An unscheduled post, in that I wasn't planning one, but an old friend came round while I was gardening, and a coffee and beer later, and quick trip over to the new flat to show him, and I've lost the light, so the gardening has been halted early and will be finished tomorrow, just hope the beer doesn't affect my spelling! Or should that be 'effect'?!!
I mentioned these the other day, they have been in Picasa for a while now, and it was clear the contents were all muddled-up when I shot them, so I'll just chuck them up as a box-ticker, and to confirm that that one the other day was also a Marx bird I think, same design, not sure anyone else did anything quite like these?
Clues on the packaging suggest at least three tranches/print-runs for the boxes, probably only one main run for production of the models, with an earlier and later issue (red or black text for the bird names) and a UK specific issue (/UK codes)?
Simple pre-coloured kits of 5-7 pieces, depicting relatively common species, and a little card with a water-colour sketch of the bird (if you want to repaint in slightly more realistically?) with a thumbnail biography on the reverse. Box-scale but maybe between 1:6th/1:8th, for the smaller tit-birds at least? The owl probably around 1:12th.
Similar 'match-box' packaging to the Zoo/Wild Animals (which explains my Hippo being in two parts!), as copied by the lesser Hong Kong sourced stuff from Shackmann, they must have been fun!
Now fully covered on Moonbase, via Paul the Antipodean, although it's probably the sixth time since Christmas one of the Paul's have used my Posts for their follow-ups! It's getting boring now guys, 23,000 toy companies to Blog from and you need to keep following me? Sign you're running out of original copy, isn't it? And it's not his work, it's everybody else's efforts! Tedious; but there's that bell-curve, in the background!
I had some crude Hong Kong (I think) small plastic bird kits a bit like these in the later 1960s. Not as well painted, crude assembly and without the twig/log bases.
ReplyDeleteSorry, can't remember any more. Don't think they were Marx.
Straight copies Andy? The birds are literally two parts, or four if they have the seperate wings [out], with a one or two part base? But they may have been the Marx, you wouldn't have been looking as a kid, and they aren't terribly well painted themselves, only the artwork is accurate!
ReplyDeleteH