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.

P is for Plamodel?

No 'y'. With this SF-Series set of six vintage gashapon, we seem to have a maker/branding, and while there are some similarities, especially with the box-reverse artwork/instruction graphics, enough for me to retro-add Plamodel to the previous post, now you've seen this one, there are also differences, and it may be only a matching of the vending-machine's standard format/parameters, or Japanese toy-trends of the day, rather than any closer connection?

 

Of the six we have another two giant, transformer type robots or 'mecha' battle-suits, and only one 'Space Tank', along with two starfighters and a larger spaceship, all to a box-scale, rather than a constant scale.

 

Space Tank!

 

Giant Robot!

 

Another Giant Robot!

 

'Bronco'

 

'F15/16 Angel Interceptor'

 

'The Hooded Swan'

 

Those last three are my titles, based on their vague resemblance to other properties, and all other comments on the origins of the sculpts/designs are the same as for the previous post's. The artwork makes them look familiar, but Japanese kit-art of the 1960/70's was sublime, even supreme, and has a tendency to do that with anything! Especially when you consider that both the Anime and Manga of the period, also followed quite tightly stylised formats.

 

The main difference with the previously seen quartet, is that these are fuller models, building into more substantial and realistic playthings, also, they are all manufactured of polystyrene 'kit plastic', and can be glued easily to make more permanent display models or toys.

 

The four runner/four colour trope is the same, except for the spaceship and 'Tank', which both have only three, and while the red-blue-black-yellow theme is also generally the same, there are an obviously-turquoise and silver runner exceptions.

 

The 'Space Tank', visually, a sort of Cullin hedgerow-cutter on the Cristie suspension of a Tetrarch light/airborne tank's tracks! Those tracks scream Gerry Anderson, not without reason, they were used extensively by the Anderson's Supermarionation studios, on various models, although taken from models of post-war Vickers Vigor bulldozers, the Tetrarch's running gear was a thinner, lighter affair altogether! 

 

When WWII becomes sci-fi vintage future-past - Vickers Vigor bulldozer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP6y-cDAxRY

S is for Super Robo!

We looked at contemporary gashapon, with an overview, a while ago, today we're looking at a more vintage, fun, sci-fi line, which I picked-up at Sandown Park the other day . . . yeah, I was being lazy, and didn't get round to posting a reminder; soz!

 

Super Robo in English, is the only clue attached to these, which are from the middle period of gashapon, after the adoption of American style gum-ball machines, and before the modern large-capsule dispensers, there was a period when banks of these machines were found out on the pavement/curbside, dispensing toys in little boxes, like cigarette vending machines, or the old chocolate dispensers from Cadbury, I remember from my childhood - which survived on the underground until the 1980's, but which had been at main-line rail stations too.

 

'Space Tank' bulldozer/helicopter!

 

Matt Mason'esque 'walker'.

 

Giant Robot.

(Only one with green runner) 

 

Hint at interactivity through a 'zip wire' on the box reverse.

 

Another big-boy!

 

I don't know if these are referencing one specific cultural licence/element, or are just generics, based upon the many tropes found in Manga comics, of which there have been tens of thousands issued from childish infant works, through to hard pornographic 'adult' works, or Anime movies/TV serials, of which there exist hundreds?

 

They all have a familiarity, but without a knowledge of Japanese, can't be pined-down, by me, as either 'made-up' or existing property's, or a mix of the two? The first vehicle above is very Gerry Anderson-like, for instance, like a Thunderbird 2 pod-vehicle?

 

While this (the only one with a figure, approximately 20mm), obviously has the lines of Matt Mason's strange sucker-walker, but with the practical addition of paired wheels to allow for movement over gullies, low cliffs, or wadis! The nose-cone and tail-fin being in the small bubble-wrap parcel seen above.

 

All are quite crude, in the style of cereal premiums from the likes of R&L or CGGC, and while three of them are in a sort of dense polyethylene, or polypropylene, one (the flying, tracked, bulldozer'copter), has been manufactured in polystyrene 'kit' plastic.

 

Beyond the obvious 'ST' mark (known to most for years, explained in all the books, and on my abbreviation pages for the longest time!), there is no clue as to a maker. However, I've added Plamodel, see newer/next-day post.

G is for Gashapon - Tarlin - Samurai Suits of Armour

While I love the Onepi No Mi figures, and am really pleased with the Samurai and the not-shot Ultraman monsters, I think these are my favourites of this sample; suits of Samurai armour, as displayed in museums, or, knowing the order of a Japanese household, probably how they were displayed between wearings, back in the - ancient/medieval - day.

 

Colour-coded capsules don't actually help when the randomness occurs behind the trap-door, and in the depths of the cabinet, which you can't even see through the glass, for the pile of balls, wickedly showing you the one you want, high up on the right!

 

Components of one laid out, the construction of these Tarlin miniatures, though simpler, is similar to those 4D Puzzle tanks, dinosaurs, spaceships, and the kangaroo we've seen here, I think!

 

Three of four, however, as my Japanese is as poor now, as it was three days ago, and there are no English titles on these sheets, as there were on the Bandai Samurai set, I can't give you any names, but assume the owners of the armour are all relatively famous, or at least well known in Japan.

 

The missing set, from the below sheets.

Paperwork!

 

Next day - Courtesy of EY, from the 1:72nd Multiverse;

 

Armor #1 belongs to Sanada Nobushige aka Sanada Yukimura.
Armor #2 belongs to Uesugi Kenshin
Armor #3 belongs to Mori Motonari
Armor #4 belongs to Ishida Mitsunari 

 

Bringing this mini-season to an end, many thanks to Adrian for finding them and stuffing his luggage with them! We've seen the odd figure in Show-plunder posts over the years, and looked at an earlier Tomy set many moons ago, here, from when Gashapon machine's contents were less sophisticated than they have become in the last 20-years, while there was a Tarco-Tomy mash-up with some UK issued capsules in a previous round-up of such things, and these days, Tomy machines can be found in the UK, The Entertainer often has a bank near the doors, but they tend to sell the smaller (older?) stuff.

G is for Gashapon - Bandai Namco - Ultraman Cityscape

It is the bane of blind or random selection that you won't always get what you want, what you hoped for, or what you need to complete a run or set, and while this set has three nice figures, both Adrain and I ended-up with the same simplified, micro-building, hay-ho!

 

The machine!

 

The capsule, and prize, I couldn't work it out until I'd got it out of the packet and studied the sheet! It's a small (1:600th or even 1:1200th) type micro-bulding, to be made-up, with five others, into a cityscape, for the 'Giant' Ultramen to stand amongst as they battle Godzilla or Mothma, or something equally daft and rubber-suit sized!

 

Paperwork, I don't know if the three figures are different heros. different generatuons/movie-versions of the same guy or what? Having never really followed the franchise (I haven't seen any of the recent big-budget Hollywood takes either, and I'm not in a queue to!), it always struck me as a kid's daftness, and while you can have nostalgia for your own (I wish someone would find a stash of Hector's House recordings), I don't think you can retro-establish a love for something aimed at kids, as a cold, cynical, logical adult?

 

Powered by a sealed watch battery, the novelty has a limited life-span, in its illuminated form at least, but you can, hopefully, from the right-hand image, get an idea of how a bunch of them would look with one or two of the figures looming out from the midst of them!