A is for All Hallow's Eve

So All Hallow's Day must be the 1st of November? Which makes sense as the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is traditionally the 1st/2nd of November, although, apparently - depending on the church calendar (?) - the 31st of October can fill in, as can the 6th of Nov., or any other day between the two . . . a bit like Easter then!

 

But in America, the sweet, chocolate and toy fest chose a more rigid 31st, and that's what is slowly ingraining itself into the UK, courtesy of godless marketeers! I just wish we'd get more figures, and less straight-to-landfill-on-the-first nylon and rayon, LED-wired crap!

Although all the above is a bit of a legal technicality, as it's only just gone midnight, I'd suggest All Hallows Eve is a good twelve to eighteen hours away!

This was shot back in February, and may have been a purchase from the Clapham Junction shop I visit every Toy Fair evening, on the way home, but it might have been a donation or in a  mixed lot, I really can't remember, just a [-nother] stretchy skeleton!

 

The recent parcels from Jon Attwood had several Halloweeny things in them, among which were these superb novelty jumpers! Technically I should only collect full-figure jumpers, but once you have a few, they get a momentum (and zone within the archive) of their own, so gratefully received, and the bat is a whole bat, if hideously over-fed! One feels there's probably a pumpkin somewhere?

 

We looked at the left-hand one on ITLAPD, but I thought it also belonged here, and if I don't include the crown it will probably never be seen, and, well, Halloween is for dressing-up, why not a barbie princess! Jon repoted these were from Rinco.

 

These might also have been Rinco, Jon got them at the same time/from the same place, horror-themed erasers and/or halloweeny subjects. Although, I don't consider black cats to be anything other than normal!

My first purchase this year was a few weeks ago, it's Claire's, who have their own chain of stores for women's accessories, but this was in a supermarket, only I can't remember which one, Morrison's I think? Glow-in-the-dark skeleton earrings, too cool for seminary school!

These only came in a few days ago, courtesy of Peter Evans, about 40/45mm, and I don't know anything else about them, semi-rubbery and they would go well with the based ones Dolgen and others have been issuing these last few years at this time, but they are better sculpts, both a higher level of detailing and more realistic.

 

Peter also sent this peachy little undead parachutist fellah! Brilliant!

 

These were in The Range, and appear on the receipt as 80 Toy Spiders which is a commendable level of accuracy! We looked at some similar ones a few years ago and on that occasion all but two went to charity, this year I kept two of each, and the rest have gone to Blue Cross.

 

They have the type of bread-bag closure I used to use as Thunderbird 2 when I was a kid! Like last time, I'll cut the rings off and add them to the spider master-collection. I think the previous lot were in two colours, while these were 20-each of four.

D is for Dem' Bones - Novelty Skeletons

I can see a point where we will have only one post or subject on an otherwise quiet 31st, when we will look at all the novelty skeletons and skulls, as I can't remember what we have seen, what's still to be seen and whether some of these were seen last year or not?

I think these came from Chris Smith (or one of the other kind donators?), and while they don't actually belong together, they nevertheless go-together very well. The skeleton is missing an arm but from the holes in the other three limbs I suspect he came originally as a sort of string-puppet with a simple cross and maybe four, or five  strings? The coffin would suit a fat man in 54mm!

The coffin is marked-up Swizzles Matlow (who may still exist? You can still get Drumstick lolly's!) and has Bone Shakers on the lid. Inside the lid is a picture which looks like one of those Kinder toys where interlocking flat pieces make-up with ball-and-socket joints to a sort of poppet-doll, but I vaguely recall these as being more candy puzzles where you make up the skeleton as a loose puzzle and then eat him; limb by limb!

MPC's 60mm Vampire is trying to work out how to get in before dawn brakes! Yellow plastic - bugger to photograph!

Both charity shop purchases I think, both 'new' over-stock/clearance, rather than donations from the general public, the Tesco skeletons glow in the dark, the Claire's Accessories skeleton mermaids are either rainbow chrome/anodised or pure bismuth, but can you shape-form bismuth like that?

These have all come in over the last 12-months (I think?) although we've seen the smaller plastic one before as he's a colour-variation duplicate. Not sure where they all came from but thanks to Adrian, Brian, Chris, Jim, Peter and Trevor should cover it, and I may have found some myself!

The skull is a glow-in-the-dark novelty probably from a larger gum-ball machine, while the bigger skeleton seems to be a bookmark, maybe designed for jacket-pockets , collars or neck-lines? Although he looks quite new, he's marked Hong Kong so he dates from when most, or a lot of schools still had jackets!

F is for Flocking Flocked the Hell Out of 'Em!

Picked these-up the other day, charity shop, 30p, couple of Santa Claus cake decorations or snow-globe figures converted/re-purposed into novelty earrings, I may remove the rings and stick them with the other Santa's or chuck them in the minor-makes boxes under C for Clair's.

The odd thing about them is that they have been flocked, but the flocking material is a semi-transparent (or originally; totally transparent) filament, which has been applied over the painted decoration, giving them a overall whitish 'halo' and making them look old and faded, even when brand new!

And to misquote a Christmas Dawn French; they're not Claire's, They're mine!

I added this just 'cos it was hangin' around! 50p from a charity shop in Basingrad, I was regretting buying it as she racked it up; in the glare of the spot-light over the till it looked a lot rougher than it did in a basket of baubles in a dark corner of the store!

But it cleaned-up OK, and I've since threaded it with a silver-flecked, fabric loop and it looks fine, it's a naff, polypropylene thing and it's still not brilliant, but the stricture is lowered for the themes, and with both bears and drums being themes on the tree, it manages to tick two boxes!

I've also removed the CHINA sticker, which bears a more than passing resemblance to those old Hong Kong stickers on HCF (and other touristy) imports, which may be a clue as to origin (but doesn't help without a name) or just a habit several manufacturers - or a shipper handling several manufacturers - adopted for novelty stuff?