F is for Follow-up - Monopoly

Although, when it says 'follow-up', it was referring to something six or more years ago! AND, I thought I'd posted this all those years ago! Hay-ho! Just a quickie . . .

Following the card stand-ups with wooden feet (UK) and composition (US) 'erzatz' playing pieces of the Second World War period, when Waddington's re-vamped the Monopoly set after the war and for a while, they had these die-cast mazak/zamak-alloy flats.

I think we've looked at both the motorcycle and the tank in separate posts (the tank seeming to be derived from or influencing the larger US comic-book cheapness in plastic), but then I found a set (there's a bunch more in the garage somewhere!) of all of them, except of course, there's seven?

I think the 'Blimp' is from another board game . . . Airship, or Zeppelin or something? Where it - possibly - comes in four colours. Aug. 2022 - Waddington's Astron, six colours!

I also shot a selection pf the houses and hotels who have come over the years from various contract-manufactures, some smooth, some textures, some with hard edges, some soft and the plain wooden ones from the pre-through-imediate-post-war era, although I think if you find a few early sets you'll find variations among the wooden ones too!

That's it, it was only going to be a gap-filler when it was first uploaded!

A is for Another Day; Another Board Game!

Actually; the way it's all turned out including today's return to blogging - it's 'same day' but I meant purchase not posting!

End of May (she's still there!) Charity shop purchase here, another (YET another!) Monopoly version; between Monopoly and Cludo, they've (Hasbro-Kenner-Parker-Waddington's) pretty well got the wall of games at the Toysaurus Smyths sewn-up!

This one's tied-in to the Avengers franchise from Marvel, but it comes with six useful figures and these modern games tend to a quid or a quid-fifty so it's no hardship! This one originates with Hasbro Canada, but is 'Made in USA' . . . except for the imported bits!

The figures, as they are the sole reason for the exercise, everything else having gone off with the contents of the blue-bin back in May; Captain America, The Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, 'Marvel's Hawkeye' (as opposed to the 4077th's Hawkeye . . . or the USAF Hawkeye?) and 'Marvel's Black Widow' (as opposed to Mother Nature's black widows!), here more of a Charcoal-blue-grey Widow!

They're fun, a soft PVC-like polymer and will go nicely with 25/28mm role-playing figures.

J is for Junior!

Running late today - just a quick box-ticker for a set I picked-up from a Charity shop back in August.

All the main board-games (Cludo and Monopoly particularly so) are getting the arse ripped out of them these days as popular culture 'goes critical' and starts eating itself in line with Mr Warhol's prediction, he probably didn't realise the media and Western politics society would do likewise!

Among all the country, city, sports team and movie character, TV-series or celebrity versions are the 'junior' versions, and while they tend to have larger figural pieces, they can be only card flats. We have looked at several Cludo sets in the last 12 month's; here's a Monopoly set ticking the Disney and Frozen boxes and the figures are polymer!

Photographed against different backgrounds as they are semi-transparent, and as such showed a willingness to look different against different backings! Figures (glitter-PVC type plastic, 50-54mm compatible) added to the collection, rule-book scanned onto the dongles and everything else off to recycling!

News, Views Etc . . . Toys in the Media

Rather thin gruel this time and with only two figures; but there are seven images which meant it was easier to hive them off to a separate post, only to make room for other stuff in the other 'News, Views...' posts. Minor rant after the 7th image . . . politicicicing again - don't you know!

A while ago now, this turned-up in some half-serious magazine, the title of which I can't even remember now, it's gone to recycling, but I think it might have been the disability magazine Focus or Soldier Magazine (the official mag' of the British army), anyway, it - obviously - depicts the houses from Monopoly (it was illustrating an article on purchasing property-for-profit if I recall correctly).

The interesting thing is that although they look like the old wooden houses (and are wooden), they are also very clean and new looking with rounded/smoothed edges in a more modern style, so I'm guessing that among the plethora of Monopoly versions out there is a De Luxe, 'legacy' or 'nostalgia' set with newer wood-buildings? And - of course; those Pound-coins are history now!

Mary Mother of Christ! No, no, as far as I know TJF hasn't said anything untoward in the last 48-hours*; it's Mary, the mother of the Little Baby Jesus! On a bookie-wook! Although judging by the title; she's turned to the demon 'Drrrink'!

Looks to be one of those slip-cast, hollow, 6-8 inch, bisque-fairings, with a terracotta wash and over-decoration.

* Turns out he has, but I'll cover it later in the week.

Also on a book cover we have what looks to be Airfix's (or Frog's?) Boulton-Paul Defiant (sans fiddly-bits) or Hurricane night-fighter (?) and a Ford Escort (Granada?), the title is clever and found on all the books on the shelf, the spine of the actual tome photographed being identical to those in the artwork!

Dominos being used to flog watches in Woman & Home magazine!

I can't remember where I found this - it may have been the Daily Wail or the Evening Standard? Anyway; it's an article on the art of packing your luggage, illustrated with Priser's flight-bags! If only we all had the problems that belabour the jet-set huh?!

This has been/is in most of the daily print-media these last few months in various formats or dimensions, and we like it because it's got a gnome, and last time we ran gnomes here TJF ran them a few days later, will he oblige again or does it have to be tagged to Leprechauns?

This was the funniest . . . a Daily Wail, article complaining that one of its readers - having taken out a year's insurance and opted for the instalments payment choice, had written his car of and got 100-squid in scrappage, only to think he shouldn't have to keep making the payments on the policy - something The Fail seem to agree with!

Beautifully summing-up the hypocrisy of the Right, of whom the Daily Pail is standard-bearer; they don't think the less fortunate should be given a penny or a leg-up, but one of their readers should be let-off his contractual obligations!

If you pay in-full, up front and get less for the car than the policy is worth, you don't get a reimbursement, yet their oafish-reader shouldn't have to pay-up to the full amount, because his car wasn't worth it? The twisted 'Trumpundbrexit!' logic of the selfish, self-regarding, self-absorbed, small-c 'conservative', parochial, reactionary, 'moral (white, over-50, lower middle-class, mostly male) majority' . . . they make me puke with their Tory votes and desire for a Thatcher Museum!

Nice stock-image though - Minis; Wolsey, BMC and Austin Morris I think, from the Leyland days and presumably a mix of Dinky, Corgi, Spot-On and . . . ? I think also; they are all slightly different?

That's it for the toys spotted around and about, usually flogging stuff, or an idea, have you seen any?

M is for Monopoly - Playing Pieces Through The Years

Originally posted on the 'Other Collectables' site - which I've now closed down - without text, I guess I should add a bit of text to explain the image...
They are basically arranged oldest to the rear, newest to the front, with a plastic set (which I believe was a limited edition) as the full front rank, with a new car design and a sausage-dog/Dachshund.

During the war there was a set with card flats in little slotted wooden holders/bases, which I have yet to track down, and there have been a few changes over the years with the battleship being replaced during my childhood with a Norfolk Broads type river-cruiser thing, the thimble changed for a scottie-dog, and the slipper becoming a boot. The racing car was also 'modernised' (and one assumes there must have been somthong before the mid-cenury design?

Maybe the gun, as I have seen antiqued lead versions of it, but this one with the other three items are from a recent limited edition. The rat might have no connection with the game whatsoever, and the two plastic cars at the back were from another - racing car - game altogether and were also issued by Tom Smith in Christmas mini-crackers.

M is for More Motorcycles

These are the early LEGO people, there is a motorcycle and side-car I haven't tracked down yet and two bicyclists I will save for another day, along with a small range of HO gauge vehicles.

My brother - who knows a thing or two about them - thinks the two in the middle of the top row (and the brown one) could pass for a DKW so below is my started attempt to convert one into a German WWII dispatch rider, by adding the torso of a Hasegawa artilleryman, handlebars and arms will follow one day...?

The next one shows two die-cast game playing pieces from old board-games, both are 'flats'.

The one in the foreground is quite common [2018 - Monopoly, post war sets] and comes in various colours with a Bulldozer, Airship and other means of transport, the rear one is less common. They probably date from the early 60's as prior to that, this type of playing piece was usually lead yet by the mid 70's most game's were using plastic for everything.

I'm pretty sure this little chap is very early Viking, they also produced little strips of break-off figures for railway layouts and such like. Size wise he is totally compatible with the LEGO and manufacturers like Roco and EKO.