BMSS is for More Plunder, 2 of 2

The other half of the BMSS plunder, I literally split the folder this morning so there's no theme to either post, but this is by coincidence both mostly small scale, and mostly stuff Adrian gave me in a little tub, as a mixed lot.

 

Seen better days, with Plasticine bases and glued arms, but small scale'ish (o gauge), chalkware composition, in the style of Drevopodnik, and new to pile. They might be from the Soviet Bloc (post-war) or earlier, and German, I'm hoping they will be findable in my Schiffmann Sammlekatalog, next time I have it out?

 

Two Spot-On's to add to the stash, and two of the Kinder 'Mocherette', based on the Lone Star Metallions which might not be Lone Star (given that Hubley, Kresege, 'Hong Kong' and others, also issued them), one copper 'chromed' over the base metal, the other bronzed to an almost black-olive.

 

Reduced-size copy of the Brtiains Llama, a Hong Kong pack mule and one of the Torres wine-bottle giveaways, make an interesting trio of animals in polyethylene.

 

When I first started finding these, years ago, well, about 40 years ago, I was intrigued, I would get one or two at each show, and it took maybe a decade to get the last colour, they then became one of those things I'd seen the origin of, so 'knew', but could never remember, so didn't know! Eventually they were remembered long enough to blog (charity shop purchase I seem to recall), as Waddington's Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs figures.

 

And I now have so many of them I don't know what to do with them! They would paint up nicely as ranked war gaming pieces, but they have officers pistols, not rifles, so don't lend themselves's to ranks, or files! And how many role players (28mm) need slightly small (25mm) explorers, and what would they pay for them, when you can find up to 16 in a charity shop! The law of unintended consequences!

 

Odd smallies here with a Sistema Cadillac from Italy, in an odd scale of 1:77th. A few of the Slaters/Merit (Collis Plastics), home painted, and the weirdest of the three mico-AFV's which various rack-toy issuers used as filler in their sets in the 60's and 70's, joining the obvious Daimler armoured car and 25lbr type gun is this odd little amphibious landing craft/jeep/pop-up target/carrier hybrid, which has never been explained!

 

A bit of Thomas Wild West, an LB caveman, Matchbox Space 2000 'future warrior', and a kit figure in 1:48th scale of a WWII German tank crewman, alongside a later Briains head, farm, I think?

 

Atlantic, Davy Crockett figures, he survived an enraged bear, Indians and two demented donkeys, only to fall to the dastardly Mexican forces of General Antonio López de Santa Anna!

 

Three of the gold, post-Giant Greco-Romans we looked at on the other Blog, from two of the sourses, a Meccano for Hornby policeman and a larger firefighter, taken from Dinky, I think, or Corgi, but here probably from a larger plastic beach/garden toy?

BMSS is for More Plunder, 1 of 2

And so to Reading, what was only about five weeks ago, but already seems like ages ago, where I managed to fill my boots with bits and bobs, despite there only really being three vinatge sellers present, Adrian, Paul and Steve, and it's to Mr Vickers' overburdened table we go to, first . . .

 

. . . as he gave me this! It's a bit of Hong Kong tat (Tim-Mee copies?), probably from no earlier than the 1980's, and to Steve, rather bringing down the quality of his whole table, more used - as it is - to a better class of commodity all together, but to me; another brick in the knowledge wall! Cheers Steve!

 

And the sort of thing I used to give to charity shops regularly when I was a small-scale only collector, and they'd come-in with mixed a lot. Indeed, more modern stuff like this, 20-odd years ago might have gone straight in the brand-new, shiny, Rushmoor Borough Council recycling bin! The horror, the horror!

 

30 and 40mm policemen from Starlux with a tin-plate sentry-box, of generic nature, only because I don't know the maker, I imagine, either a German or Austrian producer, and probably an accessory in a set of painted flats, or maybe lead solids around 30-50mm? But - equally - it could have been an accessory with a wooden fort set?

 

Speaking of sentries, these are Greek, Athena, and real box-tickers, I may already have a few, but there do seem to be a number of variations in uniform, and red or blue versions of most, so I grabbed one-each while they were going cheap. The cymbalist is to replace a damaged one, which I shot to hide the damage, last time we looked at them.

Likewise, the mounted, I need a better horse for the trumpeter, or a base at least, to balance him on, but he's lost a couple of the studs, so it would only, ever, be balancing! And all these, rather like their UK equivalent (the Hong Kong Herald guards), will benefit from the hot water treatment at some point!

 

A trio of Pilots, the chap on the right seems to be a modern, probably home-painted figure, in the middle is a bisque chap, who may be a World War sweetheart keepsake thing, or maybe a cake decoration, it's certainly in the style of bisque cake-decorations, and there would have been many marriages, as men went off to war, the bride would have been in the inventory already?

 

The big guy on the left is more of a mystery, as he's pretty huge, and not really 'toy soldier' compatible, so, maybe a character piece, Charles Lindburgh wears similar kit in some of his photographs? Jumper isn't lumpy enough for Amelia Earhart, and Cody was earlier, but there must have been other popular aviators back in the day?

 

A couple of home-made sci-fi figures in around 35mm, they seem to have been modelled in Plasticine, with brass and brass-wire detailing, on brass-wire armatures, do you know who made them and why? Was this your work? They seem to be exploratory rather than belligerent?

 

A bit of fantasy, I've mentioned the Crossbows & Catapults stuff a couple of times recently, and their main post is well overdue, but probably still a few years away, there's plenty on t'ut Internet for those who need it, and a few of the 1980's big-box fantasy figures, which are still waiting for their big sort-out!

 

A nice Crescent cowboy I couldn't remember if I have or not, and a couple clowns from Charbens, which are probably both duplicates now, like Pirates, I've been concentrating on a subsection of circus stuff, so there's quite a bit of it somewhere!

 

Some gash (repainted) metal from Adrian's rummage trays, I think he said one of them (chap on the far left?) is an arm swap and wasn't actually issued by Britains in that 'at the trail' configuration? And very much box-ticking, my knowledge of this stuff is minimal. I split 18 images into two posts, to help with Tagging, so more later!

R is for Recent Events

Had a mare of a day yesterday (Thursday), although it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and I managed to get back to Waterloo OK, despite the impending strike by tube workers, and some bus staff! The main event being the picking-up of a lovely lot of loot from Peter Evans.

 

I had a better Saturday last, attending the BMSS show in Reading, where among other things I picked up the above ephemera, all relatively useful, especially the colour facsimile of a Lineol catalogue. I may already have some of it, particularly the Corgi checklist/customer leaflet, but if so, it'll make a useful spare to swap for something!

 

The Hausser farm and zoo flyer is an original, and there's some German language stuff which seems to be either a dealers lists, or trade orders of some kind, and which may or may not have future use. The V&A monograph is a bit of fun for the library, and a picture of a diner from Route 66 heralds a parcel from Brian, which I'll hopefully post in the next few days, while Steve Vickers gave me both his cards!

 

Two Elastolin facsimiles got left out of the other shot, and I won two items on the raffle this year, the Land Rover kit has no figures (shock horror!), so I may just make them up 'as is', and photograph them against future Land Rover posts, in their neutral . . . gray - I just (a while ago) remembered I had to go to the bank, so shot off, forgetting I'd been doing this, then thought I'd go for a walk, it's a nice day, or it was, it's dark now! And actually wrote 'neutral' about ten hours ago!

 

As well as show plunder, which needs photographing, and the box from Mr Burke, which has been shot, I also picked up a big lot from Chris, which also needs photographing, but I have sorted it, and there are some interesting bits winging their way to these pages!

 

When I was on Faceplant, I'd thank Chris when a parcel arrived, with the Collected Paratroopers image, a few days or a week or so before they got posted here, but, as I'm not on Faceplant at the moment, here it is! The red one is actually a stand-alone figure from Processed Plastics, but he made the line-up neater, and was needed in the flyboy zone!

 

And while I'd happily draw a veil over yesterday's shenanigans, as I said, I did manage to get to Peter's and pick up a collected bunch of donations and car-booty, which is also in the queue to be photographed, along with some charity shop stuff I picked-up this afternoon, next to the bank!

 

Given that I haven't cleared any of the stuff I was intending to clear, back in January, because I've had a month off, like a lazy fuck, there's no shortage of stuff to post, and I fear the capsule-toy mini-season may join the HO railway outstanding's in the never-never section of the short queue! We'll see, what will be, will be!

 

The next event will be the London Toy Soldier Show, on the 9th of May, with a Sandown the next weekend (16th of May), so it's lucky PW has moved to June really!

A is for And so, to Reading!

While I'm playing catch-up with the big shows (after PW, there's another Sandown to cover), there have been other incomings, with both my own and Peter's car-booty to come, various new-production results of shopping trips, and this, a quick pop-over to the teeming metropolis of Reading in April, for the BMSS's annual show, where I found a tub of Circus awaiting me, courtesy of Adrian little, some interesting stuff on Steve Vicker's table, and a few other bits.

 

Another sample of wooden ceremonials, probably from Germany, but not necessarily, these things are pretty universal, and the red/blue of Danish guards is also the standard paint-job, a bit damaged, but that too, is par for the course, with wooden toys this small.

 

Another of the Dunbee-Combex era, Marx Disney figures in PVC.

The Britains Lilliput OO 'Trooscale' Centurion, compared with the Airfix 'readymade', bottom-right, a nice find and cheap because it has a few paint-chips, in the die-cast world things are either mint, and pricey, or gash! It's clean-enough for me.

 

On Steve's table were a bunch of Athena ceremonials, and I grabbed one of each, three sentry/guard duty types and eight bandsmen, there was a 13th but he was damaged, and the cymbalist only has one cymbal, but as a catch-up sample, they'll do!

 

A - probably commercial - BR Moulding behind, and a chap in front I don't entirely know, he looks familiar, in a sort of Cherilea fashion, but is too small for them, can't be either of the Charbens ones (oval or round bases), so Hilco from hollow-cast? He's soft 'ethylene, against the BR's hard 'styrene.

 

East German at the front? Reamsa reissue of a Mountie, probably from Marksmen, Gulliver copy of Atlantic's Apache hunter, a Poplar-Tudor Rose (green) and Crescent hollow-cast copy in yellow at the back.

 

The hard plastic chap in white is a ceremonial from the Principality of Monaco I think, but probably a French-made figure (there was a plastic maker in Monaco, but they made Britains and Crescent copies!), while the other two are Spanish, Reamsa 1st version, I think.

 

Some unpainted Britains Deetail ACW, also on Steve's table, someone recently posted the bugler, in similar nakedness on the Friends who like Plastic Warrior Faceplant group, you do find them from time to time, usually old out-painters stock, filtering their way to market as sheds and cupboards are sorted-out!

 

While Adrian's tub of Circus (his third in two years) was very useful, none of the rarer mouldings, but something more useful, confirmation!

 

The third image is sadly fuzzy, and I only realised when I edited this, last night, so there’s no time to reshoot it, but a very useful sample for showing three tool-cavities, with long, thin left foot (shorter figure), rounder foot and short foot, and with the bases being one Maysun, one 'Hong Hong' and one blank, confirms that most of these Crescent copies are the same Marty-Maysun--M Toy production,

 

For years, I've kept these in two or three lots, due to obvious differences, especially among the standing-tub markings of the Elephant and the Lion's box. But getting these three together, the same quality, plastic colour and paint, means they can all be unified now, and I can thin them out, to a better 'overall' sample.

 

One Crescent original among them, the right-hand elephant, with the beach-balls in two colours, a very useful addition to the whole sample.

 

While a couple of Corgi's Cinderella Coach horses w=also work for circus animals, the jockey is a Hong Kong copy of Britains jumper, and the Charbens clown has been repainted! Many thanks to Adrian for the freebies!

BMSS is for British Model Soldier Show!

As I mentioned earlier, I popped-over to the BMSS (Society!) show in Reading on Saturday, for support really, I wasn't buying, and while I got there a bit late, the entry-fee was collected against future show organising, and I took a few shots of the competition entries while I was there.

Junior effort, I couldn't have done something this good at 9

I know, because I tried!

Old School!

This was beautiful!

Fantasy, winged witches!

Beautifully executed fun!

Tommy Atkins, 'Dusty' Miller and 'Snowy' White!

These might be Airfix Multipose?

Cold! General Winter!

Northamptonshire's BMSS branch table.

 

Aldershot's table, I think there had been a modelling/painting display, but it was getting toward home-time. They used to organise their own show, in February, but it went the way of all flesh some time ago, one of my first big-purchases was from that show back in 1991 when it was still held in Fleet Library, or the adjoining Hartington centre, if I recall correctly?

You wouldn't want it up you, Captain Mainwaring!

You really wouldn't want it up you!

The Oxford branch, I was tickled by the St Trinian's flats

I can't find them on Google, but definitely fun!

Despite knowing Reading all my life, and managing to find the venue (and a free, legal car parking space) without trouble, I managed to take the wrong exit off the roundabout, going home, and got lost in a town-centre I no longer recognise, before taking the wrong road out of town (Early/Mortimer, not Swallowfield/Heckfield!), a road I also barely recognised!

The amount of development, in just the last fifteen or twenty years is staggering, the flight of industry, the population explosion (nationwide - 10-million, since the Tories came to power, most of it 'legal' migration), makes you realise how insignificant your 60/80-years here, actually are. When I was born in '64, Reading was already in the midst of a major post-war development boom, with new factories springing-up everywhere, but they've all gone, replaced by housing, and the centre has been rebuilt three-times?

Yet, once you get out of the city-proper, the old lanes have hardly changed at all in my whole lifetime, the same daftly tight-bends, narrow passing and overhanging foliage seem timeless, as you pootle through the old villages and hamlets, but a lot of the pubs are boarded-up or already converted to homes, as are most of the village shops!

The point this slightly-sad reminiscing is getting to, is that the show is best described as quiet, gentile, unhurried, and one wonders how many more there may be, from the heady days of filling the Royal National, so next year, try to get over if you missed it this year, like parents, pets or a favourite T-shirt (yes, I just listed them together!), you'll miss it when it's gone.