M is for More . . . stone!

We've seen this before, or another example, but it's one of those thing I always admire when it turns up, if only for its faint daftness, but also because it carries the same clown 'design' that the Frazier & Glass sets of Crazy Clowns also feature, a point I'm mused on before.

Nobody's peddling, or able to, and trusting a dog (replacement casting) to do the steering, seems the height of faith over stupidity! Die-cast mazac/zamak and not in scale with any of their other lines, it would have been sold purly as a novelty, aimed, I don't doubt, at this time of year.

W is for Wagon Train

Picked this up a couple of months ago, and it's definitely a 'grail' item, despite being pretty low on plastic, but it is there, and you must remember that until a decade ago I was a specialist small scale collector, where this was one of those 'must have one day' pieces.

An early example of the multiple branding we are more used to now as Morris & Stone (aka Morestone) under their Budgie trademark licence the Wagon train TV series from Revue Productions in the USA, utilising their little prairie wagon. I thought we'd looked at these in detail here, but in fact it's a pretty poor article from the early days of the blog, I'd now veer toward Nibblet for the sculpting, or even Les Higgins, but that almost strengthens the possible Aifix link?

 

There are four poses of figures, with the hand-up guy presumably meant to be the Seth Adams character (played by Ward Bond) and the other rider Flint McCullough (Robert Horton) with two generic wagoners? Wagoneers? Wagoniers? Spellcheck only likes the first offering!

Err . . . I don't think they're terribly rare! An old Vectis shot. And even as this large set, I've seen several over the years! Metal fatigue, though, is over twelve-years worse than the last time we looked at them; the white tilt one in my set is disintegrating, I'll try and replace it.

A is for And so to Sandown Park!

The ultimate cause of the failure of ITLAPD this year was a trip to NW Surrey two days earlier where I blew most of my budget on one item, but still managed to come away with enough stuff for a post.

What the budget was blown on, and no, I'm not telling you, but it wasn't cheap, and I had to talk myself into it with the help of the seller! It was the only item of Attack Force I still needed to find on a card, since finding the Centurion last year, and here are before and after shots.

There's not much of a difference, but I cleaned, ironed and wiped the card with a silicon furniture-cloth, to get a bit of depth back in the yellow. I also washed the landing-craft, but it's mostly dirt/dust, out of shot, on the flat surfaces.

This was only a fiver, it's pretty clean, and it's another tank transporter for that particular side-collection! With the die-cast collectors, box is everything isn't it, so a loose one is often to be found cheap, trailer is the same as the Airfix/Dinky/Lipkin (et al) ones, but the cab claims to be an International, although it's pretty fictional I think, the Aussies do have an International Harvester 'SF2670' tank transporter but it postdates this model by several decades!

Adrian gave me the five Les Higgins ECW's, they are exquisitely painted for 18/20mm figures, while the figure to their left is a rubber blow-mould from France, which being a latex type, has perished to a kind of chalky material, but still - mercifully - in one piece.

Bottom right are two other purchases, three of the smaller, better-sculpted, celluloid animals from Japan and a handful of Atlantic air force chaps, while the pair of guitar-playing Tim-Mee style GI's are what I have left after giving the rest away. They are/were issued by the US Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) unit.

I bought a job-lot a while ago, and as they didn't owe me much and various people were interested, they all got divvied-out, three to mates from a Facebook group and the other five at Sandown, with Brain C politely declining, only for Matt Their to show up and happily take the 'spare'!

Bottom left was a little handful Adrian brought to the show for me, and the stretcher is important, I can't find it now, but I know it has been [is] somewhere on the blog as a pale-blue-grey unpainted moulding, 'probably' a margarine premium, but I said at the time, I think, that I'd like it to be WHW, and I'm confident with Adrian's turning-up of this painted one, that it is from the set of police figures from the Gau of Berlin.

A set which has several versions, painted, unpainted and silver. The set being three Nazi's, four gendarme and one each fireman, traffic cop and this stretcher-team for a ten count, not of 'police' but 'public' or mixed emergency-service personnel?

I also got a nice tub of cereal premiums from Steve Vickers, among which were these Kellogg's types; almost a complete set of Sooty, and a similar Noddy 'bear', a couple of the Olà & Co., Magic Roundabout and four of the comedy pirates, along with an astronaut - because the astronauts are known to be manufactured by Crescent (along with other marked premiums - guards, cowboys, Robin Hood etc.), it's assumed all these are (not the Roundabout stuff - we know that's Tatra), but there's nothing to say so definitely.

The same lot also had a nice selection of the Asterix figures from Europe (although as I've said before, they are common enough over here to have probably had an issue in the UK, possibly with Wall's Ice Cream), the lower lot are a bit chewed-up (compare the blacksmiths), but in an interesting plastic colour.

These were interesting, but sad, as they heralded the passing of Dave Pomeroy back at the start of the year, sadly his estate has been broken-up, and I happened upon these workshop bits which consist of the blue blob (back left) which seems to be a wax moulding of a (pre-existing?) Brickwoods Brewery key-ring (variation seen on the Blog), which sort of makes sense as they were Portsmouth based?

I have no idea on the queen, but she's got a resin body with a wax-head, but carving wax, rather than the poured candle-wax of the Brickwoods chap. Next to her is a resin test-shot (?) of the lady hockey players from the Subbuteo (or Waddington's?) board game, and a grave-stone, which must be of similar history - playing piece or game accessory?

In front of them are two 'product' quality shots, both busts, both board-games I think? The round blob is a Buddha or casting of a novelty smoking-monkey, it's not clear, while the other piece has plaster still stuck in it, so would appear to be a mid-process piece from the prototyping stage? And it looks like it might also have origins as a novelty key-ring? So he obviously used existing stuff to try things out on? Or 'keep his hand-in'?

Now, I had the pleasure, or privilege of spending a very enjoyable afternoon at Mr Pomeroy's house, many years ago now, with John Begg, having afternoon tea, quizzing him on the Triang game pieces I'd inherited from him a year or so earlier, and asking about the relationship between Almark, Minimodels, Omnia et al., while being shown various swords, model soldiers and a suit of armour!

Dave was also connected to the artist Denis Knight (of the Lettraset rub-down historical picture books, also carried by Patterson Blick in the States and someone else in Europe), and the pair of them probably worked with or knew Charles C Stadden as they all seem to have been involved with the Minimodels plant at Havent at around the same time, and to have also worked with Subbuteo, Waddington's etcetera.

So, while not necessarily monetarily valuable, the above are a small slice of the hobby's historical archive, if you will, and it's very sad to learn of his passing.

At the end of the show I helped myself to a fiver's worth of hollow-cast from Adrian's 50p tray, it's all grist to the mill, and provides further samples for future thematic posts, particularly the Robin Hood pair, while the sentry with gas-mask case on his chest looks similar to the Zang composition version. There was also a clean gun from Crescent.

The Batman sticker is a genuine 1970's vintage PVC vehicle-graphic which went down well on another site, the Crescent WWI plastics are home-painted, so will need cleaning, but I knew I didn't have one and couldn't remember which one, so got all three, as I knew it was one of the 'advancing' poses - it's the one on the left! Pink frame is chuck-outs and floor sweepings!

T is for Two - Mighty Antar's & Conquerors

We looked at both these back near the start of the blog and have revisited features of them once or twice I think, but the opportunity to do 'full line-ups' wasn't to be ignored, indeed; sorting and packing was held-up for a day while I struggled to find the Matchbox one, the others all lined up on the green-baize, with a gap ready!

From the rear/right; Raphael Lipkin/Pipin Toys (1:30^th'ish), Dinky (1:43^rd), Airfix (1:76^th), Budgie (damaged), Matchbox (painted, badly!), unknown - might be Scotia? The last being two at approximately 1:125^th 'box scale' and one 1:300^th 'micro-armour' scale.

Anomalies include the Lipkin load being an FV 214 Conqueror rather than the Centurion (from Mk.5/1 - FV 4011) everyone else went with, the Budgie having the later cab design of the Mk.III [not 'mighty'] Antar with narrower bonnet and Matchbox having a simple rendition of the Sankey 50-Ton Tank Transporter trailer along with the error of the name 'Thornycroft' as "Thorneycroft" moulded on the base of the tractor-unit.

The micro-armour one is a curates egg, seemingly based on a ballast-body variant (draw-bar trailers, for the use of) it nevertheless has an articulated, fifth-wheel, DAF style trailer like the others, and may be based on the RAF's lone C6T variant, but with added 'saddle' fuel-tanks? The fuel tanks being used as tool-bins on the Lipkin biggie!

The recent purchase of another Conqueror from [The] Lucky Toys meant that while the Lipkin was out . . . anti-clockwise from the top left; the red version I got at Richmond-call-me-Whitton (the . . . no . . . THE Plastic Warrior show!) a couple of three-years ago!

Then the standard green Lipkin one that came with the transporter (you may remember we looked at the individually boxed version a while ago and both colours were on the box-art), while bottom left is the new Lucky one - I believe a home paint in gray over the chromium-finish still visible on the tracks and running gear, and about the same as the Dinky Centurion at around 1:43^rd scale.

Then the two version of Tri-Ang Conqueror (approximately 1:72nd [00-guage compatible]), one from the Minic Motorway sets (I believe) as a tank, the other from the latterly Hornby-Triang 'Battle-Space' line of the wider railway range, as a well-wagon/flat-car load with twin rocket-launcher turret and finally two box-scale (1:76^th'ish or smaller?) Tri-Ang Minic's configured as imagi-nation armoured cars but with scaled-down Conqueror turrets!

Instead of an anomaly, we have a coincidence with these; they are all equipped with push-and-go motors! Actually - maybe the train one isn't; just free-rolling? I've sent them to the storage unit now!

For those who don't know the Conqueror; it was a post-war super-heavy tank in the same family as the Soviet Russian Joseph Stalin - JSIII and American M103. The Lipkin is probably the closest to the real thing, turret-wise, but none of them really do the actual vehicle full-justice.

The Lucky Toy's model (new to me when I saw it on evilBay for no money! What else is out there?) is clearly a copy of the Tri-Ang rendition, scaled-up and with an integrally-moulded, non-revolving turret and equally integral radio-aerial.

Base-mark; aft of the forward axle's push-and-go motor housing, which is very similar to the one fitted to TAT (see tags)'s Universal/Bren-carrier, and their dime-store lorry-copy. I don't know if there is any significance to the 'v' suffix of the model-number, or if it just means 'v-ehicle' range?

C is for Clowning Around

When we looked at the 'Crazy Clown Circus' a while ago, I mentioned the fact that there was a die-cast penny-farthing from Morestone (Budgie) with a similar clown, and had the good fortune to shoot one at the weekend on Adrian Little's stand at the Sandown Park toy fair at the weekend;

You can see he has all the elements of the crazy clowns with the bobbles on the trousers, the collar-ruff, the pair of juggling balls, the bobble-hat and the wide tops to the trouser legs (I haven't the faintest idea what they are called in the fashion trade, but they're like old cavalry trousers?).

Now I don't think the polymer ones are a direct copy (I did at the time of the previous post), but suspect both toys are reflecting a specific clown 'suit', clowns often being registered as unique designs, while more generic or traditional designs are named within clowning, or wider afield, like 'Pierrot' for instance, from the commedia dell'arte, but I don't know the name of this one

This near mint example has a little dog; lacking on previous examples I've seen, although the dog can't reach the peddles and the clown is too busy with his balls (ooh-err missus!) to get peddling (and wouldn't reach either, so issues of/with both scale and perambulation!), making a rather static piece, but charming nevertheless, and would it go well as an additional item with an actual Crazy Clown Circus!

04-04-2019 - Which are now known to be from Fraser & Glass (F&G).

M is for Morestone's Modern Product Mars Mission Morris & Stone Men!

As you may have gathered from the title or already knew, Modern Products was an early incarnation of what would ultimately become Budgie, best known for their die-cast toy vehicles, motorcycles and wagons.

Yet these are made of a nice stable, slightly soapy polyethylene, unlike the supposedly later cowboys (seen on the Blog back at the start) who are in a brittle, chalky, 'early British' polyethylene, so I would be tempted to suggest these came along after the Modern Products branding had actually been dropped, or that my version are a late re-issue by Starcourt Ltd., who ended-up with the Budgie tools/mould-bank?

I don't know why I know they are Morestone (Morris & Stone), but I have firmly marked their card thus, so it's likely they've been in Plastic Warrior magazine (link) in the past and I got it from there? So - equally - I don't know how many there are pose-wise, I have three with the fourth a duplicate pose in another colour and they were among my first true 54mm figures, bought at the BP Fairs NEC Birmingham show in 2009/10 sometime.

I've had a quick look on Alphadrome but they don't seem to have them and Google also failed, so these may be new to the Wibbly Wobbly Way, but there must be at least a fourth pose out there?

You can clearly see the A Modern Product branding on the upper-side of the base, and he looks like he may have been manufactured for the 'de rigueur' fitting of a clear-plastic helmet as per- most of his contemporaries, but again; I don't know that for sure?

The weirdest thing about them (look again) is that they all seem to have been sponsored on their intergalactic challenge by Honda motorcycles! Even to a - blank - text-box below the eagle's wing where you would normally find Honda's moniker.

F is for Four Wheels Good . . . Two Wheels Better!

Time for an occasional round-up of motor-cycle madness that is those motorised bicycles seen here, or acquired since we last looked at such things; which must be more than a year ago as some of the images are dated May 2017!

Pretty sure this is Elastolin (but it could be Lineol), and almost certainly a post-war version from a pre-war mould, as it has been 'converted' to Swiss nationality (with a new helmet) in order to hide its previous origin or use as a Nazi, or Nazi-themed 'war toy', which was one of the stipulations of obtaining permission for re-starting production under Allied denazification regulations.

Its construction is quite clever, with a combination of tin-plate bike and composition rider joined permanently by a part of his armature making-up the handlebars buried under a composition headlight, something similar is happening at the foot-rest/engine level too.

Photographed at the same time and an early Britains machine, I've Mercator Trading to thank for allowing me to photograph both. This is a standard 54mm to the previous machine's 70-odd millimetres; and - a heavy lump of lead!

This is fantastic! First, it's a tricycle, second, it's another, rare use of the 'Make: India' tag; and it won't be the last - 'Terranova' sent it with several equally interesting stable-mates (who have been near the top of the 'long' queue, twice since Christmas, only to be put off!), so we will see them too, at some point.

Made by Centy Toys (new tag!), it's an auto rickshaw, tuk-tuk,  tut-tut, Tukituki or motorised tricycle, depending upon where you are when you encounter one, has a pull-back motor and - as you can see form the posed Berserker - around 60/65mm. CNG stands for Compressed Natural Gas, which Tuk-tuk's are going over to.

It's one of the great frustrations of the blog that I know what's missing; all the stuff Hasbro and Mattel don't look at, all the Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, South African or Brazilian domestic product, locally produced toys from Ankara, Ulan Bator, Lagos, Mombasa, Tripoli or even Moscow; so it's nice to see one - Thanks Brian!

On the left; also sent in by Brian this shelfie is a colour variation of another, which was sent in by Mr. Berke as well, along with a similar but different design, both branded to FunTastic, with; on the right - an unbranded generic pocket-money toy of the same ilk, these, judging by the size of the hook-slots, being slightly larger that the approximately 54mm reported by Brian for the FunTastic machine.

These are markedly bigger with Mr B reporting that the avocado-green one is suitable for Barbie/Ken dolls, so 5, or 6-inch, with the left hand pair (equipped with child's stabilisers!) in the 4-inch bracket? Neither is branded and all brand-marking seems wholly imaginary!

Been in Picasa so long I can't remember which the new one is! I think it's the khaki one with the brown base? At least two (the motorbikes), possibly all three, are likely game-playing pieces/movement counters and vary between 15mm (orange), HO-OO compatible and near 30mm (the bicycle), with the upper-pair soft-metal flats and the orange one a die-cast mazac type.

Seen before (possibly from Peter Evans), the one on the left (around 60mm scale/size) has been joined by the one on the right (from Peter Evans!), it has a colour variation plug-in head and slightly darker sand camouflage, crude and fitted with stabilisers, it's 'pocket-money', it's rack-toy 'nothing special', but it's a bike, military and welcome here! Cheers Peter . . . for both?

{I Thought we'd seen it before, but I can't find it on publishing, so maybe not . . . I've probably got some unused images somewhere! And I think he's closer to 80mm-equivalent!} 

We finish this round-up with a dearth of 'bikes! I have sooooooomany loose, often unknown seated figures, riders or torsos/part figures in every size/scale and material imaginable. Mostly from die cast toys or long-lost plastic models of motorcycles, pedal-bikes, horses, camels, cows, donkeys, aeroplanes, circus acts, tank turrets, jeeps, fire-engines . . . you get the picture!

These are three of them who have come in over the last few years, and I know what they are so they can close this post.

From Budgie (Morestone (Morris & Stone)), we are looking at three of at least five variations of these motorcycle-riders, and two sculpts; from the left AA Automobile Association) or Dispatch Rider, The [Isle of Man] TT (time trails) Racer and the RAC (Royal Automobile Club) patrol-man.

The AA man got the same paint-scheme as the military dispatch-rider, so it's hard to call, but he is a different sculpt with a smaller 'cartridge-box', so may be the later numbered DR Rider? All three have seen better days and lost their machines, but they are 54mm, plastic figures!

More M'bikes when they've built-up again!

F is for Further Follow-up A

Not the post(S) I've been struggling to edit for two days now and which will have to be redone again! But a little something to follow-up the Rafael Lipkin tank transporter I posted the other day.

The big Dinky die-cast in 1:60 was quite a beast and in my day only the rich kids at the end of the village or up on the heath had this, there was a civilian version in red and yellow (?) with a transformer load, but this baby was 'The Kiddy' in my hood!
Various smaller ones, top left are SP-Toys/Supreme and have been covered before, next to them is a 1:300 micro-armour Scammell, probably GHQ, but could be Scotia, below him is the 1:87th scale 'Dragon Wagon from Roco (with a few bits missing I fear!) and bottom left is a Hong Kong Ford or ERF type low-loader from the 1970's with an Imperial Toys staff car...yes the same people who produced Poopa-troopa's
Finally the small-boys from Matchbox (near, 1-75 range) and Budgie (far), the Budgie one is not inaccurate, just purporting to represent an International tractor unit not a Mighty Antar from Scammell.

B is for Budgie Toys

Budgie were a maker of die-cast toy cars and the like in the 1950's and 60's, but they also produced a 'Wagon Train' boxed play-set, with three of these wagons and some outriders fixed into a large box.

Top are the three poses of wagon puller, they can have a receiving-hole for the draw-bar drilled into either flank, and come in the three browns shown and white. Bottom left are the outriders, one figure pose, two horses. Bottom right shows a complete wagon with rider. I think there was a female pose as well, sitting for the wagon, but don't have one.

These are beginning to suffer greatly from metal fatigue and usually have cracks in the body or tilt/cover/canopy, broken barrels, wheels etc and no locating-studs on the tilt, which can be found wedged in the wagon body. The figures were clearly designed by the same sculptor who did the Airfix Cowboys, Indians and other early sets (some argument whether it was Stadden or Nibblet, I veer toward Stadden), or someone copying his style closely, also the shades of brown are similar to Airfix and the Blue of the figures is the same blue Airfix was using around the same time for its soft-plastic (dime-store copy) motorcycle dispatch rider/motor mechanic, so maybe they supplied the plastic elements to Budgie...pure conjecture.