B is for Box-ticking Boy's Toys in Bottle Bags!

At the PW show, John Begg had a whole bunch of ex-shop, or out-painters stock (there were loose figures) from Charbens, and Colesmith Plastics (the moulds have a convoluted history which can be read in Plastic Warrior's Charbens Specialist Publication), to which I availed myself of what you might call a cross-sample, certainly not everything they produced, either figure or packaging wise, but a nice example for box-ticking their latter production, which I remember being in the shelves, when I was a kid.

 

Charbens own-branded packaging.

Unpainted Wild West.

 

A generic branding as 'Pic-a-Pack'.

Guards Band and Beefeaters. 

 

American civil war, an odd mix of plastic colours with the Union outnumbering the Confederates more than two-to-one, in both sets, with an apparently measured content count of one sky-blue figure, four dark blue, and two grey

 

More mixed ceremonials, here branded to Colesmith.

A Highland piper, and Lifeguards join the mix.

 

Mixed paratroopers (green bases) and Tommies (sand).

 

Comparison of the cards, I don't know why Colesmith got to brand some-up to themselves, maybe to pay off a debt, or just for a cheaper quote to Charbens? or did they inherit/hang-on to the moulds? I haven't got the Charbens Special to hand!

 

Note, also; the Artist's palette painting sign, used - rightly - on the unpainted Wild West set, but rather spurious on the pre-painted sets? I'm sure I remember the Colesmith sets in WHSmith around 1978/79?

 

"Jenny? What colour are Native Americans, really?"

 

"Dunno' love, try one of each!"

 

The 'Blues & Royals'.

 

Mixed, painted and unpainted.

Highlanders, Nelson, Lifeguard trumpeter and mounted cowboy.

 

Guards band in various treatments.

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 14th 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!

C is for Ceremonial Roundup!

I picked up and shot these first two the other day, and thought it was a good excuse to get a few of the 'odds & sods' images out of the Ceremonial folder and share them with the Loyal Readers, no particular theme, but I left the Spanish, the Cossacks, the Majorettes and others in the folder, so we're looking at UK production of UK figures, even if some came from Holland!

 

So these are the new additions, a second sample of the maybe BR Moulding/maybe Hilco kneeling infantryman of the Victorian era, I'm not sure if it was in the BR mould-list? And a Sacul drummer, the Sacul sample is growing slowly, a few others have come in, and I am looking forwards to shooting them all together!

This was sent by a loyal reader back in 2021, during a conversation about either Sacul, or unknown guardsmen, which I was thinking were from the Crescent sculpt, because of the epaulettes, but as pointed out it's the Sacul moulding.

 

And, further, the correspondent pointed out that the smaller drummer (second from the left) was probably also Sacul, issued as a drummer boy? The unknown is next and another probably Sacul forth, with the common Sacul varient on the left. And, if I recall the conversation correctly, the feeling was that all four were probably Scaul, with the [3rd] nylon'y one being maybe a late issue, early 1970's?

 

These were all sent to the Blog by Theo van der Werden from the Netherlands, back in 2018, again as part of a conversation on his - then - recent purchases, and because I'd covered most of them, I sort of filed them, with a bunch of other stuff, anyway here they are, three Britains 54mm and some nice examples of Cherilea 60mm types.

 

I really like the lifeguard (upper pair in middle image), he's a very unusual toy soldier, being that sort of late Georgian/early Victorian uniform.

 

We've seen better here in the past, but they came in with some mixed lot, or another, and the shot shows the three poses of Gemodels in the less common Horse Guard's blue colourway, which happens to be my favourite! Note also the two distinct shades of blue plastic.

Having mentioned BR, these are now known to have been issued as part of their home-moulding exercise, and here are three very different treatments of the same pose, with a hard 'styrene on the left, odd-coloured, unpainted polyethylene in the middle, and a marbled pinkish one on the right!

 

Finally, also a bit tatty and from some bulk lot, are these; four Herald and a Zang original (larger figure to the right) of the highland infantryman of the late Victorian era, just before the switch to khaki uniforms. The four on the left are not rare, and I may well repaint them one day, if I ever pick up that eye-glass prescription!

 

While (finally finally!) this is a 'seen elsewhere' shot from the archive (and from another folder, 2008) and shows what other bugger's can achieve with a bit of paint on these figures, four of the later Herald in a variety of late 19thC/colonial era uniforms, original on the right. It may have been on the Blog before?

 

There's lots of this kind of stuff in about 30 folders, and I'll try to get some more cleared in the run-up to Christmas, many thanks to Theo and Anon for the images indicated above.

O is for "Oojah-Cum-Pivvy"

Which is the word I've been searching for in past posts on this subject, as was also I searching for the name of the importer, who was the famous Shamus Wade, he went on to use the word/phrase for a range of lead figures made by/sold as Nostalgia Models, while the phrase itself has a very complicated etymology (in our family it's always been '[H]oojah-mah-flip'), well worth the crawl through the rabbit hole, and is currently the name of an alternative or 'indie' band.

One of the Oojah-Cum-Pivvy sets, as originally imported by Wade (while he was still in Ireland?), it was a part-set of these, my late Mother found in a charity-shop for me, which made the first post on the subject, and got me paying more attention to charity shops after a bit of a hiatus.

 

But this post has its own chequered history, as the images below are all from Brian Berke, and he sent them ages ago, around April '22, I found them in a folder at Christmas last year, and excitedly told him I'd found this folder with all sorts of stuff in and would move it up the queue, only for life to intervene - as it does - and they didn't get posted that Christmas or in the new year, and while there were quite patches, overall, last year was pretty prolific for publishing, they just never got the attention, so I had hoped to post them over this Christmas, and looked at them a few times, but in the end, it happened just now!

Brian spotted these in a little store in New York (I think, or Connecticut?), and as you can see it's an interesting collection of British imports (Britains and Hornby 'O' I think I can see), and domestic American production including a Comet Authenticast (? Grey overalls) and early Beton plastic, front-right. There's also a rather nice Indian-made chalkware, in the back-right corner.

Which was obviously from this lot, in a neighbouring compartment! And . . . we have a brand! Only the third I think for India, a shameful situation given it's a nation of over a billion, but it is mostly either this craft-stuff, or the more-commercial, imported Western/Hong Kong-China shite.

They appear to be made by Ramdass of Lucknow (I once lived in Lucknow Barracks in Tidworth!), are slightly larger than Wade's Oojah-Cum-Pivvy's and as mentioned, chalkware, rather than the terracotta of the musician sets. They each represent a given trade or function, which is written on the base in English and - probably - Hindi?
 

Here we see the marking, which is simple pen & ink, as per similar figures seen on the blog from both Brian and Adrian, I think. And they are probably decorated in powdered poster-paint, so you wouldn't want to be getting them damp, for two reasons - paint and material!

 

Three more.

The jeweller, before and after having his hand fixed!

Along with a scaler - they are a good 70/75mm, without the bases.

 

I've also had this in the folder for a while, it's an old auction shot (Bonhams maybe?), and shows what are 'composite' toy figures, also from India, being a mix of wood, wire, cloth and plaster or papier-mâché? I love the cushion ticking/fringe on the elephant's howdah!

T is for Two - Cake Guards!

Actually by the end of the post we'll have seen five lots from at least three sources, but we're concentrating on two recent additions to the pile, both from the 'plastic smalls' end of the spectrum, so we'll just give the PTSM a few moments to grind their chairs and leave the room . . . Hairband! Your satchel . . . Sell - I saw that . . . Stadinger - I heard that! Right, that's better; fancy not rating plastic smalls, they lose-out on so much!

These are quite early I think (like inter-war period maybe, or just after the 2nd? 3rd on the horizon; thanks Putin, if anyone could trump both 2020 AND 2021!), and are either a phenolic resin or an early unstable polystyrene, both losing colour and starting to faintly blister on the flat areas, but, still - how cool!

Sort of French Wellingtonian line-infantry - with the buttons up the seam of the trousers - and fitted for novelty/party candles to be placed in their hats.

Lemon Madeira cake I think? It was a while ago!

The other set are a tad smaller, and while I thought they might be copies of Airfix when I first saw them, and Britains Eyes-Right after they arrived, I actually think they are channeling the later, taller Charbens bandsmen, which should mean there's a trumpeter out there still to find, for a set-count of six?

Painted as a US marching band (they came from America) with white trousers, there may be a darker painted version for the UK market or Denmark (do the Danish have cake decorations - a very under-covered subject; cake decorations?), and I think they may be after, or the donors for, the bright-coloured set we looked at here, which would mean I'm looking for (or might be looking for) a standard bearer, rather than the extra brass instrumentalist?

Quite short spikes (or 'picks') on the earlier set and only the one design as far as I know . . . I only have the four? While it took me an hour or two to realise the pick for the second set (hard polystyrene) could be removed from the soft polyethylene figures.

Unfortunately the Frenchies went to storage before the other set were found, so they are missing from these comparisons, but you can judge them from the cork in the previous shot.

Here on the left we have various cake decoration ceremonials, from Gemodels, Wilton in the 'States (copies of Marx's sculpts from the Disney production Babes in Toyland) and the recent addition, which might also be Wilton, but could be someone else - Carousel, Grandmother Stovers, SSCO &/or-etc.

On the right the newer one compared with one of the standing cake Guards we saw here, the one in the shot arriving yesterday in a nice lot from Peter Evans, and triggering my getting this out of the long-queue and dusting it off for publishing!

It's a scone (rhymes with song) not a scone (rhyming with stone).

And don't forget the wooden set!

And the funnies!

The next day - I found another image while preparing today's post! I think it might be the seller's original shot, it's better than the others anyway! You can see the beginnings of the same distortions/decay some of those F&G clowns suffer from, which might even be a clue as to the origin?

M is for Matchboxes and Some Die Cast . . .

. . . but no Matchbox's!

Just a quickie, I really don't have time at the moment, maybe in the summer there'll be more time to sit-about blathering on the Internet! But not right now.

I mentioned the other day/in another post that I was collecting the Shackman novelty matchboxes, this was a bit of highfalutin hyperbole, as I only have the one, don't know how many there might be or what the other subjects are (I hope it's the rest of the band!), but I do occasionally search for them on that there interwebby-thingy.

But I happened, in all the sorting, moving and scrabbling about which occupies my time at the moment, to find the one I had been thinking of when I mentioned them the other day (on the left with the guardsman label), and another, simpler, novelty matchbox (behind, rocking a sort of faux Ship versus Bryant & May look) which is also a pencil sharpener (the original subject at hand), so quickly fired off a few shots for this post!

From another angle it's more obvious they ain't gonna' be lighting a fire in a hurry, although they can quickly produce the best kindling for a boy-scout's carbonisation badge! And they both have blue (or blue'ish) drawers, which a lot of matchboxes had back in the paper-lined days . . . when we were young! Who remembers making a small-component cabinet from matchboxes and masking tape, sellotape or glue!

But the Shackman box also contains the surprise of a small - 40mm - mocherette (or what I call a 'mosherette' for reasons I will explain - eventually!), being what I believe is a die-cast rendering of the plastic mini 'swoppet' guards we've seen here before in WHC (Cornelius)/Success branding and as generics, so I hope the rest will turn-up, or a further variation of legs/torso combinations - here seen in one piece.

He's in the same antiqued-bronze look of other similar figures of the time from Peltro, Westair and other extra-to or pre-Kinder issuers of these figures, and may have similar age.

As the label mimics the collectable labels some real match brands would issue (both sides of the Iron Curtain interestingly) and given that the figure is the same pose as the one illustrated on that label, it's reasonable to assume there may be more in a 'set'. Are they in one of O'Brian's books?

C is for Call Answered

Chris Smith eMailed me a week or two ago a with a link to an eBay lot which I bought there and then, even before thanking him . . . it answered a question posed here a couple of times I think; the 'like late / Toyway-Timpo' highlanders, and revealed new poses!

Credited to a Scottish International Gift, Scotland and clearly a touristy gift-item, it's a pretty standard window-box with a tombstone-card at the back that could be pierced for wire-hook peg-board hanging, but something which isn't done in the factory. A potted history of the bagpipes is provided on the rear of the extended card, along with a code NO. 6000, which as a round number is almost certainly a stand-alone, with no similar items in the (or 'a') line?

I can't remember which new pose/s we encountered last time we looked at them here; was it the bass drummer or the pipe/band major? No matter, you get one of each, with two-each of the commoner side-drummers and pipers, which - of course - is why they are commoner, or turn-up more often, loose!

I took them out on one of those warm days a while ago and marched them round the empty bird-bath past the weeping cherry!

The next day - I should add that paint and material wise they are very similar to both the late Timpo/Toyway factory-painted Highlanders and the Hong Kong Salvation Army band set, only the bases being the obvious visual difference, this is not to say there is any connection, painted PVC was big in the late 1970's through the bulk of the 1980's.

"You told me I couldn't eat them
so I'm not even going to see them!"

Many thanks to Chris for spotting these and facilitating my sharing them with the rest of you! Funny thing is I think I recognise the box, so JB probably had a set when I was helping him, and if I'd paid more attention to large-scale when I was a small scale collector I would have had the answer all along!

The next day - I may of course be confusing the box with the painted sets of Ecsi 1:35th scale figures which I think were issued under the A-Toys branding, I also think they were in silver/grey boxes?