P is for Perfectly Planned Paint Patterns for Plastic Premiums

As seen elsewhere, the colour sheet for collectors who were collecting the French Mokarex coffee premium, medieval chess set. I don't know whether you got it at your coffee supplier, it was included with early issues of the coffee, or you had to mail away for it?

 

Not that rare, nor are their similar competitor next door, Café Storm (Mouscron, Belgium), but often over-priced, using the 'Polystyrene is brittle' argument, but lots of people collected them straight into display cabinets, 'granny drawers' or biscuit tins/cigar boxes, and they do turn up all the time, in good to mint condition . . . the thing to do is look out for bulk lots going cheap.

R is for Return - Figurines Historiques

I found the small collection of Polk's/Historex tie-up, the Figurines Historiques re-issues, in the garage/ex-storage stash the other day and have been trying to make sense of the sets from what I had in storage and those lovely painted (possibly by William J. Carman) and unpainted lose ones I picked-up at the London show a year or three ago now.

As a result we're going to look at them again briefly (but with lots of pictures) although it all raises more questions than it answers! Obviously the first thing is to ignore the line-ups in the previous post which were chronological by base-date, whereas [I hope!] today's are in the correct sets.

In storage I had some more of the semi-flats in their unpainted state; a white polystyrene of the same easy-glue type Historex used for their own products, with two sets still bagged which helped get the sets sorted, this is both sides of RB3 which I think is one half of 'Soldiers Through the Ages', however I'm not sure, as the small quantity of ephemera I have only fully lists the solids - Doh!

A comparison between one of the RB3 figures and a rather tatty example of a Mokarex original! Because the Figurines Historiques were issued over here they were quite common a decade or so ago, and while everyone else was ticking-off lists of 54mm British or European solids or 60mm US imports, I was ferreting around the shows hoovering-up the smaller stuff, and those of these, we didn't see last time, were among them.

However - I have hardly any Mokarex, and only these other three in semi-flat (and the gold one below), all three of which are from a set of Mokarex Napoleonic uniforms not re-issued by Figurines Historiques. You do see them occasionally, but often for silly money given that both Mokarex and Storme were among the bigger coffee brands and produced millions of these.

I have one or two larger solids (maybe 8 or 10 in total, some WWI and some Napoleonic cavalry in the smaller scale) but they will turn-up in thematic 54mm posts in the future.

Another comparison; musketeers! The gold one ('Buckingham', bottom-left) is another Mokarex original and then there are a selection of painted and unpainted for the two poses (the other is Porthos), along with (to the right) two smaller figures from another set, but of contemporary subjects, being another musketeer (above) and (below) one of Richelieu's goons! They are the smaller 50mm to the Three Musketeer's 54mm. The painted ones may have been painted by William J. Carman.

Now, the mysteries - while the semi-flats (50 and 54mm) turn-up, they aren't listed on the various header-cards I have, while the solids are (as already mentioned) listed, but I can't remember seeing them, or if I have seen them, they were Mokarex silver/gunmetal, not Historex white? And I think I'm right in saying the shots used on the header-cards are old Mokarex publicity shots - not unexpected if the Brethiot family (owners of Mokarex) were helping Nathan Polk and Historex with the re-issue.

Consequently, apart from the two sets I still have on the runner, the other three set numbers are speculative 9along with all the set-titles), while the listing for the solids (toward the bottom) may be for stuff they never ran the tools for! Anyhoows . . . here's what I think it looks like at the moment, one day - hopefully - we'll return to them for a final time with a definitive listing!

I do have a bunch of Polk's catalogues in the archive, so when i find them I'll check if he ever advertised/listed the semi-flats, but I think mine are too early, they mostly date form the 1940/50's?

Listings (Preliminary)

Flat/Semi-Flat Range

RB1 (?) - Kings of France (12 figures, listed chronologically, Mokarex series 1a - Les Rois de France)

[King] Clovis 465-511

[King] Clotaire 1 558-563

[King/Emperor] Charlemagne [The Great] 768-814

S^• Louis 1226-1270 (St. Louis?)

[King] Louis XI 1461-1483

[King] Francois I^..1515-1547

[King] Charles IX 1560-1574

[King] Henri III 1574-1589

[King] Henri IV 1589-1610

[King] Louis XIV 1643-1715

[King] Louis XV1715-1774

[Corporal/Emperor] Napoleon I^.. 1804-1815

RB2 - French Historical Personalities (12 figures, listed reading around the runner, Mokarex series 1b - Grande Capitaines)

Du Guesclin1320-13-80

Jean D'Arc 1412-1431 (Joan of Arc, also Jeanne D'Arc)

Turenne 1611-1675

Conn^BLE  de Bourbon 1490-1527 (Connetable de Bourbon)

La Tour D'Auvergne 1743-1800

M^AL de Saxe 1696-1750

Hoche 1768-1797

Conde 1621-1686

Roland

Bayard 1473-1524

Vercingetorix 72·46·Av.JC.

Marceau 1769-1796

RB3 - Soldiers Through the Ages (12 figures, listed reading around the runner, Mokarex numbers in brackets, Mokarex series 2a - Les Costumes Militaires)

Piquier [of the period of] Louis XIII (Piquet/Night Watch?)

Carolingien 800 (Carolingian)

Merovingien 600 (Merovingian)

Fusillier [of the period of] Louis XIV 1667 (Fusilier)

Infanterie [of the period of] Louis XV 1745 (Infantryman, 33)

Infanterie [of the period of] Louis XVI (Infantryman)

Chevalier Croise (Knight Crusader 1100'ish?)

Capetien 1000 (Norman)

Fantassin 1792 (35)

Grenadier 1771 [of the period of] Louis XV 1745

Gaulois 300 (Gaul)

Franc 400 (Frank)

RB4 (?) - Soldiers Through the Ages (12 figures, second runner, listed chronologically, Mokarex numbers in brackets, also Mokarex series 2a - Les Costumes Militaires)

Archer 1520 1520 (date repeated, no bow, so; man-at-arms?)

Cent-Suisse de le Garde 1558 (Landsknecht - Papal Guard)

Lansquenet 1562 (Conquistador type)

Mousquetaire 1627 (Musketeer)

Garde C^al Richelieu 1628 (Cardinal Richelieu's Bodyguard)

Carabinier 1692 (Dragoon)

Garde Francaise 1724 (French Guard)

Colonel De Hussard 1804 (Colonel of Hussars)

Grenadier 1804

Tambour Major 1804 (Drum Major)

Chevau-Leger 1810 (Heavy Cavalry, lit. 'Heavy Horse')

Cuirassier 1810 (34)

RB5 (?) - The Three Musketeers (12 figures, 'unknown' or Figurines Historiques numbering, Mokarex numbers in brackets, Mokarex series 2b - Les Trois Mousquetaires)

6085 - D'Artagnan 1611-1675 (28)

6086 - Athos (25)

6087 - Porthos (26)

6088 - Aramis (27)

6089 - Maitre Bonacieux (31)

6090 - Madame [Constance] Bonacieux (32)

6091 - Planchet (29)

6092 - Anne d'Autriche 1601-1666 (22)

6093 - [Earl of] Buckingham 1592-1628 (24)

6094 - [King] Louis XIII (21)

6095 - [Cardinal] Richelieu 1585-1642 (23)

6096 - Milady (30)

PS - if anyone has spare unpainted versions of the three I still need I'm sure I can find something nice for a swapsies!

Unknown publicity card

or set's backing-card (solids?)

Fully-round Range (listed as given on above flyer)

1 - French Revolutionary Figures 1^st Series (12 figures)

Roget de L'isle 1760-1836

Camille Desmoulins 1760-1794

Lazare Carnot 1753-1823

Madame Tallien 1773-1835

Marat 1743-1793

Laviosier 1743-1794

Joseph Bara 1779-1793

Hoche 1768-1797

Charette 1763-1796

Princess de Lamballe 1749-1792 (M^me...)

La Fayette 1757-1834

Axel de Fersen 1755-1810

2 - French Revolutionary Figures 2^nd Series (12 figures)

Napoleon 1769-1821

Danton 1750-1794

Marceau 1769-1796

Kellermann 1735-1820

Marie Antoinette with the Dauphin 1755-1793 & 1785-1795

Andre Chenier 1762-1794

Charlotte Corday 1768-1793

Fouquier-Tinville 1746-1795

Mirabeau 1749-1791

M^ME Royale 1778-1851 ('Princess Royal')

'Sans Culotte' 1792 (revolutionary)

M^ME Roland 1754-1795 (not on flyer/header-card)

3 - French 14-18 War Soldiers 1^st Series (10 figures)

Alpine Chasseur

Morrocan Tirailleur

Infantry Grenadier

Foot Chasseur (#1)

Artilleryman

Trumpeter

Engineer

African Chasseur

Soldier of the Marne

Tankiste

4 - French 14-18 War Soldiers 2^nd Series (12 figures)

Soldier at Present Arms

Drummer

Cyclist

Zouave

Legionaire

St. Cyrien

Senagalese

Communications Guard

Foot Chasseur (#2)

Machine Gunner

Marine

Supplyman

5 - French 14-18 War Personalities 1st Series (12 figures)

Foche

Gouraud

Mangin

Petain

Pointcare

Joffre

Lyautey

Guynemer

Clemanceau

Gallieni

Fayolle

Franchet D'Espercy

6 - Personalities of the 2^nd French Empire 1^st Series (8 figures)

Empress Eugenie

Princesse de Morny

Duchesse De Castiglione

La Paiva

Princesse de Metternich

Carpeaux

Prince Imperial

George Sand

7 - Personalities of the 2^nd French Empire 2^nd Series (12 figures)

[Ferdinand] De Lesseps

Thiers

Musset

Canrobert

Hausmann

Lamartine

Corot

Dumas pere

Cantiniere

Victor Hugo

Gambetta

Balzac

8 - French Revolutionary Figures 3^rd Series (6 figures)

Robespierre 1758-1794

Louis XVI 1754-1793

Louis David 1748-1825

Saint-Just 1767-1794

Condorcet 1743-1794

Joseph Viala 1780-1793

9 - Louis XIV and Personalities (12 figures, may have been discontinued early or not issued)

10 - Louis XV and Personalities (12 figures, may have been discontinued early or not issued)

11 - Men at Arms of Louis XI (8 figures, from chess set)

12 - Bergundian Men at Arms (8 figures, from chess set)

Other side of above card

 

Chess Set (no number, 32 figures)

Kings:

Louis XI

Charles le Temeraire [Charles the 'Rash' or 'Bold']

Queens:

Charlotte de Savoie

Duchesse de Bourgogne

Knights (Dukes):

Duc de Bretagne

Duc de Bourbon

Duc de Malines

Duc d'Uytherke)

I had help . . . if you can call it that!

And she always looks so pleased with herself - You don't fit in the small-sample boxes!

F is for Four Flat Fellows

Another Picasa-clearer today so not the best images; ex-photographs, scanned, but worth a punt and new'ish to the blog, although I think they may have appeared in 1"Warrior magazine a dozen or so years ago?

Then they were all 'unknown', now only two of them are still to be pinned-down.

Clockwise from the top left we have a Winterhilfswerke (WHW) flat from the Gau of Berlin depicting a mounted traffic-cop, essentially of the pre-Nazi era, although I'm sure the uniform was probably Nazified with new badges and buttons?

To his right in another of the Mokarex missing from the post we had back in the spring, a line infantryman of the French-Indian wars period - I'm no expert in the Era, and I suspect with paint he can be made to fit anywhere between Marlborough and the 1790's? Maybe the high, tight, multi-buttoned gaiters limit him to the later period?

The two lower figures remain unattributed to nation, era or maker with a small (20mm) cuirassier type, who could be Napoleonic from the 1810's or Imperial German/European colonial from the 1890's - and might be Italian or Polish in origin, or even South American and dates from the 1950's?
Finally - a rather nice flat of a trumpeter, who looks to be maybe one of those inter-war Balkan nations? Or a Ghurkha?

Both the latter two are soft ethylene, the former pair: hard styrene polymers. Three are premiums of some type (question-mark over the trumpeter), while the small cavalryman was probably from a bag of 'toy' soldiers.

News, Views, Etc . . . Odds and Sods!

So a few loose ends, contributions, questions and stuff which doesn't make for separate posts.

As a follow-up to the Figurines Historiques post the other week, it turned-out that I had one original in the 'various-flats-that-have-come-in-in-the-last-few-years' tub and with it being a bit late to add to the other post - here it is!

From one of the Napoleonic sets, not seen in the recent post, you can see how the different base variations we looked at the other day were produced as a result of blanking-out the original Mokarex base-mark.

Following-up from the Timee post, Brian Berke sent me this shot of his figures painted-up as UN troops (with a Crescent 'Berserker' for scale!) from an African country such as Nigeria. A first glance at the thumbnails in the eMail and I thought I was looking as some French figures I have, which look very similar with the camouflage!

Having looked at what may be the world's smallest Noah's Ark a couple-of-few years ago, I keep meaning to post this which I shot back in 2012. It's in the local shopping precinct (Farnborough 'Meads') and I assume there are others around the place [country]?

I was going to explain the sorry tale of the vile fucker who stole one of the monkeys, but I noticed the other day he is back (the missing monkey, not the thief), after an absence of several years, whether that was down to guilt, or another ark being taken out of service somewhere else I don’t know, but who'd steal a large, wooden, flat, charity monkey? The sort of selfish idiot who votes Brexit, I'll bet!

Common fault with many arks: gay lions, no lioness? Gay, fecund lions too, as they are still with us so they must have bred successfully! If you believe that sort of thing! Every other of the tens of thousands of gods in all of human history were fairy-tale fuckwits, but yours? Yours is the one true, but strangly intangible, pan-dimensional mega-being, huh?!

Some of you may have noticed that there is a six issue gap in the chronological PWxxx listings in the tag-list/index, from PW140-146 I think? This is due to the house-move back in 2011, and I have got together with Paul Morehead to do reviews of the four missing issues, and the two I found in the attic here.

I haven't decided whether to do six separate posts or one combined, and/or whether to do them here (as new posts) or schedule them to appear where they should be, but I will get on it. Also the new issue (PW163) will be reviewed soon and is out now - if you don't yet subscribe, or . . . shock horror . . . if you have let your subscription lapse!

This is a cast-iron door-stop of no particular age which I shot through the window of a charity-shop the other day, I couldn't tell you if it's a regimental uniform or a generic civilian piper, I suspect the latter, but as toy figure collectors - we should all have one!

Had an eMail last week from 'Martin' asking about this truck, as I said to him in my reply "Looking at the thumbnails, it looked like Jean or Manurba, but looking at the close-ups - especially the wheels - I'd say Hong Kong, but nicely done and uncommon..."

More than that I couldn't add, does anyone have anything else they can give to Martin? I am familiar with Tootsie Toys, but I don't know the whole range, could this be a copy of one of their larger-scale, simple die-casts; in the slush-cast style? The specificity of the 'FORD' on the front bumper (fender) and overall quality of the moulding suggest it's a copy of something a little above the usual HK fare of what looks to be mid-1970's-mid-'80's production?

Or is it something altogether 'better'? Timee; another US or European minor-make? I know as you scroll through Kent Sprecher's site, you keep seeing things like this pass up the screen! Although having the canvas tilt extend to the bed is a bit odd/naff?

We looked at these a while ago (twice - I think?), here's another one! East Asian, painted, plastic I think (it's painted all over in a thick lacquer), but they used to be wooden, ceramic or a pumice composition and this is toward the larger end of the size range for these miniatures, at about two inches.

This arrived the other day: a gift of a running man from Konrad Lesiak, for some help I tried to give him, ID'ing some figures, he came all the way from Poland - and he was duly liberated - none the worse for his journey.

I wonder how many evilBay bottom-feeders voted 'Out' the other day, not thinking what it would do for their European business and postal costs . . . at the risk of repeating myself - idiots.

Here he is 'out of the box' as it were, he's an old European 1950's/60's premium issued by several companies in various colours and is one of a set of sports figures in a fully-round style quite reminiscent of the old WHW military sets. The figure below, which I've cropped from a larger .png image, is painted by Konrad . . . would that be the Polish team-colours Konrad?

I don't know who came first, but they seem to be linked to Unimel (gold figures), Van Houten (orange), Café Martin (gold'ish? Bronze?) and Codec in this grey/gunmetal. The Codec ones would seem to be copies as the Van Houten ones are definitely better detailed sculpts; this is of no surprise - as we saw - their World Dolls were also plagiarist.

Konrad is also looking for more information on these, I know they were in a 'toob' a few years ago as I remember looking at them and thinking nice touch with the fire-pole, but I didn't collect larger scales at the time so let them go, which puts them in the 1990's/2000's.

They are not Arco, Fishel, Imperial or Jaru, nor are they Hunson (coming soon!) and are too late for Blue Box, Lucky (who copied Mecanno/Dinky anyway) or any of the usual earlier suspects, but they will have been associated with at least one branding, probably several, can anyone help Konrad? . . . DFC? Funtastic? Larami? Titan?

Finally - as I've mentioned Arks and mid-period HK stuff above - Adrian Little (Mercator Trading) let me photograph this a while ago; it's a nice 'unknown animal' identifier from 1985 (when it was retailing for 50p!), and you may be more familiar with AJP from their rip-offs of Blue Box and Marx arks and 'Home Farm' sets, often sold through advertisements in Sunday supplements, TV listings mag's and women's 'lifestyle' publications.

28th April 2020 - the logo is now known to be HP for Holly Plastics, not AJP or EJP, Tags corrected accordingly.

I reckon that circus lion-tamer has A) failed to tame his lions and B) got about 30-seconds to live, and he knows it . . .and who the hell put a tiger in there; lions and tigers go together like cobras and mongooses! The same person who would introduce a zebra to a giant bobcat, or let a lion talk to a gorilla with the cage-door open . . . no doubt.

F is for Fat-Flat French Fellows from Figurines Historiques

And so to the London Toy Soldier Show, which I wasn't planning on attending, and haven't been to for years, certainly not since the move to the new venue at the Business Design Centre in Islington. I can well recommend the trip to anyone who's umming and arrhing, it's a light airy venue, with plenty of space and wide aisles.

I had my eye on these all day, but wasn't supposed to be buying much (budget not stretching to three shows in a month - I also did Sandown last weekend), so - at the end of the show - I asked the vendor; an old mate, if he could do me his best price, and he quoted a fair-one, so the deal was done.

I had taken a few looks at them/rummaged through them during the show and having not seen any obvious duplicates knew they would be worth a punt, but was pleasantly surprised - when I'd got them home and sorted them into chronological order - to find what seemed to be four full sets of 12 semi-flats or 'Demi-rond'.

Being the Mokarex re-issues by/as Figurines Historiques for Historex/Historex Agents, less the 3 Napoleonic sets which may not have seen a FH re-release (Historex having their own extensive range of fully-round 'multipose' 54mm Napoleonics), and the other set of French Personalities, which - ironically - I have bagged, in storage! The missing figures being;

• Bayard
• Conde
• Connetable de Bourbon
• Duguesclin
• Hoche
• Jeanne d'Arc
• La Tour d'Auvergne
• Mal de Saxe
• Marceau
• Roland
• Turenne
• Vercingetorix

However; let's look at what I've got here . . .

• Gaulois 300 (Gaul)
• Franc 400 (Frank)
• [King] Clovis 465-511
• [King] Clotaire 1 558-563
• Merovingien 600 (Merovingian)
• [King] Charlemagne [The Great] 768-814
• Carolingien 800 (Carolingian)
• Capetien 1000 (Norman)
• Chevalier Croise (Knight Crusader 1100'ish?)
• S• Louis 1226-1270 (St. Louis)
• [King] Louis XI 1461-1483
• [King] Francois I..1515-1547

As these figures are from more than one set of original Mokarex premiums and/or separate runners (as Figurines Historiques) I stress the above is not a set, but rather figures from up to three sets, arranged chronologically by date/s given.

The Figurines Historiques runners do all have 12 figures, arranged as branches of a 'tree' format; six each side, and were sold bagged with a header card. They are in the same pure-white, slightly soapy or soft polystyrene as the rest of the Historex range, holding detail well, and easy to clean-up, glue and or paint, however . . . compared to the silver, gold, bronze or gunmetal of the Mokarex originals: a bugger to photograph!

• Archer 1520 1520 (date repeated, no bow, so; man-at-arms?)
• Cent-Suisse de le Garde 1558 (Landsknecht type)
• Lansquenet 1562 (Conquistador type)*
• [King] Charles IX 1560-1574
• [King] Henri III 1574-1589
• [King] Henri IV 1589-1610
• Piquier [of the period of] Louis XIII (Piquet/Night Watch?)
• Mousquetaire 1627 (Musketeer)
• Garde Cal Richelieu 1628 (Cardinal Richelieu's Bodyguard)
• [King] Louis XIV 1643-1715
• Fusillier [of the period of] Louis XIV 1667 (Fusilier)
• Carabinier 1692

*Where the term 'Landsknecht' comes from?

Mokarex (another French 'x') were a coffee brand in France (and predominantly French-speaking Belgium) based in Paris, and issued all these along with fully-round solids and hollow plastic figures as premiums in their coffee, and I mean 'in' their coffee, I believe you had to break the seal and pour the coffee carefully into another jar, or dig-about with a spoon, to find your 'prize'.

Being the earlier figures I assume these were designed by Leroux, with the later solids being of Leliépvre's hand? While the 1976 Figurines Historiques revival - from which these figures date - seems to have been exclusive to Historex, JG Garratt reports that Nathan Polk (of Polk's Hobby Store) stated he and the Brethiot family (owners of Mokarex) were responsible for getting the project to fruition.

• [King] Louis XV1715-1774
• Garde Francaise 1724 (French Guard)
• Infanterie [of the period of] Louis XV 1745 (Infantryman)
• Grenadier 1771 [of the period of] Louis XV 1745
• Fantassin 1792
• Infanterie [of the period of] Louis XVI (Infantryman)
• Colonel De Hussard 1804 (Colonel of Hussars)
• Grenadier 1804
• Tambour Major 1804 (Drum Major)
• [Emperor] Napoleon I.. 1804-1815
• Chevau-Leger 1810 (Heavy Cavalry)
• Cuirassier 1810

I would imagine that these are actually less common than the Mokarex originals, as despite the customer base of Historex back in the day (and Polk's), there were - like cereal premiums - millions of the metallic-plastic ancestors issued.

One thing I have noticed about this type of polystyrene is that it tends to yellow if left in direct (or bright/long-term indirect) sunlight (the Airfix 'Multipose' and 54mm collector's kits suffer the same problem), so to find them mostly so clean-white is another bonus . . . however, if they are painted, that's not a problem . . .

• 6085 - D'artagnan 1611-1675
• 6086 - Athos
• 6087 - Porthos
• 6088 - Aramis
• 6089 - Maitre Bonacieux
• 6090 - Madame [Constance] Bonacieux
• 6091 - Planchet
• 6092 - Anne d'Autriche 1601-1666
• 6093 - [Earl of] Buckingham 1592-1628
• 6094 - [King] Louis XIII
• 6095 - [Cardinal] Richelieu 1585-1642
• 6096 - Milady

. . . the seller threw these in as well. They were only 11, but by some stroke of luck, I had picked-up the missing 12th pose (Mrs. Bonacieux ) three weeks ago at Plastic Warrior, from another seller! Painted by the same artist and numbered consecutively on the base, I don't know the significance of the numbering, which I have reproduced above; it could be a Mokarex catalogue thing, a Figurines Historiques thing or the painter's record-keeping thing?

Such a coincidence suggests, and it's only a suggestion, that these might be painted by William J. Carman (due to other offerings from both sellers and a recent re-auction of a portion of the Carman Collection), who was a fan of flats, when he wasn't designing solids! Whatever the truth, they are painted to a professional level, in an expressive, fluid style and I won't be dipping them in cleaner, overnight, ever!

If they aren't Carman's work, and you know who is responsible, please let me know as I'd like to credit the artist. D'artagnan looks as if he's been knocked over by his own caption!

"Right gang . . . circulate; you two watch over His Royal Holy Majestyness;

We'll both keep an eye on that slippery turd-bastard; the Cardinal"

 

A lot of Mokarex's output was based on figures in famous paintings, and one feels some of these might have been taken from a court view?

The discolouration I talked about above, also, a comparison between a spare figure and the new, painted one shows how, despite the figures being already quite well-detailed, the artist has added hints of so much more.

 

Below shows a few base variations, the one in the middle has the base typical of the Mokarex originals with a sort of orange-segment indent, to the left is an apparent attempt to remove the indent, resulting in a raised hump which makes the figure rock slightly, a few of the Figurines Historiques figures suffer from this, while the miss-placed base-block of the third example suggests a certain degree of changeability in the mould-cavities, which would only add to the confusion with trying to tie-down 'set' contents.

And we've hit one-million and 65 hits!