About Me

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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.

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

C is for Chris's Autumn Parcel - Combat Types

The 20th Century, all boring and Khaki, but where most of our Toy Soldiers, or an awful lot of them, are set! And as has become the tradition here with both Chris's and some of Peter's donations, we start with the parachute toys!

Paratroopers; to those who don't get excited by these they probably all - from post to post - look similar, but there are so many poses, so many issuers and so many variations of each that there's always something new in a lot like this, and as I see them go through evilBay, I slowly get to ID . . . some of them!

These are a bit of a mystery, they are very similar to some of the Domplastik (Heinerle/Manurba) stuff, but their's was all post-war fatigues or NATO, while this pair are apparently WWII Germans, and while there's an outside chance they could be Franco-era Spanish fascists, the belt-order equipment is very German, I wonder if they could be accessories for a large 'beach-toy' type vehicle/big-box set?

A nice group of odd's and sod's here with, reading from the top left; kit figure (quite small so may be from a Revell 1:48th AVF, two of the smaller Arco Rambo set figures and a vintage Airfix piracy from Hong Kong, followed by three Supreme's and a Polistil die-cast Russian, also taken from Airfix - his green wash has mostly washed-off!

Two larger figures, one older, on the left, a 2d generation piracy of one of Blue Box's 5" figures I think, we saw a Blue Box painted radio operator a while back I think, the other a modern GI, seen often in smaller sizes.

Like the paratroopers and the civilian equivalent of this line-up, what 'junk lot' would be complete without a bunch of vehicle drivers, motorcycle riders and passengers of various types!

The most numerous type here come from all those makers who've had a go at the truck we looked at here, and quite apart from the fact that I've still to sort them all out properly, the crew will all need to be matched-up one day too!

While the other three will be from similar vehicles, the painted one in the middle may be from those Hog Kong 'Cricket' rocket launchers, the pale-face is polystyrene and could be from a kit, the smaller chap is definitely new to me, and obviously slots into his seat with the lug on his bum!

Rather taken with these, I have a lot of these Hong Kong-produced Airfix 8th Army clones, but none with these bases, and as they are unmarked, they could - again - be from a generic 'big-box' play-set . . . which might have carried a Western branding or two? New to Blog anyway!

Four Cromoplasto figures in three poses and two paint schemes, I actually bought these from fleaBay only for it to be Chris who was the seller, so they came in the same parcel and can go here! They tend to be a love/hate thing with collectors, being semi-flat'ish and a odd vulcanised rubber, usually this brown or black, but the space figures were a silver grey, I quite like them (but what don't I like!), some are not so keen!

We've looked at these, but the bulk of my sample is from one source/batch, while there are many shades and several types, so this selection where hardly any are the same colour will definitely enhance the 'master collection'!

The smallies, various branded types in PVC-alike from Kentoy [HK] (top left), Galoob - four figures from three lines plus a civi' mechanic and Redbox's Motormax clones of Matchbox figures, with two newer Americans in polystyrene which I think might be Valiant - terrible helmets, they look like Volg's!

Finally; a pale grey polyethylene Matchbox copy and another of those Airfix 1st type piracies. Many thanks as always to Chris Smith for letting me share these with you all, off to a good start, I think!

4 comments:

Andy B said...

Nice lot- think the 1:48 figure is morel likely Aurora, rather than Revell?

Hugh Walter said...

You could be right Andy, it's one of those things I'm working on (all the early kit figures), but only by throwing everything I find in a folder for 'later'!!

H

Jan Ferris said...

You can never have enough toy soldiers.

Hugh Walter said...

You'd got to 'enough' when they fall on you and kill you!

H