I is for International Rescue

Shot these on Mercator Trading's stall at Sandown the other day, purely as eye-candy. we looked at them years ago, but they were sitting there, so why not? The character figures from Thunderbirds, who were added to the existing Ovni ('UFO') line from Comansi at some point.

 

Bones and the Boss are obvious, but as far as the brothers go, it's a case of what colour you paint the sash, I think! There may be some clues for the more dedicated aficionados, but I'm only a casual, childhood-nostalgia type fan!

Seen with a couple of the smaller cereal premiums from Kellogg's, which also got issued by Tom Smith in a set of Thunderbirds Christmas crackers. You can find them in a more stable polyethylene, but these are more of the soft PVC ones, which were kicking about in large numbers a few years ago, and tend to get squished in the pack.

Home painted, we have Bones and Lady Penelope, although different sizes, both sets get across the woodenness of puppets quite well I think? That's it, just box-ticking some eye-candy!

R is for Round-up of Rebellious Rascals

Well, that was bad, wait all year and then forget ITLAPD! Some years Brian reminds me, but this year, despite sometimes thinking it's the 16th and alerting myself, nothing happened, hay-ho! It does mean that everything in the other folder is going to have to be in this post, and having only just got back from work, yawing like a hippo, I'll have to work through to get it done, I'll post before midnight, and then finish the blurb!

Right, these are vaguely in chronological order, with this shot picked off feebleBay soon after last year's ITLAPD, and shows what I think is the Pressman rack-toy as bought in from Rado/Ri-Toys, or more likely; Hing Fat?

 

Interesting because apart from the ship which has been known to be Pressman since it appeared in Plastic Warrior magazine (I think) a couple of decades ago (mid 1990's ?), also contains copies of the Marx 54mm pirates, two little 'jolly boats' and the totem pole which I think is Hing Fat?

 

The Toy Major figures which we've seen on past Pirate Day's, here a complete set of originals, which actually came in more recently, but got collaged with the painted one, who came in last year, and seems to be factory-painted?

 

Their enemy were the standard Toy Major skeleton army, who are slightly Egyptian in fashion, and because it was a large sample, I managed to bend a couple of arms (lower image) to produce easy pose variations!

 

A couple of ELC figures which came in via a charity shop purchase I think, they might have been in a donation from Brian or Jin Attwood? Thanks to both for all their help, but anyway, however they arrived, this pair joins a growing sample of the larger vinyl figures.

These are also a bit bigger, at 70mm and as Tim Mee, might be the European production as I suspect they, also, are factory painted, but I might be wrong, decent home painting could produce the same results, what I like is that it's three of the poses who, instead of a base get a tripod arrangement by dint of the accessory they are resting on the ground!

Hong Kong copies of the 'cutsie' child-pirates from Fontanini, can't remember where these came from, but I suspect a charity shop's White Elephant shelf? Also big, they are around 120mm.

I think these were in some show-plunder, or a donation, and hidden in whatever posts I did at the time, in order to have them fill this post's folder, when I didn't know how this would pan out. From the left we have one of the Premium pirates, a Kinder (and probably CGGC-Grisoni) swoppet type, marked CAPTAIN PEG LEG in English on the base underside and another Blackgang Chine memento from the Isle of Weight.

Another one I pulled from feeBay, although now I know it exists I will look out for one, however if I remember rightly, this came with a stupid doll, and a prohibitive BIN/Postage total! Wilton's pirate ship cake decoration, I think it's meant to go with those crude copies of Marx we've looked at before and which are also below?

This image is courtesy of Ray the Pirate! And shows his Weet-Bix Crazy Pirates, seen before thanks to Glenn Sibbald but always nice to have more images and/or different colours

Like the Toy Major, some of these have been moved around to be brought together, but the six fatties came in with a Charity-shop lot I think, and while we have seen one or two, on ITLAPD, in this type of round-up/odds-n-sods post, it's the first time I've had all six together. A bit cartoony, but they are non-articulated solids, so have a place! I'm pretty sure it's the two middle ones who are 'new to Blog'?

And then I found these on Amazon! They go with the ship which in previous years has had two different pairs of pirates (also seen here at Small Scale World), but which is now also offering a six-count? I doubt they rushed-off and got two new ones sculpted, so they must have always been available in other sales-territories? Usually found as generics or phantom brands.

Papo 50mm mini which appeared at some point, I honestly can't remember where/when or even if 'who', so thanks again to everyone who send us stuff, he just got shot and put away! It's a set I've not actually bought, but seem to have picked-up about half of the figures from now!

Another internet image, it's the Hong Kong copies of Marx (as mentioned above), and is branded to Pioneer Products of Florida AND Canada! They are also the figures Jamie Delson was on about here;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2024/04/t-is-for-toys-in-media-part-somethingth.html

 

and which we looked at here;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2022/09/c-is-for-colourful-cake-corsairs.html

 

I've just deleted two images which three of you saw! Needs more research (I've lost the notes) and more, better blurb! These are a small sample of Zizzle's roughly 54/60mm solids which I bought because they were going cheap and couldn't remember which one/s I needed, I think in the end it was either the second one, or none! But it's another image!

Turning our backs on International Talk Like a Pirate Day, because I got there too late for entry, this is a life-size fibreglass model, from the rear! To be found at the Funland Amusement Park on Hayling Island, an otherwise disappointing visit; most of the tourist/gift shops which used to be there have gone, and I mean bulldozed in favour of yuppie-flats built to look like cruise ships! You know the things, all angled-fronts, curved baloneys and coloured metalwork, lots of glass, and palm-planters everywhere; clichéd Barbie architecture! It was pretty-much the same when I visited Bognor Regis a week or so later.

 

The figure is reminding me of the Corsican pirate of my friend Louise;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2019/09/c-is-for-corsican-corsair-from-corsica.html

 

I wonder how many of these there are around the world, like the life-size zoo animals and birds, the any-size dinosaurs and the oversized nutcrackers, there must be, or have been several manufacturers over the years, if you know of any or encounter one, sent a piccy to the Blog, and we'll do a round-up of them one day.

So, an even worse ITLAPD than two years ago, it should have been several posts, but that's the way it hangs at the moment, hopefully it will be better from next year, but I've been saying that for several years, and it's all still rather in the air! And there's no point closing with pirate-talk it's well after midnight here, in fact it's gone 1am, but hay ho, onwards and upwards!

P is for Poirate Poirates!

Ahaaaaaa, me'arties! It be that toime o'year again, and Oi be darn forgot this mornin' when Oi be spending a while doin' another post altogether! Oi guess Oi'l be holdin' back the post which har' already bin' held-back o're several years, but if Oi 'ave toime tonight, will be gettin' us a couple o'posts out, well, this'un 'ere, and the usual round-up o'poiratey stuff laters!

 

From the header card, we can see these are by the same people who are behind the knights which are everywhere on feeBay and Amazon these days, and which we saw here a while ago, which may mean different sets with different contents will turn up, but this was the only one I found, with twenty figures, a timber 'brig' and some piratey accessories.

 

They are in fact double pirates, because as well as being pirates, they are copies of the 2015 Blue Box pirates, and pretty poor pirates at that with the lady pirate reduced to a more androgyne character, with a flatter chest!

The pirates are balanced with the same five skeleton pirates as the Blue Box set, and there's not much to add; five of each colour in each group for the twenty-figure count, and slightly under scale, compatible with the equally sub-copied Toy Major ones.

 

Accessories; a pair each of camp-fires and barrels, open at one end, and two sizes of treasure chest, both with a removable insert, the smaller looking like it's filled with chocolate covered cookies from US army rations! A couple of very useful cheval de frise barricades are also included.

There's also a four - identical - part timber stockade/cage, where miscreant pirates can be left to do their chockey! The Blue Box sets had a rather daft cube, so this is actually more realistic, if rather easier to climb out of! That's it, just a quicky, current rack toy, out there now, and very useful if you missed-out on the briefly available Blue Box original.

E is for Eclectic!

Around the same time as Chris Smith's parcel, i.e., a few weeks before the Plastic Warrior show, the third 'spring break' was a parcel from Peter Evans, which has been in the queue for ages, and I'm happy to thank him now and share the contents with the rest of you.

I think we've since seen this BJ Toys set, because either Peter gave me another or I grabbed one, out and about, but either way it got Blogged, but that means I can open one and inspect the two Matchbox-clone figures more closely another day!

 

A pull-back-and-go, slightly 'deform' T62 type with a whacky paint-job, possibly from a larger set, but could equally be an open-carton shelf-pick type of thing, you do still find them occasionally in general/discount stores or on market stalls?

 

I think we've seen these before in a set of four, but nice to be reminded than even in the modern derth of decent rack-toy war toys, there are still a few gems to be uncovered, and a Tiger and StuG (albeit with identical running gear) are a nice diversion.

 

Green-eyed monster! There is a plan, one day, for a decent overview of 'King Kong's; we have seen a few here over the years, but there's probably over a dozen in the pile,. This very-male one is particularly mentionable, being neither the common 'Rubber Jiggler' silicone or latex, nor the semi-rigid PVC, you might otherwise expect, but is actually a rather solid lump of polyethylene . . . "You could 'av someone's eye out with that!"

 

Impro Dinosaurs, I have a tub of these and have meant to Blog them, but I think I'm still waiting on the rarest moulding, or only got one as they were going back into storage (?), but no matter, there's plenty about them on the Wibbly Wobbly Way, and the duck-bill here is another of the less common sculpts I think?

 

Paint variations of Pterodactyl, I used to kind-of ignore them, but in the last year or so, particularly with the donations from Jon Attwood, and a few Charity Shop buys, there have been quite a few come in, with copies and variations like these, so there may be an overview-post in the Blog's future as they are almost more amazing than normal dinosaurs . . . the world had flying lizards bigger that fridges, or even family cars, which could swoop down and pierce your spine with a four, six or eight-foot beak!

 

Potato, Onion, Apple

Carrot, Cucumber, Aubergine-Brinjal-Zuccini

 

Blackberry, Apple, Pineapple

Two Bananas and an Orange

A pair of Apples and a Pear

 

These have been given several names over the years, now collectively known as 'Munch Bunch', they were also sold as 'Mr. Fruity', 'Fruit & Veg' etc. Pencil tops, there are several versions, variants, piracies and issues, with examples of several seen above, you sometimes found them with plug-in cowboy hats (which unethical sellers would/will happily use on swoppet figures), plug-in greenery, painted, integral greenery or no 'top knot' decoration, even some with small charm-loops, and as you can see above, larger and smaller versions.

They are another thing destined to get a proper in-depth treatment here one day, and of which, again, there is plenty to read about them, online already. I think we got ours one year in a Christmas stocking, maybe three each, and we called them Pineapple Pol (and his mates), but I think that may have come from Mum, and be referencing the famous musical, which was big when she was younger? Note, the pear has lost its [her?] legs.

They are always waving with one hand, with the other arm down, often wearing clown shoes, Cuban heels or Dutch clogs and always wearing gloves. Some are clearly female (long lashes!), and the Banana is always top-knot'less, unless he has a loop, due to his starting to peel! And once you have a big collection, there are a couple which are hard to name as being obvious fruits or vegetables!

 

The difference between an apple and a tomato is a moot-point, but the tomato tends to full roundness. And please note, there are millions of them out there, so they are mostly hideously overpriced on evilBay!

A bunch of bits, they all have their place, with tubs of assorted traffic cones, road signs, general signs, two boxes of tentage and etcetera! Likewise, the tree zone has been growing for about 47-years! I think the above fir is a cake decoration, and the gun is from early rack-toys.

I think we've now seen the set the middle chap is taken from, or it's in the queue, but a loose sample is always useful, and the set of mechanics may have been ID'd in a shelfie, or, again, be in the queue, all good stuff!

Vinyl! Two Smurfs, an astronaut, a Gormiti Egyptian (?) and a Kinder Santa, join a little lady in a princess suit, who I did find on that there Interweb the other day, but I've lost the reference, she's a current kid's TV character.

Post-Giant mouldings of Wild West foot figures, an Airfix kit figure of an RAF ground crew firefighter, who - unlike the refueling set figures - was not later issued in the soft polyethylene figure set, and two piggy-wiggies! The smaller from Hong Kong, the larger, an early Britains with a damaged tail.

A box of Airfix HO-OO, painted and with some damage, because everything was going to storage by that point, they will be cleaned and sorted another day, a little project on the back-burner! Thanks to Peter for all these, it's all grist to the mill, always something useful, or Blogable, and there's a bit of everything above!

K is for Kanhȗ's Kung-Fu Killers!

Picked these up the other day, more erasers! These Kanhȗ erasers though, are pretty good 54mm human figures, an excellent addition to the collection, and will make a fine foil to the larger Power Ranger capsule and cereal premium toys, we've looked at previously here.

 

Two per pack, so you can get them fighting from the off! Something seems to have been lost in translation with 'Yosoken' probably being Yoseikan budō, a form of combined martial art, and 'Shorinken' probably meaning Shuriken, or fighting stars, those two being on the fronts of the cards, I didn't pursue the exercise with the five on the back! Equally, with the seven black & white sketches not resembling the four figures, it could be a set in excess of 12 sculpts?

B is for Boxed Bersaglieri!

I mentioned - back in Rack Toy Month - that Brian Berke had been to Italy and sent us a bunch of stuff, and now the show reports are out of the way, I'll be getting it up here, alongside my 60th Birthday Present from Adrian, back in the spring, the rest of the London visit stuff, and, and, and . . . it's never ending, and ever-growing, but Thanks to Brian for these, he sent me so much imagery, that it's pretty self-explanatory, leaving me not much to add, and I've broken them down into sections.

These were covered somewhere else, not that long ago, and I can't remember where? I have checked the blogs I thought they might be on, but couldn't find them, and they may have been on a Faceplant group/page, so apologies if it's you, do please put a link in the comments as I think you showed different figures?

 

Current-stroke-new production, from Giochi Preziosi, these figurines are larger than average, and depict the modern Italian armed forces, with three Bersagleri (light infantry), three Alpini, two Para's and an airmobile infantryman, a Special Forces 'insurgent' or infiltrator, and a 'Lagunare' which Google is translating as lagoon, so Marine or Dragoon (light cavalry), or possibly 'Peacekeeper', as lagoons are calm, and he's wearing a blue beret?

Packaging

Brain selected the Bersaglieri officer and trumpeter, and you can see they are attractively packaged in single figure window-boxes, which should keep even larger figures within the budget of a pocket-money collector, and also, obviously, makes them usefully touristy, in size - those luggage limits are getting serious!

 

Officer

 

A lovely figure and an unusual subject for those more used to WWII Allies and Germans, he's posed in the distinctive jogging run employed by the corps, unlike our own light infantry who do a short-stride, faster march, and wears the feathered Vaira headdress. He's a very serious-looking chap!

 

Bugler

 

The Bersaglieri are famous both for their brass bands and for their specific bugle bands, which hark back to the days when many commands were passed by bugle, most have now been disbanded, but one is retained and appears regularly on ceremonial occasions.

 

All the bugle calls can be found at the bottom of the Wikipedia page!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bersaglieri

You can see the figures are around 90-100mm, and seem to be manufactured in a modern PVC-replacement polymer, probably of the semi-rigid Papo/Schliech type?

 

Combined Shots

 

Again, you can see for yourselves how each figurine comes with an integral landscaped base, and a separate matching display plinth, probably in a harder polystyrene or 'propylene. Esercito simply means 'Army'.

 

So, many thanks to Brian as always, and more to come!