V is for Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev

Also Chapaev or 'Chapi', and his soldiers: Chapayevtsi - Followers of Chapi, were a popular subject for infant toys in the Soviet Union (and it's post WWII satellites), among which were the ubiquitous flats. They are the subject of tonight's post.

Chapayev the Man

Four sets following or copied from the same original mould-tool. Three are probably Russian in origin, the forth (second row down) being Bulgarian. The fifth set (bottom row) are a separate set, with all new poses (one being similar or derivative?) and a thicker semi-flat look, but they seem to be another set of Chapayevtsi.

These seem to be the originating set, their detail is the best, the sculpting/moulding the smoothest, and while they are not really semi-flat, they are the fullest figures of the four sets of flats. Given the branding of the next set down this post: I think it's a fair bet to assume these are from the Progress factory, some other figures from which we looked at a while ago.

I think this is near the full set (of eight sculpts), but it may be that the machine gun coach (tachanka - Russian: Tача́нка), was to be purchased separately. I've seen several of these toys, each a little different (i.e., enough for each of the sets presented here), yet they never seem to accompany the sets - this blue one, while matching the sculpting style, base design and plastic type of the red cavalry (Hahah! Reds!) was a separate purchase, years after the mounted figures.

Tachanka's were designed to keep-up with cavalry, and while shown here with one horse, usually employed the famous Russian Troika or three-abreast arrangement for the draft animals, with some having four horses abreast like a Roman chariot!

Chapayevtsi - it reads! The reason for the 'Progress' assumption above is that these are 'also' from Progress, but spelt Проƨрес rather than the original Пpоrресc, the difference being down to the fact that while Bulgarian and Russian both using the Cyrillic alphabet, they are as different as English versus Danish to the users!

These are from a plant in Sophia which we can further assume was a subsidiary or branch of the parent country's company, in the puppet country? These are not exact copies, there is a loss of overall quality, with re-sculpting evident, particularly on the grass rising from the bases to help the horses with their dynamic posing. So licensed or simply a 'second set' of moulds?

Probably back to Russia (but could be another satellite country?) for these obvious copies, loss of quality of the sculpting has been matched by a loss in quality of material which is a tinier plastic.

These are the poorest of the sets, being both poor quality, and made of a dodgy plastic, which may be recycled from off-cuts of something bigger, but poses are still mirrored, and one has to assume that all 6/8 will turn-up eventually.

This set is very different, as hinted at above. The figures are semi-flat or demi-rond, and the poses are all new, although one of the figures can be matched as I have in the first image (middle of the row there, top right in this shot), it's more a coincidental similarity that any continuation of the 'series' that contains the other four sets.

Comparison photo's showing the different types of base, a comparison between flat and semi-flat and four figures in the same pose; the fact that the third set down the page has replaced the rifle with a sabre, suggests it might be the last set made, so take the order 'down the page' with a pinch of salt.

Finally: a marbled effect, probably caused by dirty plastic or an 'in production' mould-purge of a previous colour, rather than a deliberate attempt at such a finish. It could even be burning; if you let the injector-head get too hot you will get dark streaks in the plastic.

This set is also likely to be representing Chapayevtsi, but is in a different style altogether, there are lots of these silver figures with the heavier bases (in a more Polish or East German toy-soldier style) which slotted into little trays you could buy separately - to move them in blocks/units and we will look at the Napoleonics another day, but I thought I'd slip these in here for completion's sake! All new poses and a slogan on the flag I;ve not had translated yet.

The weirdest thing here is that they are flat, yet plastic...it goes back to the point I made the other day while looking at the die-cast 'slush-cast'...people using the new technology to produce toys that resemble the old technology. And it's not something we can regard with self-satisfied superiority as being a sign of a backward failing totalitarian state's industry, as we (in the Coca-Cola 'Free West') were doing the same thing with margarine figurines, Cracker-Jacks, World Dolls and 100-soldier sets! Just a daftness, but I like plastic flats and we'll come back to them!

B is for Bulgaria

Just a quick one today...these were purchase of the day at the Plastic Warrior show in May, although I didn't have to hunt them out as Peter Evans (PW's roving reporter) brought them to my very hands! Thank you Peter!

He was informed that they were Bulgarian, and there's definitely something 'eastern' about them, although, they are quite unique so may be from Hungary or Romania? The ties between Bulgaria and Russia were much closer than some of the other Comecon countries, and their production tends to mirror Soviet stuff, with twin factories in both nations, mould-share and mould-copy.

28-30mm, swoppet-style, Napoleonic era or (ceremonial?) troops, one with plug-in weapon, the weapon has detail on one side only, almost as if it's stamped-out of a sheet, yet the detail on the sculpted side is clearly injection moulded. I have tried to track down some more to no avail, but will soon have a spy in Sophia looking out for them!

Bases for the foot figures also have yet to be tracked down, but the horse has an integral base and ends up looking very much like (and is the same size as...) Spencer Smith, who - of course - had integral riders! There's still so much out there to be discovered...

N is for New - to the collection; Acquisitions, Donations, Gifts etc...March

I hope that people don't think posts like this one are designed to 'show-off', at the end of the day this blog is about collecting toy and model soldiers and figures, based on my collection, and I feel it's as interesting to see how a collection develops as it is to give chapter-and-verse on a specific maker, range or set.

I hope it gives people thinking of starting a collection the idea that everything counts and you don't need to spend a fortune tracking down otherwise mass-produced Airfix, Britains, Timpo, or Marx (because 'demand' has pushed-up the prices) when there is so much other stuff out there!

As it happens; there is nothing really special in the next six pictures, but there are a few nice pieces or interesting pieces and a few oddments that have joined the slow-build mountain of plastic, vinyl, silicon, paper, card, metal, rubber, ceramic, resin and wooden crap that constitutes my eclectic horde; 'Quality Crap' - as I'm always telling John, Paul and Adrian (who replaced George and the other one - that's a bad Merseyside beat-combo joke there!).

James Opie has posited the question both on his web-site and in his books - and I paraphrase; "How many different toy and model figures have been made?"...well allowing for copies/piracies and knock -off's but ignoring paint and colour variations I'm sure it's well over a million, add those two variables and a collection of 'one-of-everything' would probably require room for 4?, 5?, 6 million figures?

Here are 0.00001% of them!...

This little lot came from a chap on the East Coast who got in touch with me back at the start of the month, I won't name him as he has said he'll look out for more and a contact like that is to be treasured not shared! Especially as the Car Boot sales round here have been picked clean for a decade, and if there is a nugget to be found it gets dug by Messrs. Harding, Harris or Lewarne at Oh-six-stupid-o'clock in the morning...I think they use miners lamps and a couple of big shoulders! He will get a full acknowledgement in future books!

This is a typical bag or box of mixed, played-with ex-childhood stuff, random in it's acquiring and bundled together for sale when childhood things are 'put-away'. Of note (numbers in red above) were;

1 - A couple of the FFL/Arabs currently under the microscope in Plastic Warrior magazine (but you know that as you're subscribing - aren't you?!), minor damage to the rifle will be fixed.

2 - Above the numeral is a 'nice-paint' Cherilea US Cavalry officer and an equally good horse, sadly missing it's tail, but worth keeping until a better one turns up, and I should be able to photograph it with the damage hidden by camera-angle at some point in the future! Below the numeral are a couple of good (and one damaged) Cherilea ancients.

3 - A Robot bubble-gum dispenser/capsule type figurine.

4 - Two wagons marked 'HONG KONG' but seemingly perfect copies of the Tudor*Rose covered-wagon, is that where the moulds ended-up?

Speaking of Hong Kong; the modern mark is always 'CHINA' and a lot of the production is undertaken on the mainland but this stuff will always be 'HK' to me! A pound each and I photographed them in Asda's car-park and gave the vehicles to a lad throwing a tantrum in the back of his dad's car! Don't worry - his father was there, I wouldn't advocate approaching children you don't know in public with a handful of toys!

Close-ups of some of the Funtasic figures; the fireman is quite a good pose, the policemen on the left is awful, he's holding that automatic pistol like he's at a handbag fight - "OOH - Get Her!"! But I like the other one; "Ma'am, could you walk along the curb-line for me please? Don't put you arms out or up, don't look down, don't deviate from the line..."

Last week the Dr. Who Adventures magazine gave us another 'army' but there were two new poses, they will appear separately in the next few months, sure as eggs-is-eggs, so to be looked-out for. More firemen from HTI and the Knights originally sold by Supreme/SP Toys (or Accoutrements?) now in Halsall packaging.

Mimi sent us Martenitsa this March and they are interesting in that they are reverse colours, around 35/40mm and new to the collection! Also of note - not that clear in the photograph - is the girl in the right-hand pair has some silver-ribbon detailing by way of an apron.

Finally my haul at the London Toy Soldier Show a week ago, I'm keeping the main shot small as some of the bits were bought with the express purpose of future Blog posts, something that is new to the way the collection builds. Again of note;

1 - A plaster tree; semi-flat/reliefe sculpt which was in two pieces, but the break was clean and a quick glue has returned it to its original state. it's Plaster-of-Paris so not a fish-tank ornament? Possibly a fair-grownd piece from the mid-20C? Below which is a bag of the Aoshima (was it? or Tamiya?) Samurai, they were a bit broken-up but all the pieces were in the bag and with my brothers bits I should be able to get a decent sample.

2 - A nice Roman and some Starlux bits below that, including a Giraffe and two of the early-based firemen missing from the post the other day.

3 - Another Roman, this one is marked RP (for Res Plastics), but is too bulky for a Kinder egg, so actual RP issued production?

4 - Left is a push-and-go racehorse and jockey from HK, right is a huge fantasy thing and above are four French Algerian/Moroccan Tirailleurs (?) which I was informed are early Jean, I'd always thought they were one of the minor French makers?

The insets are; above - what I found on the floor at the end of the show and below - a Charbens wagon from Steve Vickers who trades under the same name on evilBay and always has something nice or unusual on his stall.

Finally; Speaking of 'future books' as I did above - my fellow conspirator and I had our first proper editorial meeting this week and three books are now 'in the pipeline', subject matter still under wraps! But with me off to Andover for six months on Tuesday, it will be a while before there is major movement on those, however a framework is appearing out of the gloom!

E is for Esoteric or Ethnic

Looking at the most esoteric corner of my figure collection we come to the ‘Cloth, Fabric and Other Materials’ box…

The commonest, and probably encountered by most of you, are the little families of six worry-dolls from Guatemala, you whisper your troubles to them and place them under your pillow, in the morning you’ve still got all your troubles but at least managed to trick yourself into a worry-free good night’s sleep!

Like the Erzgeberge stuff from Germany, these follow a strict pattern and while colours and styles of doll or box vary, the pattern has remained unchanged for decades or longer; six figures (Mum, Dad, Gran? and Kids - 1 Teenager/2 younger or vice-versa), in a yellow-stained box with red and green decoration in broad strokes.

Made from scraps of material, and wound-cotton thread on wooden splints, with soil for hair glued to a brown-paper head and with the odd bit of wool, they are between 20 and 30mm.

In Bulgaria we find the Martenitsa or friendship cords, given (Mimi will correct me here once she’s read this!) both at specific time of the year, and when you just want to say; Hi, or; Thanks, or; I love You…

They began basically as twists of red and white wool, but over the years have had little things added like the faux-ceramic elephant or wooden broomstick seen here, or can be formed into more elaborate shapes themselves as in the two little figures.

I would imagine that over time so many have been fashioned both privately and commercially, that you could fill the British Museum with them before your collection could be called comprehensive, so just a small sample here!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martenitsa

Finally; A pin-badge which I was told is from a US Election campaign, sometime in the 1970’s from the condition of the piece? Any US readers help here? I’d hate to discover it was French…I’d have to burn it! (Joke; you miserable sods). There is an outside chance it could have something to do with the SDP? Or what I always thought (prior to the US tale); a football team mascot/thing?

I’ve also photographed a Peruvian Nativity scene in pottery, with figures in 10/15mm, as this is a round-the-world post. I think you hang it from a Christmas tree.
Three weeks ago I saw a jointed wooden worry-doll figure from…Nicaragua? That looked like one of those toys that collapse when you depress the underside of the stand, but he was only about 30mm and mounted on a card.