B is for Best Show on Earth! 5. Historical & Ceremonial

Some of the best pieces from the show ended-up in this category, allowing for the fact that one Rocco lifeguard (Part 4) has escaped this post, along with the Trojan same and Airfix figures which were all in Part 2.

Arguably the nicest thing I got at the show, probably Japanese, but it could be French, and a celluloid-acetate, blow-mould construction, it needs a good clean, and it needs some renovation; the spear is in two parts and the long Arab jezzail musket is broken across the handgrip, while both are also bent in places - my father had two of these guns, a lovely tooled silver/steel one and a mahogany one with ivory detailing, they have, sadly, both disappeared!

 

But an absolutely exquisite piece, with much thought gone into is execution, and a nice paint-job under the dirt, and a beautiful animal; albeit with hollow legs! Cotton thread is used for the reins and camel-furniture and the musket's sling and, well, I bloody love it!

 

At some point I will carefully take it apart - where possible; musket and rider - clean it, straighten and mend the two weapons and put it all back together again . . . like one of the King's men!*

* Except I didn't swear allegiance at the TV, like some mawkishly sentimental, cap-doffing dullard of a sycophantic, fuckwitted serf, so I guess, legally, I don't have a King?

 

Pirate game playing-pieces as a sort of add-on module, I may lose the packaging at some point in the future, but not until I've scanned it on the table-top jobbie. They look like the figures from the game I found a few years ago in The Works, and while that was Musketeers, they'd all go well together, and may share a sculptor . . . on the continent?

 

As you can see, the same flowing, fine detail, overblown drapery almost, with this set having two ladies, although I'm pretty sure 'lady-pirate' is an oxymoron! The third one is not clear, due to his vast beard and mitre-hat, but I think he's a skeleton to boot, so some kind of Pirates of the Caribbean knock-off?
 

Another highlight of the show has to be these Timpo Cossacks, I had intended to try and find these on the day, and got them in the first hour or so, the seller also had the mounted in similar condition, but by then I'd already got the Britain's teepee under my belt, and felt that I'd had enough greed for one day!

 

But these are very clean, they're all basically mint bar the barrel's missing fuse, and two are in a cream white rather that snow white, which by be 'smokers home' or just a different paint, it's not clear?

My other Replicants purchase on the day was a bit of catch-up, the Naval Gun was issued a while ago, but I'm still missing a far bit of early stuff, so I'm trying to pick them all up slowly! The two pirates are original MPC, who can have the spare weapons from the reissue runner in blue plastic I got last year . . . the year before?

 

Also loving the pair on either end of this collage. Probably Argentinian, as is the one behind the British guardsman, the bag is full of bits from two renditions of Airfix's 'Connoisseur' range 54mm Hussar, which came in separate donation, they go in the 'bits zone'! I think the Guardsman is Cherilea, but might be Hilco, I can't check right now!?

 

More Guardsmen, including a novelty Erzgebirge-style tree-hanger, but as likely Chinese-made as German these days! The two 50mm's are Hong Kong piracies of Crescent, and I was totally unaware of them until Chris Smith pointed them out, by which time most had gone I think, but I grabbed the last two, and a post will be forthcoming, courtesy of Chris.

Others are a standard Hong Kong copy of Lone Star, Hilco (I think some call them Fusiliers) and a Sacul trumpeter. Two small scale, one from Christmas crackers, one from the 'Maid Marion' rack-toy set and a rubber swoppet with the wrong base!

Atlantic Gendarmerie band, remains of factory paint points to one of the early window-boxes, but they are tatty and I have the HO sets in various boxing's, so it was just a box-ticking exercise to fill a gap in the collection, and to compare with the others one day! One of each pose!

 

Kinder odds and sods! One-and-eight-ninths of Kinder Zulu's, a Kinder pirate in need of a paint-strip, bits of a Kinder samurai, legs off one from the other Samurai line and a spare ancient/medieval horse!

 

Real mixed lot as the rump of this section, I think I may have the Starlux Napoleon already, it's odd, I had the 1:72nd sculpt from the odd eastern 'character' set in various colours for years, and no other narcissistic corporals, but in the last few years lots have come in, and I have somewhere between eight and, maybe fifteen or more? I haven't been counting, and everything from 30mm PVC to 8-inch ceramics, through metal!

Character figure is from Linde I think, but it's unmarked, so may be another issuer! And I know I have all the variants of the little Hong Kong AWI gun, in both sizes, so I may try to remove the plating on this one's barrel and paint-it up. lead wargame figure and a spare head, join two early British (BMS?) FFL officers and a pair of LB cavemen to finish off.

Thanks to all for everything last month; Gareth Morgan, Michael Mordant-Smith, Peter Evans, Brian Carrick, Trevor Rudkin, Adrian Little and Andreas Dittmann.