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.

Saturday, December 16, 2023

K is for Knights in Armour, FREE! From Kellogg's

So, the other scan from Brian Berke in NY, I had hoped to shoot the set yesterday, but sadly my dealer-fixer/pusher-man (Mr John Begg!) failed me, but he had the missing archer, and between what he had, what I'd shot, and a quick paint-stripping last night, we can see the whole from the sum of its parts, because it's all a bit bitty, and was shot in several batches and collaged likewise, I'll load everything, in whatever order Blogger fancies, move Brian's image to the top and waffle down through them!

The advertisement - in Comet again, this time a full-page ad' rather than the quarter-page I cropped-out for the Guards the other day, while the Guards were simply unpainted Kellogg's-marked Crescent figures (as were the Robin Hood, natural 'enemies' to this set), in the case of these knights, they were presented to Kellogg's in new colours, a powder-blue and creamy/ivory off-white.
 
The Crescent originals (weird miss-mould/experimental (cake candle-holder?) figure to the left) were in a metallic silver, which could vary to the gold'ish hue on the right here, the left-hand figure being the common shade.
 
With the two shades of Kellogg's premiums being here, I guess, that while in the Crescent inventory/on the shop shelf, the Robin Hood could provide a good foil for the silver knights, Kellogg's wanted the scions of late-Empire to hone their belligerent aggressivity over the breakfast table, by providing two distinct 'sides'!
 
Note also the different plume on the blue guy, Crescent often show marked sculpt differences between cavities, which I guess makes them a little more collectable? We've seen similar differences with the American Indians, and with bases. Indeed, 'Bluey' has a smaller base too!
 
Three Kellogg's painted at home, the archer was one I didn't have here, and we see, under the paint, two creams and a blue. Some years ago, possibly actually nearly two decades ago, I posted the small scale (Giant et al) versions of the axe-man in One Inch Warrior magazine, with derivatives, and it's quite a common pose, with two from Airfix, and both Italeri/Zvezda and Accurate/Revell managing similar sculpts, one via Elastolin!
 
Two Crescent originals, also home repaints, if the Sheriff of Nott's is in the Robin Hood set, can we make the chap on the right King John, or Gwuidergisbourne? I jolly-well think we can; they're ours to do what we want with!
 
I had these four also home-painted, but necessity dictated they lost their paint yesterday evening, so in the self-seal jar they went with a slop of bleach, and . . . after a few dozen shakes, over a few hours, a quick scrub and some tooth-pick work, to get the silver residue out of the armour-plate's corners, later . . . four pristine Kellogg's medievals!
 
This chap was shot earlier in the month as my only blue example here, I'm sure I've a few more in storage, but I'm not sure if I have all of them, in either colour, or between both colours, they are not as common as the Guards, or the Robin Hood figures. 
 
So I think, one way or t'other, that's four of them in blue, five in cream and all six overall, with a few silver Crescents! Kellogg's also carried the Wild West from Crescent, but they were in the same colour (Indians) and some of the colours (Cowboys) of Crescent's own output, so it's only getting the base-mark, with these Knights, it's more interesting!
 
Thanks to Brian for the scan and the nudge, to John finding what he could at short notice, and letting me shoot them, and to Sainsbury's for fast acting bleach!
 
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Added the next day!

Apropos the comments below, the 'Crusader' axe-man has quite some company, in small scale; in the upper shot we have from the left -
 
Airfix Sheriff's man, Italeri/Zvezda (behind) Giant knight, Giant Mongol, Accurate/Revell (behind) and Airfix Ancient Briton.
 
and the lower shot is - 

Giant, Giant, post-Giant 'rock on a pole' copy, Airfix, Airfix, Accurate, Italeri, with the swordsman from Airfix's Ancient Britons missing from both shots, he's very similar to the Sheriff's man. Quality is poor as they are scans of old photographs. I suspect there will be an older 'first' version, maybe a Courney or one of the earlier French plastics, can you think of another candidate?

While I found this in the 'junk folders', I must get better at checking them, there's tons of stuff down there in Picasa's 1951! I think these were a 2013 shoot, and had probably come in with that year's Plastic Warrior show plunder, or the 'big-purchase' from Southsea, a year or two earlier, which really completed the first-lap of my other-scales collecting? Original paint, silver plastic, Crescent-marked. Note the 'cavity variation' in the half-moon of chain-mail over the crotch of the upper pair, much finer on the right-hand figure.

The irony is, I know I have several archers, yet he's ended-up the least represented in this post! Another one who's similar to an Airfix Sheriff's set pose.

6 comments:

JohnM said...

Nice info and pictures Hugh. I noticed that the "Squire" and the "Crusader" figures have remarkably similar poses to two figures in the Airfix Sheriff of Nottingham set. Possibly the same sculptor ? Who do you think sculpted these ? Thanks for posting.

tradgardmastare said...

I recall some of these from sixties cereal packets with great affection. Almost better than the mini subs that rose and fell having been filled with baking soda.

Hugh Walter said...

Hi John, They were either desinged by George Mustgrave (Gemodels, Festival, Herald etc...) or the Younger of the Eagle brothers, I'm not sure they shoud be the latter, but fit so well with the Robin Hood? Or are they a bit hevier, he was a good pupil obviously!

I think the similarities are just a sign of the times, there was copying, and piracy, and Airfix do seem to have indulged a bit? As far as I know Musgrave never worked for Airfix. The Crusader 'axe-man' may have his origians in metal, I bet there's a little Courtney or two in similar pose? And it's found all over, Airfix have him in the Sheriff set, and with a sword in the Ancient Britons! I'll try to find old picture and add it at the bottom of the post.

Cheers Tradgardmastare, if you have the time to kill, clicking the 'Submarine' tag will get you most of them!

H

Hugh Walter said...

Designed! Desinged sounds, at least, painful!

H

JohnM said...

Hey Hugh ! Brilliant. Thanks for taking the time to update with the added pictures of the axe-wielding look-alikes :-) Looking at my Sheriff of Nottingham figures again you're right, a few more similar pose candidates in there too. Cheers, John

Hugh Walter said...

Glad to help John! I just happened to have them kicking about!

H