T is for Thunderbirds are Tiny!

And need glue! Continuing the British Sci-Fi theme of the last few posts; I bought this Imai model-kit of the Thunderbird pilots, at the last Sandown Park toy show, it was going for a song, and while the figures will probably stay on the runners, I have every intention of making up the five micro-Thunderbirds in the nearish future!

From the Amerang sticker it looks to have some age now, but is still what I consider a modern kit, dating from 1992, however, it's a bit of fun and will add to the growing micro-Thunderbird fleet!

 

It's also interesting to be reminded of how the Anderson's gave the lads very American-styled hats (think American veterans or 1960's fast-food/restaurant staff), to appeal to the overseas market for TV rights licensing.

 

Five (or ten!) mini-kits in one box, each a separately-bagged, sub-kit of two models; a Tracy brother figurine and the relevant piloted mini-Thunderbird is in three colours, blue, flesh and the dominant colour of the pilot-specific Thunderbird, with some parts of each vessel on the other two runners. It's a bit of fun!

T is for Toy Fair 2020 Reports - Amerang / Smart Fox

I really only shot these as the Toy Fair 2020 show came a couple of weeks after I'd Blogged the various construction systems on display at the local (Fleet not Woking!) library this Christmas just gone, and it was interesting to see more Meccano-likey! There was nothing else of note on Amerang's stand.

Dr. Who licensed stuff, no one had tied to build the Dalek, so it was a K9-unit and a TARDIS which were on display, it's a good way to get kids into construction engineering, and if the original Meccano had read the writing on the wall and got into Star Wars, after their army-set had come out, they might have had a very different trajectory to the one they subsequently did have?

I've already seen these in Waterstone's book shops (which are increasingly Waterstone's books, games & gifts shops!), and they represent (olong with the previous) the domination of licensing in the modern toy industry.

There are now trade-magazines and whole 'expo's or shows devoted to licensing rather that the toy makers or sellers, another good example is the Natural History Museum dinosaurs we saw from Toyway the other day, K&M's Wild Republic are also carrying NHM stuff, but different stuff from Toyway, the museum is now a brand, in its own right, with some desirability, and once you've approached them, got the licence and supplied their gift-shops, you're free to market them as widely as you like.

Here it's the Imperial War Museum being used to shift some pretty crude representations of the marques on the box, but, still better than late Meccano - in both meanings of a deliberately pun-line!

Did I say there was a Dalek in evidence? There was a Dalek in evidence!

T is for Toy Fair 2019 Reports - Amerang - Solido

Slowly getting through the London Toy Fair reports, and still with Amerang, another offering from who (whom, which?) was a rather interesting development, if now getting a bit boring . . . having previously be issued as partworks under various brands in the former Soviet Bloc & Europe (and Australasia - I think?) as well as being 'cleared' through The Works a few years ago!

Clearly not cleared thoroughly enough . . .

. . . as they are now appearing under Solido's banner, shipped-in to the UK by Amerang, good news if you like AFV's, excellent news is you're building war-gaming armies and feel you don't have the prerequisite modelling skills?

On display was a selection of WWII AFV's and aircraft, along with a nice Korean War Patton I and Vietnam-era Huey 'Slick'. The full range (as seen before) has more modern-era stuff in the line-up, but then the aircraft are from a previously different/separate part work series (currently still running in the UK I believe (forthcoming post - if I ever find time!)), so I'm guessing Solido have chosen the more popular subjects from both ranges to maximise sales and minimise further 'clearance'!

Basically - some manufacturer in China has developed exquisite ranges of AFV's and aircraft in a constant 1:72nd scale, with fine plastic detailing on die-cast bodies - which rival the best Corgi has to offer, and they are selling them (as contract-manufacture) to anyone who wants them, and about six brands/publishers, so far, have taken-up that opportunity. Except . . . of cource . . . it's at least two factories; as we saw here.

Consequently they are not rare, and those eBay bottom feeders who bulk-purchased at 2 or 3-quid from The Works and them put them on the feebleBay for 6, 8, or 10-smackers-a-pop, should be taken outside and shot for the black-marketeers they are! [Not so 'far left' now, am I James? Seems I can be as right wing as you and your Mosque floor-plan researching, gun-loving bred'rin!]

Panther 'Coelian', an experimental vehicle which saw little or no service, hence the unpainted, surface-rusted turret. Like Flak-panzer IV 'Kugelblitzen', 'Maus'es' (mice? Misen? Misen to picen!) and E100's, there are X¹⁰-many more in war games armies than ever left the factories it's all a bit silly, really! Wouldn't stop me buying one though - ah, yes; the hypocrisy of the pink monkeys!

Safer ground with a Patton tank - painted by Dr. No's henchmen it seems! Didn't save the Gloster's did it . . . fussa-russa!

But a nice model of a machine which - where previously issued in this size - has always been highly inaccurate, whether Japanese pull-back or clockwork's imported by Riko or the Airfix 'readymade' which couldn't decide if it was an M '46, '47 or '48 or what it's turret should look like (despite trying two designs!) in the 1960's or later Hong Kong stuff based on Blue Box's effort copied by Rado, et al in the 1970/80's . . . hell - they still turn-up; horrible little squat-lumps of wasted polyethylene!

Lovely! What can you say, better that Airfix, Hasegawa or Fujimi, that's for sure, and the fact that the anhanger (trailer) tractor behind has a different camouflage and no tilt, while the gun-tractor has a full tilt (apparently in two parts), suggests multiple purchases could be cross pollinated to quickly produce a fleet of (6?) different-looking vehicles.

Hugh's Aircraft Corporation Utility Helicopter 1 . . . B! I think this is actually painted-up as a South Vietnamese airframe of the type thrown into the sea in large numbers at the end, as US Aircraft Carriers and amphibious assault ship's decks filled with the fleeing regime's hardware? Loving the tiger-stripes!

In the background is an AMX, is it painted for Chad or South Africa or somewhere like that? And if you're thinking it has limited use on the war game's table, I can assure you the 3rd Fantasian Motor Rifle Division had a heavy reconnaissance regiment requiring 9 of them on the table!

A couple more in the box, I NEED a Protz! I think the Flak-panzer IV 'Wirblewind' is the same model Matchbox branded about 15 years ago, which would make them the first to carry these models (albeit as a small and hard to find range), long before Altaya (or was it Eaglemoss?!) et al, and further suggest that at least one of the contract manufacturer's may be (or have been) part of the Universal Group?

War Master from Solido via Amerang, ex-everybodyelse! Get 'em when you see 'em or you'll be paying double on evilBay in a few years time! Or - as they aren't that cheap anyway - wait and see if they are churned through The Works or TKMaxx in a year or two - somewhere in the Far East, there's a warehouse the size of an aircraft-hanger (or two); full of 'em!!

T is for Toy Fair 2019 Reports - Amerang - Jada (+?)

I think these are all Jada, but I'm not so sure about the last two shots! The trouble with the Toy Fair is you have several hundred stands to scope-out, several dozen to cover and only limited time and you're making lots of mental notes which might as well be written on the beach as the tide comes in for all the use they are weeks later, or even the next day!

However Amerang are a wholesaler, so whether Jada or not, they are here, in the UK, now'ish and to be looked out for if you fancy them.

Batmobiles, Bat-tanks, Bat-beasts, bat-bollocks! But they all come with a really nice die-cast and plastic 70mm-odd (1:24th scale) figure!

More of the same - in closer!

To cool for Bat School! This will be issued later in the year and it's lovely - look at it; I think it's nicer than the old Corgi one, but; at around 1:18th for this, miles off the 'original' and plenty of room for all the extra detailing.

Some other dude in a spandex body-suit, I wasn't pay any attention to who this chap was, but if you're a fan you'll know instantly, 'Livepond' . . . is he? Beyond him is a Transformers franchise in two sizes, I'm not sure on Jada for these but I think they were all the same section of the Amerang stand? Except . . . the flyer is for Transformers, the vehicles are from a Japanese anime series called Initial D!

Again two sizes; 1:24th and 1:32nd, how can you not like these. They perfectly illustrate how accuracy falls with scale-reduction; note the window bars/roll-cage uprights get larger (in scale) as the vehicle gets smaller - the limitations of die-casting alloys! Sadly the 54mm-compatable one doesn't have figures, well, actually - neither of them do - "Who yer gonna call?"!

The other one I'm not sure was Jada; and can't remember where (culturally) it came from - Halo, or some Vin Diesel thing? Nice-looking little hunter-killer APC, runabout thing anyway, although the road-wheels look a bit girly!

T is for Toy Fair 2019 Reports - Amerang - Nano Metalfigs

Jada Toys 'Metalfigs' are also being shipped into the UK and distributed by Amerang, and I shot a few while I was in London the other day.

This is probably more of a display-unit than a 'playset' per se, and has points for about 12 figures with room for a few more, themed to DC's Batman, it might look a bit silly draped in Disney figures, but each to his own!

Another man-bat and a bunch of other DC superhero comic characters, they don't all have metallic paint, or not everywhere, but it does suit them, and I know I've waxed lyrical on these in the past, they really are lush to handle.

I struggled to get a good shot of this Marvel set - Gardians of the Galaxy, but between the three most-usable images you can - hopefully - get an idea of the finished item!

The Harry Potter line is being added to with the Fantastic Beast off-shoot, and you may just spot the Walking Dead set - bottom right.

Again designed more as a display vehicle than a full-on playset, but this one does have a bunch of accessories for little imaginations to sculpt adventures rund, and those who follow the ways of Nottingham will see that some of the elements may have applications in more grown-up gaming - I'm thinking of the arched windows and pilasters.

A large twenty figure set, I don't know how much this costs; but I've found the single figure blisters in Asda supermarkets to be reasonable and the five-figure sets can often be found in Smyths, sometimes discounted.

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Speaking of Disney - as I was a moment ago - Brian Berke sent these shelfies over from the 'States back in July and they either slipped-past the last round-up of these, or missed it and were waiting for a post like this!

Not specifically branded to Disney Infinity, but rather Disney-Pixar-Muppets, it seems to be designed to carry and carry nevertheless; with almost limitless characters to choose from!

The fact that these are out there in several outlets, more than two years after the Blog first became aware of them suggests take-up has been successful-enough for them to be with us for some time now, which also means they will be around at the fairs in numbers for years to come, Nano Metalfigs are 'part of the landscape' now

T is for Toy Fair 2019 Reports - Amerang - NJCroce Bendables

I think there will be four Amerang posts before the season's done, but as we haven't looked at NJCroce's bendable figures for a while (and they were becoming a regular here!), I thought I'd kick-off with a quick overview of what Amerang's shipping in from the 'States at the moment.

Top left is the 'original' (actually second [TV]) Batman who was also the Blog's introduction to NJCroce when Brain Berke donated him over a couple of years ago (nearly a 'few' years ago!), he's still available, but now as a key-ring.

Next to him is the TV-version four-inch Joker. Far left gives us a box set of the 'Classic TV Series' figures with card variations on the self in front of them and a little Batmobile I got no details on!

Animated Series Joker and a Green lantern also on the pegs, but the star of this year's line is an 80th Anniversary original comic Batman in five-inch, bendy-form!

Down the bottom are a set of 'deforms' including a generic 'Armyman' I'll look out for!

I think this is the one I shelfied in TKMaxx just before Christmas, it's a static vehicle (wheels are fixed) aimed at adult collectors who - presumably - have been found (by some focus group?) to only want to display mint-boxed! You can just see a TV version behind it.

This is one of the Movie beasts and again a static display model but the bendy is sculpted to a high standard. Obviously these NJCroce items will appear in TKMaxx through the year, but Amerang - as agents - will be looking for other buyers and so they should also be found in other places?

T is for Toy Fair '18 Reports - Norev

Good news for Collectors, bad news for 54mm Toy Soldier Collectors, as Norev showed-off a new line (well; new to the author!) of 40mm farm sets which I suspected were designed to complement the 1:32nd scaled vehicle ranges of Siku and Britains-Tomy (or is it Tomy-Britains!?), but they had their own tractor/trailer set on display and it's all 1:43!

Smaller animals are over-scaled, those rabbits look positively dangerous and the hen could damage that farmer, but he's the all important figure and he looks well in-line with Britains, Starlux or Timpo.

Imported into the UK via- Amerang, there is a nice - if rather generic - farmhouse and a barn/outbuilding which will be of far more use to large-scale war-gamers, I recon it'll easily take a 'hidden' Acht-acht; sight it on the rockery and it'll have fields of fire over the whole of the vicar's lawn! What? It's always a vicar's lawn, or a padre's - men of peace seem to love a bit of vicarious blood-letting!

1:64th scale Construction vehicles were also on show, but without figures or accessory blisters, but play-mats hinted at a wider range?

T is for Toy Fair '18 Reports - Solido

These are both in the Amerang catalogue as imported, limited editions of a thousand, and a complete departure for Solido, to whom they are credited. Whether that's a thousand units worldwide, or a thousand in/for the UK I don't know, but I suspect the former?

D-Day Cromwell, weathered nicely.

Quadruple 38mm Anti-aircraft AFV

Pz.Kfw. IV Flack-Panzer Whirlwind, with rather leery paint!

They look a bit like both the small range Matchbox imported back in the 1990's and some of the part-work sets issued in recent years, just given new paint, but they aren't clear shots and with moulds for the Italian set of 'up-market' die-casts (Armour Collection?) from the 80's kicking-around and others out there, they could be from anywhere or entirely new sculpts.

Get 'em before they're gone - if they happen, this is a Toy Fair report, not a retail buy!

Solido, via Amerang - 1:72nd scale.