I is for Interim

Tonight's post looks at the stuff that carried both Hornby and Tri-Ang names, or the more esoteric bits and some odds that are not figural at all! When the two companies came together, it was the 'true' Hornby that suffered, with most of its range being dropped. Triang had 'new tech.' plastic rolling stock with a high degree of detailing, free-flowing wheels etc..And, while Hornby had started to move into plastics, both with figures and rolling stock, there was too much lumpen heavy-metal and tin still in the range, so it went!

These were the figures that 'replaced' the crystal boxes of Hornby, being already in the Triang oeuvre. Issued as painted or unpainted 'budget' sets in white, cream, or pink styrene in the case of the passengers and dinning car sets and white, cream, navy and blue-black for the train crew set, they are not that bad, looking a bit wooden though compared to the fluid movement and grace of the Hornby oppo's.

At one point painted passengers seem to have been glued to platform sets in the factory, but that may be a false conclusion based on my constantly finding them like that, any train fan know for certain? The contents of the Dinning-car set seem to be a bit of a movable feast, with three, four or five figures, sometimes one of each, sometimes one missing and/or [another pose] doubled-up. The seated train-driver in the crew set is similar but not the same as the chap we'll look at now below.

These run through from before the Hornby buy-out to the present day, have carried several codes, came with numerous steam locomotives (under the individual loco code), and in the last 30-odd years (of a +50-year reign) have usually been accompanied by some accessories, which vary according to the set or accompanying loco, but include some or all of: Brake Hoses, Lanterns (and 'Lantern Plates'?), Fire-box tools etc...

They have been packaged in tissue-paper, waxed-paper or cellophane envelopes, cellophane, heat-sealed or self-seal/click-shut polyethylene bags and carded blisters and have also been painted (earlier) and unpainted (later) in blue-black styrene and straight black. As a result they are impossible to fully itemise as a definitive list! The seated figure is- as I said - slightly different from the one in the stand alone crew set above and the two figures bottom left at the front are both, with the loco accessory on the left and the train crew set figure on the right.

On to other things...among the earlier experiments with plastic that Hornby were stating to explore as they (or their parent group) went under, were the horses - above left - for the horse-box wagons. Showing the O gauge one in a neutral grey and the OO gauge pair next to him, these were also included in road transport horse-box models from Dinky and Dinky-Dublo.

To the right of the horses is another long-lasting set of platform fittings and equipment that I think is still in the catalogue (occasionally?), early ones have a full Triang marking and code in/on the underside of the bigger pieces, the modern ones (paler green) are unmarked.

Below them is a really nice clip-together fence system marked Tri-ang, which I assume to be from the Model-Land range? Mine must be slightly lacking as I can't get it to make a prefect oblong! The shot bottom right is of a piece from the TT range, a cattle-loading dock, which makes a fine sheep-loading dock in HO/ or OO!

Can anyone help with this wheelbarrow? It's not the same as the Merit one, it's not Preiser or Merten, I'd love a name for it if anyone recognises it. It may be from a kit (Revell/Bachmann?) as there is clearly a wheel missing but no sign of glue, nor any locking mechanism for a free-runner?

Finally, the 'problem' figures...they're big, at about 27/29mm, they have a hollow base with an 00X code and 'ENGLAND' in raised lettering. I have only found 3 figures in 40-odd years, and only the two poses. I was finally told last weekend, that they 'may' be a last-minute Hornby thing, and while two separate sets of model railway dealers told me - they all made clear it was a very tentative identification.

If it is correct, that leaves two possibilities, one; that they are part of a larger set that replaced the 'crystal-box' set, or two; that the picture shows a complete 'pair' of train crew? Does anybody have any other idea or definitive proof either way? I used to think they might be Playcraft, but I learnt years ago that they imported the French Jouef figure sets.

 

2023 - These are now known to be Crescent Toys, issued with a set of Mazac/Zamak die-cast scenic accessories in HO-OO gauge-compatible size, probably as a seasonal ('for Christmas') gift-box, with thanks to Jon Attwood for the missing poses, see Crescent Tag.

F is for Feedback - Triang and Husky

The following post is a complete update of the Triang post I published a while ago ago HERE and the Husky article from a few weeks earlier (link below) and is the result of several months of eMail traffic between Bernard Taylor and myself...emailing which it has to be said consisted mostly of me asking questions and Bernard providing the answers! As a result nearly all the images and most of the information in the text has come from Bernard, for which I am very grateful. As a result this as much his post as mine!

Bernard has a range of railway modelling accessories in various scales HERE and while of limited use to Toy Soldier collectors and Historical war gamers, there is a lot of stuff of use to Sci-fi/Car Wars fans, and anyone looking to populate their games or dioramas with civil bits, while one hopes the odd railway modeller visits these pages! So do please give his site a visit, he's contributed quite a lot to these pages in the last few months.

All above images courtesy of Bernard, showing clockwise from top; the Minic Motorways version of the Industrial Workers in their guise as pit crew, the correctly numbered catalogue image - this is an artists impression and shows some figures who were substantially different when they finally got to the retailers, and three more mint sets - again with the correct numbering. Later the combined Tri-Ang-Minic catalogues would have the figure sets photographed in the Minic section.

So where did I go wrong last time! Well the first mistake was one of a fundamental nature, I had taken the set numbers from one of the catalogues in my run, without checking the others, it turns out that those numbers were actually misplaced in most of the catalogues that carry the figures sets, both from the correct catalogue lists and from the numbers actually printed on the sets! I should have spotted that. So - while the numbers in the original article are correct, they are only correct to certain catalogues, not the 'Factory Door' issued products.

Another mistake (and again a pretty fundamental one!) was to assume, that because I'd seen them in Minic Motorway header bags, they must all have been issued thus, and further to assume that the codes would be the same as the Model Land catalogue codes. Assumption is a dangerous game and not something I'm usually that guilty of, luckily this is a blog and we can produce these corrections, updates or additions and anyone can contribute either through the comments section or by emailing me - so the picture grows whole'r!

Here is the correct numbering;

Tri-ang Model Land

RML.70 Pedestrian Figures Set No. 1.

RML.71 Workmen's Figures Set No. 2. ('74' in incorrect catalogues)

RML.72 Children's Figures Set No. 3.

RML.73 Urban Figures Set No. 4.

RML.74 Industrial Workers Figures set No. 5. (issued in blue overalls, '75' in incorrect catalogues)

RML.75 Road Workmen Figures Set No. 6. ('71' in incorrect catalogues)

RML 74 - Industrial Workers [Minic Motorways ref: was M1709]

Mettoy Minic Motorway

M1709 Mechanics/Pit Stop Crew (RML.74 Industrial Workers issued in white overalls)

Bernard has also sent both the images to the left in the above collage, showing the missing dog-handler from the Husky sets we looked at a few weeks ago HERE, along with a comparison with the Triang Model Land one. I have reproduced the comparison from last time and the Corgi version of the dog handler which is larger.

Another problem which had reared it's ugly head also from the Husky post, is the 'other' dustbin man ('refuse operative' in today's lingo). I placed him with the 'pedestrians' set, as I - again - erroneously felt that if some sets had six figures [Public Servants/Officials and Garage Personnel], and another - most obvious - set [Public Workers/Workmen] didn't contain the figure, he must go in the other!

It now looks as if he was a stand alone figure from one of the Husky, Corgi, or even Dinky (?) dustbin lorry models, but Google has not revealed the correct model. This sort of ties-in with the fact that he is far more common than the other figures. The shot of the Pedestrian set is also from Bernard. We need a die-cast expert to knock this one on the head...John!

Finally, between Bernard's picture of the Triang Model Land lollipop-man ('School-crossing patrol person' in today's lingo!), my picture of the Husky one, the original catalogue artwork and a recent feeBay lot with the Mastermodels metal one, we can see how social history is reflected in the change from square hoardings to round 'lollipops' and how much finer the Triang figure is in comparison with the Husky Hong Kong effort.

Also the artwork from the Husky catalogue which also shows the little road-sign set.

M is for Model-Land and Minic Motorways

The same 'definitive' source that miss-identified the Husky figures as Triang Model-land had clearly never met these, these are the real deal as old orange-skin 'Lovejoy' would say! Still - if you're busy rushing around the internet nicking other peoples images, you're not going to have time to correct any errors are you, not even typo's on the images your lifting from!

Quite hard to find outside of the model railway collecting fraternity, they came in two packaging types, these Model-Land blister-cards and in blue and white header-carded bags with the Minic Motorways labelling.

As far as mint examples go; I only have the two carded sets, and one of them is in a bit of a state! The children set is as good as anything Prieser or Merten produced and - indeed - are easily mistaken for Merten with the little round bases, but the distinctive Stadden sculpting should be the give-away.

A few loose ones, some have been covered in a protective varnish-dip, popular with railway modellers in the 1970's as it made it easier to dust them with a paint brush. Also a seventh child-sculpt has been surgically removed from the woman in blue.

Listing;

RML.8 Accessories (Horse Trough, War Memorial, Country Stile, Inn Sign and Village Stocks)

RML.70 Pedestrian Figures Set (Man running, 3 male and 1 female standing Passengers and woman with child on single base)
RML.71 Workmen Figures Set (3 road-workers, bin-man, sweep and deliveryman)
RML.72 Child Figures Set (6 children - rope, kite, hoop, 2 playing leapfrog and one in school uniform)
RML.73 Urban Figures Set (2 policemen, burglar, school-crossing 'Lollipop' man, window cleaner and security guard - or pilot?)
RML.74 Industrial Workers Set (Postman, milkman, gardener, 2 decorators and a cleaner)
RML.75 Road Workmen Set (5 workers and a driver)

The set RML.8 is included over and above the other building and scenic accessory sets as it was to reappear as an issue from Dapol...which means it might have had a run under the Airfix banner? I'll have to check.

Set 73 is the one that causes the problems for definitive-listers, as it contains a policeman and school-crossing operator similar to the Husky sets, however the former are exquisitely sculpted by Charles Stadden, almost certainty from the Minimodels plant in Havent, while the later are lumpen blobs of poly-vinyl from Hong Kong.

(PS - do you get confused between Ian McShane's fictional Lovejoy and David Dickinson's er...David Dickinson? Fact versus fiction - wow! And the false one came first, what's that all about...give him a Volvo and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference!)

Bernard Taylor has emailed me with corrections to the listing and some more shots (you may recall he included some Triang figures in the 'quiz' shot and another contribution the other day), there is enough for a whole post rather than adding it here, so I'll sort that out in the next few days - exams allowing.

07/10/2012 - Full update and extra images now posted HERE

Q is for Quiz

Speaking of Merit, as I hope I just have below (I'm back to pre-loading these articles at home and whacking them in under the dongle-credit wire!), Bernard Taylor who you may remember provided some very useful images of the late Merit figure sets the other month has sent me a rather intriguing composite of various figures, which I offer to you as a bit of a quiz...

I won't tell you what they are for now (there are some clues in the tag-list!), but will post the answers as a comment for those who give up! The interesting thing about them is that despite being from several sources, they are almost all from the fair hand of Charles Stadden, the master sculptor who's work weaved its way through our childhood with toy and model soldiers and civil figures in metal and plastic, and our adolescence in the various figures he made for the sports trophy manufacturers and foundries.

Me? I got one wrong!...not telling!