O is for Old Crocks

It's funny isn't it, the human experience, I get the impression from pieces in the media, that today, young adults hanker nostalgically for the era of the Ford Escort, Capri and Cortina, an era which to me, is only the other day, but which historically was thirty or forty years ago, as far back, indeed, as the old Jalopies and Charabancs of the 1920's and '30's were from the 1950/60's? In other words there's a reason why 'Old Fashioned Cars' were everywhere (clothes, place mats and coasters, mugs, tiles, prints, books, even movies), when I was a little kid, but are, relatively, nowhere now.

 

It's a complicated thing about generational groups I'm not erudite enough to explain here, but is explained in David Sheppard's book on the rocker/biker-oriented youth club he ran as a young priest, in which a generational gap was explained to him, by someone from the Salvation Army - I think?* Being, that we move through existence in tranches, each tranche being a clump of one age-group with older hangers-back and younger hangers-on.

 

*A book I know I've read, but can find nothing about on Google!

 

Which is both a complicated and vaguely deep intro' to this morning's post, which grew out of some follow-up images from Brian Berke, and a few scans I already had on the PC, along with a couple of shots I took, and which we'll meander through now, as I'm just going to load them as they are in the folder, and weave some blurb round them!

 

The range of Charbens Old Crocks, at its fullest extent, from the 1960 catalogue, and including the mini-military ones we have seen some of here in the past as show-table shelfies, I think? Not particularly rare, but hard to find in good condition, due to both play wear and metal fatigue.

 

No. 2, the 1905 Spyker, which came in recently with a mixed lot, can't remember when/where, but it was here to be shot in 2019. This is about average for how you find them, paint is shot to bits, the metal body is starting to suffer from the alloy equivalent of lead disease, but the wheels are still OK, and nothing's broken-off yet!

 

Also from 2019, and I don't know why I photographed them separately, aught to have all been together at the time, I think they have since joined my older sample, which is very cracked, and with lots of broken wheels, but these obviously came in at some point, and seem to have been shot a couple of hours before the Spyker? I must have been sorting or something?

Brain Burke's Spyker is an almost minter! Passenegrs from Merten? Sent as part of a follow-up to a couple of posts back in the autumn of last year (https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2025/12/f-is-for-follow-up-earlier-today.html), you can see how, fresh in the shop, these were attractive and colourful, as well as being affordable. Brian was 'crewing' his up for a project to model the early days of the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway, but the project fell by the wayside.

 

Given they never really had a scale, they go quite well with HO- or OO-gauge railways, but then, I well remember helping Simon College, of Mattingley move an Austin chassis (7 or 10?) around, and the footprint of these old cars was not much greater than a Willys Jeep's!

 

Four more of the Charbens originals, also from Brian and also cleaner than mine! They have had replacement steering wheels, which improves the look and lines no end, but rather crowds the cockpit!

 

These are 1960's (?) Japanese knock-offs (with their own people?), and are - frankly - more colourful, albeit a bit thin or narrow in the wheelbase? Brian states "It would seem they were popular with HO railroad modelers as I found them as ex-layout models at shows. Interestingly they don't seem to have the metal fatigue of Charbens."

 

Charbens on the right for comparison, also a cleaner version of the 1903 Standard than mine, I'm not sure which is better, the Japanese lack of steering wheels, or the Charbens originals, like small nails!

These are from an undated Charbens catalogue, but as a smaller range, presumably predating the 1960 catalogue seen above? And pre- 'Old Crocks'.

 

Further to those previous posts, Brian also sent a couple of shots of a mint Dublo Dinky original and Aussie copy of the same from Wizard;

 

"As you may remember I drove an old retired London Taxi, an Austin FX3 when an art student. When I started my train layout I wanted lots of taxi models for my 1950's London. A prewar Austin was made by DG and I added other cars from their range as until the '10 year MOT test' started the streets were full of prewar Austin 7's. Once they were tested for, steering, brakes and lights they vanished off the streets within a year.

Wizard models in Australia were made by someone who had been a British Railways signalman who emigrated. He made an Austin FX3 that used the body die that Hornby Dublo had sent to either Australia or NZ to make the Dublo Dinkys there. The body was one piece and he created a new cast base."

 

Brian's photo-shoot seems to have been triggered by his running of a childhood survivor, the three-rail Hornby Silver King, streamlined, it's been with him for over 70 years and is still running. I have a later two-rail Duchess of Sutherland in maroon as my treasured steam-era Loco.

I is for Irreverence!

Time for another collection of Internet memes I've sidled away for such a rainy day, and it was a very rainy day today! I nearly published than last night, but gave up and went and did something else, somewhere else (photographed toys), however I found the last one, just now on Faceplant, and it spurred me to action!

 

Can't shoot, won't shoot!

 

The revenge of Tim Mee was brutal!

 

There are several R2D2 one's like this kicking about, but Bungle is priceless!

 

Noooooooooo!

 

I love his grin!

 

One of my oldest friends is taking parcel after parcel of HO-OO stuff in, for his brother, so the brother's wife (no names, no pack-drill!) doesn't cotton-on to how bad it's got, they are both in their 60's, so it's no great crime, but I immediately thought of them when I saw this!

 

Ooops!

 

Hot off today's internet, I thought the following comment, from a Gary Karst deserved to be wider-shared;

 

"It's commemorating the courageous efforts of the U.S. Army Corp of Landscapers in this underwhelming battle. Semper Ficus."

D is for Dublo

Which was a play on Double-O, itself confusing as it's actually half-O, and that's O and OO, not 0 or 00, strictly being the gauge between the rails on the modelled track. And a title we may have had before?!

Very-much box-ticking Jon's samples of the Hornby lead figures, and they are lead, quite heavy and quite soft, we've seen them before here, and there are comparison shots from Jon coming in the final round-up.

 

These are the pre-war versions, if I recall correctly, available from only 1939, being lost to wartime privations, but as some of the only figures commercially available (Hamblings had carried some), and small enough to be produced in some numbers before rationing came-in, they were bought in quantity, and have survived in sufficient numbers to be findable.

 

The post-war figures were simplified both in paint style and moulding, with the points-guy/shunter getting an integrally-moulded pole, instead of the pre-war wire one, and all painting was simplified. The Locomotive driver became an 'engineer' in bluer overalls, compared to his pre-war navy suit, and their buttons all disappeared!

 

Older above and newer below, the post-war ladies were definitely more colourful, but somebody needs to have a word with Bertie Worcester on his sartorial choices in golfing attire, the Luftwaffe would have spotted that orange jump-suit from 10,000 feet!

 

Many thanks again to Jon, for sending these, I can't remember what I posted, way back when, but I know my pre-war sample is almost non-existent, although it has been added to, I think I have the grey lady with her red-fur (velvet?) trim, and the shunter now, with a loose wire!

News, Views Etc . . . Toy Memes

A few toy or collecting memes or toy-related cartoons, which have crossed my path recently, one way or another;

Preiser conversions?

Recent!

Spoiler - they're not, there's several hundred-million years between oil being laid-down and the first dinosaurs! If oil was laid-down as the theory dictates, and it's only a theory!

 

Love this one!

H is for How They Come In - London, March, Everything Else

A bit of a mixed bag to finish off, and we'll see which order they load themselves in! I'm not imagining it am I? Computing is getting harder not easier, it might be easy for 'smart phone' owners, but for people who actually work on/with PC's or laptops it's becoming increasingly glitchy and fragmented, the Internet is becoming less a tool for the advancement of civilisation, and rather an entertainment vessel for people glued to their idiot-phones!

Well, we're back to the yesterday system and they loaded in the order they should have, bargain! I know I did need a Vitacup reindeer with both antlers intact, and can't remember if I've already rectified the omission, so I may have two or three now, but this was going cheap.

 

Three little rack-toy old-fashioned cars, I think they may be crude copies of the Charben's 'Old Crocks', but I have to check, the orange one is the same moulding as the blue one, but seen from the rear.

 

Already joined by the two Chris Smith sent, this is a different-coloured plastic and mane/tail paint, so both lots only increasing the whole sample. Exin Castillos 40mm medieval figure; Prince on horse.

 

Premium flat dinosea-saurs! I mended the broken Plesiosaur I picked up a while ago, now I have an undamaged one - often the way! While the Ichthyosaur looks suitably mean and vicious!

Bog-standard rack-toy accessory, but seems to have factory paint, so I thoght I'd hang on to it and see if I can find it's set over time, Hing Fat had a copy, fantasy set, at one point, with a  'Halloween' tree that had a splash of paint, so it did happen occasionally!

 

We looked at these Lone Star African clones with a lot of help from Chris a while back, but worth getting more when you see them cheap, as there may be something new in them/their marks (I don't think so), and because one day you may have a plan to paint some up!

 

Lido or copy on the left, probably Tudor Rose on the right, nothing exciting, and we've looked at both under their tags in the past, including various copies of the Lido and a Tudor Rose bagged set. I've mentioned before that the Lido are among my favourites.

 

Hornby and Mastermodels, the Hornby five showing signs of lead-rot (a sandy whiteness to the exposed surfaces), while the Wardie stuff is safer, being die-cast alloy, but they can crack-up too, with their own 'disease'! A dip-wash with white vinegar and a new gloss paint-job, all over, might save the lead?

 

Cereal Premium!

Someone gave me these, I think, and I didn't look to check the base mark to see if they were Archie McFee/Accoutremants or BuM Slot? But the re-issues of the old Giant Mongols, which give us hope the spaceship, space tank and Viking longship mould-tool's are still out there somewhere?