B is for Blue Shirts!

I found this cutting in the Blue Box folder, real not digital, so scanned it, then it could be in the digital folder too! Taken from issue 12 of Military Modelling magazine from 2000, I think that was when they were trying to get-out 16 issues a year, so these were probably launched in time for the Christmas market?

We've briefly looked at the knights/fantasy set, a few pirates, and was there Biker Mice from Mars, or am I thinking of something-else entirely! The figures in all sets (there was a Roman fort too) are rather juvenile in execution, but the accessories and scenics are very useful, from HO through to about 28mm.

 

Goes and looks them up, it was Teen Turtles, and possibly Playmates!

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2016/02/m-is-for-mini-play-sets.html

'West' is for Panini Sticker Album - Plus!

Previously issued in the 1970's as either a sticker-only exercise or with other (commercially available) figures - it's not terribly clear - the Sticker Album 'WEST' was re-issued in the 1990's with a figure included in each pack of 6 stickers, today we're having a look at them.

I imagine you could also purchase the whole set (with card fort frontage and figures?) from the UK page of the website for a while-after (link at end of post) as you can order complete sticker sets for some foreign issues (50-quid-plus for a sticker album!) to this day, but I don't know how well-developed, or 'international' the site was in the 1990's?

Mounted figures for the cavalry, six different poses, of which only two are engaged in any sort of fighting, which may be a clue as to what happened at the Little Big Horn . . . too much saluting, bugling and carrying of small flags, not enough fighting-back!

Joking aside; I particularly like the Indian scout while the chap in buckskins could pass for General George Armstrong, but he'd need a bottle of Grecian2000 'Blonde' first! Am I right in thinking only the scout is wearing his braces correctly?

The US get eight foot poses, each of which is numbered (the mounted poses are unmarked), here we are looking at - top row from left;

23. Kneeling Shooter

24. Sentinel

25. Soldier with Gun

26. Standing Shooter

. . . and the figures are sized to around 50mm or 1:35th scale

Again using the top row, from the left we have;

27. Standing Shooter

28. Standing Shooter

29. Running Soldier

30. Standing Shooter

. . . and all the figures are manufactured from a  softish PVC replacement polymer with decoration mostly done through stencils, although there's some hand-painting.

Horses are probably the poorest element of the set, suffering from the softness of the plastic and slightly effete sculpting. There are three poses, which are also marked on the bases;

A2. Cavalry Horse

B2. Cavalry Horse

C2. Cavalry Horse

. . . two of the poses are very similar (either end), with only the feet reversed while the other seems to be pacing or high-stepping in a formal fashion?

The Indians get very similarly-posed horses, but with blanket saddles;

A1. Indian Horse

B1. Indian Horse

C1. Indian Horse

. . . their decoration is also more muted with various over-sprays on the same hazelnut-coloured animals. And as they are numbered ahead of each Cavalry version, I'm not saying they followed, but probably lead?

They also get six unmarked poses of rider, three in leggings/trousers, the other trio in just loin-cloths. The figure on the far right is particularly fine, shooting over his forearm, downwards into the/an - unseen - mêlée, and they are all more active than their cavalry counterparts.

The natives get ten foot poses, and just as the riders are more animated, so too are the foot figures more imaginative. Again from the left;

13. Indian with Gun

14. Indian with Bow

15. Indian on Ground

16. Indian with Dagger

17. Kneeling Indian

The base-titles however are just as lacking in imagination with these as they were with the US troops, with several having duplicated text!

18. Indian/Tomawac [sic]

19. Indian Lance/Shield

20. Indian/Tomawac [sic]

21. Indian with Bow

22. Indian with Bow

Base marks for - clockwise from top left - cavalry trooper, crawling Indian, Indian horse and foot Indian; the fact that the prone Indian is marked (down his leg) makes it all the weirder that none of the mounted poses have any marking at all? All marked items also have a 'CHINA'.

Thanks to John Begg for these which scraped-in under the 'small scale' parameter (perimeter!) back some time in 2006-7 and have just slid-out of storage..

A useful link with more information;

http://www.paninimania.com

While, in numerical order;

Set Listing

Horses

A1. Indian Horse

A2. Cavalry Horse

B1. Indian Horse

B2. Cavalry Horse

C1. Indian Horse

C2. Cavalry Horse

Riders

1-6. (?) 6x different Indian riders

7-12. (?) 6x different Cavalry riders

Foot Natives

13. Indian with Gun

14. Indian with Bow

15. Indian on Ground

16. Indian with Dagger

17. Kneeling Indian

18. Indian/Tomawac [sic]

19. Indian Lance/Shield

20. Indian/Tomawac [sic]

21. Indian with Bow

22. Indian with Bow

Cavalry Figures

23. Kneeling Shooter

24. Sentinel

25. Soldier with Gun

26. Standing Shooter

27. Standing Shooter

28. Standing Shooter

29. Running Soldier

30. Standing Shooter

Other Items

?. Relief Card Fort Frontage ('stage set' in log 'stockade' construction "Fort Apache")

?. Sticker Album

R is for Radical Sky!

Continuing to check-up on perennial favourites, we're back with pooper-troopers today, or their close-cousins!

I can't remember if we've seen these before or not, I think we did, but Brian Berke sent me these shelfies in two batches, to show variations in colour and card; the 'A' card having a pyramid of Radical Sky Divers, the 'B' card having the opposite arrangement with two over one. These cartoonish, caricature-types are quite similar to those old, vinyl-rubber 'Poopertroopers' of our childhood.

The Ja-Ru instructions (left) on the reverse of both cards (which also share the #2304 code) show a more common (and sober) design of paratrooper, so have probably been reused from a previous import!

In the middle, I've bought another of The Work's chaps (So I think we've seen him before as well!); previously they only had green or blue ones but I though a red 'Red Devil' was a must, when I saw it!

And - I'm afraid - we've seen these chaps previously here, several times and in MTC branding I think, but this is new card-art (also a Brian shelfie), so if - like me - you're a pooper-trooper hound, you need to know/see this stuff! Mostly Airfix cloning (after a fashion), but the officer in shirt-sleeve order seems more original in design, or is he based on an old Tamiya British AFV crewman?

24th April - In point of fact, apart from  previous views of the MTC guys in different cards (and brands), all the above are new to the blog!

C is for Contribution Season - XVII - Monogram (II)/DC Comics Figurines from Brian

I thought we'd  looked at these briefly a while back, but I can't find them on the Blog and now Brian's sent me some more shelfies, and the card-back has changed slightly, so the range is obviously larger than first thought, and we'll have a look . . .

 . . . first at those recent shelfies - four figures all DC (well they have the better characters!) with two of three different Batmen shown on the card backs, a Flash and Superman.

Card back of one of the figures Brian donated to the Blog, I think this is the older card showing a Robin and only one Batman, along with a rather nice Joker - barking at the moon "No! Not The Batman - again!"!

Robin's gone (best place for 'im!) and we have new Man-Bat poses (yes - I know there was a character called 'The Man-bat' . . . he was a baddie; I seem to remember!).

I don't remember buying any of these which means Brian must have donated them to the blog twice as I wouldn't have de-carded the two if the other hadn't been around to keep mint. This Monogram is the same one who do the Simpson's figurines.

Wonder Woman, she was wonderful wasn't she....ummmmm...Sorry! Were was I? Oh, yeah! Thanks Brian! Mmmmmm...Lynda Carter....where are you now?... I need saving from the horrid Penn-State gang...mmmmmmm...Lynda....

C is for Contribution Fortnight - IX - Novelty Chopsticks from Brian

Well, the title says it all, Brian sent these with the following line; "Seen in Chinatown, NYC, these plastic one piece children's chop sticks are delightfully colorful plastic tat." And I can't disagree with any of his points, they are colorful (you're going native Brian!) ahem . . . colourful plastic and they are delightful tat!

They remind me of the Iwaco erasers, but I suspect a less 'take-apart' more 'over-moulding' technique is involved? Loving the green Panda, the orange tiger looks the part and who didn't have a pink rabbit when they were little . . . you didn't? Sue you parents for mental cruelty, everyone had a pink rabbit! I assume they can be removed and stood next to your place setting?

Brian added; "They somehow cross the divide between toy and practical objects.". Yes, and like nite-lites, candles, 'phone-stands, plant-ties, bottle-stops or bog-brushes we love that sort of thing here at Smallscaleworld! I'm still looking out for the 3-Samurai glass-stand thing that was in Plastic Warrior magazine (I think) ages ago!

I will also assume NKM is the retail-outlet not the brand . . . and did you notice that the piggy-wiggies come in Mr. & Mrs. variants!

Thanks Brian - novel, charming and tat - bargain!

G is for Gift Egg Updates - 5 - Tarco

We first looked at Tarco here about a year ago, but there is another set or Dr. Who out (actually the third - I seem to have missed one!), and other sets to look at.

So the Dr. Who Figures Part 3, flyer/insert and two figures with the K9 we looked at last time, this set is all new version characters and that's about all I can say?

This lot is more blurb-worthy, as they are also branded to Tarco, but were being vended from a standard, stickered Tomy stack in the local Sainsbury's? Whether this is a legit licence between Tomy and Tarco or an old machine being filled with locally sourced product by a supplier of easy ethics I don't know.

Give him a sword on a baldric and cut those pointed toes down and he'd make an excellent adventurer hanging around the bars in Riverdeep...do people still play proper D&D?

Now . . . I've had these for ten years or more, they were in the Galoob box, not because I thought they were Galoob, but because Hasbro ended-up with Galoob, and Hasbro issued new type Action Man licences, so it made sense to put unknown Action Man figures with the Galoob/Kenner/Hasbro stuff of similar ilk!

Also, Hasbro were responsible for the Subbuteo figures which appeared in Italian gift-eggs a decade or so ago (Can't remember if it was Zaini or one of the others now?), so these figures may be from those Italian eggs. However, the Hasbro mark is the same as the BBC and Disney marks on the other sets above, as far as size, font and the like, so Tarco are also a likely candiate?

D is for Dragon

Another b'day prezzie...how cool is this? Classic Chinese dragon without wings, but with all the distinctive beard, ear, mane and eyebrow hairs, an additional line of tufts down it's back which are usually just small bumps (on the ceramic versions of these dragons), and a fine tail.

Colours suggest bottles of Quink or Parker's fountain-pen fluid, the same colours were used by the Africans for their soapstone and softwood tourist stuff (along with black and oxblood Kiwi boot-polish), and I'm sure there are - or once were - shelves and shelves of these in some touristy area of Shanghai, Hong Kong or Beijing, but it's the first I've seen.

Difficult to photograph as it's over 18-inches and it really gets its colours from eating Giant Huns or Mongols! Braver men than me...and it's basically made from wetted string! Too cool...Too cool for fucking school; that's how cool!

M is for Mini Play Sets

I can't remember when I reviewed these in One Inch Warrior magazine, but I seem to remember it was an early issue, so they must have been shown at the Toy fair around 2001/2-'ish? They started turning -up at car boot sales about 2006 anyway, and I've procured this little handful, which are really only good for a box tick, as while they have been branded to various stores and chains, they were originally Blue Box, so this gets them on that tag!

In the style of Micro-machines or Action Fleet from Galoob, but a little stumpier; I think these were a Knights of the Round table play-set with (note sword 'in stone') King Arthur centre, and Guinevere as one of the two ladies of the court top right.

Other sets had a more magical or fantasy setting with dragons and ghosts and stuff. All the little weapons are the same, but the shields had different stickers and the horses alternative paint.

When a set has background stickers on a separate sheet, there are often on or two that can be turned into a card 'flat', such is the case with this suit of armour, I have similar Storm-troopers and a couple of crowds of civilians in my Galoob Star Wars collection!

Larger accessories, there were also sets of Romans and US Cavalry/Wild West if I recall correctly? With various accessories being issued in more than one set. Each set was centred on a small, not terribly realistic/useful [to gamers], clip-together fort.

I'm not sure if the Turtles weren't issued by Playmates, but that might have been something similar? Clearly there was also a pirate set, with what looks like one of Tom of Finland's friends starring in a leather jerkin! That's Blue Box micro-action figures ticked off.

R is for Return...to H. Grossman's 'Deadstone Valley'

You know that shite I said I wouldn't be buying more of, only to buy more when it got reduced to silly money? Well, they (The Works again!) got another set in and reduced it to two quid! That's JUST two 'squids people!

A pirate and a colonial explorer type...Hrrummmphh! How could you say no, and I had to buy a set for someone else, so buying two was easy, same queue, same till, same card, same bag, same journey home!

These had a different grave, which although less durable that the vac-forms we looked at last time, are nevertheless a more successful attempt, being a printed, pre-formed card box with a press-out panel for the sarcophagus and memorial stone to sit in.

There were a bunch of flyers in the containing carton.

The display carton and a look at the various ways these figures are attached to the end wall. Some have a stud-and-hole system, others have a dove-tailed, double groove while the explorer has a tip-and-slide (into a rectangular space with a chamfered undercut) base, although he has the holes for non-existent studs, so there must have been a change of plan with him!

On one level they really are rubbish, but as I keep finding them they are growing on me - as a side collection!

D is for Doh!

No, not Simpson's toys, although there are plenty...back on the 12th of this month I stated "...not something I'll be in a hurry to track-down the rest of..."

Well, inside a fortnight, they went from ten, to five, to three pounds, so I couldn't turn down a bargain of that level, could I? I doubt it'll go any lower - at 3-quid it's practically being given away!

The Undertakers Set from H. Grossman's Deadstone Valley play set, still in The Works, but not for much longer at 3-quid a pop!

Note how the back of the box and the contents seem to include lots of figures not mentioned on the website or smaller cards we looked at two weeks ago, clearly a range that's being cleared before it's had a chance to find it's feet, just like the Horrible Histories stuff, and the concurrent Star Wars Commanders range. There is a clear and damaging disconnect between the marketers or publicity people and the actual 'toy' people in the industry at the moment.

Two corpses and three dodgy-looking characters from the graveyard/burials team. The graves are the rather lame vac-formed moulds sprayed green and given two anachronistic rock-wall stickers?

The headstones are interchangeable so once you've got a few duplicates you can start mix-and-matching your graveyard...hey, don't knock it - if you're a goth; you're probably wishing someone pointed you at this range a while ago!

Separate shovels and moving arms, this had the potential to become a great series...add a zombie element, a game-playing mechanism, themed sets of corpses...clowns, dancers, teachers, school kids? Note also the slot-fixing for these 'dead heads' that the ballet-dancer didn't have.

However...the heads of the three living poses don't fit the dead ones (quality control), in fact one is loose in it's owner's neck but still won't fit in a corpses neck. And why is the undertaker 70mm+? These missed opportunities to build a figure-based toy range are becoming annoying...speaking as a toy figure collector! I'll be looking at the Star Wars sets soon!

M is for Mega Heroes

Also in 99p Stores (we just looked at Deadstone Valley below), are these chaps, Mighty Morphin Power Ranger clones if I ever saw Mighty Morphin Power Ranger Clones!

These have been around for a while, probably in different packaging? I first started picking them up in mixed lots about ten (?) years ago, and have a few of the smaller ones, in various states, in storage. The larger versions have either 3 pints of articulation, or none, I couldn't tell, and didn't bother looking, just shot them on the rack!

Peter Evans had given me a set of four littlies a couple of years ago, so these are they, note that the current issue have darker green and yellow versions, and I may have a pink one in storage...but I might be getting confused with the Galoob ones so don't quote me on that! The 99p Store ones are shipped by ITP Imports of West York's who are conveniently close to a Poundworld megastore!