F is for Follow-up - LJN Swivel Heads

Whinging Pom here - too hot to bloody sleep! 

 

So, it turned out that Chris had actually sent me shots of his LJN figures ages ago, and they were languishing down the bottom of Picasa (I look upon my numbering of image folders as a scrollable 'ladder'), while he sent me more the other day while conversing on them as part of the most recent donation, so let's have a look at them!

 

LJN were what you might call a medium-sized toy company;

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LJN 

 

And like most medium-sized companies ultimately failed, being bought by a bigger fish, or at least one with deeper pockets, but for a while they were big in licensed products. The figures we're looking at here, were more of a generic catalogue gap-filler though, gotta'have a few toy soldiers or model figures in the listings!

Play-sets, tied into LJN's own property, a 12" knock off of GI Joe (Action Man), called Mr. Action, were announced in the 1975 trade catalogue, as E-Z-Fold giant action playsets, and Brian Heiler has them here; 

https://plaidstallions.com/reboot/1975-ljn-toys-catalog-emergency-the-rookies-mr-action/

 

On Plaid Stallions, but he's not sure if they were ever issued, and I think someone else has them listed as another US toymaker's product. 

 

But clearly they were LJN's, and came to market somehow, maybe as counter-top dispencer/pick boxes, and while I initially thought they might be copies, based on the French Cofalux's 60mm swivel-heads, I don't think they are, the kneeling with rifle is similar to a metal mocherette of Kit Carson, but he's waving his above his head, so it's no more than a passing sculptural similarity.

 

Two of the figures share a sculpt, with the hands' contents rendering one an 'officer' (pistol) and the other a rifleman, throwing a very dinky-little grenade. And obviously, they are Vietnam era/Cold War troops with M16's, minimal webbing and no packs.

 

I did however, instantly recognise the US Cavalry as Elastolin 'swoppet' copies, albeit welded together at the waist, and with most of their accessories also permanently reattached as a part of larger integral mouldings, only the neckerchief being still separate, along with head/hat.

 

However, we looked at my small sample of the combat Elastolin's back in 2019, with help from Girly-girl, who, that March, was as alive as both my Parents and her son, all four gone now, with Covid, Putin and Trump adding to the mess Farage had already started!

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/h-is-for-haussers-homage-to-half-n-halfs.html

 

And, you can see, the sculpts are not the same as the LJN GI's? So they would seem to be pretty unique, compared to the cavalry knowck-offs.

Markings are a simple H.K. on the GI's, a fuller HONG KONG in a DIN font on the foot cavalry (both marks are quite common on various toys from the colony, the full-stops on the HK being possible clues to future ID'ing of true maker), and an LJN -specific marking on the horses bases, one has to assume it's the same for the Indians, and Peter Evans thinks there may have been cowboys too, both taken from Elastolin, although the thumbnail in that catalogue seems to show the crude Star/M-Toy types, mostly Britains, Lone Star or Timpo piracies.

 

Chris's more recent close-up shots of the six combat troops.

Returning to whether or not the sets were ever issued, as Chris pointed out in his correspondence with me; "Maybe the E-Z-Fold sets were never produced as the Vietnam war had just finished and maybe considered ill-timed or poor taste?", and with Brain H also having misgivings on their execution, it may be that the figures (already ready for the catalogue photo-shoot) were cleared as loose figures. This would have been at the same time Highlander were failing to get their Vietnam-era project fully off the ground.

Can anyone else add anything to the circumstantial evidence, and musings of Brain, Chris, Peter and myself? Casn you remember how you encountered these, back at the time?