I was sorting the 'my pictures' folder the
other day and found several folders which weren't registering in Picasa, they
can drop-off for various reasons (renaming all the images [in the folder] will
cause it to disappear [from the screen] in Picasa!), although it's usually if
the containing-folder is moved, which occasionally happens by accident.
One of the folders was from the Guards
mini-season back in 2012/2013? And it's that one we'll look at now, it's odd
that A) I didn't notice they weren't Blogged at the time and B) has three
random images of other figures, in with what are mostly the Timpo/Toyway variants?
Timpo/Toyway; oldest at the top, question marks at the bottom. And from the top,
they are; first version better paint, a pair of simpler paint and the SLR
Shoulder-Arms pose from the second version, the officer placed mid-way as his
paint, being different is harder to place.
Then the rest of the second type with two
officers, one having gold collar and epaulettes, the other black. Below them
are four first version, re-issued in PVC and fine-painted as a third version by
Toyway, and below them are some
cruder ethylene or polypropylene 'bits' which I assume are Toyway, but whether they came before or after the PVC ones I don't
know, they may be test-shots, especially the blue officer? French Guards . . .
unthinkable!
The paint difference between the first
versions is limited to gold paint on the collar/epaulettes of those with the
earlier bases.
The other comparison is between the second
versions SLR's, now I genuinely don't know if Timpo did a brown and black version, or if the brown ones are only
from Replicants, who I believe did
produce some. As Replicants use a
grade of polyethylene very similar in properties to that used by Timpo, would you even know the
difference? Ours were black when we were kids, but I've seen more brown ones in
recent years!
A Toyway
blister-card of these came-up on evil-feeble-feeBay a while ago and they went
for a pretty penny to a bit of a bidding 'war', and why wouldn't they; they are
arguably the best version, faces are a bit pale, but more realistic for being
so, the PVC is hard-wearing, and they are painted to a high-standard with
proper PVC-paint which takes a lot to remove.
The Attention pose's legs though are wrong
for a Royal Salute, the twos being in-line, either they are the officers
Attention legs, or Toyway had a new
pair knocked-up? In fact - looking at the boots; they have used the second
version legs with first version bodies for the whole set!
And second version bearskins with
first-version heads? Bases are the mid-era one with a Timpo Toys cartouche in the centre. But the three 'odds' at the
bottom of the big line-up shot shows first-version legs, so Toyway had them both?
These three shots were also in the folder,
and yet I'm sure we saw most of them in the thematic posts at the time, so I
don't know what I was playing at, but it may be a clue as to why the folder disappeared,
moving stuff around?
On the left is a Charbens drummer, sans-drum! As the drum was missing from PW's in
their recent excellent tome on the subject of Charbens; I'm guessing I'll have more luck looking for
rocking-horse shit? Thinks . . . I might have a khaki-green drum with two studs
close-together somewhere, could that be it? Or am I thinking about something I
saw in someone else's stock - blue and white painted edge and red rope-work VɅVɅV's painted over, if the memory has any merit? But those studs were
square . . . I'm thinking of the Herald
Hong Kong one aren't I? Or even a copy . . . Doh!
Then we have a 'Brass Section' shot which
avoided the Brass Section post back then, the two Reisler's (one with the gurt-big sousaphone!) were probably PW
purchases the previous year? While I'm sure we saw the Cherilea 60mm and Lone Star
trumpeter at the time?
That's it for today and probably a late post tomorrow.
