the silver chaps are two Tomy Zoid-pilots and a Silverlit Multimac copy.

There is a follow-up show post still to come, but it's Sandown on Saturday and a big lot from Chris which came in the other day, while Historex and the rest of the Romans sit on the desktop, unloved, and the Old Timers who have been moved back into the long queue about three times! It'll all happen, eventually!

PW is for Plastic Warrior Show - 4 of 5

Carrying on with a few more show purchases, two more from the shopping list and a couple of big bags of 'Junk', which always have something useful in them!

The Britains Naval gun wasn't exactly on the shopping list, but I knew I needed it and when I saw a cheap one I grabbed it! The green jeep was a pleasant surprise as I though after deals with Ed Berg and Ken Taylor that I'd pretty-much nailed the Gilmark US Army stuff, but there it was, sat there!

While the grey jeep is a bit knocked-about, but it has a tin-plate boxed push-&-go mechanism underneath and while the trailer needs wheels, it's three delicate polystyrene drawbars are intact, and it was going cheap, so I figured I'd grab in with a view to cannibalising it or the next one I find to get a good one?

Ah-yes! These are obviously Elastolin (40mm, not 70), and they weren't terribly cheap, in fact I'll tell you, they were £33? But I though, they ARE Elastolin and there's three different horses, and you come to a show to buy nice things, as well as ticking-off items on your little shopping list, you want something 'nice', to show for the day, so I bought them.

Now, you'll see that one of them looks a bit odd . . . he's bright blue and orange!, but I can assure you that's what he's supposed to look like, because, while the seller had a nice little label, all marked-up "Elastolin medievals Germany £33" or something, he'd neglected to mention, and I didn't notice 'till I'd paid, that . . .

. . . all bar the blue guys horse (which is Elastolin) are heat stamped (horses) or extra-marked Historex (France!), so these are literally re-badged Franco-German Elastolin, and despite the duplicates, I think I got a bargain? I don't know, they may be commoner, or less rated and while I think I have another one somewhere, it's only one, now I have a sample, with some foot swaps! The fighters are all the same pose (hand painted castle shields), but have three different weapons between them, so make a good exhibition mêlée, as you can see!

The blue guy though . . . might he be Ougan? He's a bit leerier than the others and I think they did do some simplified-paint Elastolin's at some point, I have gloss-painted Romans which are from them I'm told?

So the other two things which were on my conscious shopping-list, were the Persian Chariot from Expeditionary Force I'd seen  a few years ago on Steve Weston's stall, and he managed to find one, so that came home with me and will be a separate post, once I've put it together! The other was the Magnificent Seven, which I'd only added to the list a few nights before the show, when Mannie Gentile posted them - a really excellent post. And Steve managed to find then too!

While I was in that corner of the Hall and Steve was looking for the other two, I was chatting to Peter Cole and bought his new Replicants offering, two sets of cavalry pairs - all US Dragoons, these were so new there was nothing about them on the websites Sunday/Monday, but they are now listed on Steve's site. Link will be temporary.

I then remembered that another Replicants item on the 'back burner' shopping list was the 'youth movement' set Peter did years ago, and he had one of those too, so I returned from that corner with all the above! I have a couple somewhere, the punk I think, in yellow, and mentioned it to Peter who explained there were two issues with colour changes, so this is the second version, with one or two of the earlier ones somewhere in the stash!

The big bag, bottom right seems to be a complete set of the Hing Fat knights, most of which I think Peter Evans has sent to the blog in previous 'red cross parcels', but this set has three horses, and it'll enable me to paint a few duplicates up one day, if the fancy takes me!

This was a bag of shite, and I'm sure the seller won't mind me saying so, as he'd as good as put it on the label! But, it was only three quid, and had some useful stuff . . . for ITLAPD! Although I shot a few pieces for this post.

Not sure if we've seen these loose, or even of we've seen them at all, and they could take their pick of Halloween or ITLAPD, but I think there'll be more to come on them so they can go here for now!

These three were also in the bag, I've seen the little one before and may have it somewhere, the red one looks like the sort of thing you might get on a small card Sellotape'd to a kids magazine while the grey one could be Technolog? They used to include leery green and gold ones in their figure sets as a fun bit of extra playability, this is a more sober colourway, but may be newer?

The small one has a hard plastic (probably polypropylene) barrel and a PVC body, and clicks from elevated to level, the grey one has full elevation and a button-fire mechanism for push-in rod-ammo.

We've actually seen this before, with a less bent muzzle, I'll have to treat him with care and respect! Adrian found him near the end of the show, and he came home with me. Funny, I've discussed them before and how the three 'Terra Nova' figures only exist as test shots in the legendary James Opie's collection, but while this chap keeps turning-up (occasionally) you never find the other two? Kentoys rare Space Police Commando crawling.

Although one of the last things to be photographed, this bag was given to me by Brain Carrick at about the same time Peter Evans and Graham Apperley gave me their bags, so they were all in pile in my mitts at one point! It may be junk, but it had some useful stuff and gap-fillers nevertheless!

I didn't shoot everything I kept, these two shots actually go after the first sequence in the next post, but to keep them all at ten images I moved these, in fact I had started putting away by the time I got to this bag as Bosey-Boy is more, err, spready than his Mum used to be so I was running out of room on the bed . . . did I say bed? I mean dedicated sorting area! And it was peeing down with rain all Sunday afternoon so BB was going absolutely nowhere! He gets bitey-fightey if I try to inch him anywhere!

But, there's still some stuff to mention, not least that rather nice Buffalo-Bison, it's an odd grey (Wisent?) colour, but with the maybe Spanish one (see first of these posts); two new to me from one show! the 8^th Army are Rado/Ri-Toys, and if the large scale are anything like the small scale there will be many shades, so I've hung on to them to compare with whatever I already have.

The rack toy Police are new I think, and while broken, the Totem Pole is new, in a ridged PVC or even softish 'styrene (the tip has snapped off), it's a copy of the old Britains one we looked at here. While the bright red PVC version of an older Hong Kong tree will be useful with photographing Magic Roundabout premiums at some point!

A Quaker trident-gladiator (retarius), sans trident, a slightly bent Hornby HO horse (compare with the O horse in post 2-image 6) and an odd alien were selected, three paratroopers and some other rack-toy types, all good stuff and thanks again to Brian.

Part 5 next.

PW is for Plastic Warrior Show - 3 of 5

Continuing to explore the plunder from Saturday's toy soldier fest with more donations and a few more specific purchases . . .

Brian Carrick (who I haven't seen eye-to-eye with for a while) came up to me at the end of the show and thrust these at me and wouldn't take money for them, which was very kind, although it means another rabbit hole for me to disappear down!

They are Mainz Carnival figurines, I knew of them vaguely from the trumpeter who I have seen before (being slightly military-looking one or two people have them in their unknown or minor-make zones!), but hadn't given them much thought, but had I, I might have realised there's a new one/s every year!

There's a fully-round margerine set as well, hence; 'new rabbit hole'! They used to be simple pin-badges, but health and saftey has lead to the neck-ties in red & white string. Clowns seem to feature heavily as a theme, along with civic dignitaries in historical dress (very useful figures), although one is military - I'm guessig Mainzer Prinzengarde is not the 1890's mayor's robes! And they are a hard 'styrene around 54-60mm

Just an overshot today, I'll do a post on them at some point. The little box contains a convention exclusive 'dog tag' from Airfix, also from Brian, while the purple runner, is the accompaniment to an cheapie action figure, and came via Gareth Morgan at some point in the afternoon, so thanks to both of them, it's all grist to the mill, and more for you to look at!

Peter Evans also had a bag for me, and the contents were very eclectic, the wooden elephant is exquisite. He needs a replacement tusk, and could do with a new pair as the survivor is a bit bulgy in the middle, but I have lots of Ivory off-cuts and bits somewhere, and now you can't trade in it I will have a stab at carving, as there are a few tusks needed around the collection from these 1cm littlies, up to 1½" or more.

The Chaplin caricature is resin and I think the Sponge-Bob's were Disney Stores, but these got put away a bit quick and I didn't take notes! We will return to all of them at least twice, if I live that long; A-Z entry and another article or two, here on the 'home Blog'.

More from Peter's bag I think, the horse is interesting, possibly from a magnetic game, but I think it's one of those jiggling-mat racecourse games, each hoof has a polished steel patch set into it, and as you handle it the legs flick back and forwards, so I suspect it's a race-game piece.

Dolphin is vintage, but slightly demented-looking! Cavalryman was Safari (I think?) while the footballer is a cake decoration, the action figure is small enough to be retained, while they aren't actively sought, still they have a place! Two Phidal's top-out this shot.

And still with the lot from Peter; two Pocahontas, one a Phidal Busy Book figure (right), the other from Disney Stores (or similar, left), a nice Wizard and a footballer sans base; several of these have come in now from Peter, Chris and Charity Shop bags, and I did get an ID from some with bases, but have forgotten it!

Liking the Wizard too, Harry Potter knock-off? Kellogg's Snap (of Crackle and Pop fame) Superhero premium and two more WWF's (Peter sent four from two sources in his last 'red cross' parcel!), the grey chap is a DFC fantasy type I think, but his significance will become clearer in a minute! Thanks to Peter for all.

This was a straight purchase from the hall, and something I've been after for a while, there have been a few on evilBay but always too expensive when you factor-in the postage. Obviously five of them are the same Crescent copies as the Maysun we've looked at here, while, the tiger and ring-mistress were seen in a generic set, not that long ago.

We will however return to these, probably in RTM and look a little more closely at all of them. I think the horse should be slightly more horizontal, but has broken out of his blister and got stuck under the thinner part!

Not cheap, but not that pricey either (i.e. 'fair shout'), Steve Vickers had these three and given what we've already posted here and what was bought in the late autumn, along with stuff from Chris and one of the Poles we will return to them again (with more than has already published here, much more!), but for now, nice artwork (taken - in part - from the Esci big-box diorama sets?) on three larger sets from Spojnia - D-Day, Tunis and Salerno.

Two items on the shopping list were ticked off in one lot, someone had two Lone Star FFL and two ACW in one bag, the confederate is the missing standing firer from that set, which will free-up the FFL substitute who is missing from the lot we looked at the other day! Equally they were blue-trousered, while these two (left) are red, so made a good start on the second set!

The seller of the two forecourt attendants said they were Timpo, but a couple of the old guard said no, someone else, but no one could remember and directed me to Joplin's big book, which is back in storage, so if anyone can help in the meantime, that would be useful, they're from old hollow-cast moulds anyway. Finally; a pair of the larger Gemodels cake-decoration dancers, in near-perfect paint.

Another couple ticked off the shopping list were the missing standing firer from Deetail and the Gatling Gun, both added to the shopping list only the other day! In front is an Ohio Arts (?) rubber bear, behind them the actual Captain Video from Lido, he's a big chap, solid 'styrene, in metallic mauve!

The Hopalong Cassidy is an Argentine copy of a Timpo original, from hollow-cast, I earned the opprobrium of certain members of the old guard by suggesting Hilco on that one! The Crescent Indian Army figure was vaguely on the shopping list, but in fact there were only five I saw in the whole room and paint was poor on all of them, this one was slightly the better of them.

The other four are NOT DFC, or at least I don't think so, but could be mistaken for their output. They are bigger and unmarked (a comparison is in the pipeline - 5th post I think), I suspect they may be from another big-box fantasy play-set maker of the 1980/90's; Toyco, Polotoys, someone like that, but I've got to check them out. I have some more spacy figures in red and white which go with them somewhere.

Three Reisler, I was vaguely aware of the saluting chap I think, from a website or catalogue image, but I wasn't familiar with the surrendering pose? Flamethrower is just nice and clean . . . and complete!

60mm Lone Star swivel-head was going cheap, as were the white-plastic take on the ABC-Britains hollow-cast copies (Chris sent me three different blues the other day and I grabbed a 4th at PW!), which leaves three ancients, the African on the ground has been converted, lost his base and had a shiled added, the charging 'hoplomachus' (?) is from a German book, the brand of which escapes me, but it was in a recent issue of PlasticWarrior magazine, which is a good reason to subscribe!

Leaving the chap at the back. You may remember me getting excited by one a few shows back (5 years ago!), which had had a crappy weapon replaced, that was by Clairet, and I think this is too, and with another replacement weapon, but they need them and now looks almost as good as the other one, but his shield is a bit meah!

While these are four-inches-huge, and two are wooden, the GI is solid polyethylene and could be Hong Kong or US, I don't recognise him off-hand, while the others are obviously skittles! Now I said on the day they were Winmau (who make the pub dart-boards), and assumed pub-skittles, but in fact with an eye-glass they are © 1989 K. Wiman, so my bad . . . I have an unfulfilled prescription for reading-glasses, another conversation on the day!

They look to be French, but could be Spanish, that Foreign Legion uniform colour looks like Spanish Legion, while . . . brown sailors? The cummerbund though is more French.

Many thanks again to Brain, Gareth and Peter for the additional goodies, part 4 in the pipeline!

PW is for Plastic Warrior Show - 2 of 5

Continuing with the rather random way I shot everything this weekend, after the 37th Annual Plastic Warrior toy soldier show, but all the posts have interesting stuff, so getting stuck in . . .

A few vehicular pieces; back left is a space car, it's probably Kleeware (or Tudor Rose) having the circular MADE IN ENGLAND stamp common to both and will need a check in the Blast Off book, a small boat in marbelled plastic which looks to have some age and was probably a bath toy and a rather nice, but unmarked die-cast mazak Mosquito type . . . I know - metal at a plastics show!

The two Airfix motorcycles are a disappointment, they've both been chopped about to the point of almost junk, but I need both riders and four spare wheels will be useful if I get chewed ones in the future, and the pale one is a new colour in the sample.

Tyrolean touristy thing with a weighted base flanked by two 'walkers' of clowns on donkeys, I think the idea is that they are pantomime donkeys worn round the waist, so just two clowns then!

The orange guy - from the amount of silver paint remants - is probably an Argentine copy of a Marx GI, flanked by two late production Starlux; an alpine bugler and a staff officer. The next two are . . . a bit of a mystery, they look quite like the Solido figures, but are slimmer and unmarked, they also look like the Torres Maltas 40mm figures, but are obviously closer to 60mm, so I wonder if maybe Torres from Spain? Help appreciated on them.

The other five are Hong Kong copies of Timpo 8th Army and are marked with the circular HK monogram, we looked at a couple back in 2011 here, but the new ones are a much better sample. Clearly painted to deceive too!

A right old mix from several stalls here, with a Starlux clown who has an uncommon, thin base. I think I've shot the miss-moulded Crescent knight before, but now I have one, behind him is a Jecsan Jap and Kellogg's bust, while in front a new intermediate size of Zang composition pilot about 45mm, however he may not be Zang, having a better finish and neater base - late production, or improved copy?

The Cavendish guardsman was in someone's bag for me I think and to his front is a 54mm HK copy of a 60mm Crescent 'modern army' soldier. Moving back to the left we have a gold (faded) Russian Officer who might be Atlantic or a copy; he seems a bit smaller than typical Atlantic; so licensed Res Plastics (RP) or Gulliver?

Civilian bits; the horses will be from a board game, in polystyrene and sans a couple of tails, I thought the racing colours were well done. A Jecsan circus performer, glow-in-the-dark ghost, two Spot On figures, a Taylor farmer and a Scalextric newspaper seller make up the rest, along with a large bale!

Animals include a rather nice buffalo/bison which may be Spanish, the Hornby O-gauge horse, a Tudor Rose pig, Tiger with a docked tail, Airfix dog (2nd 'missing' pose since lockdown!), probably a Spaniel and a lovely - probably Japanese - celluloid Elephant playing a drum!

Mixed lot here with five Aurora kit figures, not the best and from two sources I think, but they all go together and eventually I'll have a good set! The 'pod-foot' Native American is from the set we looked at here, but what fantastic marbling! We looked at the main sample here.

The other highlight is the Zang Chauffeur, I have him in brown and green, but missed out on a cream one which I think is now headed to a museum, however a blue one is plenty compensation, and you can never have everything!

Space and Sci-Fi; three of the little Torgano figures, two spacemen and a 'costume doll', four Captain Video/Winco Condar figures, three needing a bloody-good clean! A wafer-thin, flat angel, who's actually a short-shot, she should be holding two cymbals. The bear/monkey is from Marx's Noddy set, we weren't allowed Noddy as kids (racism and grammar!), so I haven't the faintest on it, but am slowly building the set, this is number five or six I think?

The big blob is the Cherilea 'Mechanoid' and I believe the Dalek set's version of it with all the top panels open (generic 'space' Mechaniod's have alternate open and filled panels), I think it's missing a flamethrower or something along with the ladder, but is otherwise in damn good nick, and the all important four legs are present and the same colour!

A bunch of small scale, with Marx soft plastic Germans, Jap's and a GI, from the window sets, two copies, a Lone Star piracy Indian and five Zang pilots are also seen along with a lead pilot I was told replaced the Zang, but I think it might actually be visible in some Kay's adverts, or similar publicity from Pixyland-Kew?

Next to him is the missing Tiny Trojan railway staffer! Isn't it typical, the same day the PW 'Special' is officially launched, the next addition is found! I've sent better images to Paul at the mag. A Chinese Kentoys CHiP's motorcyclist and flat sedan chair cereal (or other) premium complete the line-up.

Five Argentinian copies make up a third of this group - two Lone Star modern infantry (grey, left) knock-offs, two 'khaki infantry' (white, centre) clones and a Timpo Foreign legionnaire (back, centre) copy. They are joined by two PZG from Poland; a Native American in 75mm and a 60mm Cold War paratrooper.

A painted Kinder barbarian will need stripping, the tin flat was probably a cigarette-pack premium from Europe, the painted flat cowboy is interesting and might be Eastern European, while the late Britains mounted Indian is actually a polystyrene copy from Hong Kong!

The Morestone Davy Crockett though is a ringer! He has paste-hands with a cut-down HK copy Britains musket buried under the compound! However, the original hands are OK underneath, so I now have two is the same/similar paint-condition, with no musket between them!