A is for Available in Any Colour, as Long as it's Fast!

I seemed to do quite well in the racing-car department, at Sandown, I rarely go to Sandown with anything like a shopping list, it's a question of what's there (and cheap) on the day! And, a month or so ago, it was racing cars, apparently?

Rather highfalutin instructions, and blurb, bigging-up a basic mechanism in this Maserati, which had been known to aficionados of balsa flying machines for several decades before this was issued? And the addition of a crown and bevel makes the 'starting handle' a harder wind than the propeller usually employed for the winding of rubber-band models!

 

To be honest, and given the quality of some more obvious 'facsimile' boxes I've seen recently, I have my doubts over the authenticity of this box, it's just too good, too clean? But the jeweller's loupe seems to suggest it's litho- or screen-printed onto an absorbent card, and shop stock stuff does turn-up, from time to time, but I'm not confident, either way?

 

This is my second FROG (Flies Right Off [the] Ground) Penguin (flightless bird), but is very different, the previously-found jeep being a heavy, vulcanised rubber, almost composition in consistency and weight, while this is a lightweight, plastic (early 'styrene?) and tin, novelty.

 

A future post (currently in storage) will be two of these helmets, one of which, in silver, is identical to the one depicted on this driver figure (the reason vehicles started to gain traction in the collection), with the set-forward or stand-off, drop-down perspex sheet, mounted around the front of a rigid visor.

 

They both came from 'Old Mr. Bening' (might be Benny or Benning), who was a silversmith, in a little shop/workshop, I think at the T-junction of the B3004 (Forge Road) and A325, just shy of Bordon, Hampshire, although the premises seem to have gone in a junction remodelling over the 50-odd years since he died, and we last visited him.

 

It may have been somewhere else, nearby, the memories are weak, and Google is no help with everyday, local historical stuff, there might as well have been no world prior to 1997! But he had been a racer in his younger days, and gave us a couple of his old helmets.

 

Ingap large scale Porsche F1, my first larger Ingap, and another in that classic fifties or sixties metallic blue plastic! I don't know if the box is original (packing from a larger carton?), or fashioned by a previous owner, but it fits well, and keeps the car protected, so I'll hang on to it! Both the above are about 1:43rd/48th scale.

 

Not a racing car, and closer to 1:35th/32nd, but just for fun, it was one of the items missing from my flood-damaged set, which we looked at prior to my discarding the packaging as beyond saveable a few years ago;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2020/08/ab-is-for-vidalis-brothers-joy-toy.html

 

And given the price Greek sellers on evilBay want, for everything, it was a bargain! I guess it's trying to be a VW Carmen Ghia, or early Porsche Carrera? Bonnet's not right for either! Equally, the Greek Hellas sports-car, might fit (after a quick Google!), but whatever it wants to be, it's still, a nice find.

SPV is for Soapy Persuit Vehicle!

Heads-up, it's the BMSS (British Model Soldier Society) show tomorrow, in Reading, Berkshire, And, it's a full moon tonight, so lock up any lycanthropes' in the family, lest you fall out with the neighbours, big-time! I happened to need to go to Reading last weekend, and managed a quick trip to a couple of old collectables shops I know . . .

 

. . . of which the first, to be fair, is mostly comics and the usual Star Wars action figure type stuff, while the latter is a more eclectic shop. They are both next door to each other in one of the few remaining Victorian covered arcades. We used to have one in Aldershot, but it was ruined, blocked-off at one end, and replaced with a rebuilt fake, a couple of decades ago.

 

However, I did manage to find one of 1993's Captain Scarlet SPV soaps from NAPA Products, which had seen better days, but was, nevertheless a bit of fun, and which, being modern, in my eyes at least, will probably end up being used in the bath!

 

The dust of ages, or, at least, 33 years!

 

The vehicle - marginally smaller than the Corgi model - was more battered than the box, but you get the idea, and there's not a lot I can add to the photographs, it's a soap, with no rope! But I thought the colour was well-chosen?

 

After a bit of a wipe with a damp cloth!

 

If you do happen to go tomorrow, both shops will be open, and are minutes, or hundreds of yards from both the station and the show venue.

SPC is for Spectrum Patrol Car

Up to London on Saturday last, and managed to get to the toy dealer we'd failed to reach, through a diabolical mix of sudden torrential storm, and pre-existing line-failures, before Christmas, where I bought all sorts of lovelies, and Peter Evan gave me some plunder I haven't shot yet, but I did get an odd box-ticker, which is the subject of this post.

 

 

But first, another labyrinth maze, (explanation in the comments, thanks to Brian B), and the one I doubted I'd ever find, given the nature of the station, the miles of tunnels, escalators and travelling walkways, not to mention the various entrances and exits, at Waterloo.

 

But in the end it was just there, blankly staring at me! It's on one of the main pilasters at the major entrance, between platforms 17 and 20, at the top of the escalators, and I'd passed it many times! An apt one as it mirrors, or conjures-up the Spectrum symbol from Captain Scarlet!

 

Not a nostalgia purchase, but more of a settling of scores! No, not Bushy the twig, he's an idiot ("Oh, look, I just watched this movie two days after Hugh mentioned it"!), but that we never had this one as kids, although several of our friends did, and we hankered after it, but it just never happened.

 

 

And, it wasn't for trying, when asked what we wanted for a Christmas or a Birthday present, we always asked for something better - the SPV with its tracks, rocket and sprung-loaded figure, the Security Vehicle with its treasure chest, gull-wing doors and folding walkways, the Thunderbird 2 with it's T4, pod and delicate folding legs, and frankly, we just never got far enough down the wants list (along with the Airfix, Action Man, Lego . . . etc. ) to get one!

 

This is loose, and a bit chipped, no bad thing, as a good one with box is £250-plus, this was in the tens! And it struck me that it's quite a retro' design, even at the time, compared to the other vehicles in the series, it's half 1950's American car, half early jet fighter, and a bit ambulance!

 

Without flash!

T is for Tameo, but also; Question Time!

Roving reporter Brian Berke picked these up the other day, and sent them to the blog, and while he's pretty sure they're by Tameo Kits (TK) of Italy, the figures don't seem to be listed on the website any longer, so help with identifying the individuals' modelled, would be greatly appreciated, from any F1 or Italian model fans, who might be passing Small Scale World!

Personal or eMail-related stuff edited out, but in Brian's words;

 

"I won  [. . .]  some metal figures. From the listing photo, I thought they were in space suits, but it turns out they are racing drivers from an Italian firm called TAMEO that I had never heard of. Their present website does not seem to list them.

I make no apologies for not having a racing car to pose them with, not my area of interest, but I [found] a NASCAR diecast to indicate use. The figures are in two scales.

I don't know if the ID's [numbers on the bags] are from the [model-] maker or the . . . seller."

 

 

Unnumbered - "The complete standing figure seems to be based on an actual driver." I'm wondering if it might be either James Hunt or a young Schumacher (and I lean toward the former, that's a 1960/70's helmet)?

 

RD 3 (racing driver [model] 3?) - He is obviously stepping into a racing car's cockpit, and has a more modern fire-suit and helmet, the peg on his left foot, will be for fixing him to the intended vignette or diorama base.

 

RD 7 - The output of Tameo, still extant, is mostly in 1:43, and I suspect they are all supposed to be the same scale, but the seated drivers are a little smaller, possibly to account for the material of the cockpit walls being not scale-thinness, and they seem to have lost their toes, probably for the same reason? I think they are too big to be 1:64th, the next natural scale down?

 

 

RD 8 - similar to the last one, but his separate gloves, being designed to sit on the bonnet, edge of the cockpit somewhere, or even in his lap, suggest he's to be posed in the 'Paddock' phase, prior to the formation-lap, with all the reporters, crew, VIP ticket-holders, grid-girls holding number-boards, and such like?

 

That scrum which Tony Jardine used to fight to hear himself over, let alone get information to the rest of us, and yes, I'm dating my participation in F1, I haven't watched it, nor followed it, for years!

 

RD 10 - "[ . . . ] also shows what may be an actual driver." Again, I have an idea, which is that it may be Ayrton Senna, or another of the older drivers? Again a paddock pose, with him actually putting one glove on, while the other waits to be posed on the vehicle somewhere, or held by a member of the pit crew . . . and, were they also made by Tameo, at some point?

 

Unnumbered -  this guy's got both hands firmly on the steering wheel, and would seem to be racing, but his helmet is from a third generation maybe? Although it seems to me, with nothing but the visual evidence you can see, for yourselves, that the bare-headed chaps may well be intended character figures, and the helmeted guys, deliberately more generic?

 

All have been shot by Brian with the 'Hunt' figurine as a comparison.

 

'Hunt' again, posed with Ricky Rudd's Ford Taurus Whirlpool/Tide,  #10 Nascar premium from the 1998/99 seasons (thanks Google, useful for once!). There are various models of this car, including a 1:64th Hot Wheels, while Racing Champions did a 1:24 scale, die-cast, but this Procter & Gamble charity/advertising giveaway (?) looks to be closer to the required 1:43rd?

 

The Tameo website - https://www.tameokits.com/

 

And many thanks to Brian for sending us this, racing figures are one of those side-bars who will eventually get a page on the A-Z Blogs, along with Firefighters, road-crews, Police, Ambulance personal and other such figures who keep recurring as die-cast's accessories!

 

Added the next day, this bag went missing and the seller is 'moving house', so it may never turn up, but has tantalising clues including what looks like a 1990's Williams cockpit transfer, sponsor's advert graphics for Hitachi and NGK, and another driver.
 

So if anyone can flesh-out the back-story/history of these for us, that would be grand!

P is for Police Department

Just a quickie tonight, it's a Hasbro dime store type, which is unusual in itself, but more so for having a folding roof, with no apparent purpose, by which I mean the internal compartment won't accept figures, there are no holes for torsos, and it may have had a small bag of candies, but it would have been very small?

What do you make of it? I took too many shots of the underside, and not enough of the top, but it's in storage now, I think? The hinged roof only invites damage? Marked POLICE DEPT., lengthways on the bonnet (hood), readable one way only, and HASBRO 1 MADE IN USA on the underside, it's a lovely shade of ultramarine!

D is for Dinky Dinky's, 'cos they're very Dinky!

Box ticking a couple of catalogues with what many of us kids considered the epitome of die-cast vehicle toys, the Gerry Anderson stuff! And it's funny how it coincides with the advent of mass-use colour TV, they never bothered with Fireball XL5 or Supercar, but once we were enjoying 'Supermarionation' in pantechnicolourfullness, the licences were worth the investment!

 

The 10th catalogue (1974 I think?), we never really saw Joe 90 or UFO, but we were great fans of Thunderbirds and Stingray and would catch the odd episode of Captain Scarlet, so we didn't want for the odd 'fix' but usually round a mate's house, we rarely had a telly, or not one that worked! Also, Mum made me watch Fireball before I was old enough to enjoy it, because she loved it, and would watch it while feeding me!

 

From the 12th Catalogue comes the previous year's (1975) new thing, the Eagle Transporters from Space 1999, loved that, I was a little bit in lust with the alien girl Maya who kept turning into a big-cat, or other things!

We tended to share our toys until we were older, and I think the SPV came, near-mint, from a church-fete (a lot of our toys did!), while i can't remember if either of us 'owned' the Thunderbird 2 (ours was the 'proper' green, with flimsy legs) or Maximum Security Vehicle (dropped from this catalogue along with the Patrol Car), but I know my Brother was sole owner of the FAB 1 Rolls Royce operated by Parker for Lady Penelope, and I think he saved-up and bought it with his own money?

The Armoured Command Car was based on a prop to be used in Gerry Anderson’s planned The Investigator, a series that was cancelled after Dinky had produced the masters, so they gamed it, with a quick military look and accessories, and issued it anyway!

While the Eagle Transporter made it to the back cover as well, with a simplistic 'blue-print' graphic. That's got them in the Tag-list! Next?

O is for Oriental Oldtimers

[Heh-heh! I'd written this up at the time, so this was the Hong Kong shite which was supposed to go in front of this morning's Citgo post, while the French stuff was all found in the garage after I'd prepared this one and started the Citgo! 2022 additions in square brackets or with strikethroughs]

A couple more days with no figures I'm afraid, but these need to be ticked-off, a lot are or were rack toys and they were a big part of our childhoods, whether the expensive Yesteryear's from Matchbox, or cheap rack-toys, and whether toys or place-mats, mugs, ash-trays, linen kitchen-cloths, tin waste-paper bins, bathroom tiles . . . d'you remember the bathroom tiles! Yet; they've all but disappeared now?

I love these; they have that cusp of the sixties look about them, half-psychedelia, half early-'70's glam rock, seen in both the card artwork and the plastic colours. The only clue to maker is a submarine-logo which seems to be made from WS and while the card-back shows six vehicles; there may have been more.

It's tempting (and for some time was my general thought on the subject) to think these are Yesteryear copies for the main part, but in fact there are lots of sources, not least several French plastic Marques - as we shall [have] seen in later [earlier] posts.

Here we have what appear to be three Mercers, all plastic but all different when you study them, the support for the front mudguard (fender) for instance has three different design-treatments, the seats all differ, one has a radiator/headlight plug-in, one has only the separate headlights and the third has that whole section as a single integral moulding with the bonnet (hood).

15th August 2023 - The left-hand, better one, is now known to be a Henry Gordy 'Gordy Mite', see card here.

From a production point of view; the plastic also differs with the Minimite all hard polystyrene (apart from the tyres), the unknown all soft polyethylene and the one marked Prosperity Toys being a mix of components in both plastic types - it's also missing it's spare-tyres! [While the Minimite, arguably most likely to be based on the European one we saw in the Fuilor post, has its spare tyres in a different place?

[I've failed to find the links to the similar stuff on Moonbase, despite an hours search, even though I know it's there somewhere!]

Two more, both unmarked, the white one has the look of the Walgreen generics in the first shot but not the whacky colours, and it's not on the card-back, while we had the Matchbox version of the Rolls Royce as kids and the finer bits tended to break (windscreen, headlights), which they are less likely to on a soft ethylene copy!

I think this is a Renault? It's also a fifth or sixth origin/maker to those we've already seen and gives an idea of the 'parts-list' of one of these. Pulled from bins by assemblers working in a hurry; you end up with different coloured seats!

This is also Hong Kong production, but is as good as some of the better French examples we will look at later, branded to both KMC and Mini Models, the polyethylene tilt/cover and tyres are added to an otherwise well made polystyrene model, with the problem of the spoked wheels (simplified on the proceeding models) here solved with clear discs.