S is for Show Report - London, July 2022

Can you believe it's nearly the end of September? I took these at the end of June; seems like yesterday, and the next one is already on the horizon!  I picked-up an eclectic mix of bits at the show, although I notice we've already looked at one!

Starting at the top, since all the good works of Plastic Warrior magazine in bringing the background of BR Moulds to a wider audience, it's fair to say we're all looking around for the various items on the list, and here's one; a Mountie!

He could do with a re-paint, but as one can never know if he was factory painted, small-scale commercial painted or home moulded/painted (his intended fate), it's better to leave him 'as found', I think!

Various purchases during the course of the day, on the left, two celluloid guards from Japan, a probably French ostrich in an unusual pose, one of the standers-by from the Gemodels humpty Dumpty nursery-rhyme vignette and six of the figures which I think come from Monaco, common in France, but I seem to recall they were poly-something, or something-poly from Monaco? Copies of Crescent and MPC with another iteration of 'that' kneeling cowboy pose!

On the right a handful of bits from Adrian Little of Mercator Trading, the lucky-bag Indian (top) is a fantastic range of marbled colours, three bubble-gum premiums and a lead pilot below him and some oddments on the bottom row.

We saw the Supreme contents of the big-bag a while ago here, while we're not talking about the card at the bottom, right-now; inhuman bunch'o bass'turds, we'll return to them when they return to the family of civilised countries, while the Spanish card holds a few Comansi space figures.

I watched someone else almost buy it several times over the course of the afternoon before putting it out of its "will'ee-won't'ee" misery and taking it home myself! Branded to the Battle of the Planets license, it contains the standard, painted-era OVNI ('UFO') space figures.

Speaking of Comansi, someone had a heap of them and I kept going back and getting a few more and a few more until I had a shed-load! Can't remember if it was Gareth or Steve, but they were reasonable on the day! Here we have most of the Italian Infantry from at least four batches, mid-life (thin, ridged-edge bases, factory paint), A German (top right, earlier with a flat base) and a Brit'.

There were a bunch of US troops too, but they will get their own post shortly. These are 'real' toy soldiers in that they are largish, daft poses, quite crude sculpting and wacky weapons in wacky colours, but that makes them more fun, not less!

Nice mix here, again, from around both halls I think, can't remember if the astronauts came from Adrian or somewhere else? But both have still got their nice green faces and their helmets so a very useful addition to that sample, I only need a good robot now, I think?

In the same image; a nice Merten Indian tied to a tree, a French Indian and similar C20th infantryman, prone, a HK copy of a Timpo bear, a French (?) circus horse and the Black Chine pirate from the Isle of Wight.

The Dragon is a tiny bendy about 4cm, all-in, probably from a gum-ball machine's prize capsule, while above him are four really nice figures; a Spanish Dancer and a Spanish bullfighter, who is not from the 'usual suspects' but a slightly smaller, hard 'styrene tourist trinket I've not seen before?

Next to him is a slush-cast Napoleon, also touristy, who has - as his honour-guard - the Babes In Toyland pose from Marx I was missing when we looked at them recently, so a nice box-ticker - dubbed Valiant or Hooligan! I'll call him Bob! I don't know if I have two now? Rather lost track of them!

These were definitely from Adrian, and I think he obtained them the same day I got my original set, about 15/20 years ago, so I know how cheap he let me have them for and thank him. It's a full set of the Raja ice-cream premiums from Regimento ("The Regiment"), but a cleaner sample of the red/blue than mine, which I specifically chose for the other colour figures.

With a couple more 'other' coloured ones which came in from Chris Smith a while back and another from a show, it means I now have a really nice sample of these. Below them is one of those dress-up/play hunting-horn Indian 'riders'.

On the left we have more premiums, Flintstones and some Gem 'popsters' . . . I can't stop buying them, as there's so many colours and I've had enough luck with drum sets, so aim to make up several whole bands!

To the right more French production, Brian explained about Harry's box the other day, and I managed to get my mitts in it before everything had been hoovered-up, among which were these - some of the other French stuff, mentioned above, came from the same source.

The named Indians are what they are, while the knight is a copy of someone else's figure I think, but the two Zouave types are early SEGOM and a really nice find, we looked at the small scale back at the beginning of the blog, and I knew of both larger versions and the metal production, but I had no idea these existed in plastic, obviously the one on the right is missing a standard or flag and pole.