H is for Harvest Moon

Not the greatest shots, but I managed to get these shots of the last 'Harvest Moon' through the light-pollution of the M2/M4 corridor last night!

I don't think it was as close as it was at the beginning of the month, but we had cloud that night and the next, so I only managed a chopped moon a few nights later;

 

I drove out to a more secluded area for this one and got a better level of detail, resting on a farmer's gate! All taken with my Nikkon pocket-jobby!

B is for Blimey, That's Big!

Or at least, it was three nights earlier! I have from time to time tried photographing the Blue Moons, 'Harvest' Moons or the odd eclipse over the years, results being usually only for home consumption! But this recent one was so close, I got a half-decent result with my little pocket Nikon!

 

Typically, particularly as we have been sweltering under clear skies ever since, it was cloudy on the night, and the next night, but on the third night after the full moon I managed, with the aid of a farmer's fence - up at relatively light-less Blackbush - to get this image of it with a big-bite out of it, but still very close to Earth.

 

There will be another chance to see it on the 29th I believe, not as close, but 'closer than', if you know what I mean, and I might try getting a shot of the New Moon over the 14/15th, which I've never tried before, but if it's so close it may be photograph'able?

S is for Snow Pictures in Fleet

Nothing to do with toy soldiers, or even nostalgia; when I was a kid you got snow piled in the corners of shop windows but that was about it, this is a newer craft altogether, and takes advantage of the techniques of the graffiti artist and the properties of fake snow-in-a-can, and I thought they were worth shooting and sticking-up here as we career towards the 25th with alarming speed!

On one level it's a bit formulaic, with the same tropes from picture to picture; four-pointed stars, a snowfield across the bottom, snowmen (all white!) etc . . . but also some skill in making each design fit the window-frame or shop-front, and as a form of advertising it's as good as any other, after-all I made the point of walking the whole high-street and photographing them, didn't I!

Mostly found on the smaller independent shops and boutiques, none of the multi-branch names have bothered, nor have the larger - national - estate agent chains, but a couple of the smaller ones have, along with a couple of the hairdressers and several of the coffee-shops, while some (the 2nd one down and the delivery van) reflect the nature of the business, most were just seasonal fare. Anyway, enjoy - Aliens later!

The hare is very feint in the last two images but he is there, down on the left in the first image and filling this one! There were also a couple I couldn't get decent images of due the the low, winter sun!

It's also reminded me I have a High Street post from last summer in the queue somewhere - animals again, along with last winter's exhibition at the Library, and I'd better get up there and see if this year's is up? I'll have to run them back-to-back!

A is for And so to London - Pleasant Walk Across the River

No, no a toy soldier in sight, but I did purchase a few bits along the way which will be in the final post! After the disappointment of Forbidden Planet, I moseyed-down to - and over - the river at the Golden Jubilee bridge, across Trafalgar Square, skirting Whitehall and shooting a few shots of things which caught my eye.

Something going on inn the Vietnamese quarter?

 

Nigerian (above) and South Korean Embassies (here) flying at half-mast for the late Queen Elizabeth II, the whole of that part of the North bank; Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Victoria Embankment and Northumberland Av' was sealed-off and pedestrianised, which made for a quite and pleasant walk in an area of London usually teeming with angry traffic!

London Eye

Golden Jubilee Bridge, there's actually two, one each side of the old Hungerford

Bridge, which has always been rail-only, I believe?

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

'The Queue', I avoided it like the plague, and I just don't get it, in the 16-somthing's maybe, but now? After over a hundred years of compulsory education and two World Wars . . . ♫ Britons always-always-always will be slaves! ♫

A vista which has changed greatly in my lifetime!

The London 'I'!

 Trying to shoot aircraft at Clapham Junction!

 And then on to Clapham Junction and home, what I found is in the next and last of this sequence!

News, Views Etc . . . Links, Silliness and Seriousness

Silliness first; Toys in the media . . .

A popular meme but not actually true for toy dinosaurs, as the real ones were still millions of years in the future during the carboniferous era, when fossil-fuels were laid down, but definitely true for plastic insects and invertebrates which are made from 'real' insects and invertebrates! I can't find the original post but I downloaded it a while ago and lost it in a dinosaur folder! Faceplant page is here; INRITH

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I found this (first link) a while ago, and now there's a follow-up (second link), lots of interesting snippets within the two, on Bergan-Beton and the early toy industry; not least how far Islyn Thomas's influence stretched!

https://www.plasticstoday.com/consumer-products/plant-manager-behind-modern-plastics-industry

https://www.plasticstoday.com/injection-molding/portrait-mid-century-plastics-pioneer

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Ken Osen, President of the W. Britain will be presenting the talk at Ross County Historical Society in Chillicothe, Ohio on the 16th of November, you may need to post the link directly into the top left-hand search bar of whatever page you've got open, I had trouble finding it again through a Google 'new page', but got the 'memory' URL to come up . . . and it may help to drop the final numerals? Or just Google it yourself from the above details?

https://eu.chillicothegazette.com/story/news/local/2022/10/17/ross-county-historical-society-announces-fall-speakers-series/69560279007/

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Staying in Ohio (lucky Ohioans this Autumnn/Fall!), the Dayton Art Institute has an exhibition of David Levinthal's photographs, running through to January, which involves the use of various toys including what look to be King & Country or Tamiya (?) Modern US Infantry. There's also a bit of a promo-video for a specific digital camera brand, but it's interesting none-the-less.

I can only post what I find, and I found Ohio twice!

This is on a Russian language anti-war article about the lack of democracy and the export of war (Putin's neo-Nazi Wagner Group are already active in Syria, Libya and Central Africa, as well as Ukraine and are now moving into the Sahel through Mali), which you can find here if you want to read it in it's entirety or translate it. Figures are Preiser.

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While a new game seems to have received several good reviews, as I've said before I don't have the time or inclination to game, but if you like a bit of X-Box action try Tin Hearts.

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Missed the event I'm afraid, but still well worth a read;

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/4609210/newtonmore-event-will-highlight-the-impact-of-the-indian-contingent-during-the-second-world-war/

While this shot, a commended photograph in this year's Drone Photography Awards seems to show women in Vietnam (I think) drying the dyed sedge straw from which I think my 'rope' dragon is made?

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The serious bit;

Obituaries

As well as sad news on David Pomeroy's slipping away earlier in the year and the recent passing of Eric Johns, We have also lost;

Ed Borris and Nick Versteeg - PlaysetMagazine Obituary

Britains Collector David Leigh - Legacy Obituary

Collector's Michael Fondren - JeffersonMemorial Funeral Home and Kenneth Backus -Kalas Funeral Home

And famous Spanish author Javiar Marias, of whom The Times said "Marías lived in an apartment in Madrid that was cluttered with toy soldiers, piles of dusty fan mail and . . . ", but as The Times (of London) is hidden behind a pay wall I wouldn't direct you to, I will post the New York Times Obituary, which doesn't mention the toy soldiers, if you have subscribed to the UK-title; the obituary's still there. 

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This rather staid image was on The Conversation's website, illustrating an article on wage growth, or the lack of it - foam-stampings or 3D-prints?

T is for Two - Follow-ups

A couple of things which pertain to recent posts, or maybe not so recent in the case of the second item, but which can go together for an eclectic post!

I was very impressed by Brian's pictures of the Charles W. Morgan (I nearly wrote Henry!) the other day and he sent a couple of uncropped/cheat shots to show how they are done. This one shows how he got the horizon shots, and it was simpler than I'd imagined, he just held them up to the sky!

While here Brian's using natural light to get those atmospheric shadows. I can't get these results outside with my little Nikon's, I have to find shade, use a tripod and then employ flash, yet still get quite smoky or flat shots (as the recent and forthcoming board-game pictures attest), if I tried this kind of shot (without flash) they'd be blurry.

I used to get better outdoor results with the old Fuji Finepix's, but they were also the least robust and shortest-lived of the five cameras I've had now, and six I've used since 2007, so it's a 'swings and roundabouts' thing with these digital cameras and you just have to try and see!

Meanwhile I managed to score these from Mike Harding, who always seems to find interesting things. Three FFL from somewhere, when I got the other one (below) a while back (Plastic Warrior Show 2019) someone suggested Argentina I think, but I'm now wondering if they might not be JSP or their Portuguese suppliers (Injectaplatic) as they are that same stiff 'Macau' PVC?

And there's clearly at least two colourways, I wonder if there mightn't be blue ones turn-up at some point, If they are Injecta'/JSP the three poses would make sense, as that is how they sold the slightly smaller Romans, one mounted and two foot per card?

I have no evidence either way, but will put both names in the tags for now. Taken from Timpo, obviously, but probably from hollow-casts, the binocular guy wasn't produced in plastic by Toy Importers?

S is for Spring . . . Sunshine!

I managed to photograph a trio of our most shy residents during this latest hot-spell, all keeping warm under the loose bark of an old oak, I replaced the bark after I'd troubled them with the camera!

A grass snake! I took a video, but while it looked nice on the camera's little screen, when i got it up on the laptop is wasn't good-enough to upload I'm afraid. I think she's a female, both from the dullish markings and a feeling I got from her, she fixed me with a look which said "I won't bite if you don't get any closer"! They will only bite if threatened, and aren't venomous.

Under the next log along . . .

A pair of lizards one of whom stayed around for a good shot or two, the other stuffed it's head under the bark and waved it's tail at me, which was a very silly thing to do, as if I'd tried to pull it out by that appendage, it would almost certainly have come-off in my fingers!

E is for Eye Candy - ANZAC Patrol

Mucking about with Lone Star Australians and a lovely bunch of coconuts! I colourised it to try and give it some atmosphere . . .

 

Papua New Guinea, 1944

Q is for Quicker Than I Thought!

Glanced at one of these the other day and I said it was bigger than the others but would make for a good forced-perspective shot when I dug the rest out . . . well; I dug the rest out and did some forced-perspective shots!

The previously mentioned, likely line-up; In front is the most recent from Mattel's line of Hot Wheels 'Starships', it's a much more detailed machine than the others, but - as I thought - looks better with the others behind it. The second machine is the Galoob Action Fleet beast, which I believe only came with Luke or Leia figures, but also takes the civilians (two shots down) and here, the giant lizard rider from Tatooine, who with his giant-lizard prod, looks regal enough to lead the charge!

Behind them are two paint versions of the Galoob MicroMachines speeder with the slightly longer, but slimmer Hasbro MicroMachine from a few years ago (in-line - movie VII?). There's a new film out any day now isn't there? Let's hope there's something for us, there's been precious little from the out-of-line and back-story movies - none of which I've seen, it's all become a bit of a whore to Mammon!

This is a little simpler, but I have more of them! From the front Action Fleet Luke, Action Fleet Leia, and four MicroMachine rebels with the Hasbro Luke among them. Clothing colour variation (the rebels are supposed to be Leia I think) leads to a nice squad!

The climbing machine comes courtesy of a heat-bent stand, although in the movie they stay parallel with the ground even when climbing or dropping?

The old back-path weaving it's way through the brackish salt-swamps between Moss Eisley and Jabba's palace is busy with pirates, smuggles and hoodlums going about their nefarious tasks for the Hutt's!

From the front; Galoob Action Fleet speeders with un-named (?) bit-part hoodlums, Ray's Jakku speeder (Mattel), two Galoob MicroMachine civilian speeders from Tatooine and at the back, from the left Hasbro MicroMachine Ray's speeder, Hasbro MicroMachine Jakku Landspeeder (looks like a beach-bum, hippy speeder!) and a diminutive civi' (from one of the Galoob MicroMachine three-vehicle sets?) who's even smaller than the other two.

Snowspeeders; Mattel at the front, Hasbro 'Platinum Edition' die-cast in the middle and the Hasbro MicroMachine at the back, make a nice machine-gun platoon from long, long ago and far, far away!

Last time we looked at all three (I'd forgotten I'd done that or I wouldn't have sweated over the previous image!) I shot them from above without the stands, this time I played with Picasa to remove them, number them . . . and added some banana-bullets!

Full size-comparison;

GAF     -   Galoob Action Fleet

GMM   -   Galoob MicroMachines

HMM   -   Hasbro MicroMachines

HPE     -   Hasbro Platinum Edition

MHW   -   Mattel Hot Wheels