F is for Follow-up and Fervent, Faithful Flag-waving, Fifes & Drums!

I think I mentioned back in the autumn, or possibly during Rack Toy Month that one of my bad habits is to post something, then, after I've alerted/reminded you all of them/the subject, go off to evilBay and see what's [still] there! I did it after the AWI post the other day, and managed to find a charity lot (yellow & blue ribbon icon) with six sets of cake decorations!

Among which were these three, so I grabbed the lot (cheap, buy-it-now) and they got here a couple of days ago. It's some of the other Sprit of '76 branded stuff, with the figures I described the other day as "...short-fat-kid caricatures", here - on the left - a patriotic flag waving lady-girl and what is their fifth drummer - within the line. On the right we have patriotically-dressed kissin' cousin's!

Flag lady could double as a pencil top, while the seat of the kissing pair is of more interest, as I have suggested for years that the based-set of Airfix piracies are by Lik Be, due to the similarity of the bases to both the marked robot/alien types and the late set of two astronauts and flag with lunar lander, or at least (as it was in One Inch Warrior magazine I think, so years ago and 'LP') that the maker of the astronauts was the same as the maker of the Airfix Washington's Army pirates . . .

. . . and here, courtesy of Bill B's catalogue is the same bench-settee/love-seat, now providing a place of repose for an elderly couple, in a Lik Be trade advertisement. So I get to use the 'Told you so' tag which annoys some people; but it's the reason I use it!

Clearly LiK Be were supplying (among 'ethylene monsters, 'styrene space stuff and 'funimals' in both polymers) a lot of the wishy-washy white polystyrene plastic cake decorations carried by many brands both sides of the pond.

While these might be by another maker and are obviously another brand, the reverse of the card says "made and packed in Hong Kong", so Emilie is probably a pseudonym for dozens of outworkers!

I'm guessing we have Betsy and Abe here! But the same over-sentimentalised 'kidults', this time with just the big heads, and the painting of the Lincoln-alike hasn't reached the 'stars & stripes' excesses of the Spirit figures!