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.
Showing posts with label 2000AD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2000AD. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

D is for Dredd, Judge Dredd!

We looked at the Rogue Trooper set just over 14 years ago here at small scale world, but Games Workshop have returned to the output of the classic comic 2000AD several times, more commonly visiting the Judge Dredd franchise, so we'd better visit it here!
 
I'm monging-it at home with a lurgy this week and have managed to get some of the image-folder disaster sorted; this turned-up, and as it's been in the queue for a year or two, so I thought it could be cleared!

Most of the sets/modules seem to be paper/counter-based, with the possibility of purchasing lead/whitemetal figurines from the Nottingham Mafia as after-market stuff to enhance the experience, and when you search for this on feeBay, make sure you get this artwork, or you'll be getting one of the others!
 
Because . . . unlike those other sets . . . this set contains almost perfect OO/1:76th/23mm figures of Judge Dredd, as playing pieces, they aren't the world's best renditions/depictions of the eponymous hero (actually quite a fascistic, over-patriotic, violent, anti-hero!); his 'Lawgiver' sidearm is more of a needle-gun, but they do come in six colours!
 
Compared here with an Airfix pilot, you can see that the Dredd figures are perfect for rounding up a bunch of Preiser or Noch civilians, whether they've done anything wrong or not; everyone's a 'Perp' if you investigate deep enough!
 
The accompanying paperwork had lots of references to the artwork and tropes of the comic-strip, which at the time had become so ubiquitous it was running daily in a National newspaper! I vaguely remember a story-line involving Umpty Candy, adulterated and leading to mayhem of one kind or another - usually mass-hysteria in the accommodation 'Blocks' of the Mega-City.
 
An advert from Toy Trader in 1982 drumming-up business for the venture.

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

T is for Toy Fair 2020 Reports - Hornby - Other Makers Products

Hornby (as Hornby Hobbies or Hornby Group) is now one of the big six players in the global toy business (Hasbro, Mattel, Lego, Tomy-Takara, Games Workshop), and as such it probably wasn't a surprise to find 'rival' products on their stand, obviously as distributors, also ensuring they get a percentage of the hobby market their own products don't cover!

Band of Brothers; Black Powder; Black Seas; Bolt Action; Doctor Who; Esci; Exterminate!; Games System; Gaming System; Hornby Group; Hornby Railways; Humbrol Paints; Italeri; Judge Dredd; Master & Comander; Mega-City One; Osprey Games; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Starter Set; Voyage of the Damned; War Games; War Gaming; Wargames; Wargaming; Warlord Games; Waterloo;
Warlord, Bolt Action, Osprey Publishing and Esci-Italeri all here, as thick as thieves, in the worlds of both licensing, and proprietary or sealed-system war-games and rule-sets. It wasn't clear if the diorama was connected to some of the displayed products or just for display interest?

Band of Brothers; Black Powder; Black Seas; Bolt Action; Doctor Who; Esci; Exterminate!; Games System; Gaming System; Hornby Group; Hornby Railways; Humbrol Paints; Italeri; Judge Dredd; Master & Comander; Mega-City One; Osprey Games; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Starter Set; Voyage of the Damned; War Games; War Gaming; Wargames; Wargaming; Warlord Games; Waterloo;
They are also handling Dr. Who, Master & Commander, Blood Red Skies and Judge Dredd stuff, now I clearly didn't spot the Judge Dredd 'thing' as I didn't photograph it properly/separately and don't know what it is, if it's a game with figures . . . .wantone!

Thursday, May 11, 2017

S is for Stop the Bloody Presses!

They've only just gone and announced a Judge Dredd TV series!

http://deadline.com/2017/05/judge-dredd-mega-city-one-series-adaptation-im-global-tv-rebellion-1202088620/

Also I got a spammy eMail from someone I don't know, but if you are a fan of 'proper' Kulmbach-Nuremberg tin flats, you might want to check this out;

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Zinnsoldaten-Sammlung-5-071-Figuren-flach-pewter-figure-statuette-collection-/282458653644?hash=item41c3d903cc:g:ZDYAAOSw~y9ZCegG

It's an evilBay link so it won't last forever!

OK - Roll the presses again, news-flash over . . . but Judge Dredd . . . on the telly?

Saturday, January 3, 2009

R is for Rogue Trooper

The G.I. or Genetic Infantryman was a fast talking, one-liner delivering, sardonic, cynical git with several pieces of fast talking, one-liner delivering, sardonic, cynical equipment! In short; My kind of people!!!!

Making his début in 2000AD comic so long ago it's beyond the capacity of my mind to remember when, but Google reveals it was 1981 3 or 4 years after 2000AD began.

This game was issued by Games Workshop, who sadly not only didn't expand the range, they couldn't even be bothered to design a second figure for the 'Traitor', so we get a 28mm figure for the (6) players' GI's and a 50mm card piece for the traitor.

It was a hybrid game, working on role-play with counter-based elements and card collecting to add to the over complicated rules, which probably point to one reason why it A) disappeared without much fuss, and B) turns up on eBay, mint or near-mint, for bugger-all money on a regular basis!!

The box lid has a fine piece of artwork, stirring the old nostalgia gene! Technically he was 'The' Rogue Trooper and his talking equipment contained the Bio-chips of his dead comrades, Venus Bluegenes was an occasional love-interest, lets have a model of her please!!