W is for Welgar

Also in the Nabisco section of the folders (see previous post) was this from the 1950's, credited to Welgar, the original branding of the Shredded Wheat factory, Shredded Wheat being a US licensed product, which Nabisco bought, Shredded Wheat is now part of the Kraft group, while Nabisco is owned by Mondelēz. Welgar is a portmanteau word for Welwyn Garden [City], where the factory was established.

Part of a set, the rest can be seen here, but sadly only as thumbnails. I might cut these out one day and stand them up with a few Britains Polar Bears or something! Not really to scale, the two figures are around 60/70mm?

F is for Fanssi

Another Toy Fair piece from Kensington Olympia, these waxed aggregate toys were something I think we covered first in One Inch Warrior, about 25 years ago, but it may have been PW itself? Anyway after that launch (Magic Sand I think?), there have been several lookie-likes, and now this 'magic snow', which I have to say felt really weird, it's basically crumbs of foamed rubber, and it's clammy, but fun!

 

Obviously the attraction - as far as the Blog's concerned - is that there are two sets of arctic animals; one lot on foot, with an igloo, and an Asian tiger! And a set of penguins, with a polar bear. Imported by Teleview Limited, and out there now, try Zoo and Wildlife Park gift shops?

The Fanssi website doesn't seem to be working, but Teleview are here;

https://televiewmarketing.com/gb/

H is for How They come In - Charity Shop Score

Back to mid-November with this one (Oh, I'm getting it all back into shape!), I had a swift shoot through the charity shops in town one Wednesday arvo' (best day for toys for some reason?), and managed to grab some useful/half-useful bits and bobs!

This was the bulk of it with a tank from British Heart Foundation, a bag of bits from Blue Cross (animal welfare charity/vets), and a couple of similar junk bags from Scope or Phillis Tuckwell?

This was shot separately, and came from the DEBRA shop (skin conditions?), obviously a faux-ivory ornament (Scandinavian museum gift-shop?), it's not far off 54mm (closer to 50, but with a thick slate base!) and the sculpture is all-plastic, so it will go with all the Britains, Marx, MPC and Timpo arctic stuff!

Contents of the three mixed bags. Nothing exciting, but I think the five in the upper shot must be from some current kid's thing, to the lower right are Kinder bits, and what might be board game figures from another juvenile franchise? Bottom left is a real junk lot, but it has another variant of those pop-up aliens we've seen from Henbrandt and Unique.

The tank; I suspect a late Maplin's Crimbo-gift type, it had an R/C unit at some point which has gone missing, so I will remove the aerial. It can move without the motor interfering anyway, and a generic soviet model with more 64/72 than T62 about it?

The next day I picked this up, only of interest as it is the same odd selection as one we looked at a few years ago, and the question marks are all duplicated, so clearly this was an odd set, with two polar bears, the oversized (and better sculpted) 'baby' bear, orangutang and panda, two hippo sculpts & etc? Doesn't prove much without a brand, but all helps join the dots, and I'm sure the info' will all be on STS when I get round to looking!

F is for Follow-up - Esquimaux Explorers

A quick follow-up to October's post on Kinder Arctic subjects, as I managed to pick up a colour variant on Friday, which we can have a quick shufti at! And re, that previous post's title, it's bloody cold now, they recon minus-7° tonight, which may be balmy for some of the Northern/Continental Loyal Readers, but it's pretty rare in sodding Hampshire!

This one is all a primrose yellow, I could look up the code and value but I think I've made that point, and it'll all be on the A-Z's one day, or at least that's the plan! He comes with an ice-axe and husky dog, rather that the skis-&-sticks of the previous example

I is for Is It Just Me, or Is It Getting Chilly?

We had two heat-waves here, the first breaking three-year old 'new' records by 3°, a trend which if it continues would render large parts of Europe, Asia and the SE of Britain uninhabitable by humans - in a heat-wave - within about 20 years? But after the second, not so hot but more humid, so equally uncomfortable heat-wave, the weather has gone rapidly downhill, and it's got quite chilly, but then I guess it is October, maybe the summer just lasted too long!

Anyway, seems like a good excuse to get the cold-weather gear out and check it over, these are all Kinder; 1980's/90's, and they are ready for anything the climate throws at them! 20/25mm at the top, 28/30mm compatible in the middle and a decet stab at 54mm with the 'steckfigur' at the bottom, who has lost the backs of his skis, and his boots . . . sniff! The silver blob was off some cartoon thing; long-lost.

I have a blue/white one who has his boots, so if I ever find the missing ski sections I will be able to re-shoot them both in some sort of order? All polyethylene, and with moveable arms/articulated waist, they are a useful addition to Timpo and/or Britains polar explorer/Esquimaux/Inuit sets.

There's the colour reversed version of this on evilBay at the movement, he's more of a novelty toy, and winter-sports rather than polar explorer or native hunter, but fun, Kinder, polystyrene and possibly a bit earlier, although still 1980's I think?

M is for Mushy-mush Mushington!

Before the winter's entirely over and after seeing the story the other day about one of the big Northern 'mush' races struggling to find a course of the correct length than was snow, not mush, I thought these were timely after a fashion . . . or indeed a manner!

Not a patch on the sublime Britains Herald sledge team (which I don't have!), but aimed at a different price-bracket and consequently cruder, yet more robust, is the Timpo arctic sledge with Esquimaux/Inuit musher.

13 pieces (unlucky for some . . . especially if items are missing!) go together to make up the model, which was sold assembled. One of my dogs is the wrong pose, but one of his feet lines up with a hole in the base so I could bluff the assembled shot below.

It's a stunning piece, even it if lacks the subtlety of the Britains one, although you have to ignore the totally inaccurate arrangement of the dog-team, who are always in-line, lead by the pack leader and spaced so that they can't reach each-other with a bite!

The traces simply loop loosely over the dogs heads and given that both horse leathers and these dog-leads are known for their increasing brittleness these days, I was treating them with such care - so's not to break them - they kept popping off; as I got a couple over the heads one would come loose again, it was like a fiddly game of whack-a-mole!

The Britains set was different from the others by depicting Western explorers rather than native peoples, the green one is a Marx reissue and I think the brown one holding a fish aloft was by Ideal, also an American make, also a reissue?

The musher can take the same snow-shoes as the rest of the line, and; once equipped with a knife, makes a good bar-brawler or bear-fighter!