P is for Pavilion - Toy Fair 2022

By way of a continuation of the previous post, Pavilion were a new name on me at this year's Toy Fair, a wholesaler, not a manufacturer, so they will only add to their tag-entry if they exhibit equally interesting stock in future years, but here's what they are offering this year!

Mostly handling clearance for 'big name' stuff, including the partwork issuer Eaglemoss and Dr Collector, a Spanish outfit concentrating on brand licences, they had an interesting array of stuff on display, but there are limits with clearance, and as a trade or B2B supplier, of little use to us beyond the images!

From their small catalogue, you can see Fallout, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park and ET merchandise on offer, with the ET stuff being the link with the previous post and on display at the show . . .

. . . where I photographed them (upper shot) against never seeing them again - which I haven't and I've tried Smyths and the local independent (but not The Entertainer yet?) - and I can report they are about the same size as the LJN and JAR Sales ones

There was also a bunch of ex-Partwork stuff, but the problem here is that the clearance tends to have limited scope, being those commoner figures (issues 1, 2 & 3, or the issue following a switch to subscription only, or a price-rise - with longer series) or side-issues; mail-away's and the like, separate to the actual partwork.

Anyway, that's more ET's and Pavilion in the tag-list!

W is for Who You Gonna' Call? Ghostbusters!

This is a late addition, there were going to be only six posts this year but these turned-up along with the MEG premium figures, but we've seen them once and while I've added a handful (including a nice purple witch), to those we've seen in the past, I know there's a whole tub of them in storage somewhere, and when I've brought them together we'll return to them. In the meantime, these are more fun!

From the difference in the date-marks I assume (and yes Erwin - it's a real guess!) they were timed/issued to coincide with the movie release and the VHS/video-disc release? Video-discs were the future, back in the past (!) and I well-remember a small selection of them in Berlin's NAAFI for those stupid-enough to have bought a machine from the PX, not realising the Philips Laserdisc was already failing back in UK!

Anyway . . . these were (I think) 'box companions' with larger (4") action-figure/dolls from Kenner?! I did read-up on them once, but it's all gone, I believe they are all based on ghosts actually seen in the movie, but mostly those seen briefly, just flitting about during the major infestation?

Also dated 1987, like his red counterpart, I don't know if this was a latter issue or a limited edition version, but he glows in the dark which is very ghost-like and pretty-cool!

The trouble with glow-in the dark toys is that the molecules which provide the glow, are quite nervous (it's their movement which is exploited to produce the glow, by exciting them [the particles] with light beams [waves]; it's quantum stuff), and over time they bugger-off (migrate), like free radicals in ethylene (leading to brittleness) or thalates in PVC (leading to sticky messes), and it gets harder and harder to produce a glow, and even when you do - by holding them against a light-bulb - they dim very quickly (because the remaining particles are too far apart to excite each-other for long), but I managed a half-decent image after about ten tries!

T is for Toy Fair 2019 Reports - Amerang - Jada (+?)

I think these are all Jada, but I'm not so sure about the last two shots! The trouble with the Toy Fair is you have several hundred stands to scope-out, several dozen to cover and only limited time and you're making lots of mental notes which might as well be written on the beach as the tide comes in for all the use they are weeks later, or even the next day!

However Amerang are a wholesaler, so whether Jada or not, they are here, in the UK, now'ish and to be looked out for if you fancy them.

Batmobiles, Bat-tanks, Bat-beasts, bat-bollocks! But they all come with a really nice die-cast and plastic 70mm-odd (1:24th scale) figure!

More of the same - in closer!

To cool for Bat School! This will be issued later in the year and it's lovely - look at it; I think it's nicer than the old Corgi one, but; at around 1:18th for this, miles off the 'original' and plenty of room for all the extra detailing.

Some other dude in a spandex body-suit, I wasn't pay any attention to who this chap was, but if you're a fan you'll know instantly, 'Livepond' . . . is he? Beyond him is a Transformers franchise in two sizes, I'm not sure on Jada for these but I think they were all the same section of the Amerang stand? Except . . . the flyer is for Transformers, the vehicles are from a Japanese anime series called Initial D!

Again two sizes; 1:24th and 1:32nd, how can you not like these. They perfectly illustrate how accuracy falls with scale-reduction; note the window bars/roll-cage uprights get larger (in scale) as the vehicle gets smaller - the limitations of die-casting alloys! Sadly the 54mm-compatable one doesn't have figures, well, actually - neither of them do - "Who yer gonna call?"!

The other one I'm not sure was Jada; and can't remember where (culturally) it came from - Halo, or some Vin Diesel thing? Nice-looking little hunter-killer APC, runabout thing anyway, although the road-wheels look a bit girly!

News, Views Etc . . . Books

There's so much in September's 'News, Views' folder I've broken it down into three posts which I'll break-up with other stuff in-between. Today; news on books which are out, about or on-line.

FIM 3 Online

Starting with the on-line work, it has been decided by the authors (Robert Newson, Peter Wade-Martins and Adrian Little) that the third volume of Farming in Miniature (FIM) will be an on-line, real-time upgradable resource, allowing them to add new farm vehicle toys as they become known, this means that despite the two paper works containing some pretty rare, unusual or previously unknown toys; the website will likely carry even rarer stuff!

Link: http://www.farminginminiature.co.uk/volume3.html

Lindholm Forres Books

News of two new titles from this brand-new publisher, a general history of collecting by Michael Driver and Mike Richardson (who with his wife Sue wrote the definitive work on die-cast aeroplanes) and Mr. Driver's solo work on Jaguar toys in all scales and materials have been published so far. Having seen neither I can't comment further but full details are to be found here;

Tel: 0207 243 2149

eMail: michael.lindholmforres@live.co.uk

Web: www.lindholmforres.co.uk (due to 403 Forbidden's I can't link to the actual new books page?)

Britains Racing Colours

Limited numbers of Peter Kirk's work on the 'Racing Colours of Famous Owners' range of large scale figurines by Britains are available from Mercator Trading if you missed them first time round, details from Adrian through his website, the self-published pamphlet contains the colours for 235 known models, with spare graphics for new discoveries to be added at the back.

Web: http://mercatortrading.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=303

Amberley Publishing . . .

 . . . have two new titles out, one on Dolls Houses by Moi Ali (which I will wait-for, to be remaindered, not because there's anything wrong with it, but just because I only buy dolls books when they are cheap, as they are a far branch of the hobby for me!) and a far more interesting one for figure collectors by Matt McNabb; on the toys tied-in to the Ghostbusters franchise - with a forward by no less a personage than Dan Aykroyd himself - which I intend to track down.

Tel: 01453 847 800

eMail: sales@amberley-books.com

Web: www.amberley-books.com

Lego

Finally, there is a new book out featuring the 'Evil Empire' (see forthcoming 'News, Views'), from the son of Ron Good (Goodsoldiers) which I hope to obtain in November, so we'll return to it then, I had a brief look the other day and it seems to be a fun guide/introduction to Lego.