As always there is - once you've got the
plunder home and sorted it - some obvious and some accidental themes revealed
in all the little bags waiting for subsequent breaking down into the master
collection, and this year was no different on that score. The first two are the
same as two of last year's . . .
. . . with Gem/Gemodles/Culpitt's and/or
other cake decorations making themselves felt again, this time it was mostly
duplicates - but interesting nevertheless - and a fisherman who has the look of
early Blue Box about him, but is
probably a Wilton/Culpitt
commissioned thing. The Crescent
sleigh . . . isn't, it's the Hong Kong copy while the footballers are less
common in powder blue, so I took them when offered (Kevin?), they are the type
two with no ball-spigots.
Early Airfix
is another regular trope at this Annual Show, although I only found the four items
this year, the dog is a charcoal-grey colour variant (I've got half-a-hunt of
these beagles now!), the paratrooper is in the Featherlite colour plastic and the [un-catalogued] 'Cigarette Pack' ship in a bottle is a
bit 'hens teeth' so I grabbed it while I could.
The huntsman is just a clean sample of a
figure I have several of, and I suspect the horse has been repainted? But it is
a bent-tail Airfix horse; not one of
the other designs, even Airfix seem
to have carried some of.
I've been aware of the ships for a while
now (over a decade), and you are supposed to decorate the ship (a
'Euro-margarine' premium in creamy/Ivorene
semi-flat), glue it into the bottle and then glue the cap and bottle-base on.
Four pieces in kit form within a blue & white cigarette packet, the range
includes a Viking Longship, Thames Barge and this which is supposed to be the Santa
Maria - I think; they may be bought-in or Airfix
originals? I don't know how many there are in total; maybe four, maybe eight;
probably six?
There's a fifth piece to a complete kit; a
long base/stand in the creamy white plastic, which is designed to hide the scar
of the glue on the 'ship-side', but no-one at Airfix had considered the overall
foxing of the clear plastic from the fumes of the glue so it was not a
successful novelty, and probably didn't run for long?
Now, the Cofalux motorcycle Nicolas Aulnette let me have for next to nothing
("For you? A pound") which
we saw briefly in the previous post, has been put away, but should be in this
section as it's purchase was the start of a mad 90-odd seconds, because as soon
as I'd paid Nicolas, I saw across the aisle a small takeaway tub of vaguely
familiar looking figures which were 'new' at the same time.
Going closer and picking one up, I felt it
to be soft polyethylene and tuning it over found Cliaret France on the base "Never
seen these before" says I, seller explains he hadn't either. I sort
four different poses out and pay while Nicolas who had followed my gaze
explains they are known but relatively uncommon.
Leaving about six for the next guy (I don't
know if they'd had more poses earlier in the day, for this was heading toward
finishing-time) I was about to leave Nicolas chatting to the two guys behind
the table (sorry - I don't know your names!), when the other chap asks if I'd
be interested in this . . .
. . . and hands me a little bag with the
above in it. Again; obviously French, again; soft plastic, "Yes!" says I, and a price is
agreed. While I'm paying the conversation from the previous Clairet's is adjusted to account for
this new figure and Nicolas suggests that they may be UK copies, apparently
they have (on the odd occasion) tended to turn-up here?
He also gave me the original maker but in
all the excitement I forgot, I think he said either Clairet or Cofalux as I
have a half-an-idea I made a mental note that it was connected to one of the
other two purchases, but I can't find him in either archive, so that's probably
a false memory? Like I say the whole series of purchases and a four-way rolling
conversation over two tables was probably less than 90-seconds?
You don't hang around when there are
bargains to be had! But with the missing motorcycle, that was the day's third
'trope' - uncommon/unusual French military!
The next theme, which was a big one two
years ago, was not so evident this year, but I still managed a few Fontanini items starting with this chap from
Mr Carrick's table, which looks like a Carrara
Marble one, removed. Notable for his child-like face, he was, before the
end of the show joined by . . .
. . . these chaps; all Fontanini sculpts,
all Hong Kong copies, from two sources and seller was Peter Harris, who took me
back to find the other three when I rocked-up in front of him with the hard
plastic painted one in one mitt and money in the other . . . hay; it's only
once a year, I can break the habit of the other 11 months - I save from
February, and accept an austere Sandown two weeks later!
The multi-coloured one is probably a
cake-decoration thing, while the other three are trying very hard to look like
some of Fontanini's own production,
with the bone-white plastic and over-wash of antique/dirt; technically, the
painted one is a piracy, a 'civil' crime under intellectual property law, the undecorated
trio are 'fakes', 'criminal' law crimes as they are deliberate attempts reproduce
like-for-like or - to defraud.
Another minor theme on the day was
uncommon/unusual nappy-types, and mostly cavalry, with - from the left above -
a polish PZG (line-infantryman?), a Prior premium, poorly home-painted I
suspect; I've seen similar WHW's turn
out to be original! But I've also seen a few others in unpainted cream. Then another
Polish figurine, but sub-scale and maybe not PZG, two non-matching French figures who happen to fit each-other .
. . the horse being a harder styrene and looking older, although the rider may
be repainted and is missing a wire sword, heat-set into his hand and finally; a
Starlux officer in stable-dress or 'barrack dress'.
