We have looked at the larger Hong Kong copies, and mentioned the smaller ones in passing once or twice, but we've never looked at the originals, nor properly compared them all, so this is really the first proper overview of Märklin's OO/HO figure sets.
The original manuscript-notes from my old book-project, it's not been updated since . . . ooh, before 2005 at least, some of the entries are now '2nd format, second draft' with older ones being fourth draft, 1st format, so it's a while since I last edited it, and it may date from the early formation of the manuscript in 1994-7?
However, it stands up well, I suspect that item '6' (figure type) is incorrect, they will be centrifugal-moulded, poured-lead, rather than what we think of nowadays as 'die-cast', and obviously '11' (format/packaging) is wrong, they came in little boxes of ten items each, as we are about to see!
I have five! Three from 0201 (top left), and two from 0203 (top right) compared with the little piracies which turn-up from time to time. They were pirated twice, the small ones are unpainted, reduced-size polyethylene, and may date from the late 1960's-early 1970's, there were a few in my biscuit-tin, back in the day.
And, almost certainly earlier, they were 'used' as a basis for caricature, cartoonish copies (of 0201 only), in a larger size, coming out of Hong Kong in a hard polystyrene - lower right, in the 1950's, we looked at them here . . .
. . . and I needed the lady in green to complete my loose sample!
From the 1959 catalogue we have the full contents of 0201 and 0203 (sans the guy leaning on his shovel who is hidden under the overlapping corner of 0201!), with 0201 blown-up and compared with some recent newcomers, sadly, three damaged including the guy in green who was (is) the last one I need whole, for a complete loose sample, but, good things come to those who wait!
The full contents of 0202, with an 0201 lid, courtesy of Jon Attwood, I saw a few of these in the listing room at the old A4 Bath Road site of SAS Auctions many years ago, and a few weeks later they didn't go cheap, hence why I only have the five loose ones! Having been copied in neither of the pirated sets, these are the rarer 'sculpts'.
From Schiffmann's Band 12 collectors catalogue (pp.147) I can further tell you 0203 also
had a seperate label on the box, which showed the track-gang
('maintenance of way') in action, 0202 shared the label of 0201 despite
not being illustrated on it.
I almost prefer these, they take rough handling and are very colourful, although we had the better stuff from Hornby-Tri Ang, and later Wrenn, Graham Farish et al, when we were kids, they were added later, to our first carpet-railways, which were the grey, plastic-tracked, clockwork trains from Tri-Ang (and Playcraft?) with primary-coloured wagons, and these guys are just made to go with them!
So far, the silver is proving the hard-to find colour, and pose-wise, now I've found two more carrying shovels, the site-Forman/surveyor, with his map, is the 'rare' pose! There is a clear HONG KONG mark along the beam of the sleeper (tie) being carried by the duo, and all the above are to a lesser or greater extent flats or semi-flats (demi-ronde).
Right, many thanks to Jon for the boxed set's images, and I think that's done them all justice! Boxes ticked!
But we still have this similar 'mystery' set . . .
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