K is for Khaki Kattle-truck!

There is a tendency, particularly among cheaper toy makers, for military versions of civilian vehicles to be produced, by the simple expedient of manufacturing the civilian toy in military-coloured plastic, this third Jimson post covers one of those! And I should point out, yesterday's Land Rover was based on the Daktari one, not a clown/circus one!

 

These came with the Land Rover and futuristic Transporter/Tank combo', and while I don't think the figures have anything to do with the vehicles, I shot them with this one, just in case! They are high-grade piracies of the Matchbox American Infantry from 1974/75'ish.

 

Compared with the transporter's tractor-unit, the body is longer, and the stake-sided superstructure is held in place with the same clip used on the transporters. It would seem these late-cab toys are harder to find, so must have been made right at the end of Jimson's reign?

 

The mounting hole equates to the other position on the tractor-cab, which is the further-back one, not found on the first version, so clearly there was an attempt to mount some other bodies on the tractor, before the newer stretched-chassis was designed, as seen on the cattle-truck? The newer chassis, like the transporter cab-units, has no mark/number.

 

Badly damaged, but I was buying the lot for the Tank Transporter and Land Rover really, and, as I say, I don't think the figures belong with the set, but they might?!

V is for Valkyries, The Ride of the Valkyries

Or, if you haven't got loudspeaker-equipped Huey 'Slicks' to hand, Colonel Bogey on the two-tone 'dixie horns' might suffice! It's the Jimson Land Rover, much bigger than the transporter we looked at last, at about 1:24/25th, and a rather nice Series III, except it's ruined by the white cab-roof, and what I'm guessing might have been circus horns on another version of the toy; model number 115.

 

That's it, it's clean, it needs the surgical removal of the sir horns, and a repaint wouldn't go amiss, but would obviously ruin its resale value, there's not a lot else to add, so I won't, and it's a Jimson, push-and-go, carpet-toy 'Lanny'! ♫♪♪♫ Paar-paar-paar-paaaarp-parp ♪♫♪♪!!

J is for Jimson - 116 & 127 Tank Transporter and 128 'Bulldog' Tank

Except the numbering is not that clear! This is one of those posts, that's been in the queue for ages, but I couldn't decide what to do with all the images, or remember what I'd wanted to say about them, so I just lost interest after the first collage was done, about four years ago!

But I looked them up the other day looking for something else (which turned out to Hover-Hoover!), and I got minded to polish it off, and get it out of Picasa! And in fact it's a tale of two transporters and two tanks!

Jimson 127 Tank Transporter with Action Bulldog Tank. "Fully Metallised" refers only to the wheel-hubs with this toy, but other toys had more chrome-effect detailing, and presumably the message was just put on all boxes! I think this is the same box-art as you get with the Fairylite issues, where Fairylite is just over-printed, but I suspect the Jimson box was different for the second version, but I don't have an example?

 

As they left the box, you will recognise the tank from a previous post on it and it's similarity to the Airfix '1st version' Patton Tank, now believed to be originally a T. Cohn design, the older one is above, and a reasonable rendition of a post-war US 'big rig' truck, the later version is very 'spacey', but uses an almost identical tank.

We'll return to the tanks in a minute, but here they are stripped down, and both have an unexplained, and unexplainable hole in the main bed/plane of the trailer, if I had to guess, I'd say the hole might be to stop warping, as the hot moulding is released from the tool?

The newer version (the trailers carry the 116 and 127 numbering, the cabs are both unnumbered) has two holes for the locating pin and clip of the trailers, and I'm guessing this will be due to a slightly different stud on one of the civilian trailers, I think there were fuel-tanker, and car-transporter bodies available, and maybe a plain flatbed for loads?

How the clip locks the pin/stud into place - older version.

As well as a whacky tractor-unit, the 127 version has whacky wheels, still 'metallised', but far less realistic than those on the earlier version, in this they were mirroring moves in the die-cast market, where realism gave way to silliness, in a need to keep kids interested, or entertained!

Piggy-back! The whole-width ramp of the later model, was separate ramps on the earlier, which loosely sat in channels, using words like 'clipped' or 'locked' wouldn't do justice to the lightly sitting-there, they were actually managing! I think they are meant to be wedged under the two suds behind the cab, but are already quite a loose fit, and with nowhere safe to store them, if you can't find a boxed one, you might not get ramps!

But, while they both carry the 128 code, the tanks are very different, while looking almost the same! The mudguards have been extended on 'II', the cupola MG lost, the main-gun shortened and the flash-eliminator fattened, while the turret itself is set back a bit, and, on my example . . .

. . . there's no push and go motor on 'I', it has the mounting-holes for one, so again, guesstimation suggests the motor was fitted to single-boxed tanks, but not to the transporter ones, because the tractor-cab has its own? But in the end it was easier to have one assembly-line, so the later tanks all have a motor?

The track-guards, extended on II, still short on I, which is how we find them as Airfix, Brumberger and/or T. Cohn, in the smaller scale, in which guise we looked at this last;

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2010/05/p-is-for-patton-pershing-by-airfix-and.html

 

II (left) v. I (right)

 

Image dump;

Type I at a slightly different angle!

 

Even the same-numbered baseplates are not exactly the same.

 

Recent eBay sale, which is a II with motor, it was sold with the 'space-truck' transporter. As per previous viewings, the turrets are soft polyethylene, colour-matched to the hard polystyrene bodies and baseplates, and scale is around 1:48th.

A couple of scans I took at a later date, I think the tank is the key to the odd numbering of these sets, originally awarded 128 as a stand-alone, boxed, and probably motorised version (1960's), when the tractor-unit (unnumbered, and possibly already in use with other-number carrying tanker or car trailers) was married to the flat-deck trailer and tank, the box got the 127 number, because it was spare, and/or closer to the tank's 128, than the trailer's 116?

Then, when the combination was redesigned (1970's), the new trailer was numbered to match the earlier box, because . . . well, it's only conjecture, but the truth won't be too different? Although, as the whole thing would have required new box-art, it could have all been given a new number?

116 - 1st version trailer

127 - 2nd version trailer

127 - 1st version box

128 - Bulldog Tanks, both versions

Both tractors unnumbered

J is for Jimson . . . Firefly XYZ Mk. III

I really don't know what the hell's happened to Google, but apparently The Economist magazine was asking the same question the other day? Certainly, if you Google this, using any search-term, you'll be excused for being convinced it doesn't exist, and never did, even though, here is one, and it clearly does!

 

The box is a reproduction, and while the seller was good enough to point that out, and I'd been surprised at it's clean-sample quality, I wouldn't have known for sure; it's not got that comic-book artwork look, of the home printed ones from a few years ago, and if you rolled this down the drive on a dusty day, and then brushed it off, you'd never know it wasn't a Jimson original.

 

It's a big old chunk of half-Space Car and half-Space ship, and the scale - going on the figure - is a bit bigger than I might have been interested in, only a few years ago, but needs must when idiots try to drive!

 

And, while I would have been happy to just ID the driver, in the past, I've now got one to compare with any similar loose chaps in the pile! There is actually minor damage to the rear-right (facing forwards) of the canopy, but, luckily, it isn't actually obvious, at any angle!

 

This pair, sadly, weren't purchased at Sandown, but - as an in-context 'question time' - were seen on evilBay back in 2021,Rocket Racer behind, Explorer in front, and usually sold as generics - "Another plastic toy", "Another siren toy", &etc . . .

 

And, while they could also be Jimson, I don't know, Google doesn't know and Alphadrome seems not to, either! Pilots' say no, styling and portholes, say maybe not, push-and-go motors say possibly, plastic colours say probably, the little radar says absolutely! Obviously, the egg-shaped one is missing a green 'wing'.

 

Jimson stuff does appear in generic packaging sometimes, or seems to, you never know if they aren't close clones, but they also supplied Fairylite and others? Could they be the Mark's I and II?* Coding is 609 and 614, close enough for their similarity to each other, but a long way from Firefly XYZ's 101? Could they, despite the higher numbers, actually be earlier toys? I genuinely don't know - do you?

 

*That's not a serious question, I don't doubt there were never Mk I or II Firefly's, and the Firefly itself, has a very lazy XYZ moniker, before the 'Mark III'!

F is for Follow-up - Hong Kong Figures - Firefighters & Forecourt Fellows

Related to the stuff from the posts last week/last weekend, and kindly sent in to Central Planning here at Small Scale World by Chris Smith and Theo van der Weerden; being of similar subject-matter they made a whole post nicely between them, and that was before I checked my unknowns!

Staring with Chris's bits and he has another pose for the probably (almost certainly) Pioneer larger size firefighters, being a chap in an asbestos suit, who - as Chris pointed-out - "...could be used with planes, space or military scenarios.", to which I'd add F1 racing?

Chris also took a group shot with the two poses we saw the other day, they all have the stepped base and I suspect we are still looking fr at least one more (forth) pose?

I've actually found another, similar soldier attributed to Stonegalleon, which is smaller than the two Pioneer sizes and a new pose (may be on the Blog somewhere - early days), but I suspect he's a bit of a knock-off, there was a lot of this around at the end of the 1980's and right through the 1990's before those bicuit-coloured figures (with German firefighters and policemen) took the crown in the 2000's, being used by Chad Valley, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Carama and others here and various brands on the continent.

Meanwhile and the same day, Theo was sending me these and it's easier to quote him here;

"...the Range Rover is obviously a copy of the Matchbox K-64 Range Rover fire engine . . .

. . . has some of the firefighters. The blue firefighter, 2nd picture, came in a box with 3 other firefighters, a fire engine and a police motor.

These were made by Jimson of Hong Kong. 

As you can see in the picture the kneeling fireman is holding a radio of some kind. . . .

. . . So I think we got at least four companies who made these figures. Sun Fung, Jimson and two unknown."

So; if I've understood Theo right, the ones I've Numbered 1 are Jimson, then there are copies at '2' and '4', the 2's being better-quality than all the figures we looked at in the Sun Fung post, while the four is on a par, and another sub-piracy.

I think I'm also right to say the Jimsons are stiff, but bendy PVC, while the 2's are hard polystyrene, and the 4 possibly softer polyethylene? And I've called him four for this post for a reason we'll get to in a minute, but he may have come after some of the figures we looked at the other day!

Theo also scanned the Matchbox (matchbox, matchbox, matchbox; whoever said it was Corgi is an idiot!) range-rover which Sun Fung copied so we can picture it better!

Meanwhile, I've found a Jimson firefighter and a set of similar garage/service-station staff/mechanics, but this time - fully-painted; they are (the same?) dense PVC, with the detail lacking on the sub-piracies we saw the other day.

And the most important element of Theo's contribution . . . it's a radio! A giant radio, which after sub-pirating became a blob, and he's kneeling next to a box, not on debris!

I also have a few of the polystyrene ones, they hold some of the detail but they are copies, not just a different material run through the same tool.

Another vinyl one in an alternate colour and some copies which are well made in a softish vinyl-rubber, they could be any of the companies mentioned in the last few days (Pioneer, Realtoy, Smart, early Supreme et al.) or another one altogether; New Ray must have churned-out some early stuff before they became a 'known name', but equally they could be the originals (which is why they got the '3' here, over Theo's singleton). . . they look almost US production, like small Auburn or someone (I know they're not Auburn, just 'painting a picture'!)?

And Chris also sent two more of the (possibly early Supreme) construction workers, of which I love the guy with a spade, he's doing his stretching exercises so he doesn't pull a muscle later - very wise!

Cheers to both Chris and Theo; Jimson ID'd and yet-more questions go in the pile!

D is for Dinky Firemen are so Lucky!

I was going to do a Lucky Toys page like the World Dolls/Dancers, but it's actually easier to break it down into pieces, as some bits are simple, this is one of the simple bits! Lucky Dinky got enlarged by Luck-y . . . yeah, I'm labouring a bad pun here, let's move swiftly on.

I had forgotten that I posted these a while ago, so re-shot them; if you click the Dinky tag you'll get the other post a little below this one. Dinky's firemen; older than other Dinky figures; like those we saw yesterday, so not showing the distinctive hand of Charles Stadden, but rather the smoother style of some unsung sculptor.

The base marking (not a brilliant shot but try tipping your screen - or moving your head up or down - and it may become clearer); similar to the rail staff that came in the same blue plastic, but they were in an OO-gauge compatible size, rather than the approximately 35mm of these firemen.

Four of the poses were subsequently copied in roughly 50mm by the Hong Kong firm Lucky Toys, who used them in various sets, both badged to themselves as The lucky Toys and their subsidiary brand Laurie Toys, however they were also supplied to the importers/jobbers Clifford, Cragstan, Fairylight, Jimson, and Larami (among others), sometimes with the Lucky logo retained on packaging (some Fairylite), sometimes not!

There were other sources through further contract manufacture (Century21) while other brands OK, TAT and Telsalda for instance may be connected through contract or subsidiary brand status it's not clear and further complicated by some of them having ranges in different scales of the same vehicles - mostly Corgi or Dinky clones. I can't possibly pretend to be an expert on them all, but there is a fair bit in the plastics section of Planetdiecast. [Thanks to Woodsey at Moonbase Central for that tip]

Lucky numbered all their figures in the larger scale and the other two poses may well be out there as there is a gap in the numbering which points to them existing? We will be returning to the numbering (and its gaps!) in future posts.

548 - Fireman standing, both arms forward   (ex-Dinky/Meccano, Polystyrene)

549 - Fireman with breathing gear (ex-Dinky/Meccano, Polystyrene)

550 - ?

551 - ?

552 - Fireman with hose end (ex-Dinky/Meccano, Polystyrene)

553 - Fireman running, waving with right hand (ex-Dinky/Meccano, Polystyrene)

Marking for Lucky Toys is a bloody nightmare, but fortunately - due to the unique (for Lucky figures) full square/whole base marks, they are a bit easier to delineate in this case; there being only four (so far!) types.

Top left is the probable first or Lucky original, with the HONG KONG removed from the right-hand one, possibly to facilitate demand from a client selling in a country that was finding the buying public adopting the 'all Hong Kong is crap' of my parents!

The other two will be for subcontracts I think, but it's not hard and fast and as we will be seeing in a day or two, there are actual Lucky brand base marks (with the horseshoe looping an 'L'), and as yet none has turned-up on these firemen's bases?

We will also find that the 1112 sub-number is a batch (or contract/customer) code being present on all bases of the same type, irrespective of the figure-pose, and applied to two of the round marks we'll look at later as well as one of the lozenge bases.

Examples of three of the base types and some paint/plastic colour variations, I have three figures with the fourth type base mark (or I wouldn't have bothered CAD'ing them up - I know some people will go to extraordinary lengths in their attempts to make stuff up, even to inventing a whole port - huh Paul? But that's not my way) however; they are all damaged and didn't get photographed.

Models they were issued with is - again - not my field, but among the few I know of are;

Lucky

114 - Fire Engine (with push-and-go gyro-friction motor, US style ladder truck)

178F - Fire Chief (Buick saloon-car)

195 - Fire Engine (Dennis?)

196 - Fire Truck (forward-control Land Rover)

- Land Rover Fire Service (series-3 Land Rover)

Clifford

22/4175 (? or ..73) - Fire Engine (AEC, friction powered with siren, ladder/pumper)

No. 232R - Fire Chief Ford Zodiac (saloon-car)

- Fire Engine ('No.21 Fire Brigade', Dennis (?) turntable ladder truck)

SYS

50411 - Fire Engine (friction motor, extending ladder, 1950's type vehicle)

Marx

- Fire Chief (copied by Clifford, station wagon)

Hover

- Snorkel Rescue (US style cab-over hydraulic ladder-truck)

Which of these models also appeared in another or each other's branding, or whether they all had all or any of the figures is also unknown - to me!

Other figures supplied to Cragstan were unpainted or minimal-paint versions of Lucky's (VW camper van for instance) and as I haven't found such firemen yet, I'm proceeding on the assumption they didn't carry the Lucky fire appliances, but Cragstan were a US concern, also imported from some of Lucky's rivals and seem to have concentrated on 'autos & race-cars' as the Americans would put it, but on fire trucks American collectors may know different, Erwin Sell probably went to all twelve factories the year before he was born; in Port Tain Sang no doubt?

R is for Raphael Lipkin Ltd.

This post is due in no small part to the Littlewoods catalogue page that Bill 'Wotan' posted the other day over on the 'Moonbase' (link to left). One of my favorite vehicles of all time top ten favourite vehicles 'Mate', messieurs's Backman, Turner and the Mighty Antar Overdrive!...did I say I do a lot of greeate work for cheearitee?...!

Three shots of the Raphael Lipkin Mighty Antar Tank Transporter with both it's own load; a Conqueror, and the Jimson copy of the Airfix 'Attack Force' Patton Tank I fell for at the PW show two years ago (where does the time go!).

Raphael Lipkin were a small London based company that produced a lot of the toys recognisable to people of a certain age...namely; people like me...oh, 47 all right!! But they didn't always mark them, or the packaging, so they go quite unsung, I know a guy who collects them as a speciality/side-bar to a wider collection of early British plastic, and while I've never seen his collection, I did see what he sold as swaps a few years ago and Lipkin featured.

If they are marked it's a little stick-man logo that spells RLL, but looks like it's trying to say LRL

The catalogue page courtesy of Moonbase's 'Wotan' Bill, along with the Hong Kong 'No.975 Armoured Car Friction Powered' which looks like Telsalda or Lucky but is in an unmarked box, showing the trailer stand/legs. Also the Tractor unit being used as a recovery platform.

The tank is polystyrene while the truck is polyethylene, the colour match being down to the use of neutral granules of each material with the same staining compound.

We used to make - here in the UK - toys that were worth exporting all over the world, toys that were worth every penny they cost and toys that kept people like me happy for a whole rainy August (apart from the odd fight with my brother! - some things never change), now they get bored with the three-billion things their iPod can do and torch the local High Street instead!

The value built into this is pretty 'special'...a four-piece tool set and winch handle, stored in lockers with secure doors. Working ramps and support-legs on the trailer, it's quality man!

Another excuse to check out the Triang Conqueror and also a look at the Airfix Antar with the sand version of the Patton Tank.