P is for Polymer Plunder Package - Wild West

We've reached the Wild West, and while there's not so much, it's got some useful bits included it the sample, and raised the possibility of a theory or two! And with figures/accessories from 15mm to 6"!

A fine, if wingless, Totem Pole, which both Chris and I though might be 'Playmobil, or similar', but which a quick Google, or actually a quick evilBay search, revealed to be a Spanish Madleman (like Action Man/GI Joe, but half-scaled to 6-inches) piece, apparently modelled after a surviving Alaskan one?

 

Around the base are a few interesting figures, another of the early 'by everybody' polystyrene, ex-Crescent cowboys, but with a touch of what looks like factory paint, a Blue Box cowboy/hunter/farmer (he filled all three roles, depending on the set), another metallic Euro-premium and two of the knock-off Hong Kong copies of early British plastics.

Some more odds, with other early hard-plastic one, I can't remember of the legs were Timpo or Cherilea, but they are from one of the wagons? While the painted missy is interesting, she has something of the Panini Premium/Collectable Cavalry and Indians out of Italy about 25 years ago, but isn't - as far as I know from them, but an ID would be well received?

 

So, to the theory/ies . . . These keep turning up, five of the six Crescent poses, rendered as semi-flats, and I have begun to think they may be replacements for the earlier, hard plastic, frangible pod-feet ones, Brian Berke ID'd as having come from Lucky Bags, or maybe a similar product from a rival source?

 

Which also got me to thinking maybe the endless stream of racehorse & riders in 20-somthing mm, which we saw again the other day, are a similar item? In addition to probably being Cracker prizes? Note the guy with flaming brands (2nd from the left standing up) is actually a rarer, darker red, washed out by the flash.

Small scale included a bag of mounted for further sorting, a bunch of post-Giant foot figures from the old Giant tools and some of the novelty mini's; 3 of the 15-mil ones with two of the 20mm Lone Star copies behind.

 

The other smallies include a larger Britains copy, three more horses for the bag, a tee-pee/tipi, which I have found in red and pink previously, but from which - probably rack-toy - set I don't yet know the origin of. Blue Box Indian and the coach-driver from the Morestone Essem stage.

M is for More . . . stone!

We've seen this before, or another example, but it's one of those thing I always admire when it turns up, if only for its faint daftness, but also because it carries the same clown 'design' that the Frazier & Glass sets of Crazy Clowns also feature, a point I'm mused on before.

Nobody's peddling, or able to, and trusting a dog (replacement casting) to do the steering, seems the height of faith over stupidity! Die-cast mazac/zamak and not in scale with any of their other lines, it would have been sold purly as a novelty, aimed, I don't doubt, at this time of year.

A is for Antiques!

So, that show the other weekend, was possibly even more disappointing that I had feared, not only was it - as I suggested in my newsflash the day before - all  ". . . wooden games, barley-twist marbles, balding Teddy Bears and old dolls", there were in fact no marbles, few wooden games and really nothing beyond dolls and bears (and other soft toys), there were a few Gollies and Golly-related things, going under the evilBay police radar, but no tinplate, not even old carpet trains, not much dolls house stuff/furniture, just lots and lots of dolls and bears, which is fine if you're into that kind of thing, but a little disappointing, if you've come looking for other antique or 'properly' old toys other than those two genres?

 

However, the organiser's table (Daniel Agnew - ex-Christie's Auction House) did have a wider range, Adrian's table had everything but dolls and bears, and there were the odd tubs of interesting things, on some stalls . . . actually baskets, the antiquey-people use baskets! And I managed to find a few pieces of interest.

This was fascinating, obviously you find the same items in early Christmas crackers, but the five items are similar to those found, to this day, in Irish Halloween barmbrack cakes/puddings, which in the 'Brack are: a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin (originally a silver sixpence), a ring, and a bean, the ring in both cases signifying marriage in the forthcoming year!

 

But it's also interesting is showing how traditions can be lost in a generation as well as created, as while in my childhood, the sixpence (not even included here, but maybe you provided the sixpence and bought the other five?) survived, we didn't have the rest, and now, apart from a few families putting a pound-coin in their Crimbo-pud', most people put nothing in their puddings or cakes?

 

In a similar vein, I bought these, probably also from Christmas crackers, but possibly from an actual charm-bracelet, but of a budget or penny-/market-stall variety? Some plated on a base-metal, the other items in the group-shot are a fancy 'brier' pipe, and two pairs of opera-glasses.

 

Obviously, these were on Adrian's stall and I grabbed both, just to have something substantial to take away from the day! We've seen the Thomas/Poplar plastic jobbie before, while the die-cast piece in front is from Morestone, and although rather tatty, does seem to come with the original gift-bag, nearly always missing, or replaced with some shiny-new thing, and it ticks a box!

 

This is also silver-plated, but on brass, and maybe an apprenticed smith's exam-piece, or just a small 'objets d'art' to be put in the family curio-cabinet or something, they were simpler times!

 

'A Gentleman in Kharki' (older spelling intended), the iconic figure of a Boer war soldier, which I will wax fully on, in the near future, but for now suffice to say this was made by Britains, but was a stand-alone figure, I believe, and probably sold with charitable intent, at a rate over the ordinary unit-price.

E is for Essem!

I knew I knew! It's Essem, by Morestone! That coach which had the little plastic cowboys we keep seeing here, with the 'I know but I don't know' caveats, anyway, I had a folder with this in, and I've found a link to tell you everything else, as I don't have the stagecoach yet!

 

Gets them in the bloody Tag-list at last! That link - Nicholas Martin Diecast;

https://www.diecastvintagetoys.co.uk/essem-stage-coach

 

And while the brown plastic would appear to be rarer (the link poster has a darker brown one), the red-plastic one would appear to be even less common? They are a type of phenolic or early styrene, a dense and heavy plastic.

W is for Wagon Train

Picked this up a couple of months ago, and it's definitely a 'grail' item, despite being pretty low on plastic, but it is there, and you must remember that until a decade ago I was a specialist small scale collector, where this was one of those 'must have one day' pieces.

An early example of the multiple branding we are more used to now as Morris & Stone (aka Morestone) under their Budgie trademark licence the Wagon train TV series from Revue Productions in the USA, utilising their little prairie wagon. I thought we'd looked at these in detail here, but in fact it's a pretty poor article from the early days of the blog, I'd now veer toward Nibblet for the sculpting, or even Les Higgins, but that almost strengthens the possible Aifix link?

 

There are four poses of figures, with the hand-up guy presumably meant to be the Seth Adams character (played by Ward Bond) and the other rider Flint McCullough (Robert Horton) with two generic wagoners? Wagoneers? Wagoniers? Spellcheck only likes the first offering!

Err . . . I don't think they're terribly rare! An old Vectis shot. And even as this large set, I've seen several over the years! Metal fatigue, though, is over twelve-years worse than the last time we looked at them; the white tilt one in my set is disintegrating, I'll try and replace it.

F&G is for Hidden in Plain Sight!

Remember the F&G question posed by Collin Penn some time ago now? And remember when in the PW173 review I said "Speaking of Colin Penn, his F&G 'Crazy Clown Circus' is revealed by Michael Bonnefoy of the Plastics Historical Society to be made by . . . [Subscribe!]"?

Balancers & Bouncy Balls

Well, hopefully you were tempted to subscribe (if you weren't already), and with PW174 out now (review currently in the 'short queue'), I think it's OK to reveal that the F&G was Fraser & Glass Ltd., who are further fascinating for carrying the same mounted figures as Airfix, but that's for another day, the thing was, they had been on the PHS's website all along! Like Tatra, they were hiding (from plastic figure collectors) in plain sight!

Musicians & Master's of Mayhem
(the one on the bottom-right has a cellulose/celluloid
drum which is almost powder now)

Anyway, it wouldn't be right to cover all the stuff in the magazine's article, but I say the above because I've got the storage tub . . . err . . . out of storage! And as a follow-up to my own previous post, am showing the [old] newbies here while re-tagging the related, previous, posts to Fraser & Glass!

It's a satisfying conclusion, too, for those of us who were never happy with the two-horse race's favourites - Airfix or Kleeware, as the plastic wasn't really right for either. But if the mounted figures provide a link, the Airfix-plumper's will have a joint first!

Indeed, while the likes of TJF and his ilk may resent my knowledge (and try to invent their own!) it's satisfying to read my earlier musings on the maker (three years ago) and find it stands-up adequately to the recent discoveries!

Were Morestone (also 'something & something'; Morris & Stone) situated near F&G, or did they (F&G) supply Airfix with both horses/riders and clowns, or licence production to fill large Woolworth's orders? There's always another question or two!

The Shrapnel

The bottom of their tub contains a few bits which will be combined with the attic-lot to make-up some of the missing formations! One of them actually still has his mates head between his feet so must be from a pair formation, so I'm hoping I have a headless one in the other sample!

The piece of card (CIRCUS?) came with one lot, as did the wooden pole with a plastic finial which seems to match some of the Crazy Clown's yellow stuff? Equally it could be a non-functioning component of a 1960's washing machine, or part of a lawn-game! I've also tried various solvents on these (and the other larger, sample) and they are mostly polystyrene, only a few are cellulose or celluloid types.

C is for Clowning Around

When we looked at the 'Crazy Clown Circus' a while ago, I mentioned the fact that there was a die-cast penny-farthing from Morestone (Budgie) with a similar clown, and had the good fortune to shoot one at the weekend on Adrian Little's stand at the Sandown Park toy fair at the weekend;

You can see he has all the elements of the crazy clowns with the bobbles on the trousers, the collar-ruff, the pair of juggling balls, the bobble-hat and the wide tops to the trouser legs (I haven't the faintest idea what they are called in the fashion trade, but they're like old cavalry trousers?).

Now I don't think the polymer ones are a direct copy (I did at the time of the previous post), but suspect both toys are reflecting a specific clown 'suit', clowns often being registered as unique designs, while more generic or traditional designs are named within clowning, or wider afield, like 'Pierrot' for instance, from the commedia dell'arte, but I don't know the name of this one

This near mint example has a little dog; lacking on previous examples I've seen, although the dog can't reach the peddles and the clown is too busy with his balls (ooh-err missus!) to get peddling (and wouldn't reach either, so issues of/with both scale and perambulation!), making a rather static piece, but charming nevertheless, and would it go well as an additional item with an actual Crazy Clown Circus!

04-04-2019 - Which are now known to be from Fraser & Glass (F&G).

M is for Morestone's Modern Product Mars Mission Morris & Stone Men!

As you may have gathered from the title or already knew, Modern Products was an early incarnation of what would ultimately become Budgie, best known for their die-cast toy vehicles, motorcycles and wagons.

Yet these are made of a nice stable, slightly soapy polyethylene, unlike the supposedly later cowboys (seen on the Blog back at the start) who are in a brittle, chalky, 'early British' polyethylene, so I would be tempted to suggest these came along after the Modern Products branding had actually been dropped, or that my version are a late re-issue by Starcourt Ltd., who ended-up with the Budgie tools/mould-bank?

I don't know why I know they are Morestone (Morris & Stone), but I have firmly marked their card thus, so it's likely they've been in Plastic Warrior magazine (link) in the past and I got it from there? So - equally - I don't know how many there are pose-wise, I have three with the fourth a duplicate pose in another colour and they were among my first true 54mm figures, bought at the BP Fairs NEC Birmingham show in 2009/10 sometime.

I've had a quick look on Alphadrome but they don't seem to have them and Google also failed, so these may be new to the Wibbly Wobbly Way, but there must be at least a fourth pose out there?

You can clearly see the A Modern Product branding on the upper-side of the base, and he looks like he may have been manufactured for the 'de rigueur' fitting of a clear-plastic helmet as per- most of his contemporaries, but again; I don't know that for sure?

The weirdest thing about them (look again) is that they all seem to have been sponsored on their intergalactic challenge by Honda motorcycles! Even to a - blank - text-box below the eagle's wing where you would normally find Honda's moniker.

F is for Four Wheels Good . . . Two Wheels Better!

Time for an occasional round-up of motor-cycle madness that is those motorised bicycles seen here, or acquired since we last looked at such things; which must be more than a year ago as some of the images are dated May 2017!

Pretty sure this is Elastolin (but it could be Lineol), and almost certainly a post-war version from a pre-war mould, as it has been 'converted' to Swiss nationality (with a new helmet) in order to hide its previous origin or use as a Nazi, or Nazi-themed 'war toy', which was one of the stipulations of obtaining permission for re-starting production under Allied denazification regulations.

Its construction is quite clever, with a combination of tin-plate bike and composition rider joined permanently by a part of his armature making-up the handlebars buried under a composition headlight, something similar is happening at the foot-rest/engine level too.

Photographed at the same time and an early Britains machine, I've Mercator Trading to thank for allowing me to photograph both. This is a standard 54mm to the previous machine's 70-odd millimetres; and - a heavy lump of lead!

This is fantastic! First, it's a tricycle, second, it's another, rare use of the 'Make: India' tag; and it won't be the last - 'Terranova' sent it with several equally interesting stable-mates (who have been near the top of the 'long' queue, twice since Christmas, only to be put off!), so we will see them too, at some point.

Made by Centy Toys (new tag!), it's an auto rickshaw, tuk-tuk,  tut-tut, Tukituki or motorised tricycle, depending upon where you are when you encounter one, has a pull-back motor and - as you can see form the posed Berserker - around 60/65mm. CNG stands for Compressed Natural Gas, which Tuk-tuk's are going over to.

It's one of the great frustrations of the blog that I know what's missing; all the stuff Hasbro and Mattel don't look at, all the Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, South African or Brazilian domestic product, locally produced toys from Ankara, Ulan Bator, Lagos, Mombasa, Tripoli or even Moscow; so it's nice to see one - Thanks Brian!

On the left; also sent in by Brian this shelfie is a colour variation of another, which was sent in by Mr. Berke as well, along with a similar but different design, both branded to FunTastic, with; on the right - an unbranded generic pocket-money toy of the same ilk, these, judging by the size of the hook-slots, being slightly larger that the approximately 54mm reported by Brian for the FunTastic machine.

These are markedly bigger with Mr B reporting that the avocado-green one is suitable for Barbie/Ken dolls, so 5, or 6-inch, with the left hand pair (equipped with child's stabilisers!) in the 4-inch bracket? Neither is branded and all brand-marking seems wholly imaginary!

Been in Picasa so long I can't remember which the new one is! I think it's the khaki one with the brown base? At least two (the motorbikes), possibly all three, are likely game-playing pieces/movement counters and vary between 15mm (orange), HO-OO compatible and near 30mm (the bicycle), with the upper-pair soft-metal flats and the orange one a die-cast mazac type.

Seen before (possibly from Peter Evans), the one on the left (around 60mm scale/size) has been joined by the one on the right (from Peter Evans!), it has a colour variation plug-in head and slightly darker sand camouflage, crude and fitted with stabilisers, it's 'pocket-money', it's rack-toy 'nothing special', but it's a bike, military and welcome here! Cheers Peter . . . for both?

{I Thought we'd seen it before, but I can't find it on publishing, so maybe not . . . I've probably got some unused images somewhere! And I think he's closer to 80mm-equivalent!} 

We finish this round-up with a dearth of 'bikes! I have sooooooomany loose, often unknown seated figures, riders or torsos/part figures in every size/scale and material imaginable. Mostly from die cast toys or long-lost plastic models of motorcycles, pedal-bikes, horses, camels, cows, donkeys, aeroplanes, circus acts, tank turrets, jeeps, fire-engines . . . you get the picture!

These are three of them who have come in over the last few years, and I know what they are so they can close this post.

From Budgie (Morestone (Morris & Stone)), we are looking at three of at least five variations of these motorcycle-riders, and two sculpts; from the left AA Automobile Association) or Dispatch Rider, The [Isle of Man] TT (time trails) Racer and the RAC (Royal Automobile Club) patrol-man.

The AA man got the same paint-scheme as the military dispatch-rider, so it's hard to call, but he is a different sculpt with a smaller 'cartridge-box', so may be the later numbered DR Rider? All three have seen better days and lost their machines, but they are 54mm, plastic figures!

More M'bikes when they've built-up again!

C is for 'The Crazy Clown Circus'

This set was issued in the late 1940's/early 1950's and sold through Woolworth's stores.

The basic unit - a clown figure - seems to be based on a Morestone novelty die-cast toy of a clown on a penny-farthing. The original has a pom-pom on top of the coned hat, three large red buttons on a smooth top, the same patterned trousers as the plastic ones, and is holding a ball in each hand, the similarities are greater than the differences between the two figures, even to the pointy two-digit hands.

 Left-to-right:
Marx weighted-cord 'walker' rider, a damaged Crescent I had to hand
and the recent resin BTS  find, finally - a Crazy Clown

However, this 'design' of clown seems to follow one of the recognised patterns of clown in the real world, I'm no expert, but I know some clowns registered/protected their look and/or face make-up, while others are anchored in the old (and now 'traditional') costumes of the Italian Commedia dell'Arte, and it would seem to be that this clown is a regular/specific clown 'type', is it a peirrot?

Basic Unit
1 - Clown - to which can be added . . .
2 - Small base
3 - Large Base
4 - Clown with balls in hands - to which can be added . . .
5 - Small base
6 - Large base

Variations
Both can have their hands bent forward for a possible 12 main variations of the standard clown, not all of which were used, but by the time people have glued their bits together for onward sale on feebay they mostly are!

Further variations are created by placing [gluing] clowns on horses, tall platform-poles, beach-balls or each other in various configurations. A 'Ring Master' is created by the addition of a top hat (basically a little flanged beaker) and whip (a piece of hollow or thread-cored PVC cable). And other variations are added with the addition of three different drums, an umbrella. A 'hoop' ring, or a unicycle described as 'a wheel'. Variously these accessories can be found with a clown and large, small or no base, and basically it's almost as if any variation you can think of will turn-up in a mixed lot on evilBay!

The large red spot most of them have painted on their tummy is actually hiding/camouflaging the mould release-pin mark. It could also be a reference back to the sculpted buttons on the Morestone metal figure, each of which is also painted red.

 The large set: The Crazy Clown Circus which was sold through Woolworth's stores, listed its contents as three coded subsets, each subset lettered to its 'act' title, but apparently numbered consecutively across the range. There are gaps in that numbering, and among them must lye the drummers.

As listed on the back of the larger sets:

Acrobatic Act
A1 - Clown (see 1-6 above)
A2 - Two Clowns Balancing (one on top of the other)
A3 - Two Clowns Tumbling (see Variants below)
A4 - Three Clowns in Line (see Variants below)
A5 - Three Clowns Balancing (in a Y shape)
A6 - Four Clowns Balancing (in a diamond shape)

Variants
A3 - Two Clowns Tumbling, this vignette is two clowns glued together, some are glued parallel to each other along the forearms, which makes for an unstable partnership, others are glued in an 'A' shape, with one clowns head between the shins of the other, which allows them to be set up as an A, V, or sharp C, and they can be rolled more easily, both types seem equally common and there's no clue as to whether one was earlier or later. It may be that some worker/s or outworker/s did them differently, but at the same time.

A4 - Three Clowns in Line, I have seen this set with the third figure (on the far left as they look forward) being a bent-arm figure set back from the other two as if he is either joining them or out of step. Commonly its three straight-arm clowns in a line or two supporting a third - middle one - who is upside-down.

Juggling Act
J11 - Clown on Wheel (large base)
J12 - Clown on Wheel with Ball on each Hand (large base)
J13 - Clown on Pole with Hoop*
J14 - Clown on Pole with Ball on each Hand*
J15 - Clown on Pole with Ball* (bent hands)
J16 - Clown with Ball (bent hands)
J17 - Clown on Ball with Umbrella (one bent arm, the only such figure)

*Each has a small based clown, the base pierced for receiving the pole, and a large base at the other end for the pole to stand on.

Clean balls can be found (with no signs of a figure having been glued to them), on a large base.

Cropped from larger internet images

Equestrian Act
E21 - Ringmaster with Whip and Hoop (see Variants below)
E22 - White Prancing Horse**
E23 - Black Prancing Horse**
E24 - Clown on White Horse***
E25 - Two Clowns on White Horse (one on top of the other)***
E26 - Two Clowns on Two White Horses (one on top of the other)***

** These horses are rearing on 'ski' bases and have a plume
*** This is a copy of the Bergan Toys (Beton) horse, a heavier moulding than the Airfix or Tudor Rose versions

Variants
E21 - Ringmaster, this figure is stated as having a whip and hoop, in fact he usually has a whip or a hoop, the hoop versions often having a standard black-cone hat/head, the whip version usually having a top-hat, made of the same coloured plastics as the balls, drums or poles and glued over a cone-head. Lack of glue marks suggests most of these variants are correct, but some may be down to hats, hoops or whips becoming lost or removed? Both versions tend to have their trousers painted red, occasionally a purplish-maroon colour. Sometimes the whole figure's outfit has a red wash.

Missing numbers are:
7, 8, 9, 10 and 18, 19, 20

Not listed on the main play set's circus-ring card-back and given my own 'act' title:

Musical Act (arms always bent forwards)
Playing Large Floor Drum (large or no base)
Playing Large Floor Drum - Balls on Hands (large or no base)
Playing Side Drum (small or no base)
Playing Side Drum - Balls on Hands (small or no base)
Playing Tom-Tom or Bongo-Drum (small or no base)

Other Variants
Some variations are almost certainly caused by damage (one ball-hand), or repairs (hoop or umbrella on wrong figure), while others are more deliberate looking. I suspect the Ringmaster variations may well be connected to the musicians and missing numbers, maybe as a band-master/band-leader?

Likewise the clowns tumbling would take the missing numbers to zero (if that makes sense?) with floor and side drums being 7-10 and the tom-tom, Ringmaster and tumblers being the other three? This is pure conjecture ion my part and takes no account of the lone balls.

It also takes no account of the fact that most of the drummers in my most recent purchase have '6' written on their bases in pencil. Prior to decimalization, the many-sided (seven, nine?) sixpence was a pretty standard rate of pocket-money (we went down 'up' to 5 'new' p after 1971!), and it looks as if they were sold/'also sold' from a 'shop stock' box, as extras.

Material
Early examples are made of a volatile plastic subject to shrinkage and distortion, especially the poles and the two-part balls, it has a lot of the properties of the phenolic plastics popular in France at the same time, but I think it's an early, unstable styrene plastic. Later versions were standard - perfectly stable - polystyrene.

Everything major except the black horse is in white plastic, but it sometimes verges on grey, partly due to dirt and age, partly due to poor material, there are also translucent washy-white examples.

 Cropped from larger Internet images

Accessories (poles, balls, drums, umbrellas and top hats) come in various colours, with earlier sets having pastel colours, or chalky darker colours, often with bi-coloured balls, while later sets have more primary coloured accessories and some sets have all-yellow as a pallet.

The tom-tom/bongo-drum is a clear piece of ribbed-tube with blue or - more commonly - red-painted rims, and painting is also used to colour the balls on the hands of those clowns who have them. There are at least two versions of the hand-balls; egg-shaped and more-fully round, and they seem to be used as maracas on the drummers, or is it the comedy element of trying to play drums with balloons? The single clown with balls may be supposed to be a juggler (as can all the similarly equipped figures), while two of them facing each-other would make a juggling act?

Cropped from larger Internet images

Maker
It is usually assumed that these are Airfix, I have always remained more open-minded and suggested the 'usual suspects' as also in the frame: Kleeware, Tudor Rose et al.

I think I have to accept that the plastic/s used is not really to the specification or style of Kleeware, nor the whole Thomas/Taffy/Tudor Rose 'family', while the lesser makes such as Cheerio or Bell were using or copying US moulds and this is a very British 'thing', which rather lets the usual suspects of the hook!

So back to Airfix . . . their early stuff was a right old mix of polymers, with stable and unstable styrene and various ethylene's used for the animal flats, aircraft and 8-figure set, as well as for the Beton copies, however, the horse supplied with the Beton copies is a different beast from this one; a lighter, cleaner sculpt.

Cropped from larger Internet images

Also: Airfix were terrible pirates in those early days, so they could well have copied the Morestone clown, especially as they have changed the sculpt by carrying the trouser pattern to the top half of the figure.

However, the link with Morestone is a strong one, and they did experiment with plastics for their Hawkeye and Chingachgook figures (in chalky ethylene with a nylon/rayon or different PE musket), among other items, so there's a strong case for them too - having used their own clown.

Who could have fulfilled such a large order to Woolworth's (these figures are not rare; whole, but damaged sets appear on feeBay all the time)? If it had been Airfix you would expect more of their other early production in these plastics and that doesn't seem to be the case, their 'cigarette box' ships being closest. Morestone's die-casts are not that common, but they are not rare, so maybe they could have managed this?

I think the Jury's still out on this one! Which is why I'm not putting them on the Airfix page . . . yet, although the horse is there - as a mount - on the Beton copies entry. Toymart.com credit Charbens as set 9999? having been linked to Toymart in the past, I can't possibly comment!

And...

Did I say they're not rare! Some of many Internet/eBay images (reduced resolution) I've found from the last few years, there's a decent lot of these on sale, somewhere, most weeks.

04-04-2019 - These are now known to have been Fraser & Glass (F&G).