N is for November's Sandown Park - Military

More of the odds and sods from the last BP show, at Sandown Park, and it's the military stuff, which wasn't numerous, but had a few interesting items to look at, including one which might surprise you, by my excitement of it!

 

There's a fair bit of brittleness, in the contents of this set, figures and weapons, so at some point, I'll probably de-card it, and save the PVC stuff for spares and scan the card, it's not like the figures are particularly rare, while a full scan of the generic card would be a useful addition to the archive.

 

Two 'Began-Beton's', probably from Plastic Toys Inc.? And one of the small Monogram/Revell copies, along with my first Lido original, I have lots of the Hong Kong copies, but the quality of this original shines through, so very pleased to have found him, rummaging through Gareth's tray.

 

Tourist keepsake for sure, poured-resin, and not the world's best sculpt, but it is a Horse Guard, whom I prefer to the Lifeguards, around 80/90mm, and one assumes not that old, but not current, as I've recently been checking-out the shops round the theatre district for something else, and haven't seen anything close to this chap.

 

Two hollow-cast nurses, and I thought the one on the right might be Crescent, but someone said they are both Britains, early on the left and later on the right, sort of Crimean War and WWI eras?

 

Crescent.

 

Skybirds.

 

Fantasyland? Or the better originals (check tag)?

 

Odds & Sods.

 

John Begg gave me a tray of small-scale. lead shrapnel, which has a few useful bits in, and which, in time, will get sorted into the rest, the Skybirds pilot is particularly nice, as they gave them several paint schemes, both military and civilian, While Crescent used many colours/shades, over the years.

 

In the last shot, the larger-scale, colonial artilleryman, and mid-19th century red-coat, standing firing, are both complete and will join the cards I display this odd, flat stuff on, while the others will probably go in the 'Don't know what to do with them, but can't chuck them' tub!

S&S is for Seasonal and Superb

Brian has sent his seasonal shots of Scully & Scully's window display, he said he was fighting refelction, but they all look good to me, and as we all know what's coming, we don't need any more of my waffle; enjoy!

 

Many thanks to Mr. Berke for these, it's an unpaid mission, to fight the New York shopping crowd, and get these images, not just at Easter or Halloween, but especially at this time of year, and they are the most exquisite examples of the slate-etcher's art, even if, these days, they are cold cast rubber, or even metal moulds? And they are beautifully painted as well, a real treat Brain, thank you. It's starting to feel very festive!

 

09/12/2025 - Late addition!

U is for Unknown Salesman's Samples

A bit of a find here, and not mine, Adrian found them, and thinking I'd like them, saved them for the blog, and posterity! There's no clue as to their origins, and the message on the slips of paper pasted into the inner edge of the boxes (suggesting they were placed rather as the shots below, upright in a cabinet of some kind), which reads "Specimen contents as used if boxed to retail at 5/6d" [five shillings and six pence].

 

The mix of metal and plastic novelty 'prizes' places this very much in the 1950's, as do, strangely, the hats, rather squidged into one of the boxes, which are about three times the size of the hats I've known all my life, but which I remember from old TV shows (think 'Love thy neighbour,' Hancock, the soaps), where people often had the taller ones? Hard to unfold now, but they all have crude 'jewels' made from silver-foil, diamond (parallelogram) offcuts glued to them, which I also remember.

 

Both boxes have similar contents, indeed, very similar to the Old World Series we looked at years ago, with wooden whistles, steel wire-puzzles, paper logic puzzles and the novelties, which include stand-alone flats, broach-badges, the inevitable thimble (Christmas was almost a disappointment, if somebody didn't get an impractical, plastic thimble!), and rings. Many thanks to Adrian for grabbing these.

B is for Big Box of Bounty - WWII & Modern Combat

The next instalment of Chris Smith's latest donation to the Blog is the 'meat & two veg' of Toy Soldier Collecting, unless you specialise in ancient & medieval, the Wellingtonian era, space, Wild West, Britians ceremonials, farm or zoo, but you know what I mean, and that's the introductory paragraph taken care of, phew!

 

Three paratroopers this time, all yellow, but from three sources and a nice pair of Airfix Red Beret LMG-gunners, to compare in future addition to the parachutists page, while the holding-reserve pose is unusual in yellow, even at this smaller size, where the odd blue or red one has turned-up over the years, they are usually green!

 

One of the Galoob-like, or supplied by Galoob, sailors, from the Realtoy-Dacron et al. sets, and three of the tentatively ID'd as Pioneer or supplied by/to Pioneer, copies of the same set, the copies being manufactured in a softer silicon-rubber, to the denser PVC-replacement of the Realtoy figures.

 

Unknown seated's, four of the common'ish US moulding ones, in two colours (and there are a lot of colours to find!), and three others; the big chap may be from a battery-operated Jeep or similar toy, the middle one anything, the chap on the right of both shots is one of the crewmen from any one of a number of Hong Kong, fictional/Sci-Fi'ish, novelty rocket launchers, also/sometimes known as Crickets, in this shade, possibly the Codeg 'Rocket Firing Armoured Car'?

 

And the smaller chap here is probably the Codeg driver, while Chris had managed to ID the big fella', he's from the Mecanno Mogul range of Tonka-rival heavy steel-plate toys, namely the eponymous Army Mogulwagen. and I have a feeling Chris sent the driver many parcels ago . . . not sure you can have 'Namely' and 'Eponymous' in the same sentence?

 

And there seem to have been two versions, or a pre-production/press (with integrated MG) one, and this version, which is probably another Stadden sculpt, from the Havent factory, they are about four-inches?

 

These are interesting, I think I have a small sample somewhere, but new poses here, and obviously Marx 45mm copies, which is why I had some - borderline small-scale! But they are a tinny polymer, maybe 'propylene, and quite poorly finished or 'flashy' possibly from that late 1980's/arly 1990's plethora of re-issues from Hong Kong, Brazil or Mexico? Does anyone know for certain, from whence they hail?

 

A handful of "Aitchkay" rack-toy fodder, but all interesting, with two of the 40mm Monogram copies, a small Aussie knock-off, a Japanese Deetail clone, but not the more common chrome-coated, Kwong Wah one, which have the ovoid base, but a full oblong-based copy, along with a pair of the recent, but relatively unique sculpts, copies of New Ray, I think it was decided, in the end?

 

A similar line-up of the smaller scales, with - from the left - Supreme 40mm, Galoob 20mm Micromachines, 30mm Airfix Para' clone, a new colour of Galoob 30mm (Battle Squad?), and another 20mm, along with the roughly 28mm Universal-Matchbox MG-gunner who is 'after' Galoob!

 

Saving the best to last and sandwiched between two of the GI Flats, are two figures who are both familiar, and totally new to me. The chap to the centre-right, is obviously the Timpo GI radio-operator, but not the usual early-British 'Khaki Infantry'', rather a soft PVC polymer, possibly Polish, or East German? He's painted as UN, but that could be home-paint/repaint?

 

While I'm sure I've seen the other guy, but I'll be damned if I can remember where or when? He's a marbled polyethylene ('polythene'), with an interesting pose-sculpt of changing his magazine, the base is closest to the bigger PRB swivel-heads, with a pronounced bevel, while the sculpting and pose are vaguely Marx-PMC 54mm GI-like, in execution? He also comes across as being a bit cereal-premium'y? Is he French, Greek?

 

Can anybody add anything on either of the middles figures, now Chris has kindly sent them to the Blog?

F is for Follow-up - Sports Plunder

Matters arising from the first of Chris's donation posts; and I had a few images in Picasa which shed a little more light on some of my verbiage in that previous post!

 

On the left is one of the most common ones I'd always had a few of, usually in a bit of a state, there's a soft-plastic copy as well, while the chap to the right, I know nothing about (and will report-back when I do!), but the 'Bastard in the Black' is both a new pose, and a new source with a deeper, more-sculpted base, this trio came-in about two-and-a-half years ago, and were shot at the old flat!

 

An evilBay shot from '22, which shows a full set of six different sculpts in a three-a-side cake decorating vignette, could be Culpitt or Wilton or someone else (as could all these footballer decorations. and are a bit smaller I think, although the green chap at the back seems to be inventing Rugby!

 

They are Waddington's Totopoly, and here are two samples of slightly different plastic ones, I shot back in 2018. While an austerity set with printed-card racers, in slotted wooden blocks dates from the war era, mirroring their stable mate (geddit!) Monopoly.

M is for May's Visit - Animals

Moving on to the animals, and I could have reduced the shot-count with these I think, but nevertheless, we'll whizz through them, and highlight the interesting bits, while enjoying the rest!

 

Oh, they've loaded in reverse again! Not that it matters with these, there's no particular narrative to the images, or the order I took them! Hilco here I think, or Cherilea? I always get confused by these two, and one inherited the tools of the other!.

 

Almost certainly off the covers of contemporary kids magazines, I see this stuff all the time on the racks, but don't follow it, or even sample-purchase it, as one hopes somebody else, somewhere else is recording/collecting it, some titles are issuing half a dozen puppies, kittens, or cutesified pets, bare, painted or flocked, every month, or bi-monthly, there are thousands of them out there, often slight 'deforms', sometimes 2nd generation copies, and I have large bags of them, already, without ever trying!

 

I think Asterix has to be in here somewhere (or Obelix!), but which might be a licence for the comic-strip, and which might be a cartoony toy figure, if either or neither, I don't know! Is the one on the right destined for the village feast, and the one on the left from another toy, or are they both from the forests of Northern France, circa 200AD?

 

Britains bull, sans ring!

 

Vitacup pheasant, and a nice old composition hen, a bit tatty, but a 1st sample!

 

Mixed eepy-deeps!

 

He escaped from the civilian post! Looks like he should have had wheels, but possibly a bit too small for a stand-alone novelty toy, I thought, so maybe a race-game, one of those vibrating-mat games maybe?

 

Horses!

 

These keep turning up, and the total sample is probably quite big now, but rather spread to the four winds. I noticed the other day the guys at Cerealoffers, had them as question-mark cereal premiums, but I suspect they are Lucky Bag gifts, contemporary with the disc-foot Wild West figures Brian B remembered as Lucky Bag figures, and there are two versions of these, I think (slight moulding or base differences), which would tie in with the Cowboys and Indians, where there were also other types/generations.

 

Two Holly Plastics (outer pair), a novelty blow-moulded fish and a very small butterfly!

 

Four random dinosaurs, the one on the far left is from the carded set we looked at the other day! While the little, vinyl Triceratops is a cut above, but again, we were looking at that 'trickle down' improvement in a recent post.

 

Another horse-racer! Clearly, they rode straight into another folder! He's obviously from a board game, and comes with a Lego shrub, gum-ball premium donkey charm and a flat cow/calf, who keeps appearing, and may be an early (1950/60's) vehicle load, if so, maybe a pair?

 

A couple of modern vinyl animals and a Kellogg's rhino, based on the old Lido set.

 

Thanks as always to Peter Evans for finding/saving this stuff for the Blog, they may be single oddities here, but when it's all sorted out, it will make more sense! 

H is for Hell, it's Halloween!

Or it will be soon, and while I haven't found much, I thought I'd post before the 31st this year, instead of saving it all 'till the 'The Day', it's not the same as ITLAPD, and if you do happen to like the look of anything, you need the time to go and find it! These were all sent to the Blog by its roving reporter in New York, Brian Berke, and then there’s a big, fat apology at the end!

 

Brian reported he didn't find much to interest figure collectors, and neither have I this year, but there are a few bits for another post, and I may raid the internet images for something, but one thing I had seen, but not shelfied, was some of these, and very Warhol'ian 'pop eating itself' are Christmas nutcrackers, transmogrified for Halloween! Shot in a store called Ollie's?

 

Bats! Safe now, Ozzy will be flying with them, this year! Note the gold ones have lost a lot of glitter in transit, from rubbing, I guess? I found the same thing with that 'sugared' Gummi Bear, Christmas-tree bauble, last year (or the year before?), in several baskets of them, spread around the sales area, it was hard to find one without bald-patches, a little more glue, or a shorter time between glue and dipping in the glitter/beads would solve the problem! Dollar Tree, now!

 

While I owe Brian a big, fat apology for this one! He sent it in 2018, and somehow it got lost in Picasa? Scully and Scully who don't always do Halloween like they do Easter (or Christmas, but Easter seems to be their biggie?), and, in my defence, I think that was the year they did all the blown-glass stuff, some of which was published at the time, some went in a sea-life round-up, and one or two (frog?) may still be waiting to be added, to something more thematic?

 

But Scully and Scully are a favourite, and I think the autumnal tree is particularly stunning! Cheers Brian!