N is for New Old Novelties!

There is a useful expression for searching old toys on the Internet, New Old Stock, indeed, on eBay the abbreviated NOS is good enough to find all sorts of nice things, it means old-stock which is still unused or new-looking, and 'unopened' or 'not played with' are variations, however in the case of today's title, it actually is, 'New', but a version of an old novelty!

 

You may recall, a while back we saw several articulated novelty figures, two from Chris Smith I think and another came in from somewhere else, a skeleton, a bad-Santa and something else, if memory serves, and I suggested they were trick-wire novelties from the 1960's or '70's (as I could vaguely remember them, or something like them!), and here they are, in the shops now!

I found this first, Cheeky Chimp, about six months ago, and it was in a small, independent 'corner shop' credited to a Candy Castle Crew, but also claimed by Monmore Confectionery, and is exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of when we saw the vintage parts a while ago.

You press the two buttons either side of the ornate cap, and the attached arms pull two strings tight, they are in curved 'cams' built-in to the monkey's swing, and this causes the monkey to gyrate erratically, like a demented Olympian on the rings! He's also sold as Cheeky Monkey.

 

Then about three months ago, this Sloth turned-up, supplied by Bobby's Foods, who - along with Red Mill - are a common branding in the few independent convenience stores left, as the virtual cartel of the big-four/six/eight (Lidl and Aldi haven't joined that fight yet) buy-up all the sites for their bland, choiceless, mega-store satellites.

A close-up of its mechanism, slightly different to the Chimp's, but I suspect the same factory in China - the similarities are greater than the cosmetic differences? His buttons are set into the lid, and there is a second darker colourway, closer to the Chimp, which is why I took the orangey one, for contrast!

 

Side-by-side, both still out there, I see them regularly, on my rounds, sometimes in the same shop, but having that pretty dire, overly sweet, yet somehow chalky candy, I won't be getting another, unless it's a new design, of course!

 

Obviously not toy soldiers, not even that realistic, but Betterware flats were the second post ever, on the Blog, sixteen years ago, so novelties have always been part of the mix, and, for those with children/grandchildren; these will make ideal stocking-filler's, in the forthcoming season of goodwill and consumption!