H is for How They Come In - November Sandown Park - Transport Toys

I seemed to end up with a lot of wheeled toys at the last Sandown, which isn't that odd, as - for the longest time - it was primarily a die-cast and model-railway show, albeit now groaning under the weight of glossy new production for kidults and a ton and a half of Lego, Barbie and action-figures/LRG's, but I usually get the odd vessel or vintage plane, however the last show only produced a clean-sheet of wheels & tracks, with a post's-worth of land-based stuff!

I think this is APS-Politoys, but possibly via France where someone else carried it, it's in good nick, but missing it's five crew, however you will have seen loose crew going through the Blog over the years, from show-grabs, Chris, Peter, Michael et al., or the odd charity lot, so I'm sure I can crew-it-up, either with the Texas plug-foot types standing, fighting, slightly dancing-loons, or a fuller complement (3) of the plug-arse seated pose, of which there was one in Chris's last donation I think. Two of the locatinn holes are in the deck/well so will need standing/kneeling figures.

It's also quite a good model, until you get to the rear ramp - which is totally fictitious - and then realise it's the rocking-horse shit-rare 4x4 hens-teeth model, never photographed in the wild! There will need to be some hot-water action around the windscreen, which will probably require a balsawood former to hold everything in shape as the water is poured and allowed to cool?

A bag of small-scale AFV's also came home with me, but I can't now remember if Adrian gave them to me, or if he gave me some and I bought the others, but thanks to him anyway, and by maker we have a Kleeware copy of the smaller Pyro wrecker-truck, attending two late-production Beeju army lorries, one each of bonneted and cab-over-engine design, and both lacking their bodies.

However, I have a tub of smashed-up Beeju somewhere, where I know the problem is mostly broke chassis, missig wheels or cracked cabs, so I will have bodies for these in the fullness of time, and they are very useful additions.

While this lot of Tudor Rose gives me my first 'beetle' lorry with no marks or paint, all my others having either a painted roof and/or thermal-printed red cross or allied star, this one is as clean as a polished whistle! The 'Amphijeep' is also a good'un, albeit missing the windscreen but having a good aerial and both crew not mucked-about with. The Willy's is the same, just needs a windscreen off a bashed donor and I have a tub of broken TR's as well!

This was lovely, and quite cheap, it's 'only' Hong Kong, and unbranded at that, but look at the little figure! It's got a little figure with swivel-arms . . . get in! It's also in remarkable condition for one that's had so much play nearly all the silver paint's worn off the track-guards

It's almost a space-bulldozer with that light-up engine-bay and 'glass' bonnet! Lovely thing, but the tracks are thin and saggy, although still supple, so something will need to be done about them; involving old inner-tube I suspect! I have a selection of such tubing, for such jobs, but it might be easier to place tyres cut from cricket-bat handle rubbers over the wheels, to grip the insides of the track?

A small lot of Paramount farm were also procured for a few shekels, a rather grubby tractor from one seller and the rest from another, I had thought the trailer was new, but I think it's the standard one in FIM-2, of which I've only had the rear axle for years!

The tractors after cleaning! Actually I only had to clean the pale-blue one and I can't castigate whichever kid 'coloured it in' with Biro, as I have several memories of doing likewise as a small boy once I'd discovered that Biros worked on plastic! Note how the colour of the background (two right-hand images) totally changes the camera's view of the colour of the tractor!

Close-up's of the new trailer, the other one was a tipping model which we looked at here, thirteen-years ago, and a rather similar view of the rake-harrow I'm afraid, both clearly marked Paramount. There is a load of stuff about the European angle in the long queue, but it came in while everything else was happening and I've done little with it and lost touch with the contributor, but it'll all come out in the wash!

I did ask a few members of the old guard if they had a brand for this, and they didn't, so any help gratefully appreciated, I wonder if it might be Easter European, both because it's quite a heavy moulding, although nicely done, the single moulding of wheels and axle and also the silver plastic, but whoever made it, it's a perfect 54mm piece with a nice selection of accessories.

Pretty sure it came from Steve Vickers who had several I think, and he's on feebleBay as stevevickers if I recall matters correctly, so if you want one; try dropping him an eMail over there.

Marx AWI - cheers J - http://marxwildwest.com/revolutionary%20war/revwar3.html#cannons

The rest! The three multi-wheeled AFV's are from the 'robots' we had from Chris a year or two ago, which subsequently turned-out to be Bi-Trons,(Pikit Toys in the UK, Gordy in the 'States I think) the turrets of the near micro-armour can be attached to the stud-holes in the backs of the Robots/armour-suits. There is now a full set in the queue, and elements seem to be knocking-off Tomy-Takara's Votoms which we looked at here; geddit - bi-tron/vo-tom!

To their right are two shots of what must be an air-force/airfield tug-tractor, but by whom? Around 1:48th scale, Revell often had ground accessories in their kits (bomb trolleys, missile trolleys, crew-ladders and the like), so did Aurora (who also liked bright-colored plastic), while Monogram should join a list with both of them in it! But importantly - when buying this type of item - it's been put together well with no glue smears or obvious missing/broken/left-off parts.

Final shot is of a Wiking tractor (I think; it's been off to storage awhile ago without me taking notes . . . doh!) and a small truck, which is probably a German premium from Siku, Manurba or similar, but unbranded by whichever food, washing powder or tobacco company actually issued it.