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.

Sunday, June 7, 2026

BMSS is for More Plunder

And so to Reading, what was only about five weeks ago, but already seems like ages ago, where I managed to fill my boots with bits and bobs, despite there only really being three vinatge sellers present, Adrian, Paul and Steve, and it's to Mr Vickers' overburdened table we go to, first . . .
 
. . . as he gave me this! It's a bit of Hong Kong tat, probably from no earlier than the 1980's, and to Steve, rather bringing down the quality of his whole table, more used - as it is - to a better class of commodity all together, but to me; another brick in the knowledge wall! Cheers Steve!
 
And the sort of thing I used to give to charity shops regularly when I was a small-scale only collector, and they'd come-in with mixed a lot. Indeed, more modern stuff like this, 20-odd years ago might have gone straight in the brand-new, shiny, Rushmoor Council recycling bin! The horror, the horror!
 
30 and 40mm policemen from Starlux with a tin-plate sentry-box, of generic nature, only because I don't know the maker, I imagine, either a German or Austrian producer, and probably an accessory in a set of painted flats, or maybe lead solids around 30-50mm? But - equally - it could have been an accessory with a wooden fort set?
 
Speaking of sentries, these are Greek, Athena, and real box-tickers, I may already have a few, but there do seem to be a number of variations in uniform, and red or blue versions of most, so I grabbed one-each while they were going cheap. The cymbalist is to replace a damaged one, which I shot to hide the damage, last time we looked at them.

Likewise, the mounted, I need a better horse for the trumpeter, or a base at least, to balance him on, but he's lost a couple of the studs, so it would only, ever, be balancing! And all these, rather like their UK equivalent (the Hong Kong Herald guards), will benefit from the hot water treatment at some point!
 
A trio of Pilots, the chap on the right seems to be a modern, probably home-painted figure, in the middle is a bisque chap, who may be a World War sweetheart keepsake thing, or maybe a cake decoration, it's certainly in the style of bisque cake-decorations, and there would have been many marriages, as men went off to war, the bride would have been in the inventory already?
 
The big guy on the left is more of a mystery, as he's pretty huge, and not really 'toy soldier' compatible, so, maybe a character piece, Charles Lindburgh wears similar kit in some of his photographs? Jumper isn't lumpy enough for Amelia Earhart, and Cody was earlier, but there must have been other popular aviators back in the day?
 
A couple of home-made sci-fi figures in around 35mm, they seem to have been modelled in Plasticine, with brass and brass-wire detailing, on brass-wire armatures, do you know who made them and why? Was this your work? They seem to be exploratory rather than belligerent?
 
A bit of fantasy, I've mentioned the Crossbows & Catapults stuff a couple of times recently, and their main post is well overdue, but probably still a few years away, there's plenty on t'ut Internet for those who need it, and a few of the 1980's big-box fantasy figures, which are still waiting for their big sort-out!
 
A nice Crescent cowboy I couldn't remember if I have or not, and a couple clowns from Charbens, which are probably both duplicates now, like Pirates, I've been concentrating on a subsection of circus stuff, so there's quite a bit of it somewhere!
 
Some gash (repainted) metal from Adrian's rummage trays, I think he said one of them (chap on the far left?) is an arm swap and wasn't actually issued by Britains in that 'at the trail' configuration? And very much box-ticking, my knowledge of this stuff is minimal. I split 18 images into two posts, to help with Tagging, so more later!

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