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, they 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.

 

Meanwhile, 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 knock-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 me? Can you remember how you encountered these, back at the time?

L is for Loose Lots - Sandown - Wild West

We've been slowly getting through the Sandown Park stuff, for a while now, on-and-of, and I've just spent 20-minutes sorting a folder only to realise it was the BMSS purchases, when it makes sense to finish-off the Sandown bits, given what else in now in the short queue, and how far I've slipped already this year, so I quickly hived these off, technically Wild West, but there's a duck and three Spaniards in here!

 

Timpo Teepee, which was going cheap, and I grabbed at the end of the show, I've got a better sample in storage, but there are a couple of Tipi posts full of Wigwams in the queue, so I thought it would be useful for enhancing those!

 

I got in a muddle at last year's Plastic Warrior show, (next one, just over a month away!), and consequently missed out on a couple of the Mohicans I need, but in the aftermath correspondence, at least worked out I need the archer, and the guy with rifle and tomahawk, but I knew I also needed a 'better paint' shooter, than the one I had, so this chap on the right ticks a box nicely!

 

These two were in a biscuit tin of proper 'new to market' stuff Isaac offered me, and he didn't want much for it, in fact he may have been trying to give it to me, but I got very excited by the 'jumper' alien (we've already seen) and then spotted these two, told him they were worth 'proper money', and gave him said dosh. The rest was mostly grist-to-the-mill wild west (most of the below) and ceremonial types.

 

Hong Kong Confederate, half Crescent inspired (horse), half Timpo solids, issued here in small, generic rack-toys, but in the 'States in Ideal play sets I seem to recall?

 

Cherilea 60mm 5th Cavalry, the 'Black Knights', busied themselves with the genocide of the locals between the Missouri River and California (which "...was an almost unknown territory, occupied by powerful and warlike tribes"), sorry, sorry, upsetting the guilty again . . . 'Delivering civilisation', is - I believe - how Congress put it? Trump and Netanyahu are doing it in the Middle East, now!

 

Strangely these must have sold well, back in the day, as they often appear in mixed lots, and between odd purchases, these (the bag is all standing firers!) and a semi-brittle bunch a few years ago, I should have a complete set now.

 

An errant Spaniard (Hilco-Phoenix-et al), a Disney Mc-duck ('Euro' premium or Marx reissue?) and two Crescent 60mm's, one, a confederate in average condition, and the other, a rather poor cowboy!

 

A Tudor Rose rider, and two US figures, who might have been licensed over here, they seem quite common, and Tudor Rose might be in the frame for that contract, but I don't know, they may be later imports, they're not rare, and ran for years - I think in the USA they are Lido?

 

A mixed lot of odds, including two tatty Herald cowboys and a camp fire, an 'Early British' (Kentoys?) copy, a Herald Hong Kong shooter in good nick, damaged Cherilea mountie, and a Cherilea Indian on his back, also injured!

 

Crescent Wild West, the guy with the whip (slave owner? Never made sense to me!) is probably the best here, but both white ones need cleaning, and checking against the master sample. In point of fact, all three to the left are saveable.

 

Cherila 60mm, again it's a case of checking them against the master sample, sending the damaged ones to recycling, and either swapping the rest at some point in the future, or selling them to fund further purchases!

 

As one Spaniard had already snuck-in, these two can go here as a full-stop, two reissue Cherilea bullfighters, from the Marlborough-Dorset production era.

D is for Der's Morrr!

Is this a third, or fourth return? The sample which was, once, two duplicate spacemen, keeps growing! At the recent Sandown Park show, Isaac gave me a tin of stuff for free (the rest will be in the eventual show report!) as part of a deal on some other figures, and he did so, I think, partly because I got most excited about what was, probably, to him, the nastiest thing in there, but Loyal Readers know me by now, and what I was excited about was this beauty;

 

It's another of the HF, jumping, hollow-backed, novelty takes on the Lik Be (that's LB of course) robot/aliens, which makes three now, along with the spaceman, who has appeared as the same ray-pistol equipped 'officer', but in different colours, which means the answer to one of my earlier questions; there may be up to, or more than six sculpts so pirated, but maybe only the one spaceman?

 

Earlier finds/donations were still get-at-able, so here's a group shot, remember the blue one only still exists due to the vast quantity of baking powder and superglue I shoved in his cavity! Added to this is the Surrender robot in another colour and the pink and red spacemen! Eight examples in four poses.
 

 

O is for Oops!

One of those slightly admissive parables today, most of us have been there once or twice, making a mistake, whether because there's one born every minute, or because we were all born one, and of course, these things happen, in the pressed time of a toy fair, or under poor 'village hall' lighting, or, in the case of evilBay lots, because scale or background are unfamiliar, or colours skewed by lighting or flash, but, this was one of my recent boo-boos, which, as it was not inexpensive, I was lucky to escape a few hours later, with nowt but my pride dented!

 

I saw these Cherilea dancers in the poor light of a winter morning at the February Sandown Park pre-show car-booty rummage, on the terraces of the main stand, and thinking they were the plastic ones, asked the seller what he wanted for them, a price was floated, which I'm not disclosing, but suffice to say it was in three figures, and I thought "Well, the whole point of coming to a show is to find a couple of stand-out or rare pieces, so; what the hell?", handed over the required shekels, and reached for them, only to realise, instantly, from the weight, that they were the lead ones!

 

But the seller was already busy with another punter, and the argument (about shows and rarities) remained valid, so I thought "What the hell?" (again!) and slid them in my jacket pocket. Adrian thought I'd done OK when I showed them to him, and he knows more about the lead stuff, than I do, but he thought it was 'all the money', so a profit was never going to be in there!

 

Interestingly, though, they are not the same sculpts as the Harbuts set, we saw a while ago (https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2023/06/b-is-for-best-show-on-earth-11.html), and which I had mentioned at the time, but nice to have them in front of me, if you know what I mean!

 

Fortunately, a well known metal dealer, who can remain nameless, came round while I was holding the fort for Ade' and chatting with one of the Paul's, and in conversation, because we're happy to admit our errors among friends, I explained the over-exuberant nature of my commercial faux-pas, and he offered to give me what I'd paid for them!

 

So in the end, I got four nice images of some pretty rare figures, in even rarer packaging, and it didn't cost me anything, beyond that bit of dented pride . . . Phew! . . . Doh!

C is for Catalogue Cluster

Variously taken from the 1972, 3 and '75-79 catalogue scans the other day, they are sort of eye-candy, but mostly low-res, or not that clear, so to draw the curtain on the recent miniseries, and to get them off Picasa, here they are with a few notes, and in no particular order!

 

Larger playsets.

 

1st version Americans, with 2nd version in the boat, but they seem to have been given 1st version German helmets! I refer you to my previous comments on art-departments m'lud - muppets!

 

Ist version in the box, 2nd version outside the box! Americans again. It's not clear what the Bren-carrier crew have on their heads, but I think it is British helmets.

 

This shot was reversed in the 1976 catalogue, obvious from the red beret!

 

Window boxes.

 

Big beast, post-war British Chieftain Tank it was also issued in German grey, along with this one in a big-box play set, it's expensive when you find it, and rarely complete!

 

More art-department shenanigans here, some of the bases are wrong!

 

A bit silly, the Centurion turret is underscale and won't go through tunnels!

 

More art-department shenanigans here, some of the bases are wrong!

Have I already said that?

 

I think this is a mock-up too, the kneeling guy doesn't look right in the card-art, or in the blister?

 

That's it, I could have done a few more, but the effort of cropping them all was a faff!

 

 =============================================

 

Later the same day - 

 

I've added the Timpo paratroopers to the Parachute toy page, which you can find here;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_14.html

J is for Jeeermuns!

Except these Jeeermuns are enemy Fokkers! An oldie, but a goodie, unless you're a German reader, in which case my apologies, but in the original, it is funny! The internet can't agree whether Roy 'Chubby' Brown or Stan Boardman were responsible for the original, but I first heard it from Brown, so tend to credit him, however Boardman himself, credits an episode of This is Your Life, with Eamon Holmes, while other sources claim WWII Ace Douglas Bader, or the RAF in general for an apocryphal wives-tale!

 

Having removed the Plasma tent and British stretcher-team, we're left with a few shots of the Timpo Germans, so as a bit of a box-ticker . . .

 

. . . the 'eye candy' is the German stretcher-team and casualty, who is the same as the British one, but in grey plastic, the figures with their cross-straps and high-boots were a new sculpt.

 

Variations on a theme, the MG-34 gunner as issued on the left, in the middle a No.2 has been created with the ammo-box from the Vickers MG vignette, while a No.3 guard/spotter carries a rifle, he should have the tripod, but he seems to have lost it in the fog of battle, spare barrels and marker poles would be the responsibility of the No.2. Last version, over-moulded head on the left, with less-common oxide-brown base.

 

This shot, courtesy of Theo Van de Weerden shows a few more poses, including my favourite, the MP-38/40 SMG chap, also with one of the less common late colour bases, and this was the only set with two obvious officers - no infantry Y-straps, and a Luger/Mauser holster.

 

The 1976, '77 and '78 Timpo catalogues reversed the infantry set's image, so we get several left-hookers, something Airfix managed to do with their WWI reissue box-art a while ago! On the left is the donor for the rifle in my MG team!

 

Always worth remembering; the art & design and press/marketing departments are jobbing employees, not geeks, not historians, not modellers nor toy soldier enthusiasts, if they were, we wouldn't still be getting the Airfix Sd.Kfz.234 with those ridiculous toy mudguards!

E is for Eye Candy - Flamethrower

One of the rarest of the Timpo WWII or 'Modern Army' vignettes, and also, with the flame, one of the most imaginative, but it's the flame which helps make it rare, being marbled orange/yellow, the very fine locating stud at the hose end of the flame tends to fault-lines or brittleness, as does the quite thin silver hose, resulting in very few complete survivors.

 

Lacking accessories, and lacking the imagination of thinking they could use the shrub from the German mortar (in case it caught fire?), they - instead - added the bazooka rocket pile, which was more than a tad anachronistic!