F is for Follow-up - Belgian Footballers

This is following-up on this post, but these aren't marked Pak-Me-Mee, and are a pinkish-flesh off-white, rather than the creamy off-white of the aforementioned pudding-mix premiums.

Luckily, with eight to find (in any variation) I managed to score two more, so that's five in the bag now; an instep-pass and a flicky back-kick.

I shot them against an 1898 atlas I found, I don't think the boarders have changed much, even after two World Wars, but I recall a Belgian farmer helping himself to a piece of France a while back - top lad!

Not much to add really, they are what they are; unknown maker, simple but nice sculpts (although the back-kicker is the daftest pose so far) in hard polystyrene and around the 4-5" / 100-130mm mark - that back-kicker again, he's much taller than the others! I tagged them 4" and 110mm last time, so that'll do, and I've included the Pak-Me-Mee/Dumortier tags as they were the same tool-production.

T is for The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

It's also for trees, terrible timekeeping and troublesome assistant!

This was supposed to be, or to be specifically accurate; was originally intended to be - the third post on the golf day we had a week or two ago, but, I thought, it would be better used for National Tree Week, once I had become aware of NTW, given it's about the trees with this particular set.

Obviously, plans went awry last week and I never got all the tree stuff out, so it might as well have been used on Good Walk Spoiled Day instead, but, hey-ho, there are no rules to this Blogging malarkey, unless you're my critics in which case apparently there's a whole bunch of rule books but nobody's got round to sending me copies! Anywhoos - here's Carpet Golf from Turner Research, late!

Did I say troublesome assistant? Straight into the packaging like a rat up a drainpipe!

Box was shite, but I didn't get it for the box (which was in the kindling bucket for fire starting minutes after this shot) and a poor box means a cheaper deal! We'll get on the the trees and figures in a minute, but I also kept the two bunkers and the water feature; they may come in useful at some point in the future?

I did measure the figures, but I've forgotten what it was and put them away! I think it was about 110mm - judging from the fingers below! The figures have a lever action which enables them to putt, chip or whack large expanded-polystyrene balls about the place with gay abandon!

I've also kept the green-flag (which is red!) and it will join a plethora of other, larger, wood, metal and plastic flags & standards in a tub somewhere.

Working the leaver to show how simple it is - both the golfer and the mechanism . . . tada! They are manufactured from a very dense PVC which I came to wishI hadn't separated for the 'how' shot when trying to get them to go back together again; but they went in the end with a bit of brute force!

There were only two clubs in the box, there should be six, but - again- I wasn't buying it for the golf!

I was buying it for the bloody trees weren’t I!

Over a decade ago, when I worked for JB, we had a couple of these come through the stock, and since then I'd had it on the 'long list', and from time to time would check it on evilBay; in the end I got one. It's not rare and if you're careful you can pick one up for reasonable money, not for the 'pre-executive toy' executive-toy elements, but for the trees!

Britains style trees, (marked Japan interestingly), but in autumnal colours, which, when placed with a couple of Britains copper-beeches, can make a believable autumn scene, clearly Japanese acers; they can be your very-own Westonbirt! The bases are Britains as far as it goes, but the tree trunks are more original.

As it happens; I think I'm missing an orange sprig, the box suggests using both colours for each tree, and going by the obvious studs (anyone who's made-up these types of tree will know extra fronds can be placed on twigs/branches not directly intended for them!) the two trees are supposed to take eight and six sprigs respectively, which could be 7 & 7 colour wise? But I'll be looking out for a yellow one!

This also comes in the set, also 'Japan', it seems to be complete but could have used a couple-more spreads of greenery? Also clearly channeling Britains, not only in the base-shape, but in the fact that the side branches both follow the Britains 'system' and seem to be copied from the Britains Cedar, despite the main trunk being more original?

However, the similarities are explained . . .

. . . by the fact that an original Britains Cedar was available to someone at Turner during the design phase! I dare say they had more than one Britains tree to so peruse?

T is for Two - B is for Big Boys & Blow-Moulds

The first of these came in from Chris Smith a while ago and have been languishing in the 'Follow-Ups' folder, an odd folder with most of Chris's-, some of Brian's- and the odd bit of my- stuff and a few screen-caps or scans! But they are worth a stand-alone post . . . 'cos they're lovely!

Chris thinks they may be Spanish, which might make them single purchase kiosk items (but not 'sobres' as they'd be hard to hide in a paper envelope!), and I think they are superb. Slightly generic, slightly GI, blow-moulded combat infantry types ready for beach, bath or garden!

Shared with everyone - cheers Chris!

These aren't blow-moulds, but they are big! From Mr. Berke; the US-packaging version of the figures we initially saw here at Small Scale World from - the now defunct - 99p Stores under the PMSlabel (firefighters as well) a couple of years ago.  4" clone-conversions of Tim Mee and Matchbox GI's, although the hidden 4th-one was a bit Airfix German, running, I seem to recall!

No brand but look for the distinctive card if you're in the 'States - cheers Brain!

M is for Mail Order

I picked this up on feebleBay the other day, it was going cheap and in searching I found several of the same set, some on silly 'buy-it-know's, others on 99p! It looks to be the sort of thing Studio Gifts carry (or carried - I haven't checked if they are still going![Google says they are!]), but the code label is similar to Argos of the now some-time-gone Index, so it could be anyone, or even a department store's seasonal Christmas stock?

The figures are big (we saw them in the Marx post on Tuesday) 100/110-mil; and I think they're based on Italian figure sculpts. Each is separately wrapped in a cellophane bag open at one end and ticked into the base hollow, which I though excessive until I realised it was doing the job of the tissue-paper we'll have to go back to in the near future.

Mary, Joseph and the Little Baby Jesus, he's an integrated moulding in one of the 'shoe-box' mouse-mangers I alluded to the other day! It is clearly marked Made In Hong Kong, which would date it to the late 1990's, but I suspect 'new-old' stock contemporary to the last five or ten years, no more?

At nine pieces it's around the average with three wise men (always three, the Bible gives no total, let have more, yadda-yadda!), two animals and a shepherd in addition to the Jesus's-family-surname family! The Arimathea's? That's it; box-ticker . . . box-ticked.

P is for Pak-Me-Mee's Powdered Pudding Players!

Continuing with two of yesterday's themes;- premiums (Lever) and football (Pink Panther); it's always fun to find new stuff, especially when it's A) foreign of origin and B) has some digging to be done or research to indulge in, I picked these up from the one of the Belgian dealers at Sandown Park, and have had fun tying them up enough to pass the bare bones on to you!

They were obviously premiums of some kind and the seller explained that the under-base marking 'Pak-Me-Mee' (see below) roughly translated as 'pick me' (or 'choose me'?) and that was it - as far as the purchase went. They weren't cheap, but given they are 'new to hobby' and the best part of 110mm (or four-and-a-half-inch figures); they weren't expensive either!

So, Monday (when I should have been posting something) found me digging around Google for Pak Me Mee premiums, which proved fruitless - as far as premiums goes - but did give me the basic story behind these, which don't seem to represent individuals (as other football premiums have) but are rather just generic 'statuettes'.

P. Dumortier Brothers still seem to be in business (now based/headquartered in France; at Tourcoing) as a grain/cereal-mill and producers of powders and dry sauce mixes for cooking or the catering trade (think Colman's, Baxter's or Knorr), however my nascent Googling would suggest the Pak Me Mee pudding powder (something like a blancmange or similar 'milk pudding'?) was originally thought-up by an A Vanhecke and Sons, who were presumably taken over or merged with Dumortier?

Due to the bilingual nature of Belgium however (the seller is quint-a-lingual!) it's not that clear and it could be that Vanhecke and others (A V Roeslare and H R Kortrijk) were wholesalers or agents? My French is poor, my Walloon and Flemish non-existent! However these figures are marked Dumortier and they are the surviving name.

There was another pudding-name in the line-up: 'Prenez-Moi'; which I think is the Franco-Walloon for the Flemish Pak-Me-Mee, i.e. also 'pick me'? And - as well as these footballers - it seems collector's cards of some sort were issued a'la Brook Bond with send-away-for albums (available in either language) to put them in.

My camera was dying when I shot these (it has now died! New one's in the post) so these shots both needed stopping right-down on the 'shadows' setting to show anything, which is; both marks (on the left), the P. Dumortier Fres moulded integrally to the figures, the Pak-Me-Mee heat-stamped after manufacture - suggesting a Prenez-Moi series as well, or other brands/goods carrying the figures.

On the right - a sizer with the Airfix 54mm figure; "Can I 'ava go Dad . . Dad! Can I 'ava go! Gi'us the ball Dad . . cummon, let'us 'ava go!". There are eight to collect, each showing a 'standard' or named move, pass or trick in/with a football

M is also for Monstrous 'Monstruos'

Last post for Halloween, and the earlier unpainted issue of Yolanda's Monster set, again Gog has also blogged these images, with additional poses, so there'll be a link at the end.

A rather nice Wolfman and a figure which troubles me; Jack the 'Ripper', although popularised in the media (and look what populism does for people - Trumpton and the Brexiteers!), he was actually a real character, who got his 'nickname' for doing unspeakable things to young women, there's no place for a character like that in a toy-line, is there? Is it just me or has a line been crossed there?

We're on safer ground with a white bed-sheet and another Fly; you can never have too many flies, except at a picnic, more that no flies is too many at a picnic!

The Dracula definitely needs painting, without paint he looks a bit daft, while the ape from the Planet of Them looks just as good unpainted as the painted one did, but begs a professional paint-job!

We've seen these recently, one (zombie) a couple of hours ago, the other (pirate) just over a month ago and that's it for Halloween this year - unless I was lucky on Satyrday at the Toysaurus!

Link to Gog's article;

http://toysfromthepast.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/258-yolanda-super-monstruos-standard.html

I think I've said before I'm no fan of Halloween, but if you're celebrating it, have fun in what's left of it (the Devil needs those vibes!), and thanks to Juan Angel and Brian Berke for the contents of today's posts.

M is for the Monster Mash!

So, I've cobbled together four posts for Halloween, all due to donations/contributions from other people, but this and the next post - last today - raise a point for comment . . .

. . . Juan Angel (known to most of you as 'Gog', the vintage Spanish toy Blogger) sent me these in conversation ages ago 2009/2010 (?), and I just stuck them in the A-Z archive and rather forgot about them. Found them a while ago and thought: "Ahh! I could use that Pirate on TLAPD", permissions were sought and the figure was Blogged with a plan for these two posts.

So far so good, but, as we saw with the Preiser Band, I have quite a bit of this type of contribution in the archive, I've always sort of assumed if someone sends me something in a private eMail, it's private!

Now, some people send stuff specifically stating it's to blog, and it get's Blogged, but a lot of it hasn't been, so . . . if you have sent me something (since 2008) by way of an image or images over the years and you expected it to appear on the Blog and it hasn't, LET ME KNOW!

Remember; I'm a scatty-git at the best of times and with the Asperger's have two excuses! But, if it was more that about 18-months ago you may need to resend it, trying to find the originals I've found Hotmail stops storing them after a while? And all contributions are gratefully received - weather they are intended for Blogging or not, whether they get Blogged or not; it's only through wider dissemination that the whole picture gets clearer.

Anyway - onwards and upwards . . .

Gog has now blogged these and I'll put a link back at the end of each post, so just for fun with minimum blurb: the Yolanda Monsters; in this case painted, I'll schedule the unpainted set for a couple of hours time.

These are actually a really nice set of figures, and I agree with Gog, almost better painted. It's an eclectic set of mostly TV/Movie-related monsters of popular characters from fiction or the big-screen, here we have The Hunchback of Notre Dame (that's darhm not daym, guys!) and Death, good old death, comes for all of us so learn to love him!

The Fly, a very movie-based figure, and expertly sculpted I think? The other lady - called 'Vampiresa' on the original sheet - could be a generic vampire, or a more specific Elvira, Vamparella or Countess Bathory type?

The Phantom of the Opera is another from popular culture, but my favorite has to be the ape from the Planet of Them! It's really good and he looks fine next to the old MPC (and Larami?) stuff, some of which was Blogged the other day over on Plaid Stallions  if he wasn't a tad bigger, these figures are around 110mm or just over 4"

The Devil and a witch; the Devil is probably the weakest sculpt in this line-up, he looks a bit comedic, and she's hamming-it up a bit, but neither are common figures in these scales

Painted versus unpainted - "He lives!" - There's more after the link-jump and further links are there to other articles - bookmark it!

http://toysfromthepast.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/123-yolanda-super-monstruos-serie.html