F is for French Relatives!

I discovered yesterday, while looking for something else, that Faceplant now hide or delete anything more than 3-years old on Facebook Groups? Scrolling back through my own submissions to a site, I came to a halt at May 5, 2020, I don't think it applies to personal timelines (for now) and - don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining.

 

There's so much duplicate shite posted by the simple-minded (and me!) all over the Internet, that it would come to a grinding halt if someone didn't do something occasionally to get rid of some of it. But what it does mean, is that I can get the 'Seen Elsewhere' folder emptied here, as it will all disappear there!

 

To that end, I posted these as separate posts over the bank-holiday, but I've pulled them together and added a couple of new shots and a couple of older ones!

Originally posted a couple of three months ago, these were a question mark to me, having something of the Starlux about them, but obviously not, and Brian Carrick kindly ID'd them as Guilbert copies of Clairet, both also French.

 

I have a larger selection of poses, but the others are a bit 'chewed', so these are the good ones, Guilbert above and Clairet below, I wonder if the Clairet are in fact the copies, they seem to be ever-so-slightly smaller, and there is a faint lack of detail on buttons and pockets etc . . . ? Also, I think Guilbert disappeared first, while we learnt, looking at the Knights years ago, that Clairet morphed into other brands and are almost/sort of still with us!

 

A few comparison shots, we looked at the Hugonnet and other copies here, all looks a bit muddled now, but we will re-do the French stuff in a year or two, as I have everything in folders (even Guilbert! Thanks, Vichy!) and can ascribe most of the stuff in the four posts of that sequence, more accurately now.

 

The 'new' sample of Bazaar figures, actually there are a few in that link above, so more future sorting to look forward to! They aren't by Hugonnet (as far as I know), they aren't Cofalu, and they aren't Vilco, but beyond who they aren't, I have no clues, I wondered MF, who did mono-coloured rack-toy bags of farm and others, but they were mostly Hong Kong-product jobbers I think?

 

A few colour variations, I suspect the chap on the right with the black equipment/weapon is slightly later, and another reason for suspecting the Guilbert came first ia that they are more realistically painted to what was being worn in Indo-China and North Africa (olive-greens, not camouflage), than the rather more toy-like gloss green helmets of the Clairet?

M is for Matters Arising

A few things which got a closer shot or a comparison of one sort or another as this year's show plunder was being put away . . .

A quickie comparison between the unknown cloaked fantasy figure on the left and a Dimensions for Children (DFC) cloak wearer on the right. The unknown one is more sci-fi than swords & sorcery though and I wonder if it might be from the large Toyco set which contains the solid copies of the Colourform space alien figures?

The pilots in close-up, the larger one is a patch above Zang to be honest, and like the better versions of the standing infantryman, has a much neater base, so I think definitely another maker, or a later second version?

Cleaned-up the Airfix bikes; but they're shot to bits! I needed two riders and I didn't have the cap-wearer, so they are useful, and two pairs of blue wheels will prove equally useful at some point in the future I'm sure. I suspect the 'cutter' was trying to make them look more like scramblers, and I may clean them-up by removing the stunted remains of the mud-guards and guard supports

Because they were both to hand as I was putting-away; comparison between the Cavendish (etc.) on the left, and the KT/Shackman et al, novelty plinth/pencil sharpener figure on the right. Cavendish is a stiff 'At Ease', the other is 'easy'!

I thought he'd gone up here already, but I got the left-hand figure a while ago, the one on the right - last Saturday (Sandown tomorrow!), they are the fourth Airfix non-beagle dog, so I now have all four which will go on the Airfix Blog's Bergan/Beton page shortly! I think it's meant to be a Springer Spaniel, which means they are all working/hunting dogs - Setter/Lurcher-Greyhound /Alsatian . . . or; farm dogs.

Three of these are from forthcoming posts on the latest donation from Chris Smith, one was here and five came-in on Saturday. Colour, shade, base marks, copies - the more we find, the more we discover we still had to find! Mostly ABC (or their tool) but there are others!

Two of the figures from PW's show needed the old hot water treatment to get them standing up, one also wasn't shot clearly the other day so I've re shot him here, I suspect another Argentinian figure (silver paint) but more original in the sculpt than the other five which were added to the pile last weekend.

The Jecsan circus (clairvoyant/soothsayer?) figure didn't really respond to the hot water, despite two pouring, straight from the kettle! She stands better, but not flat, the infantry man did much better but needed a jiggit pared-off first.

Well, the blue one didn't clean-up as well as I'd hoped, the black marks seem to be some kind of bituminous splashes which have stained the substrate, so I'm stuck with the 'new' faint ones but he is an improvement on a week-ago!

While the silver one did need a clean, it was only the flash than made him look cleaner, the two other colour ones however have cleaned-up to the point where the flash has rather washed them out! On the left a 5th which was hanging out in the 'TBS Space' tray, from Chris as well I think.

Not quite as nice as the other one, and more Romanesque than Greek (I've seen them online as 'guerrier Grec/Romain', so it's an acknowledged factor of the set), but still a lovely figure, this one has had his replacement weapon blobbed to his hand with glue, at the 'other end' I will drill the hand out as with the previous find.

Q is for Question Time - F is for Four Fierce Freebies and other Feathered Fellows

A bit of a follow-up to the previous post because for many years I had this chap . . .

How it nearly looked the other day!

. . . in the same bag as the Hong Kong chromium-coated Crescent chaps we saw the other day, as he looked to be a well finger-worn member of the same clan, but in fact he belonged somewhere else and is actually just marbled in grey and purple with a slightly metallic sheen.

He's actually a Clairet-copy, previously issued (from the manufacture) as a Nestlé premium at some point and copied by Starlux in more than one version. As far as I know both French 'commercial' types are based, rather than the tripod arrangement of this chap, while the Starlux have the left forearm raised (Indian doing 'How', backwoodsman holding an European pipe) and a taller, thiner log-seat, but this chap is a mystery to me.

Also and because I thought he went with those HK 'plated' chaps I'd assumed (never x-assume and all else my very great friend!) he was polystyrene, but I now suspect . . .

. . . that he belongs with these other three? They too had been mis-christened, and were in with the Koho's (also seen here recently) as the bases are similar, but more have turned-up now and all in the same subdued/darker colours, so I think they are separate.

The kneeling guy is a copy of a Linde coffee premium, while I think the running guy is taken from another (to Clairet) French make? I have seven or eight now (already put away!) but only the four poses and the same shades of cooked and uncooked meat! I suspect they are all premiums of some kind, probably French or one of the Low Country's (someone tell TJF that's a geographical reference, not a 'racist' epithet!), and I would love to know more about them?

In the meantime [this was supposed to follow-up on the Crescent post the other day but for a bunch of reasons the best part of three weeks have gone-by!] I have picked up an actual Koho pose (previously show to us here - as Koho - by Theo van der Weerden), but not in Koho's cloth, being clearly marked MIR, French laundry powder (and there's a couple more here).

The green one, which in common with the 'meaty' ones also looks (from the neat, thinnish, ovoid, parallel-sided base) like it could be Koho, also isn't! It's actually one of the old Siku sculpts (issued in various guises and two sizes), but is manufactured in soft plastic, and has more in common with those polyethylene copies/issues of the Lido 'Captain Video' figures we saw here . . . earlier this year? I mention that only as it may prove in the future to have been a clue as to who is/was producing these apparently modem soft plastic copies of old 1950's stuff?

A close-up of the mark, no doubts as to this one's origins, the figure is half-ruined by the mark - slap-bang in the center of his chest!

He is however a better 54mm than the Koho-proper's in my collection being halfway between their 40 and 70mm.

A bitty post, but hopefully of some interest?

PW2 is for This Year's Themes

As always there is - once you've got the plunder home and sorted it - some obvious and some accidental themes revealed in all the little bags waiting for subsequent breaking down into the master collection, and this year was no different on that score. The first two are the same as two of last year's . . .

. . . with Gem/Gemodles/Culpitt's and/or other cake decorations making themselves felt again, this time it was mostly duplicates - but interesting nevertheless - and a fisherman who has the look of early Blue Box about him, but is probably a Wilton/Culpitt commissioned thing. The Crescent sleigh . . . isn't, it's the Hong Kong copy while the footballers are less common in powder blue, so I took them when offered (Kevin?), they are the type two with no ball-spigots.

Early Airfix is another regular trope at this Annual Show, although I only found the four items this year, the dog is a charcoal-grey colour variant (I've got half-a-hunt of these beagles now!), the paratrooper is in the Featherlite colour plastic and the [un-catalogued] 'Cigarette Pack' ship in a bottle is a bit 'hens teeth' so I grabbed it while I could.

The huntsman is just a clean sample of a figure I have several of, and I suspect the horse has been repainted? But it is a bent-tail Airfix horse; not one of the other designs, even Airfix seem to have carried some of.

I've been aware of the ships for a while now (over a decade), and you are supposed to decorate the ship (a 'Euro-margarine' premium in creamy/Ivorene semi-flat), glue it into the bottle and then glue the cap and bottle-base on. Four pieces in kit form within a blue & white cigarette packet, the range includes a Viking Longship, Thames Barge and this which is supposed to be the Santa Maria - I think; they may be bought-in or Airfix originals? I don't know how many there are in total; maybe four, maybe eight; probably six?

There's a fifth piece to a complete kit; a long base/stand in the creamy white plastic, which is designed to hide the scar of the glue on the 'ship-side', but no-one at Airfix had considered the overall foxing of the clear plastic from the fumes of the glue so it was not a successful novelty, and probably didn't run for long?

Now, the Cofalux motorcycle Nicolas Aulnette let me have for next to nothing ("For you? A pound") which we saw briefly in the previous post, has been put away, but should be in this section as it's purchase was the start of a mad 90-odd seconds, because as soon as I'd paid Nicolas, I saw across the aisle a small takeaway tub of vaguely familiar looking figures which were 'new' at the same time.

Going closer and picking one up, I felt it to be soft polyethylene and tuning it over found Cliaret France on the base "Never seen these before" says I, seller explains he hadn't either. I sort four different poses out and pay while Nicolas who had followed my gaze explains they are known but relatively uncommon.

Leaving about six for the next guy (I don't know if they'd had more poses earlier in the day, for this was heading toward finishing-time) I was about to leave Nicolas chatting to the two guys behind the table (sorry - I don't know your names!), when the other chap asks if I'd be interested in this . . .

. . . and hands me a little bag with the above in it. Again; obviously French, again; soft plastic, "Yes!" says I, and a price is agreed. While I'm paying the conversation from the previous Clairet's is adjusted to account for this new figure and Nicolas suggests that they may be UK copies, apparently they have (on the odd occasion) tended to turn-up here?

He also gave me the original maker but in all the excitement I forgot, I think he said either Clairet or Cofalux as I have a half-an-idea I made a mental note that it was connected to one of the other two purchases, but I can't find him in either archive, so that's probably a false memory? Like I say the whole series of purchases and a four-way rolling conversation over two tables was probably less than 90-seconds?

You don't hang around when there are bargains to be had! But with the missing motorcycle, that was the day's third 'trope' - uncommon/unusual French military!

The next theme, which was a big one two years ago, was not so evident this year, but I still managed a few Fontanini items starting with this chap from Mr Carrick's table, which looks like a Carrara Marble one, removed. Notable for his child-like face, he was, before the end of the show joined by . . .

. . . these chaps; all Fontanini sculpts, all Hong Kong copies, from two sources and seller was Peter Harris, who took me back to find the other three when I rocked-up in front of him with the hard plastic painted one in one mitt and money in the other . . . hay; it's only once a year, I can break the habit of the other 11 months - I save from February, and accept an austere Sandown two weeks later!

The multi-coloured one is probably a cake-decoration thing, while the other three are trying very hard to look like some of Fontanini's own production, with the bone-white plastic and over-wash of antique/dirt; technically, the painted one is a piracy, a 'civil' crime under intellectual property law, the undecorated trio are 'fakes', 'criminal' law crimes as they are deliberate attempts reproduce like-for-like or - to defraud.

Another minor theme on the day was uncommon/unusual nappy-types, and mostly cavalry, with - from the left above - a polish PZG (line-infantryman?), a Prior premium, poorly home-painted I suspect; I've seen similar WHW's turn out to be original! But I've also seen a few others in unpainted cream. Then another Polish figurine, but sub-scale and maybe not PZG, two non-matching French figures who happen to fit each-other . . . the horse being a harder styrene and looking older, although the rider may be repainted and is missing a wire sword, heat-set into his hand and finally; a Starlux officer in stable-dress or 'barrack dress'.

P is for Pop-Picking All Time Top Five Favorites of All Time Top Five Mates!

But sadly Lord Bachmann, the Right Honourable Turner or Noble Overdrive won't be putting-in an appearance! Being; my five fave' hits of this year's PW show, closing the show-reports/plunder-posts for now.

This sat on Adrian's stall until the hall was nearly empty, unloved and unwanted, now . . .  it is damaged and has a replacement spear . . . but it's already one of the top-ten figures in my entire collection - and bear in mind; I have all eight tiny Trojans - twice!

It’s a French-made Clairet Greek Hoplite and to be honest the replacement spear - for which the hand has been drilled - only enhances a superb sculpt, the undamaged original is furnished with some double-barbed stick which looks like it was borrowed from an Esquimaux who previously used it to catch seals! This one though, is about to ruin a Persian's afternoon - forever!

This is a beautiful figure . . . isn't it? Stunning! Best of show.

Who knows? A blow-moulded, semi-flat, celluloid Indian, clearly removed from a larger piece; possibly a decorative picture or mirror-frame? I think it may be pre- or between-the-wars rather than a post-war piece?

As well as the cut-mark/hole at the back of the stump where a backing was, he has also been removed from something below his feet, the hole being neatly covered-over with a couple of wafer-thin slices of ivory or bone, previously board-game counters or tiddlywinks, which only raises the question, why wasn't the damage behind similarly patched?

Nothing too exciting, an Elastolin figure for the neighbouring Austrian market, where the bought-out Tipple-Topple's brand-mark was retained for continuity, or to appease the locals - stop them starting another war! The seller had several poses, but I chose this as an iconic example.

Could be nothing, could be something? Wintershilfswerke (WHW) maybe, or 'from hollow-cast'? The white trousers rather rule out British? He's a glassy or brittle polystyrene, semi-flat, or - at least - somewhat sculpted in one plane and a ceremonial from somewhere? 50/52-mil? I like him!

Really pleased - but a bit gutted. I posted this along with a kneeling firer last year having shot them at the show. This year I managed to get this one, but the kneeling figure - seemingly - had already been bought by someone else! Although the kneeling one had a silly smile and a bent barrel, so I'm happy with this one really.  An Argentine (or 'believed to be Argentinian') copy in polyethylene of a Lineol composition-made, WWI late-type German Infantryman.

Smine . . . sorll'myne!

F is for French Figures I - Styrene & Cellulose Acetate

Add over another year to the dates below! I'd almost got these ready for publishing when Blogger decided to empty one of the folders and replace it with the contents of the one I was editing a few minutes earlier...I lost hart and sat looking at them for over another year! Anyway; here they all are....finally!

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I took the first of the images for these about five years ago, three years ago I had a bigger photo-session and announced they would be forthcoming, two years ago I got round to 'collaging them up' in Picasa - by which time a few more had come in - and announced that they were on the waiting list, uploaded them at the library in Newbury about 14 months ago and apart from adding another collage of latecomers, they've sat in Edit ever since!

I don't now what the problem was...like writer's block or something! Anyway, this and the three posts going-in below (on the blog 'Homepage') are the long-seeped results. It's no more than an overview of what little I know about French soldiers and French manufactured figures of 'combat' or 'khaki Infantry' from the WWII-Modern period.

This post looks at the earlier figures, the second looks at later soft plastic production, the third has some Czech rubber and polypropylene re-issues and the forth is a few Starlux. There are throughout the four as many question-marks than as facts, and input will be appreciated.

Three from Clariet and one from Jim, the more interesting is the separate helmet on the shirt-sleeved pointing chap, mirrored in the production of Minimodels over here. I particularly like the sailor, he goes well with the output of Starlux, but is doing something useful (slotting the enemy) not standing around with a swab or ceremonial axe!

These nearly all need ID'ing, I recognise some old Aluminium poses (and a couple of these are also in soft plastic as Vilco on the next post down), the silver one here is in a styrene polymer. I'd say the dark-blue sailor is from a die-cast or plastic toy vehicle or vessel of some kind.

The forth one along from the left seems to be Cyrnos, but the chap to his left isn't, so they are probably re-paints and the Tirailleur (mid-blue, far left) is definitely a Cyrnos figure

I think the riders are all Starlux (though I'm not 100% sure) but I'm not so happy that the horses are, there's only the two horses and ones missing its tail, so a poor sample, but the riders are lovely.

The pale blue chap is Beffoid, while the officer in the middle of the lower bunch is marked Quiralux, so going on both base-paint and plastic colours, I assume most of the rest are? The last two on the lower row are probably home re-paints; there were a lot in the collection they came from?

These are half-and-half a mystery to me; top middle and right looks like an ex-aluminium figure, so Quiralux or Cofalux?

The centre shot are all Cyrnos sailors, 3 repainted as Nazis by the same guy who ruined the soft plastic chaps in the other post. Stripping paint from hard plastics (especially if they are earlier cellulose-based compounds) is so problematical it's best to leave them.

I think these are all Cyrnos as well (not sure about the baseless MG gunner? He's painted to match the 'possibly' Quiralux above) and a bit chunkier. These are mostly damaged, but still evocative figures with that 1950's charm that can't be faked. I have Sam of Sam's Minis World to thank for some of these too.

Freedom - What is it good for?

Good luck to the peoples of North Africa and - one suspects; the wider Middle East*, but one wonders what they will be saying of their 'Democracy' in ten years?

I would suggest they go ask an ex-East German, someone from the former Yugoslavia, or maybe; someone from Georgia or the Ukraine or a citizen of the Caucasus...

Some pundits think this is a brilliant move; "Democratic governments don't wage war" one talking head said on the radio yesterday (Wednesday 2nd Feb). Well, let's suppose that in the next few years Egypt, Jordan and Syria (no chance there!) all adopt 'Western style' democratic principles and governance, then lets go forward - say - fifteen? years; 'The People', annoyed at the continued treatment of their brother Arabs, brother Muslims in the 'Palestinian Territories' by the occupying Israelis, demand that their - Democratic - governments 'Do something' and let's suppose that those governments get together and decide once-and-for-all, to deal with Israel militarily?

One; Bush and Blair prove Democratic governments DO wage war, and Two; If a coalition of democratic Arab states (probably with the backing of Russia and China) were to go to the UN and deliver the correct ultimatums prior to acting, America would not be in the position it has claimed as it's own in the past, of supporting the Israeli forces with loss-replacement aircraft and an air-lift of military vehicles and ammunition.

Israel would cease to exist, and probably Lebanon at the same time, with the South joining a greater Palestine and the North being 'protected' as a protectorate of Syria!

*PS. What the hell happened to the Near East? Did the 8th Army or Afrika Korps take it home with them? That's about the last time it got a mention!!