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Sunday, July 31, 2022

F is for Follow-up - Merit 'Tarzan And His Animals'

Last time we looked at this set (ten years ago!) I suggested an Elephant was the missing animal, and I'm pleased to say it was! I also said if I got a better one, I'd swap box lids, but I didn't, I got a worse one, however it did fit the new A3 scanner so . . . swings and roundabouts!

Antelope; Elephant; Gat. No. 6406; Gorilla; Hippo; Hippopotamus; Leopard; Lion; Magnetic Board Game; Magnetic Toy; Merit 6406; Merit Board Game; Merit Tarzan Game; Rhino; Rhinoceros; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tarzan And His Animals; Tarzan Board Game; Tarzan Game; Tarzan Of The Apes; Tarzan Set; Water Buffalo;
Figures first, and the immediate question is -  was the previously seen set home-painted? I suspect not; this game probably ran for a few years and like a lot of people at the time (Britains, Crescent, Lone Star), painting was seen as a quick money-saver and got dropped at some point?

So now 'Ivorene' flats, in a creamy-white, the dark spots are the anchor-points of embedded metal plates on the underside of the base, used for magnetic manipulation!

Antelope; Elephant; Gat. No. 6406; Gorilla; Hippo; Hippopotamus; Leopard; Lion; Magnetic Board Game; Magnetic Toy; Merit 6406; Merit Board Game; Merit Tarzan Game; Rhino; Rhinoceros; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tarzan And His Animals; Tarzan Board Game; Tarzan Game; Tarzan Of The Apes; Tarzan Set; Water Buffalo;
The cage you are trying to drag the animals to, if you are the horrid player (nice players [Tarzan] are trying to save them) with a hidden wand, it's half Driving School and half Answer Robot (both also Merit games as some point), missing it's door/gate last time, when I unpack I will save this board and the older box!

I will also have to carefully transfer the older pull-ring, and it will have to be careful, as this one was complete until I touched it, whereupon it fell into three pieces and I have to assume the other will be equally age-brittled?

Antelope; Elephant; Gat. No. 6406; Gorilla; Hippo; Hippopotamus; Leopard; Lion; Magnetic Board Game; Magnetic Toy; Merit 6406; Merit Board Game; Merit Tarzan Game; Rhino; Rhinoceros; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tarzan And His Animals; Tarzan Board Game; Tarzan Game; Tarzan Of The Apes; Tarzan Set; Water Buffalo;
The magnetic arm with which you locate, capture and drag the poor animals by any-which-way (even tail-first) possible, back to the cage!

Antelope; Elephant; Gat. No. 6406; Gorilla; Hippo; Hippopotamus; Leopard; Lion; Magnetic Board Game; Magnetic Toy; Merit 6406; Merit Board Game; Merit Tarzan Game; Rhino; Rhinoceros; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tarzan And His Animals; Tarzan Board Game; Tarzan Game; Tarzan Of The Apes; Tarzan Set; Water Buffalo;
Scanned lid; a bit tatty, but higher resolution/detail than last time!

Antelope; Elephant; Gat. No. 6406; Gorilla; Hippo; Hippopotamus; Leopard; Lion; Magnetic Board Game; Magnetic Toy; Merit 6406; Merit Board Game; Merit Tarzan Game; Rhino; Rhinoceros; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tarzan And His Animals; Tarzan Board Game; Tarzan Game; Tarzan Of The Apes; Tarzan Set; Water Buffalo;
Rules, also scanned as a high-res' for those who need to know how it ends!

F is for Follow-up - Mini Windmills

Just a quick one to follow-up on the stackablewindmill we saw here, which I found at Sandown Park nearly a year ago.

Follow-up Windmills Small Plastic Toy Windmill Hong Kong British Dutch Stackable
The Hong Kong one I referenced in the above link is the grey one seen here, and it's not quite the copy I thought it was, so it may be more akin to a Dutch tourist keepsake like the one we saw more recently here, also a Sandown find. Although that yellow one isn't the HK's donor either having a round base marked-up as brickwork.

I guess there must be many of these, and the HK-copy is after one of the many! There is more similarity between the sails of the two illustrated above though, so some cross-pollination was going on, if only to save a bit on production costs. Typically the yellow one's gone away now, but wasn't here for the comparison shots either, so we will return to then all another time!

The three together, suitably painted, would give a lot of atmosphere to war-gaming the invasion of the Low Countries in 1940 though, a bit small for 1:144, a bit large for 1:300 micro-armour, but covering both!

TITM is for Toys in the Media - The Rest . . . For Now!

These are all the other things in a folder it'll be nice to see the back off for a bit, as they've been sitting around in Picasa for about three years now! Vaguely in order of their being deposited in the folder, with something a little different at the end!

Bri-Nylon; Carpets; Cormar; Dolls' Houses; Ewemove; House Prices; Kenco Coffee; Key Rings; LGBTQI+ Community; London Bus; Mamod Road Roller; Model Kit; Model Runner; Mortgage Broker; Nylon X-21; Paddington Bear; Paddy Power; Penguin Toy; Plastic Runner; Pomeranian Piccolo Players; Putin Is A Nazi; Real SteamSteam Roller; Russiann Football; Shizuoka Models; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Steam Engine; Toy Frog; Toy House; Toys In The Media; Trustpilot;
Full page spread in The Metro or 'i', probably CGI'd Russian nesting dolls advertising a give-back to the LGBTQI+ community by Paddy Power . . . every time Russia scoured a goal, money went to Putin's hated gays! The funny thing is, I susspect Putin's an every-way predatory deviant . . . but the witnesses are probably all in the ground, except his poor ex-wife who's in internal exile in Kaliningrad!

And it's nice to see that while I was earning my own opprobrium from 'over there' for questioning some of the 'eastern' production, its promotion, price and where - exactly - the money was going, other - more mainstream - sources were also realising Russia was not a friend - of anybody.

Oh, I'll have plenty more to say on the subject, don't you worry . . . unless you're in the Penn-State Toy Soldier mafia, in which case you may well worry? I'll name you because you put your names to your insensitive comments, lacking all self-awareness, or awareness of the greater world picture, you nasty little, right-wing, selfish, brain-dead shitheads.

Bri-Nylon; Carpets; Cormar; Dolls' Houses; Ewemove; House Prices; Kenco Coffee; Key Rings; LGBTQI+ Community; London Bus; Mamod Road Roller; Model Kit; Model Runner; Mortgage Broker; Nylon X-21; Paddington Bear; Paddy Power; Penguin Toy; Plastic Runner; Pomeranian Piccolo Players; Putin Is A Nazi; Real SteamSteam Roller; Russiann Football; Shizuoka Models; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Steam Engine; Toy Frog; Toy House; Toys In The Media; Trustpilot;
Taken before I'd got my new scanner, and sadly out of focus, but you can see it's Kenco using some cheapo, substitute vinyl-rubber, rack-toy Chinnamals to advertise their excellent granulated goodness! Yeah-nah-yeah, I used to take Kenco, before I realised Douwe Egbert's gave me an unending supply of self-seal storage jars!

Bri-Nylon; Carpets; Cormar; Dolls' Houses; Ewemove; House Prices; Kenco Coffee; Key Rings; LGBTQI+ Community; London Bus; Mamod Road Roller; Model Kit; Model Runner; Mortgage Broker; Nylon X-21; Paddington Bear; Paddy Power; Penguin Toy; Plastic Runner; Pomeranian Piccolo Players; Putin Is A Nazi; Real SteamSteam Roller; Russiann Football; Shizuoka Models; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Steam Engine; Toy Frog; Toy House; Toys In The Media; Trustpilot;
I like this one, on one level it's a pretty non-descript advert for something your subconscious will ignore the instant you realise it's not for you, but on another level it's using a toy frog to trigger the large-print tagline, while the toy bus reinforces both the toy/key-ring motive, and that it's about two drivers, one having more useful insurance coverage than the other - get on the back of your better insured friend, or get the bus!

I think this and the previous were taken from copies of The Economist?

Bri-Nylon; Carpets; Cormar; Dolls' Houses; Ewemove; House Prices; Kenco Coffee; Key Rings; LGBTQI+ Community; London Bus; Mamod Road Roller; Model Kit; Model Runner; Mortgage Broker; Nylon X-21; Paddington Bear; Paddy Power; Penguin Toy; Plastic Runner; Pomeranian Piccolo Players; Putin Is A Nazi; Real SteamSteam Roller; Russiann Football; Shizuoka Models; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Steam Engine; Toy Frog; Toy House; Toys In The Media; Trustpilot;
This is more of a joke-ad', I can't remember where from, but something like The New Yorker, circa 1960's, maybe something more mainstream like Mad Magazine? It is however; still 'toys in the media' and came via Brain Heiler's Facebook group I think?

Bri-Nylon; Carpets; Cormar; Dolls' Houses; Ewemove; House Prices; Kenco Coffee; Key Rings; LGBTQI+ Community; London Bus; Mamod Road Roller; Model Kit; Model Runner; Mortgage Broker; Nylon X-21; Paddington Bear; Paddy Power; Penguin Toy; Plastic Runner; Pomeranian Piccolo Players; Putin Is A Nazi; Real SteamSteam Roller; Russiann Football; Shizuoka Models; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Steam Engine; Toy Frog; Toy House; Toys In The Media; Trustpilot;
Two from my Facebook feed, following the same trope of using a model house to sell on-line Estate Agency (Real Estate) services. The two buildings are quite different so may have separate origins, and I wonder if they might be houses for gerbils or other small pets, or maybe money-banks strategically posed to hide the coin slots?

Touristy/novelty pound/dollar-store stuff, though, I think? However - from the size of the hands - very useful for war-gaming in 54/60mm scales. Both could pass for Western Europe or New England and both are pretty simple, timeless designs.

Bri-Nylon; Carpets; Cormar; Dolls' Houses; Ewemove; House Prices; Kenco Coffee; Key Rings; LGBTQI+ Community; London Bus; Mamod Road Roller; Model Kit; Model Runner; Mortgage Broker; Nylon X-21; Paddington Bear; Paddy Power; Penguin Toy; Plastic Runner; Pomeranian Piccolo Players; Putin Is A Nazi; Real SteamSteam Roller; Russiann Football; Shizuoka Models; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Steam Engine; Toy Frog; Toy House; Toys In The Media; Trustpilot;
Back to an old trope here, previously seen on a couple of book covers and a health thing; the model-kit runner. Here employed as street-furniture outside the Japanese HQ of Shizuoka Models, incorporating a post box, there are similar constructions around the plant's wider site, some in blue.

Bri-Nylon; Carpets; Cormar; Dolls' Houses; Ewemove; House Prices; Kenco Coffee; Key Rings; LGBTQI+ Community; London Bus; Mamod Road Roller; Model Kit; Model Runner; Mortgage Broker; Nylon X-21; Paddington Bear; Paddy Power; Penguin Toy; Plastic Runner; Pomeranian Piccolo Players; Putin Is A Nazi; Real SteamSteam Roller; Russiann Football; Shizuoka Models; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Steam Engine; Toy Frog; Toy House; Toys In The Media; Trustpilot;
Real-steam steam-rollers (probably Mamod - the current Model 1312 [short version] looks almost the same) being used to sell the luxurious smoothness of Cormar carpets! Bry-Nylon was that terrible stuff which snagged you fingernails, skinned your knees and gave you shocks if you had the wrong footwear . . . and the shit which gathered in the little ravines between the fluffy-islands!! Published circa-1970; a magazine advert for awfully-awful, bloody-awful carpets.

Bri-Nylon; Carpets; Cormar; Dolls' Houses; Ewemove; House Prices; Kenco Coffee; Key Rings; LGBTQI+ Community; London Bus; Mamod Road Roller; Model Kit; Model Runner; Mortgage Broker; Nylon X-21; Paddington Bear; Paddy Power; Penguin Toy; Plastic Runner; Pomeranian Piccolo Players; Putin Is A Nazi; Real SteamSteam Roller; Russiann Football; Shizuoka Models; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Steam Engine; Toy Frog; Toy House; Toys In The Media; Trustpilot;
Not a movie still, not a fan's CGI, not a 'toy in the media', and while Paddington has been seen here before now; not actually Paddington, not even a bear . . . this is a dog! A toy-dog if you like, a Pomeranian to be precise (no piccolo :-( ), who gets dressed-up as Paddington by his owner! You can't make this shit up, but he (she?) makes a very good Paddington!

F is for Follow-up - LLL is for Locati

One of the lesser competitors to Kinder who seem to come and go, this lot have gone (I think) although traces of them remain on the internet and they may have been swallowed by another firm, my Italian isn't that good, while I haven't the time to translate what's left on half dead web-pages or Google-Earth results!

I posted a couple of figures which had appeared in passing a while ago and then Chris Smith sent us one, which I've said is probably Kinder, but I'm not sure, well now I'm at least sure this one (below) is Locati, but that doesn't mean some are not Kinder issues too!

American Indian; Building Bricks Crayons; Capsule Eggs; Capsule Indian; Capsule Prizes; Capsule Toys; Chocolate Teady Bears; Egg Prize; Flamingo; Giocatelli Locati; Kinder Figurines; Kinder Indian; Kinder Prize; Like Kinder; Locati Egg Prizes; Locati Indian; Locati Magnago; Made In Italy; Made In The Philippines; MI Italy; Native American Indian; Prize Eggs; Prize Teddies; Red Indian; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
The figure in question, the three previously seen are more flesh-coloured, or light-tan with a less-glossy surface. He comes with a plug-in loin-cloth/flap, a totemic staff to hold and a lovely headdress with buffalo horn adornment.

However he and the two previously-seen figures all have a hole in the forehead, which is clearly to take the other headdress illustrated in the consumer slip (hidden by his furry slip-over one), and (further to my previous comments on these) I'm still convinced one of mine has a little flat drum which locates where this chap has his flap, a belief which is reinforced by the fact that there's a perfectly good sculpted flap under the plug-in one!

Yeah! Apologies for the blurry shot but he's gone away again so I couldn't re-shoot it!

American Indian; Building Bricks Crayons; Capsule Eggs; Capsule Indian; Capsule Prizes; Capsule Toys; Chocolate Teady Bears; Egg Prize; Flamingo; Giocatelli Locati; Kinder Figurines; Kinder Indian; Kinder Prize; Like Kinder; Locati Egg Prizes; Locati Indian; Locati Magnago; Made In Italy; Made In The Philippines; MI Italy; Native American Indian; Prize Eggs; Prize Teddies; Red Indian; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
A close-up of the figure, my suspicion is that the figures come from a  third party like Res-RP, Giodi or Dulcop and were carried by Locati and Kinder or someone else (Aras, Balaban, Cose Progetti, Czapp, LZ-Ziani, Marajà, Menotti, Metro, RK-Rübezahl - There's dozens of them!), with the one sculpt in two sizes and various plug-in, slip-on or other accessories like the wedge-in staff, here?

American Indian; Building Bricks Crayons; Capsule Eggs; Capsule Indian; Capsule Prizes; Capsule Toys; Chocolate Teady Bears; Egg Prize; Flamingo; Giocatelli Locati; Kinder Figurines; Kinder Indian; Kinder Prize; Like Kinder; Locati Egg Prizes; Locati Indian; Locati Magnago; Made In Italy; Made In The Philippines; MI Italy; Native American Indian; Prize Eggs; Prize Teddies; Red Indian; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
I have three other Locati gifts, so suspect these were the edible chocolate bears I bought in the Post Office in North Camp back in the late 1990's/early-2000's? It's all noted in the archive and I vaguely remember four of them, I have the wrappers somewhere in the archive too, as they were all different colours and metallic foil so quite pretty and worth hanging-on to as packaging. They were in a counter display box, two layers in threes or fours giving a 24 or 32-count for the whole box?

The Flamingo is very good and real 'Kinder' fare, while the teeny-tiny construction bricks (in a frangible eraser-rubber with polyethylene joint-wedges) is an old-old (1970's) Kinder design (I think), while the playtime milk-bottle (“Thatcher, Thatcher - milk snatcher”) is a crayon, another common Kinder trope. Were they [Locati] actually clearing old Kinder stock?

These three all state 'Made in the Philippines' while the Indian warrior is clearly claimed for Italy, where Locati are/were based in Magnago? Were old Kinder tools bought by a Philippine maker, or are they pure knock-offs?

American Indian; Building Bricks Crayons; Capsule Eggs; Capsule Indian; Capsule Prizes; Capsule Toys; Chocolate Teady Bears; Egg Prize; Flamingo; Giocatelli Locati; Kinder Figurines; Kinder Indian; Kinder Prize; Like Kinder; Locati Egg Prizes; Locati Indian; Locati Magnago; Made In Italy; Made In The Philippines; MI Italy; Native American Indian; Prize Eggs; Prize Teddies; Red Indian; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
A comparison with a Kinder Ostrich, Emu . . . (?) Big Bird! Kinder have done several flamingo's over the years, including one as good as- (or even the same as-) the Locati one, but here the Locati has the edge over the slightly lumpy and simpler Kinder model.

The Giocattoli Sicuri cartouche on two of the consumer-slips is the Italian toy-safety certifier, based in Laigueglia, Italy and formed in 1978.

Saturday, July 30, 2022

TITM is for Toys in the Media - Soldiers

Being a round-up of toy soldiers in advertising and the wider world which I've been stuffing in the Toys in the Media folder for a while now, both modern stuff and some vintage bits.

Bill Crider; Blackadder I; Cook Craft; Dead Soldiers; Iceing Plaques; Indigo; Peter Neville; Road Sign Sentries; Signpost Sentry; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soldier Earring; The Black Adder; Toy Soldiers; Toys In Advertising; Toys In The Media; Waterloo; White Horse Whiskey; White Hose Wiskey; Yvette Mayorga;
This is a book I found on Amazon looking for something else, I rarely read novels (other than sci-fi) so it didn't interest me particularly, not that that doesn't . . . what I mean is; it's here for the cover not the contents which may be very good, but I don't care/didn't bother to find out! Modern 'army-man' pose, sinisterly blured, off-centre and allowing the shadow to do all the talking - good stuff!

Bill Crider; Blackadder I; Cook Craft; Dead Soldiers; Iceing Plaques; Indigo; Peter Neville; Road Sign Sentries; Signpost Sentry; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soldier Earring; The Black Adder; Toy Soldiers; Toys In Advertising; Toys In The Media; Waterloo; White Horse Whiskey; White Hose Wiskey; Yvette Mayorga;
Someone in Eastern Europe (?) is commando-bombing street signs with army-men, purpose unknown (road-sign sentries?), but it must be fun looking for them if you know it's going-on in your locale!

Bill Crider; Blackadder I; Cook Craft; Dead Soldiers; Iceing Plaques; Indigo; Peter Neville; Road Sign Sentries; Signpost Sentry; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soldier Earring; The Black Adder; Toy Soldiers; Toys In Advertising; Toys In The Media; Waterloo; White Horse Whiskey; White Hose Wiskey; Yvette Mayorga;
Another book cover, this one seems to show old Stadden designs for . . . Tradition? Old Guard? Probably from the 85mm or 120mm ranges? These have been painted, but silver, chromium-plated or polished pewter versions of many pieces exist. Again; the book and its contents are of no consequence to me.

Bill Crider; Blackadder I; Cook Craft; Dead Soldiers; Iceing Plaques; Indigo; Peter Neville; Road Sign Sentries; Signpost Sentry; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soldier Earring; The Black Adder; Toy Soldiers; Toys In Advertising; Toys In The Media; Waterloo; White Horse Whiskey; White Hose Wiskey; Yvette Mayorga;
This lady has a credit attached to 'Indigo' which means little, I think she was found on Twisted Sifter or Dangerous Minds, or off the back of a link from one of them? Modern Airfix copy (Afrika Korps officer/Rommel figure) parachute-toy converted to an earring! Although "converted" is a bit highfalutin' for cutting the strings and adding a wire-loop!

Bill Crider; Blackadder I; Cook Craft; Dead Soldiers; Iceing Plaques; Indigo; Peter Neville; Road Sign Sentries; Signpost Sentry; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soldier Earring; The Black Adder; Toy Soldiers; Toys In Advertising; Toys In The Media; Waterloo; White Horse Whiskey; White Hose Wiskey; Yvette Mayorga;
A well known (in its day) advertising campaign for White Horse Whiskey included this image, in various crops, which ran in the early 1970's in the Sunday newspaper colour-supplement magazines and on street hoardings I think.

I assume the figures will be something common (and relatively cheap) such as Minifigs (Miniature Figurines) but could be home-cast or something earlier like Alberken, while the farmhouse looks like, but isn't the Airfix 'Waterloo Farmhouse', I thought it was, but close-ups reveal enough differences to rule out the plastic kit. The descriptions and sketches of the time are many and enough to build similar farmhouses!

Bill Crider; Blackadder I; Cook Craft; Dead Soldiers; Iceing Plaques; Indigo; Peter Neville; Road Sign Sentries; Signpost Sentry; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soldier Earring; The Black Adder; Toy Soldiers; Toys In Advertising; Toys In The Media; Waterloo; White Horse Whiskey; White Hose Wiskey; Yvette Mayorga;
This is an icing plaque from crafter Yvette Mayorga and is all icing, but in a frame, not on a cake! Not sure if it's an army-man or a cowboy, but again a modern Hong Kong/China figure has been skillfully modelled.

Bill Crider; Blackadder I; Cook Craft; Dead Soldiers; Iceing Plaques; Indigo; Peter Neville; Road Sign Sentries; Signpost Sentry; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Soldier Earring; The Black Adder; Toy Soldiers; Toys In Advertising; Toys In The Media; Waterloo; White Horse Whiskey; White Hose Wiskey; Yvette Mayorga;
The first series of Blackadder (The Black Adder) was the least celebrated, yet set-up all the tropes for the future works and is probably my favourite after the trenches of the last full-run. In one episode Richard IV (Brian Blessed) is war gaming 'diplomacy' with one of his lieutenants, using large (Papier-mâché, plaster?) figures on the floor, I took a few stills last time I watched it.

Then I thought where are The Avengers stills I took, only to remember I posted them ages ago!

F is for Follow-up - Model Power Train Sets

Another contribution from Brian, and another follow-up on a recent post here at Small Scale World, in this case the lose Model Power train set I purchased at a recent Sandown Park toy fair, and which has already had one follow-up!

Original article:

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2022/06/t-is-for-triffic-train-set-for-troops.html

First follow-up:

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2022/06/f-is-for-follow-up-khaki-runnings.html

114; 3455; 61242; 802 99; 88mm Anti-tank Gun; 88mm Flak Gun; Ammo Carrier; Army Train Set; Caboose Brake Van; D.O.D 113; DOD 113; Exploding Ammo Car; Exploding Car; Flat Car; Honest John; LD LMT 135300; M47 Medium Tank; Military Locomotive; Military Train Set; Missile Force; Model Power; Model Railway Set; Q-Car; Rail Gun; Rocket Launcher; SAM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tank Carrier; Train Set; Troop Carrier; US Army; US Trans Corps; US Transport Corps; Set 1068
The box is a bit shot Brian explains, but he managed to coble-up a couple of 'shop-stock' images which I've collaged into one. This is the other set I mentioned at the time, with the more modern looking diesel locomotive -  a Dial Drive GP9, a common design still in use but slowly being phased-out/coming to the end of their useful lives, despite many upgrades.

114; 3455; 61242; 802 99; 88mm Anti-tank Gun; 88mm Flak Gun; Ammo Carrier; Army Train Set; Caboose Brake Van; D.O.D 113; DOD 113; Exploding Ammo Car; Exploding Car; Flat Car; Honest John; LD LMT 135300; M47 Medium Tank; Military Locomotive; Military Train Set; Missile Force; Model Power; Model Railway Set; Q-Car; Rail Gun; Rocket Launcher; SAM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tank Carrier; Train Set; Troop Carrier; US Army; US Trans Corps; US Transport Corps; Set 1068
The contents, a larger version of the set (same product code - 1068) seems to come with buildings and stores/accessories. The other major difference with my lose set is that instead of a rocket-launching wagon, the rocket is on a six-legged (six-armed?) field-mounting . . . sextipod?

Brain also scanned the insert sheets, so here it is for people's archives;

114; 3455; 61242; 802 99; 88mm Anti-tank Gun; 88mm Flak Gun; Ammo Carrier; Army Train Set; Caboose Brake Van; D.O.D 113; DOD 113; Exploding Ammo Car; Exploding Car; Flat Car; Honest John; LD LMT 135300; M47 Medium Tank; Military Locomotive; Military Train Set; Missile Force; Model Power; Model Railway Set; Q-Car; Rail Gun; Rocket Launcher; SAM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tank Carrier; Train Set; Troop Carrier; US Army; US Trans Corps; US Transport Corps; Set 1068

114; 3455; 61242; 802 99; 88mm Anti-tank Gun; 88mm Flak Gun; Ammo Carrier; Army Train Set; Caboose Brake Van; D.O.D 113; DOD 113; Exploding Ammo Car; Exploding Car; Flat Car; Honest John; LD LMT 135300; M47 Medium Tank; Military Locomotive; Military Train Set; Missile Force; Model Power; Model Railway Set; Q-Car; Rail Gun; Rocket Launcher; SAM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tank Carrier; Train Set; Troop Carrier; US Army; US Trans Corps; US Transport Corps; Set 1068

114; 3455; 61242; 802 99; 88mm Anti-tank Gun; 88mm Flak Gun; Ammo Carrier; Army Train Set; Caboose Brake Van; D.O.D 113; DOD 113; Exploding Ammo Car; Exploding Car; Flat Car; Honest John; LD LMT 135300; M47 Medium Tank; Military Locomotive; Military Train Set; Missile Force; Model Power; Model Railway Set; Q-Car; Rail Gun; Rocket Launcher; SAM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tank Carrier; Train Set; Troop Carrier; US Army; US Trans Corps; US Transport Corps; Set 1068

114; 3455; 61242; 802 99; 88mm Anti-tank Gun; 88mm Flak Gun; Ammo Carrier; Army Train Set; Caboose Brake Van; D.O.D 113; DOD 113; Exploding Ammo Car; Exploding Car; Flat Car; Honest John; LD LMT 135300; M47 Medium Tank; Military Locomotive; Military Train Set; Missile Force; Model Power; Model Railway Set; Q-Car; Rail Gun; Rocket Launcher; SAM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tank Carrier; Train Set; Troop Carrier; US Army; US Trans Corps; US Transport Corps; Set 1068

114; 3455; 61242; 802 99; 88mm Anti-tank Gun; 88mm Flak Gun; Ammo Carrier; Army Train Set; Caboose Brake Van; D.O.D 113; DOD 113; Exploding Ammo Car; Exploding Car; Flat Car; Honest John; LD LMT 135300; M47 Medium Tank; Military Locomotive; Military Train Set; Missile Force; Model Power; Model Railway Set; Q-Car; Rail Gun; Rocket Launcher; SAM; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Tank Carrier; Train Set; Troop Carrier; US Army; US Trans Corps; US Transport Corps; Set 1068
If anyone has a spare launcher kicking around, with or without the rocket, I'd be interested. With many thanks to Brian again; another nice addition to the whole picture.

TITM is for Toys in the Media - Preiserlike Persons

I've been saving these up for a while now, and had so many they'll need breaking down into separate posts, and this one deals with the popular trope of using model railway figures to help sell us stuff. We've seen plenty of artists using these figures to great effect, but here it's all about promoting other things, although some are simply illustrating articles with a view to gabbing our attention with an eye-catching image.

I Fucking Love Science; IFLS; IFLScience; Merit Figures; Merten Figures; Miniature Creativity; Miniature Scene; Policeman; Preiser Figures; Preiser. Noch; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; The Conversation; Weight Loss;
IFLScience (formerly 'I fucking Love Science' . . . the conformist cowards!) start us with their group of people hanging around illustrating the header for a hot-linked article on Faceplant about a psychological disorder involving seeing little people who aren't there.

Me? I see idiots, everywhere, selfish, stupid, climate-change denying, nationalistic idiots but I don't believe I'm imagining them as part of a delusional condition, I just see selfish, stupid, climate-change denying, nationalistic idiots everywhere!

I Fucking Love Science; IFLS; IFLScience; Merit Figures; Merten Figures; Miniature Creativity; Miniature Scene; Policeman; Preiser Figures; Preiser. Noch; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; The Conversation; Weight Loss;
IFLScience is behind the upper image here too, while The Conversation also carried it, so not only is it clearly a stock image, it's one of the ones which comes-up first in search results for such things! Neither credits the agency/library, so I don't know who's behind it.

Both stories deal with ageing AND the negative benefits of doing so, one more generally, the other specific to those who have had a severe dose of Covid-18 (SARS-Cov2), or who are suffering from Long-Covid.

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A British policeman surveys a keyboard, I imagine a story about computer crime or on-line fraud? I didn't take a note on this one and there not much of a clue in the title, also; the figure seems to have a squared-off base, so not sure of the origin of this one, but about 1:72nd scale?

The uniform is somewhat archaic now, officers on the beat haven't dressed like this since the 1980's, but I believe it remains their academy/parade/disciplinary appointment uniform, and is the one still popularised in tourist trinkets and post-cards, while some strategically placed officers in tourist hot-spots may dress like this to feed the need of the tourists to see a 'British Bobby' on the beat!

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Very skinny looking, I think the image has been pulled on the North/South axis? The note with this one (which we may have seen before in a past 'News, Views Etc'?) says "Organisational Structures and Resourcing Hero Image" which I'm sure has you riveted to the point of searching for what must be a world-changing article! I'll move swiftly on . . . (whispers . . . I must have read it to have found it!)

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Another common trope with these (we have seen several here in the past) is money and/or financial articles, some have the figures, some have small change, the ones we're most interested in have both!

Upper shot seems to be showing Euros and Euro-cents and was from an article entitled "As part of the Unequal Democracies project", the lower image has pounds and pence Stirling, and is an Ian Johnston shot for Shutterstock, used here for research purposes

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This was an article on weight-loss drugs, I don't tend to read such money-grubbing/emotional garbage, so it must have been an add' in my feed? The purple ones might be the Wonka Works Blueberry Pie meal-in-a-pill-deal!

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This one's a bit sad! I think he may be Merit, although Preiser did do some chunky sculpts in the 1970's, all those track-gang and construction worker sets were heavier sculpting? Anyway, I suspect one of the artists who set these out in the environment (we've seen a few here already and there's more to come) didn't look after his and it got painted over. Indeed the paint may be partly the cause of the heaviness?

Because a freshly painted wall is to graffiti artists what a fresh dog-shit is to flies, it's since attracted a half-dozen or so re-paintings (original caption says seven layers), in a  rather bland pink (inner-city pub?) and will soon be no more than a blob or pimple on the wall!

F is for Follow-up - Marx Romans

Regular contributor and Loyal Reader Brian Berke from the Big Apple over there, sent this as a memory trigger (just as real life was getting frisky again here), off the back of the recent Marx Romans post, so here - in his own words - is that story, illustrated by Brian, by way of a follow-up!

Ark Models; Contribution; Converting Romans; Convertion; DZI Romans; Express Weekly; Louis Marx Toys; Marx Romans; Roman Britain; Roman Briton; Roman Soldiers; Romans On Foot; Ron Embleton; Russian Marx; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Wulf the Briton;
"A few years ago I contacted Paul Morehead [Editor of Plastic Warrior magazine] with a sketch of a pose that I remembered from the 50's.

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It was of a figure that was sold in Woolworth for 3d unpainted as part of their Romans. Back in 1957/58 I had converted with craft knife and Plasticine this figure into the character 'Wulf the Briton' then appearing in Express Weekly comic. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Express_Weekly]

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Paul identified it from a Marx catalogue and I found it reissued in Russia in a set of Romans [by DZI or now; Ark Models]. Luckily for me it was a few years ago as now I avoid anything Russian.

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Attached is the figure in contest with a Roman recreating the scene from 1958, this time using modelling putty not Plasticine."

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Many thnaks to Brian for sending this; the figure works well and  that hair is rebelliously distinctive!

I don't remember Wulf the Briton at all, yet it's drawn by one of my favorite commercial artists; Ron Embleton, of Fleetway's famous Trigan Empire strip, so I will try to catch-up, now - Google informs me - the stories have been reissued in bound volumes. I've bought the bound Trigan Empire, a present to myself with a small portion of my father's legacy a while back.

And I should note that there is no consistency throughout the blog with my choosing of colours, fonts or size of text when trying to differentiate or highlight other people's contributions or quotes!

C is for Cool Colonial Carriers!

Those of you who follow the shenanigans of WWII, will be aware as the conflict gathered momentum through the early belligerence's of the 1930's, through the 1940 invasion of France/The Low Countries campaign and into the Japanese attacks of 1941, that many nations around the world were equipped with variants of three staples . . .  

. . . the US 'Christie Suspension' fast 'cruiser' tanks, with designs from America, Russia and the Czechs, secondly, many variations and developments of the old French WWI Renault F17 infantry support tank, and thirdly; so many variations, versions and derivatives; commercial, limited-run and volume production, with one-offs/prototypes and locally produced conversions of the Vickers/Carden-Lloyd Light armoured vehicle range/s, it's impossible to count them all.

And it's two of the latter we're having a quick look at now, we've actually visited the TAT branded early version Bren-Gun carrier before here, more than once, and the TAT tag will provide with additional civilian models, and I think in the transferring of everything over the last year I saw another in the collection, so we may return to these one day, maybe as a posed 'wargame' post in the garden/environment, a carrier 'squad attack' type thing!

Bren Carrier; Bren Gun Carrier; Bren Gunner; Carden Lloyd; Carden-Lloyd Carriers; Carden-Lloyd Light Tank; Carriers; EM Bren Gun Carrier; EM Carden-Lloyd; EM Hong Kong; Hong Kong Carriers; Hong Kong Light Tank; Hong Kong Plastic Toy; Hong Kong Toy; Light Tank; Made in Hong Kong; Small Scale World; TAT Bren Gun Carrier; TAT Hong Kong; TAT Plastic Toys; Vickers Carden-Lloyd; Vickers Carriers; Vickers Light Tank;
The real development, both from the vehicles point of view, and in the researching of old plastic toys, is a turreted version of the TAT carrier, this one branded to EM, previously thought of as another brand, but as evidenced here, it must now be considered to be connected to TAT whether as supplied-to, subsidiary of or phantom-brand from- remains the mystery.

Although looking the same with a turret glued on (firmly, although it may have been meant to rotate?), it is actually a reworking of, or duplicate tool with all new features and a new rear-deck.

Bren Carrier; Bren Gun Carrier; Bren Gunner; Carden Lloyd; Carden-Lloyd Carriers; Carden-Lloyd Light Tank; Carriers; EM Bren Gun Carrier; EM Carden-Lloyd; EM Hong Kong; Hong Kong Carriers; Hong Kong Light Tank; Hong Kong Plastic Toy; Hong Kong Toy; Light Tank; Made in Hong Kong; Small Scale World; TAT Bren Gun Carrier; TAT Hong Kong; TAT Plastic Toys; Vickers Carden-Lloyd; Vickers Carriers; Vickers Light Tank;
Other differences reveal the base-plate has been redesigned to accommodate the new superstructure, the rubber tyres are a new-tread design and the marking is for the same EM (Empire Made?) similar to some of those micro-ship Minic copies (which are marked 'E' only, for Empire Toys (?) and seem to be connected to Lucky) - these carriers being based on the old Britains slush-cast lead one. But the crew-figures, push-and-go kinetic-motor (and housing) and plastic colours tie both models firmly together.

The actual turreted versions of these light-tanks didn't have open compartments at the front and usually had an extra, forth road-wheel, so it retains its fictional toy heritage, and the turret is a common re-reappearing from Hong Kong (in various sizes) on other toys and is taken from the Lone Star AFV series I think?

But if you're garden-gaming the fall of Belgium or the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies, finding a couple of these will definitely enhance the defenders forces . . . more quality TAT from Small Scale World!