News, Views Etc . . . Airfix Blog - Space Warriors Page Update

Continuing today's space theme; I've added a bunch of comparison shots between the Airfix Space Warriors and various other sci-fi figures, these are to be the first of many, so 'watch this space'!

Looking today at various Hong Kong/Hing Fat sets, Cromoplasto and Torgano from Italy, LB (Lik Be), Thomas/Poplar and a couple of Timpo's Captain Scarlet figures.

BS is for BraveStarr . . .

. . . but it's probably bullshit!

I've been told (by 'old guards' in the hobby) these were produced as BraveStarr knock-off figures from the Mattel action-figure TV tie-ins, but having used BraveStarr (or Brave Star) myself in the past once or twice, in-fact I now believe they are Galaxy Rangers' knock-off's from Galoob's similar action figure line!

There have been several robotic or Sci-fi type Wild West themed things in popular culture over the years including the original and recent re-hash of Westworld (where they are meant to look human), DC's Weird Western Tales and later Johna Hex, while Tex Arcana - I think (Arcanna, Arcaana?) - is another one, and there were various short stories in Metal Hurlant (Heavy Metal).

Morbius did one I seem to recall (or was it a 2000AD Tharg's 'Future Shock'?), where we see them from the backs round a camp-fire, all Stetson's, gun-belts and leather jerkins, talking 'supper' until in the last panel they are revealed to be aliens - eating a human? I may have invented the last bit; the pink monkeys may only have been herded into the corral, for eating later?!

Anyway . . . Galaxy Rangers not BraveStarr or Brave Star or Brave Staar!

So far I've tracked down 10 foot-poses, but they do keep turning-up, so I'm not 100% sure if this is all the poses. Robot 'cowboys' with ray-guns, I'm told (yep; by the 'old guard') they were Hing Fat branded (but don't know what the header card said, or if it was Hing Fat's) and are seem to have been issued in the same colours as their (Hing Fat's) MPC Astronaut copies.

The second figure on the top row and the first on the bottom row (both blue) are 'fem-bots' being clearly modelled as females!

Mounted Figures; three of the four poses found so far, the reason I've only shown three is not down to a lack of robot horses, but that the fourth (below) doesn't sit well in the saddle! The middle-one is another fembot and there are only the two horse-posess found so far, each coming in black or several shades of oxide red-brown.

The black horse above is the sporty, turbo-reconnaissance number with aerodynamic cowls over the head and tail and an overall streamlined or slim look, the brown ones are the broader, heavy APC's for ramming stuff and kicking things about! They even have Star Wars AT-AT knee and shoulder-joints and a scaled-down AT-AT head!

The other rider on the left, on the right the three commonest versions of one of the standing figures; the mould tool obviously flexed badly, and you find more figures with flash down the leg than without.

But the flash can be either side and is very heavy, needing carving away, rather than the usual light-slice with a scalpel, it's frankly easier to paint it as a scenic shrub or rock, or short-circuiting flames! I'm guessing they were two cavities, next to each other and the 'bridge' of tool metal between them would bend upwards, allowing both legs to over-spill?

They are - Like most Hing Fat stuff - a bit on the small-side, around the 50mm mark and are here compared with a right eclectic bunch of ner'do-wells I had to hand as I sorted some of the 'space' stuff.

From the rear.

They are - Like most Hing Fat stuff - a bit on the shite-side, both in sculpting and finish, but they are pretty unique, so I think a good paint-up and some scenic-basing would improve them considerably, especially given there's nothing to really judge them against. Singly they could also be used as stand-alone 'Mechs' in small-scale war-gaming forces or for steam-punk stuff.

Several of the figures have jet-pack type objects on their backs, while the fem-bots have wild manes of hair.

I'm not terribly happy with the photo's on this post, I think I did them a bit hurriedly, so we may return to them one day, or I'll take better images for the Hing Fat entry on the A-Z - when I get round to it!

 

03-10-2020 - Confirmed as 'Galaxy Cowboys' by Hing Fat (phew!) on Sean's Fantasy Toy Soldier Blog, and thanks to Chris Smith for pointing me there; they'd been there all along!

R is for Robot Follow-up

Having added that set of five eraser-robots from a charity shop the other day, I popped into WHSmith in Basingrad on Friday, and a year or so after I bought the pink-bot in a sale, I found they had three more at 50p each, one was damaged but the other two were fine, so the quid was parted-with

Here's the two new - rather frowny - miscreants, one arm's fallen-off but they are a bit loose anyway and there's nothing wrong with it, the one I left had the receiving-stud broken-off, two for a pound; you can't say no!

With apologies to Ray Winston - I know he's the Daddy really!

Droid Army - a round-up of robots, all previously Blogged here I think, bar the BraveStarr Galaxy Rangers robo-Wild West figures from Hing Fat et al - not sure about the silver PVC chap, have we had him? I've more of that type in storage so we'll return to them again; I'm sure. Droids come in all shapes and sizes!

Three pens and eight erasers; office-bots!