T is for Tente - Tank Transporter and Tail-ends

So, the last of the Tente stuff in the car-booty found by Peter Evans back in the Summer, and it's 'most of the rest', of what seems to have been a ten-kit set, although I've got bits of naval vessels in the same 'army' green, still not a colour offered, in any quantity, by Lego, so the full range may have gone to 12 or 15 boxes?

 

The tractor unit is vaguely based on the Kynos Aljaba 8×8, but that was an 8x8 (obviously) not a 6x6, so it's a very loose resemblance, some Soviet tractors look similar, but usually with a closed cab, as do/are the Faun SLT's of the Bundeswehr.

 

With the trailer, which is even more generic!

Always hard to photograph tank transporters (or large ship models), simply because of the horizontal dimensions! But these give you some idea. The previously seen Tanque, and the Ambulance, before I had found its loose bits and reattached them!

 

It came with its own (2nd model) tank, the bulk of which was missing from the car boot find, and which is closer to the ex-US Patton or Pershing M46/47 & M48/M60's that were common in the Spanish inventory for the bulk of the post-war/Cold War era. But most of the turret was in the bag, and with the barrel off the other, I could produce that, for a photograph!

 

Alternate suggestions mostly involve slight tweaks to the configuration, but the half-tracked transporter is spacey! While the tank becomes a chunky-monkey personnel carrier or wheeled tank.

 

The ephemera awaiting scanning, includes a half-track which was also missing, however, I think bits of it might have been in the less-than-colour-matched ambulance truck, we saw at the start of this sequence.

 

 Reverse of its instructions include a vague weapons-platform, and a cargo-truck.

 

Missing numbers are the Missile Helicopter, a quadruple SPAAG, based, clearly, on the Soviet-era ZSU-32-4, while, not illustrated anywhere here, was a large 8x8, wheeled APC, coded #0751, which was probably the weakest model in the range - body too big for the wheels, giving it a very open and top-heavy look.

 

All the important bits of the helicopter (cockpit, rotor, tail, skids) were also in the bag, with a handful of bricks which may have been helicopter, but may have been half-track, if you were to follow the instructions! Another bag of bits and a pair of the shorter tracks, and I will be able to complete both!

So, many thanks to Peter for spotting these, and saving them for the Blog, something a bit different!

P is for Philanthropic Polymer Pile

I haven't been as quick or often through the Charity Shops, this last eighteen months or so, work commitments, eBay bottom-feeders and a couple of store closures making it a less lucrative quest these days, but I did manage two quick tours of Farnham and Fleet's charity shops last week, while I had some time off, and I found these.

 

This was a quick round-up in Fleet

 

Box tickers for the tubs of generic play-set accessories, but also a new figure, funny how, despite forty-odd serious years of this, there's still new figures, in every bunch of plunder, every donantion, even a random bag of charity stuff! Jame's Opie always asks - primarily of lead hollow-casts and solids - how many figures (actual pose mouldings/sculpting) have there been, and the answer, from where I'm sitting, is millions - one is including copies and colour or paint variations.

 

A couple of slip-cast kittens, with slightly 'Disney' or 'doe eyes', but a rather interesting glaze technique, I thought? And mostly because they are often in mixed lots of cats, or pets, I now have quite a side-collection of china, bisque or chalkware cats. These are priced 3/6 each (three shillings and sixpence, 42 old pence, about 16p in new money, at the time?).

 

A pair of Toy Major Dino's.

 

A right old mix here, with the Ray marked Smartstudy and Viacom 2021, I assume not a Finding Nemo thing, but some other franchise, maybe Baby Shark?

 

And then, the next day - to Farnham!

 

Given the cost of these new, or 2nd-hand with box, I'm guessing a tenner for the three, while a swallow, was also the best I was going to get for what, to me, are box-tickers, to compare with plastics in the future? Not 'Britians' but W'britian from the US.

 

Simply marked 'China' and probably from some toob, or tub type thing, but a nice sample of ocean or shore-dwelling mammals, from the left; a Sea-lion, Mantee, Seal and Walrus.

 

It's Christmas! A nicely executed bit of poured-resin, possibly from Italy, but I don't know, as they are unmarked where visible, and have green-baize discs on their undersides, hiding any clues which might be there?

B is for Back to London, July, 1 of 2

Lunch was moved from Islington to Essex, and we got there via a van driven by none-other than Micheal Mordant-Smith (thoughts with him, as he goes through what I've just been through), and a boy's day-out ensued, with toys, dinosaurs and all-sorts. But, a bag of Carbooty had come as part of the package, courtesy of Peter Evans, and that's what we're looking at here.

 

Rack toy air-forces, I love the little helicopter, I think I remember them coming in Christmas crackers, while the larger version (both loosely Sea Knights, rather than Chinooks?) has its stickers. I used to chuck this stuff, now I keep it, to check against a 'master sample', so I - hopefully - have one of each in the end.

 

Matchbox, just coming-in as we got out of such toys, and the ferret erroneously described as a fictional Weasel, when it is really a Ferret, a Big-Wheeled Ferret (FV711) at that! Along with two of the recoilless-rifle armed Jeeps and the toylike matchstick-firing gun, it did come with blunt-ended 'slugs' but they soon vanished and a resupply of matchsticks was called-forwards!

 

The Jeeps, interestingly, have different body mouldings, with one having a catch-plate over the hook, to hold the towed gun on, while the (older?) one has the better registered sticker on the bonnet, but it has discoloured, possibly due to something in its own glue?

 

Also interesting, because while I think I have both already, on cards, coming loose, together like this, sort of confirms the tank is Rado Industries as well, because the Armoured Car is marked Ri-Toys on the base, with the tree-logo.

 

More rack-toy plunder, again, it will all be compared and sorted with existing samples, and where possible ID'd to sets or catalogue imagery. We have looked at the smaller tanks, in some depth, and, I think, the recently mentioned Hans Postler was one of the issuers?

 

From the left, a Hong Kong copy of the Crescent Roman, being shot, a nice Lone Star spearman, with spear intact and the Crescent knight, unchewed, but tatty paint!

 

There were fascinateing, they are the Hilco sculpts, decorated as you'ed expect to find the Hilco's, but the HILCO mark itself, has clearly been removed in the factory, on the whole sample, so I must assume they are Phoenix, or Cherilea-for-Phoenix production, but useing the Hilco outpainters?

 

Army-men! The larger 45/50mm French (copies of Airfix WWI troops), being particularly welcome, I have lots of the HO-OO copies, but a very small sample of the larger versions. Behind, in the bags are various US Infantry and Paratroops, mostly Airfix clones, to be checked against existing samples.

 

More of the same stuff, the pink one is fun! Russians in red are probably Ri-Toys, the bag in the middle are Hong Kong knock-off's of Ideal GI's, and two bags of Airfix clones finish the line-up.

 

Current Hing Fat, French Infantry attacking a German who seems wholly unconcerned by the imbalance of forces! Indeed, he's not paying any attention to his imminent demise!

 

A pair of paratroopers, both the Rosebud sculpt (although I've found an equally good one with an American branding, so there may be a mould swap in there somewhere), both sub-piracies, one better than the other . . . sort of third- and fifth-generation copies.

 

Three more recognisable - Airfix, Cherilea and Britians.

 

Smallies, a couple of Airfix, the Matchbox pair which accompanied the guns above and some hollow-horsed Hong Kong Cowboys & Indians - a relatively clean, if small sample of Wavymane type two, I think. I did do the Intro to 'Wavymane' (ex-Crescent sculpt) on the But is it Giant Blog, but I haven't got any further with it, the posts are in the queue . . . maybe over Christmas, between railway posts!

 

Two Manurba clones, one better than the other, an Airfix copy cowboy, in the middle, and one each of the protagonists in the Condor game The Blues and the Grey at the far ends.

 

The Thomas-Poplar-Tudor Rose-Quaker Wild West.

 

Culpitt's Wild West, also AHM, Injectaplastic and Jouets Super Plastic, although only handled by the latter trio if with the separate bases, of which there is only one here, the Indian with the green base. I have a good sample of these, and we have looked at them in some detail in the past, but always worth a check against the master tub, to find the odd colour variations, orange-for-red being one.

 

Many thanks to Peter Evans again, and animals, civilians and space next time. 

R is for Rack Toy'ish

Not really a rack Toy, as they are on the shelf, and £8.00, but sort of 'rack toy fare' if you know what I mean, which you will by the end of the post, hopefully, if you're paying attention, which nobody says you have to, you're all free agents!

 

Back at the beginning of May, Peter Evans, roving reporter of Plastic Warrior Magazine, asked me to look out for this set, which he'd seen being advertised by B&M, the modern replacement for the now defunct Woolworths, Wilkinsons and Debenhams (sans clothes!), which I said I'd do the next day as I was heading over to B&M, looking for something else - a set of art markers!

 

Well, in the end I had to go to three stores to get the art markers; Basingrad, Borden and Reading, but none of them had the reported Helicopter set! In the meantime, Peter had found images to keep me keen, however, after a couple more visits, and more info' from Peter it wasn't until well unto July, that I finally got them, not in Borden (the smaller store) but in the B-stoke biggie! Just in time for the summer holidays!

 

Eight different figure poses, which look familiar, but I can't remember where/when or if we've seen these exact sculpts, or just something similar? And they come in green and brown, which kept washing-out under the flash!

 

 

Slightly skinny US-equiped types, the brown here is truer to the eye, than the other shots in this post, or at least I think it is, you, or I, may be hopelessly colour-blind, in a way not yet recognised by science, without knowing it, and have a completely different view of the world, compared to everyone else?!

 

A small 'readymade' tank, more 'space' than generic anything, is the best of the three smaller vehicles included, although it resembles some drawing-board stuff!

 

Accessories are pretty run-of-the-mill.

 

Scaler, it's basically rack toy junk, in a big Helicopter-shaped carry-case!

 

Only the one flag, a subdued-colour USAF, but several holes for it about the place!

 

The figures, while conforming to the advertised count, and a 50/50 (welp, 40/40!) split, seem to be otherwise, completely random in the assortment, with only one brown 'ready', but seven 'commander' sculpts!

 

It's fun, and it's nice that some people are still putting new stuff out there, and thanks to Peter for the heads-up, we buy this shit so you don't have to, but out there now, B&M, if you fancy a punt!