M is for Micro-Mini Motors

Those who remember the Formula 1 Project, will see that cars, and choises, have been added to the starting line-up with the acquisition of these.

The pink and dark yellow 'Monopoly' ones are now definitely ID'd as gum-ball toys (not as I suggested [with question mark - phew!] last time: board game pieces) as is the little green one with the yellow wheels, the green one at the back is very well-detailed (apart from a crushed roof) and may be from an N-gauge railway flatcar/car carrier?

The gold one (front right) is cast iron, could it be Gray Klip/Grey Iron? It's got the same look and feel? The one behind is probably a board gaming piece, while the other gold on and the silver one are actually plastic. Most of these will be from the smallest gum-balls or the little decorative tree-crackers, which used to have miniature novelties, but now tend to have a 'Motto & Sticker'!

G is for Great Scott...What HAVE they got on their heads?

No...it's for Grey-Klip Armies by Grey Iron of course! I've been after a decent sample of these since...oohhh? 1981? First read of JG Garratt's encyclopaedia! Small-scale cast iron...gotta have some of those in the collection!

I actually do have one loose example (he came-in with a bunch of plastics from the James Chase collection's small scale), but I thought he was a Confederate soldier! And that's despite having R O'Brien's book too (which lists them all - I think?), but the trouble with having files on 30,000-odd toy companies and 400+ 'tomes' in the library is...you can't retain everything all the time, and a lot of it just melts into a mush of like names, places, sizes, materials, dates...and lets face it - he looks like Jonny Reb!

Card scans; I couldn't get the stupid machine (Epson, now you ask!) to find the thin edge properly, so it's a bit truncated, but still readable! They (Grey Iron) produced more in the larger sizes, but I think this was it for the smallies!

The figures; divided into a command group and a troop 'squad', set into a steel track (which will open your fingers up if you're not careful!), they are crude, sand-cast lumps and I love 'em! The dodgy headgear is supposed to be the smokie-bear/drill-sergeant/boy-scout 'Campaign hat', but really? Confederates...to a man!