About Me

My photo
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.

Monday, December 19, 2022

B is for Biggies - Art's Five Inch Figures

So, the reason I asked you to note the mostly undecorated Joseph with his touches of gold (and the brown 'wash' cloak), in the earlier post, was because he was channeling this whole set, which at 150mm is the biggest of the Art Plastics sets I've found so far. This one an import (into the United States) by Similegno;

3 Kings; 3 Wise Men; 5 Inch Figures; Angelic Hymn; Art Hong Kong; Art Nativity Set; Art Toys; Birth of Christ; Birthdays; China; Creche; Creshe; Crib Toy; Five Inch Figures; Gloria in excelsis Deo; Gold Decorated; Greater Doxology; Hymn of the Angels; Jesus Christ; Joseph The Carpenter; Krip; Krippen; Little Baby Jesus; Made in Hong Kong; Mary & Joseph; Mary Mother of God; Nativity; Nativity Crib; Nativity Set; Noel; Similegno Imports; Similegno Nativity Set; Three Kings; Three Wise Men;
Similegno seem to be a smaller version of somebody like Shackman, with other nativitie sets and household goods or novelties under their brand. A 12 piece set, which - as I've said - seems to be the average, you can go as low as 8, or upwards beyound 15, the Santons and Fontanini 'ranges' being almost limitless in the former case and well over 40-items in the latter's 35/40mm and 54/60mm lines.

3 Kings; 3 Wise Men; 5 Inch Figures; Angelic Hymn; Art Hong Kong; Art Nativity Set; Art Toys; Birth of Christ; Birthdays; China; Creche; Creshe; Crib Toy; Five Inch Figures; Gloria in excelsis Deo; Gold Decorated; Greater Doxology; Hymn of the Angels; Jesus Christ; Joseph The Carpenter; Krip; Krippen; Little Baby Jesus; Made in Hong Kong; Mary & Joseph; Mary Mother of God; Nativity; Nativity Crib; Nativity Set; Noel; Similegno Imports; Similegno Nativity Set; Three Kings; Three Wise Men;
Mentioning Fontanini, we have another of their shepherd sculpts in this set, albeit finessed I think, either by Art, or someone in-between? Also, note that at this size we get a separate Jesus, still in a rather truncated 'Moses basket', but the two items counting as one-piece for the total.

Produced in a faux ivory or 'Ivorene' plastic with simple gold highlights, mostly to clothing hems and the Wise Men's presents, the only colour is a semi-transparent/smokey-opaque red 'brick' of plastic making-up Joseph's (very anachronistic - medieval or post medieval) storm-lantern, which is a tied-in separate piece.

3 Kings; 3 Wise Men; 5 Inch Figures; Angelic Hymn; Art Hong Kong; Art Nativity Set; Art Toys; Birth of Christ; Birthdays; China; Creche; Creshe; Crib Toy; Five Inch Figures; Gloria in excelsis Deo; Gold Decorated; Greater Doxology; Hymn of the Angels; Jesus Christ; Joseph The Carpenter; Krip; Krippen; Little Baby Jesus; Made in Hong Kong; Mary & Joseph; Mary Mother of God; Nativity; Nativity Crib; Nativity Set; Noel; Similegno Imports; Similegno Nativity Set; Three Kings; Three Wise Men;
And these too have the paper/card seal over the hollowed-out bases, here; the DOnkey's, with close-ups of the shepherd and little baby Jesus . . . it's his official Birthday in a week!

If you remember last year's post, there are many copies of Art Plastics (themselves pirates) in the smaller sizes, and I'm sure over time copies of the larger (60/70mm) ones will turn-up too, but whether at this more extreme size I'm not so sure?

No comments: