D is for Donation - Peter - Military

So, to the 'meat and two veg' of a toy soldier Blog (really I like to think we are a ' toy soldier, model figure and novelty' Blog!), with the chaps (and occasionally, chapesses) in Khaki, and it's always a mix of rack-toy rusk and quality seed!

 

A trio of odd figures, with what looks to be a Cofalu/x 60mm-copy to the left, solid head, rather than the plug-in of the original, a kit figure GI, Monogram or Revell? and a chunky Matchbox clone.

 

Originally Ackerman in the UK, these have now been seen in various configurations, and associated with various brands, and as generics, in two sizes, we looked at them here;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2019/08/f-is-for-follow-up-to-some-stuff-we.html

 

with a link in that post to an earlier one, but more variants have come in, including other paint-ways, so a further sort-out and more definitive post will happen one day! It's the figure set which also, sometimes, comes with those big B/O tanks.

 

Miller's grist, the grayer ones might be Boley or similar, the greens very generic, and the reds very modern, and probably only ID'able from shots of carded or bagged sets shelfied, or downloaded from evilBay/Amazon etc.

 

A common set of modern (age and depiction) sculpts, many variants exist, and they will be looked at in detail another day, we have had the odd poke at them, already!

 

MPC clones, several variations of these, both from domestic US makers, and Hong Kong pirates, I tend keep two of each marking/colour variation, and put the rest in the swaps pile, but finding the right accessories is the hard bit!

 

Again, lots of variety in these Matchbox clones, not all ID'd yet.

 

More modern stuff and some old HO/OO Airfix bits.

 

The five same-colour figures are Fishel's unique mouldings, possibly worked off, or contributing to, their own US Police/SWAT set, and I think the brighter green chap is theirs too, but both the prone figures are unmarked. He looks a bit Speznaz, Afghanistan

 

Three generations of Hong Kong/China piracy; with the 1950/60's Tim-Mee in front, a 1970/80's Airfix clone to the right, and a modern (1990-2000's) to the left. A Blue Box GI with bayonet fitted for Jap-bashing, and a very good version of the Britains Swoppet clones, usually poor quality with the mortar bomb looking more like a kitchen implement or sex-toy, here it's well moulded, and the figure has a more substantial base . . . new to collection, I think?

 

Airfix original (damaged) and Hong Kong clones, almost certainly one of two apparent versions from Rado Industries (Ri-Toys).

 

Three tatty and paint-stripped Lone Star paratroops, could be useful spares or a future painting project? That peculiar mix of WWII battle-dress and 1950's 'futuristic' EM-2 Bullpup rifle, with overdramatic officer!

 

These are nice, probably from a big-box Chinese-manufactured play-set, and similar to some parachute novelty figures around in the last few years,. They're big at around 60mm, the chap in the right is more Russian in styling. Slava Ukraine!

 

Marx. Hard polystyrene plastic, 45mm, not the first found, but same pose . . . So, must be a Swansea thing? Possibly an accessory for a vessel or vehicle set? And might be related to the yellow one here;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2012/07/l-is-for-late-thanks-to-blogger.html

 

Mostly Shing Hing (S.H. marked), with a comparison shot of the modern sculpt above, and an older Airfix figure in the upper/first shot.

 

 

Two mixes of modern/current production from various sources, copies of copies, of copies, in the end they get so poor they look more like Fantasy skeletal figures (back row, yellowish) and within set, often reference more than one other donor set! But all valid, and one-of-each, eagerly sought - 'for the record'!

So many thanks to Peter for finding some of them, and he's already eMailed me, with news of more finds.

F is for Fishel's Fetching Fuchsia Firefighters!

Another quickie! I am hoping to get hold of some Internet time on Monday (today as you read), so will try to produce something more substantial for later on, but for now this box-ticking exercise presented itself during the ongoing sorting process.

Marked, they were kicking around about 12/15 years ago and could be seen as the more commercial wave of the newer-styled, civil, die-cast vehicle accessories, all in a similar vein, although the hats are poorly sculpted and the over-all impression is of the Royal Household's Beefeaters on a picnic!

Ooaawahh! I must change the Firemen tag to fire-fighters before someone says something!

W is for ♫♪ Wooarp! Wooarp! - Isdee'Sound o'der Polieece! ♫♪ Wooarp! Wooarp! ♫♪

This is a right old Picasa-clearing, box-ticking, bag of bones today with nods of thanks to Brian Burke and Peter Evans for 'shelfies' and/or samples and a couple of images that have been on my 'phone since 2011!

Getting the aforementioned out of the way first; I can't even remember where I shot these, but it was in November 2011, as I was moving so it could have been anywhere! Looks to be HTI the - then - new branding for Halsall [Toys International] and the figures are about 45mm, we'll look at the firemen from the twin-set tomorrow.

A rather busty police-woman who's been put in 'shirt-sleeve' order to advertise her charms, while her colleague keeps his tunic on! And would you say the uniforms are actually quite Chinese, despite the international [play-value] feel of the rest of the contents?

These should have been in last year's Rack Toy Month (as should a few other things in this year's!), but they got held over. The figures are well sculpted, but a little wooden in their dynamism and have been issued under various brands; here claimed by Regent Products' sub-brand of Good Old Values.

Duplication of pose between sets (which have figure-specific blisters so it's meant) would require quite an outlay to find all the poses, but they do turn-up in other brands packaging or loose on eBay occasionally.

Brian pointed out that the mock-up of a shoulder patch on the Regent packaging is missing the NYPD (New York Police Department) of a genuine ESU original, so it can be assumed this is an unlicensed 'tribute-act' rather than any kind of official 'homage', and as such - a slightly distasteful exploitation of peoples goodwill; we're talking 9:11 and its aftermath here?

Also from last year (but 2009-marked stock) is Jaru's set Police Emergency Rescue with the police sculpts/figures in both blue and red (and with poses I still have to track down). All that; for five dollars? Bargain!

While this year Brian sent shelfies of Imperial's offering which appears to have the same boat as Jaru's, but all stickered-up, along with the same road/traffic signs but a mix of figure poses from two of the sets below.

Note that the importers are Greenbriar/DTSC, while Imperial are a US-based seller in their own right, a fourth unknown 'name' will be the shipper and the factory - a fifth!

We looked at some of these last year, some a few years ago but I think new poses have joined the first row, courtesy of Peter's 'Big Bag', while I grabbed a few others of the same vague size. The figures in the Imperial bag contain poses from both the Jaru and the Top Toy sets but in a better quality than the Top Toys.

Top Toys/Imperial (and others!) are also taking from Fishel in the pose department, while the unknowns at the bottom pay some homage with the pistol-firer almost a mirror-reverse. It should also be noted that while having new poses the Jaru bagged set above has flat-based figures, not the slightly hollowed-out ones sent to the Blog by Brian last year and shown here.

I almost forgot - Brian had sent me this ages ago, too cool for police-college; he's painted up a bunch of unknown police and the Jaru radio guy as what I believe (Brian'll correct me if I'm wrong!) represent Dan Dare space-police in 'planet-side' uniform!

Looking at the guy reaching for his 'piece the others may be additional poses from my unknown last row, but then the shooting-with-bull-horn looks like one of the poses from the larger Jaru bagged set, are they one and the same? Or are mine poorer, 2nd-generation copies of the Jaru 'originals'?

911 is for Call the Emergency Services!

If you live the other side of the pond that is . . . I remember thinking as a kid that they must be saying '911' in the movies and TV dramas because they aren't allowed to use the 'actual' 999!

Brain sent these a while ago, well it seems like a while ago as it's been a busy time recently, but they arrived a month ago this Friday! Of interest is that they are the basis of the smaller ones we looked at here a couple of years ago ['can't find the link...obviously haven't tagged it properly!].

Six Jaru police in blue and six other emergency personnel, mostly firemen (or firefighters!) in a mix of red and white, but with the same three poses in each colour. Did other sets have those two reversed?

I asked Brian for a shot of the pack for my records this week, but it was good enough to use on the Blog! Also comparisons with the cheepo-copies I found, the police being the inside pair, the fire crew the outside pair. You can see the clones are a bit smaller, and the teeny pistol's ancestor is revealed to be another teeny-pistol! It's like he's pointing his finger . . . "Halt! Or I poke you in the eye perp!"

The lower shot is a comparison with the Fishel figures; they're modelled on a later (more modern) era, with 'Fritz' helmets, something equating to a Heckler-Koch MP-something-or-other and body armour, also they are a better sized 54mm. The upper shot is another comparison between the Jaru in the middle and the clone to the right with a painted vinyl original to the left, which may be modern, or may date from the 1980's and could be via Jaru (they've been around long enough), or some other rack-toy jobber?