O is for Once Upon a Time, in June! Everything Else

So, we reach the last of the plunder, bought or donated, from the sort-of-fortieth PW show, at Whitton, in SW London, this June, just gone, and it's the bits & bobs, trees/plants, vessels, and remaining vehicular stuff!

A bunch of the Cereal Premium ships from Quaker Oats, we've seen the whole set before, here, and a previous lot of additional colours, but here's a few more!

Somebody gave me this at some point in the course of the day's proceedings, he came over and asked me about it, I said I didn't know, but that it looked both modern and really nice, and he said "Keep it" and left me holding it, I hope his name is in the footer acknowledgement, below, but if it isn't, eMail me! Sitting at it, is a larger scale Blue Box doll house kid, and smaller Britains Garden adult!

A fine rack-toy of the 6d/5p variety, a set of tools, which, had I seen it in the 70's, would have been purchased for Action Man! I reckon they would have fitted nicely in one of those silver Arctic Explorer crates, and could have been stowed in my Spartan personnel carrier!

 

Barrels from a die-cast Waggon , one of those Benbros-Charbens-Kemlows minor die-casters? A couple of road signs, one damaged, but it might be an only sample, and a badge probably from Brian, who keeps giving me his old badges, as I think he knew I'd kept all mine, and one day I'll have to sort them all out and throw them up here as a fun-post, on all the shows over the years! I've even got most of my Sandown stickers somewhere!

Scenics; including a small moon, or large cannon-ball, probably from a rack-toy bag, a Hong Kong hay-rick/stack clone, and what I suspect is a rabbit-hutch or poultry pen from Taylor, missing its front-door/mesh, but interestingly inscribed with the full For Good Toys slogan. It's probably taken from the lead original.

FG Taylor's 'squirrel-tree', a Lego Chestnut tree, a couple of Britains window-box scenics, and three smaller Barratt trees.

Largo's hydrofoil motor vessel Disco Volante (somewhat simplified!), from Gilbert, I have the carded one, so it's nice to now have a loose one, complete, if slightly discoloured by age (smoking or UV?), although I think an ultrasonic bath with diluted bleach can bring it back white, without taking the red off?

Mixed vessels, nothing too exciting, the smaller rubber-boat is Corgi I think, and the tug may be Springwell, a reissue of the Tudor Rose vessel, or one of the TR vessels (reader-driven post in the pipeworks, on that one!), several baking powder premiums and an odd colour of the usually silver/grey copies of Minic waterline ships 

Aircraft include a damaged and stripped Messerschmitt, a second Inter Cities Services Rota-Ship from Injection Moulders, a small spacy thing, probably from a board game and another Blue Box 'chopper', "I lurve the smell of vintage plastic in the mornin's!".

Another race-car, also Quaker, standard colour and number, but until it's checked against the master collection, I won't trust it! A large egg, from the discount-store rival to Kinder; Wow Eggs, an infant toy which will end-up going to charity, but is at least 'in the archive' now!

 

While the truck is - I think - the New Maries copy of the Holly copy of Blue Box's livestock truck from the Andy's/Home Farm sets, in all cases a sub-scale vehicle from those sets, but they were all mixed scale, with the Merit knock-off horses. probably fitting this nicely!

R is for Really, they WERE Rack Toys

Continuing with the theme of personalities from the previous Blue Box post, and incomplete sets, well it's about the collecting isn't it, and we can return to both subjects when they are complete!

 

And no apologies for plagiarism, this has been sandwiched between two Blue Box posts on the desktop for a week-and-a-half, and was always going to be here, just coincidence Moonbase dealt with some other Gilbert 007 stuff yesterday!

 

I picked this chap up last autumn, or at the start of the year, I have a Moneypenny already and possibly a Dr. No, so it's a question of slowly building the collection on the cheap, as these figures are hideously overhyped and over-priced! I thought it might be Q, showing bond some gadget which hasn't been painted, but it's M holding something?

But then, also at Plastic Warrior I think, I picked up another six, including all three Bonds, they are all from Sean Connery movies, and as mentioned above, an outfit called Gilbert, but out of Hong Kong, not the US or France who both had older and longer lasting Gilbert's, or Guilberts!

 

And three baddies! So I still need to find Domino and possibly Dr. No, then I can worry about replacing the tattier ones, that Trump'y chap in the red is a bit play worn! But, I'm absolutely, positively, in no hurry; . . . 

. . . there's a rack toy on ebay at the moment, doesn't matter what it is, someone posted it on Brian Heiler's Faceplant group the other day, something naff like a pair of handcuffs or a water-pistol, tied into an unrelated (to the toy)'s TV-series branded backing-card - the seller wants nearly $3,000 for it!

Now, NO rack toy is worth more than 20-quid in any currency, and their intrinsic value is no more than a fiver, and yes, we will all go 20, 35 even 50 maybe, for an aitch-tee-eff set, or something we've been looking for, for ages, or had as a kid; a 'grail' item, but really, they're not worth that. There's a set of these - in a fake carded bag - currently up for £90 . . . ninty-fucking-quid? That's nine-pounds per figure!

Added to which, these Gilbert figures, often MOC as above (minor auctioneers' lot from a few years ago - Potter Auctions I think?) aren't even rare, pretty-much every TV/Movie auction at Vectis has one or two sets, SAS general toy auctions have them as often as not, and there's always a few at Sandown Park or similar larger fairs,

 

So, I'm not going to pay the silly money people ask for them, when they will turn-up lose for a quid or two, if I'm patient, which is the point I'm making, as you can't ever have everything, you can afford to wait for the right things at the right price, and someone made a super-tanker's worth of these!

They were RACK TOYS! They aren't particularly animated, they aren't painted well enough to be display statuettes, they are in an odd scale (90mm) and there's only ten of them? Hold out for a couple-of-pounds each, is my advice, or less, they're often to be found in mixed junk-lots! But, yes, the ten-figure window box IS worth the premium, as it's rarer and easily damaged, so good ones are further between!

News, Views Etc . . . Vectis - Early December

 Next two Vectis auctions are later today and tomorrow; nice things in both . . .

Lot 183

'Go Home' 

Thursday 3rd December 2020 10:00am
TV and Movie Related Sale - starts 10:00hrs

"The TV and Film related sale to be held on the 3rd of December features an interesting collection from a Hasbro employee, items include standard samples and prototypes, from Transformers, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, and Star Wars. Further items in the sale include Action Man vintage equipment, accessories, outfits, vehicles and figures. Star Wars carded and loose vintage figures, Legacy Collection and 30th Anniversary collection; Planet of the Apes carded figures, Dr Who, Austin Powers, Lord of the Rings, He-Man Masters of the Universe, Star Trek and Superhero figures. The sale will also include My Little Pony, Mezco Studiocraft Enchantica figurines, Cherlilea Military vehicles, books, magazines, annuals, Lego, signed photographs and displays, and games."

Catalogue and download

Lot 1265
(see also 1266 and 1271)

Friday 4th December 2020
James Bond '007' and Specialist Die Cast Sale - starts 10:00hrs

"The James Bond and Specialist diecast sale to be held on the 4th of December starts with The Buckinghamshire Collection which features vehicles from Autoart, Minichamps, Kyosho, Corgi and Johnny Lightning, plus slot cars from Carrera and Scalextric. James Bond figures also feature, from Corgi, Action Man, Sideshow and Exclusive Toy productions, and the collection includes gift sets, props, books, memorabilia, and promotional items. The Sussex Collection features Corgi Gift sets promotional sets and posters, and The 50 Years of Bond Collection includes further Corgi vehicles and gift sets, Limited Edition Gift Sets, Autoart, Kyosho, Little Soldiers James Bond sets, figures, guns and pistols, Corgi Icon Figures, original and replica props, DVDs/VHS, advertising material, posters, and signed framed pictures. The sale will also include Part 2 of The Kempshott Collection, featuring Dinky buses and coaches, pre-war train sets and French Dinky; The Ian Townell Lotus Collection, a Mechanical Horse Collection and further items."

Catalogue and download

*************************************

The ongoing global health scare means various special instructions are still in place . . .

COVID - 19 RESTRICTIONS
 
Please note there is still NO viewing, or attendance in person at these Auctions.
 
Absentee bids can be emailed to admin@vectis.co.uk, or placed via the Vectis or Invaluable website, up until 2 hrs prior to the auction commencing.
 
ON THE DAY OF THE SALE, LIVE BIDDING is available on www.vectis.co.uk or www.invaluable.com, or TELEPHONE BIDDING can be arranged.

For telephone bidding please contact Vectis prior to the day of the auction. We will arrange for you to be involved live via telephone on the day of the sale. We will call you two or three lots prior to the lot being offered for auction.

There is no charge for telephone bidding.  

SHIPPING

Please be aware there is still a slight delay with our current despatch times.

Our packing team have been working hard to catch up with the 5 weeks closure we experienced in March/April. When we re-opened in April we did so with a skeleton staff, we are now back to full capacity and they have been working tirelessly to ensure your parcels are packed as quickly and professionally as possible; the team are now currently packing and despatching September Sales. 

We thank you for your understanding and patience in these unprecedented times. 

COLLECTION   

If you wish to collect items, we would ask customers to first call and pay for their purchases. Ask for a collection appointment date and time. This will allow the packing team to prepare your items and have them ready for you, reducing waiting times.  

PLEASE ENSURE YOU WEAR A MASK WHEN COLLECTING LOTS (UNLESS EXEMPT)

Please note we will be closing for the Christmas break on Thursday 24th December

and will reopen Monday 4th of January 2021.

 

If you would like to collect your Lots before we close, please contact the office

to arrange a collection date and time.

 

And Vectis can - as always - be contacted here;

Vectis Auctions
Fleck Way, Thornaby,  Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ
Web. - www.vectis.co.uk
eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk
Tel - +44 (0) 1642 750616
Fax - +44 (0) 1642 769478
Sales [currently] commence at 10:30hrs 10:00hrs

Sothern Office
Unit 5A, West End Industrial Estate, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX28 1UB
Tel - +44 (0)1993 709 424

F is for Follow-up - 007

Just a quickie, the loose one was actually under my nose at the time of the previous visit to this . . . hay-ho!

Obviously, pushing down on the nipple sticking out of the turret releases a catch and the rubber band is supposed to send the flame 'tongue' shooting-out, on mine the band has lost a fair deal of its original power so it's not exactly an instant action!

Once fired the tongue just lolls there until you push it back in, looking as realistically like flames as my foot! But it was only a cheapie rack-toy , which is why it also sometimes catches on the 'lips' of the mouth and doesn't fire at all.

Not the best .gif I've done, lighting's poor and it's a bit jerky, but it gets across the action!

007 is for Secret Agent Rack Toys

These are a bit of a weirdness, they continue to attract a high premium, price-wise, despite being nothing more that Hong Kong rack-toys, and quite common. By quite common I mean there is always a good lot of these, seemingly in every general toy sale, at either Vectis or SAS and they are often on evilBay, while the figures can be found loose at most toy fairs - and I don't just mean the odd toy soldier shows, but the workaday, several-a-week, general toy-fairs!

Still, they are better made than most HK stuff, original sculpts and James Bond related, and it's that which keeps their value-up. We're not looking at the figures today, but the oddity of the line - the baddies' vehicles - which come in at a passable 1:76/72nd scale.

Gilbert's carded James Bond Action Toys of Doctor No's Dragon Tank (turned out to be DUKW I seem to recall and the two-into-one hydrofoil of Mr. Largo. reflection is always a problem photographing blistered sets and this was further complicated by being shot outside on a blazing-hot day!

The 'tank' which is passed off as a dragon in the swamps of Dr. No's secret island base and which - in the film - was equipped with a flame-thrower. I do have a lose one (or two, but the second is broken?) of these somewhere so we will return to it in close-up one day, but suffice to say, if you press the nipple on the cupola, the flame-mouth shoots forwards a centimeter or so, with all the spectacle of a biscuit breaking! Hay, they were simpler times!

The silver shaft - looking like a convincing gun-barrel is actually the mast of the boat sticking up behind the tank!

Not so clear images for Largo's boat, but basically it's two halves with the rear, stern section clipping over the hull of the forward part, to be jettisoned in the bath for a quick getaway!

That's it - expensive rack-toys - they're a bit of an oxymoron!