D is for Donation - Chris - [Not] Paratroops!

The exception which proves the rule! As we saw Chris's most recent parachute toy finds/donation in a post at the end of April, I thought we'd look at the civilian vehicular portion of the last parcel, and there haven't been any in the three recent tranches from Peter, so it all sort of balances out!

 

Vessels, and we have an all new - to me - sailing ship, possibly a game-playing piece, or just a novelty? A variation of Hong Kong mini bath-toy to its right, both versions of cereal premium baking soda submarine, and  Marx Miniature Masterpiece rubber boat, all good stuff!

 

Five of the Quaker cereal premiums at the back, two of the commoner Hong Kong Minic knock-offs. but in the less common blueish-sea green, and another of the forward sloping prow vessels, which were new to me, when we saw a silver one recently (probably also from Chris), this pink suggesting the bottom-end of rack toys, such as those parachutists who would come in a bag with a couple of aeroplanes and a cyclist or something . . . something like this ship?!

 

Another pair of cereal premiums, this time the R&L plastic-kit types of US locomotives, from different sets I think, and a similar Hong Kong effort in black, all three are in polystyrene.

 

A couple of Kinder or Kinder-like racers in the foreground, with something more interesting behind, it's in the style of a blow-mould, but is actually PE mouldings, plugged-together, however, what Chris would like to know (as I would), is . . . 

 

. . . who made it? It's clearly marked 'Made in Finland', and there can't be that many Finnish toy makers; we've heard of one or two, in the Space Toy business, courtesy of a loyal reader, on the Blog passim, but does anyone know who made this?

 

Micro-stuff included a Star Wars Micro-Machine, and one of the MPC 'minis' copies, out of Hong Kong, all useful grist-to-the-mill, and one day we will look at all the Micro-Machine stuff in better detail.

 

Vehicular jalopies aplenty! Game-playing piece, back left, I think (one of those car-park/traffic jam puzzle-games?), bits of some Kinder or similar model railway vehicles, a soft-plastic copy of the old dime store 'Morris Mini-Minor', the die-cast is a Hong Kong take on a Marx or Tootsie Toys mini, I suspect, while the charm-looped actual 'jalopy' is probably a cracker toy.

 

It's funny ironic too, as it's probably taken from those Japanese slush-cast minis carried by Shackman and others, while it is also aping the actual silver, or plate charm objects, of the sort well-to-do young ladies collected on a bracelet?

 

Back, centre is an interesting, all-plastic American muscle-car type (or Japanese sports type?), marked 280 ZX Fairlady, which Google revealed is a Japanese model - the eponymous Datsun-Nissan to be accurate, I don't know anything about the maker of the toy version though, do you?

 

Interesting, but very large, and will probably end-up on the swaps page, this is a Play Craft [sic - usually Playcraft] large-scale ('Big', G-gauge or LGB) hopper-car, for an all plastic floor/garden railway, the wheel-base however seems to match the soft ethylene infant railway, which shared the gauge of Brio wooden sets!

Heading to the card and paper tub (a Really Useful Box 35lt job), these are a pleasant mystery! Not apparently configured for slotted-wooden stands, but having clearly had the home-cut fragments of magnetised rubber sheet added by an owner, I don't recognise the characters, but they would seem to be recognisable comic creations? Can anyone add anything that might serve as a further clue? Batman?

 

A 1968 Japanese anime; Speed Racer, with Chim-Chim the monkey, see comments. 

 

Thanks again to Chris for all these, the highlights, for me, are probably the pink vessel and the card bits, it's always nice to see things you've never seen before! Although a racing car from Finland is pretty special!

D is for Donations - Chris - Civilians

So, the twin of the earlier post, and a similar but different assortment of non-military types, these winging there way here from East Anglia, courtesy of Chris Smith, just in time for the BMSS show, where I picked them up the other day . . . a month ago, and with only a month (today), until the PW show, we're into peak 'season'.

 

Another pencil top, another strip (Holland!), one of the spring-loaded guys from another type of table-football game, and a nice sample of the Subbuteo kicker, to compare notes with PPP's goalie!

 

The little one is also Subbuteo, seemingly someone's prized paint-job, removed from it's base, the 'super-deform' shortie, looks to be from the blind-bags we looked at a few years ago . . . can't find them, so they may be in the capsule toy/blind-bag queue!

 

And the horse rider is a cracker gift, we've definitely looked at before, but it's a fun collect, as there are dozens of colours, and several slightly different sculpts, usually only visually obvious from/in the horses' legs.

 

Rather bashed Lego cyclist, who may provide a useful spare one day, being styrene, as is the Hong Kong guy in the bag, who's card is in the queue, as an Italian-language generic, and the fact this one is in a different bag, means it's worth keeping him in there, until I know better . . . Could be a reseller thing, but I suspect not?

 

A larger Christmas cracker bike, and a similarly 'cheap novelty' skateboard, make-up the human-powered section of this donation.

 

Big Babies! The brown one (yes Waynetta, we've covered that off-colour [geddit!] joke in a previous post), is probably the most interesting here, as it's a hard-plastic copy out of Aitch-Kay, taken from soft rubber Western ones, which were issued by someone like Topps or Panini, I can never remember?

 

The small blue one in the romper-suit is a baby-shower/cake-decorating type, but with a bit of age, while I suspect the hunk of ham (?) is an early polystyrene dolls house accessory out of the same colony. The rocking hose without a tail, is polyethylene, and may be early British . . . Hilco, Charbens? It's not Taylor or Barratt, theirs were either slush-cast lead, or 'styrene? Although the cat families and puppies were polyethylene, weren't they, maybe put them in the frame with the other two!?

 

The other four are useful grist to the mill, with the large creamy-white one being unusual, if only for it's size, which is the larger Doll's House size, I wondered if it came with a change of simple costumes, but the pose isn't right? 

 

Lots of useful stuff here, with the Subbuteo policeman, being an early (pre. Stadden days) one, which I may not have (when we had an overview of mine, a good while ago now, it became obvious there were three generations of some of the pitch-side stuff), while behind him is yet another version of the growing Dinky-Blue Box mechanic group, with a good version in blue 'styrene with a neat lozenge base.

 

The orange pair are the rarer ones from the Corgi Juniors gift set, the Fontanini dancer is useful, as I know I only have a few, and the yellow chap, bending over the casualty basket (almost certainly from one of those 1970's-early '80's wire - or battery-controlled helicopter sets), is a mystery, I suspect another Carrara* figure, but I don't know, some kind of slot-racing accessory for sure, can you help?

 

While the two big guys are modern'ish, she's a from an Elastolin farm sculpt, I think, we've seen him before, but as a Policeman, with a different hat/head-sculpt, and - like her - is one of a number of larger figures, probably for smaller hands, she's 70/80mm, he's heading for 90. 

 

*I need to sort that Tag out, it's got conflated with Carrara Marble! 

 

These are bugging me! Years ago, I picked up two of these, with little slip-on black belts, which could be military, or more utility? In the style of some American production, I'm sure these are Hong Kong. Two of the above are the same poses as my old sample, but the third isn't, and I think we have a new colour, I also think a couple more, sans belts, may have come in over the last few years, but I just don't know where they came from (set wise), or who/what they are . . . soldiers, sportsmen, telecoms linesmen/road gang?

 

And I'm only guessing at cracker toys, or 'gum ball' capsule stuff? Indeed, when three turn-up together, a bag/set starts to look the more likely. But this is why I collect all the esoteric stuff, and it's only with the help of people like Chris, Peter Trevor and the others, that we get nearer to answering these questions!

 

We only had a follow-up on these a short-while ago, and here's seven more, including a totally new one, in the larger scale, but clearly factory-painted, so there's another whole set to track down! He looks like he may have been aimed at the cake decoration market, rather than rack-toys?

 

Two more of the Terracotta Spanish tourist-trap figurines, I've rather lost track of the growing sample, but look forward to bringing them all together for a better overview one day. I said she'd come in, when we looked at her partner (in need of a hat) fourteen months ago, a Flamenco dancer (she looks like Betty Boop!) and guitarist, ready to entertain the unwashed masses, whinging about their cancelled flights - because there’s a fucking war on, you morons!

 

Oops, went full-rant there, albeit poetically! These are a lovely find, they're the little soft plastic copies of the Leyla figures, we've looked at a couple of times now, but all in one colour and the better quality samples, were they late production, unpainted Leyla, perhaps supplied to someone else?

 

Lovely little thing! Doll's house, or more honest novelty? Cake decoration, or just a simple novelty? From the quality I wonder if she's actually Japanese? No, she's got a tree-hanger; novelty-bauble, skiing kid - fantastic!

 

Matchbox cherry-picker, sans truck, on the left (but it's all about the figures!), two of the 'Crazy Clown Car' policemen, a beach-toy crewman and three hard polystyrene firemen, in a semi-transparent azure-blue plastic, really nice figures, you know, a tangibility, a je né sais quoi? Which, as I thought French, would be logical! Chris also thinks French, or Dutch?

 

The de rigueur line-up of seated figures!

D is for Donations - Peter - Civilians

Right, I seem to have found my mojo, if only temporarily (there's often a hiatus before Rack Toy Month!), so I have a plan . . .

 

Actually the plan for right now was to be in Camden this afternoon, but that didn't happen, if you made it, I hope you had a good time and found nice things, I'm contemplating telling the Pentagon Natwest's head office is a hive of Iranian plotters

 

. . . and we're going to get all the stuff from Peter Evans, several donations, some car-booty and gifts, and all the stuff from Chris Smith's huge parcel, published over the next few days, twined by theme! Staring with the civilians;

 

We've seen something similar from Keycraft (dinosaurs) and HTI (various), while these Dancers are from AMO Toys in Denmark (as importers/source), and looking at the back of the pack Ninjas, Soldiers, Wrestlers and Monsters are out there somewhere. I think it's supposed to be pronounced wall'ee, to rhyme with crawly, rather than as my childhood nickname!

 

Speaking of wrestlers, these WWE ink-stampers, are very-much in the same vein as the Fortnight, Gang Beast and Ninja Turtle stampers currently out there.

 

Partial contents of a table football game, you get different types of table football, flicky, leaver kick, sprung figures, horizontal bars (mini 'fussball'), and magnetic wands, from whence these have washed up here!

 

There's a post on kicking footballers in the medium queue, and this guy joins a blue one we've seen recently, they're Peter Pan in origin, from the Cup Final game.

 

We've seen the Mousetrap diver before I think, but possibly in another colour, and older sculpt, he seems to have had a makeover, the torso to the left is one I've alluded to several times and needs to be sorted out with all the other sets of four or six primary-coloured board game figural, while I suspect the C3PO is a game playing piece as well, but I don't know the game offhand? It's not one of several Monopoly versions, nor is it the Star Wars Risk, so, any ideas?

 

A group of nicely done, but probably quite recent or even contemporary, road workers, and a diver who at first glance looks like the Hing Fat ones, but he's actually a better quality, and may be from a more nameable/recognisable make or brand's set, just I haven't recognised or named it!?

 

Another modernish road worker on the right, an early, factory painted Jean goose-girl from the farm range, and between them one of those fun gems you find in all these odds and sods, a Hong Kong, reasonable quality copy of an old bisque cake decoration, but in hard polystyrene plastic.

 

More of the Chinese knock-offs we got sent by the German agent, back at the start of the blog. These are large, O or G-gauge, and unlike the previously seen stuff, have locating pins on their feet.

 

The smaller chaps here ARE the Hing Fat ones, while the larger bloke has probably been tied to a carded set in the archive, but likely a generic? And the reason they're down here, is because these are from the latest lot, were shot months after the others and for speed, I'm loading them as they sit in the folders!

 

Three of the Teamsterz road menders, an older one in sea-green (actually, probably a fireman), an unknown race-team mechanic or garage accessory and the small one may be that group of Pioneer-Dacron-Realtoy stuff?

 

Another trio of Teamsterz (HTI), a cheapo rack-toy in brown we may have seen/ID'd before, and another of the Tesco-Woolie's et al ones, all building up for the firefighter page . . . which will happen!

 

Another of the Hong Kong fatty footballers, pencil-top rather than key-ring this time, and a new pose and/or colours I think, a large shepherd of the ELC type and a rather crude driver, probably from a farm tractor, from the stance?

 

All good stuff, and many thanks to Peter for spotting, accruing and/or saving it.

F is for Follow-up - Earlier Today!

Not often we get a follow-up this fast which wasn't planned, but I've just found these in my in-box, courtesy of Brian B! I'm happy to admit I don't really follow metal, civil vehicles closely, although there are tons on the dongles, it was all downloaded from the internet back in the twenty-tens, or scanned in batches, and is really just sitting there waiting for me to sort out the A-Z pages!

 

So when I mentioned earlier that Autocraft were new to me, I meant I'd never seen or heard of them, but it turns out at least one Loyal Reader knows all about them, and has populated his layout with a few;

 

Open Tourer

 

Soft-top.

 

The red motorcycle is a Wizard Models from Australia by a British Expat, while the other two are both Autocraft kits, I love the Noddy-coloured one, which Brian reports is an Austin 7 - the Colleges at Mattingly, had an Austin 7 (hard top) and an Austin 10, both of which I remember being built from the shiny-black painted frames, up! Brian also pointed out "The nice thing about the models is where appropriate people were included wearing correct era clothing".

The pick-up in grey here is another Autocraft and, while I thought I recognised the Charbens Old Crocks, Bran had to point out to me, that the green one with red wheels, is a similar but Japanese-made model.

 

Other stuff in this shot is best left to Brian (my italics);

 

"The black car is a Triumph Mayflower by Oxford Models

On the right, the truck with a red barrel is a Keil Kraft kit.

To the far right is a black diecast Model T van by Lion?

The blue car in front of the Mayflower is a plastic Harburns kit of a Vauxall Taxi built by me. Also issued for Jet Petrol. [which we looked at here - https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2019/03/f-is-for-follow-up-kit-cars.html - number 7]

The blue vintage car front right was a US metal HO kit of, I think, a Buick, built by me."

 

So it was only the other green one, which was Charbens! But nice how they all look together.

 

While the big vehicle is a Tower Model plastic kit of a Blackpool Coronation Tram converted to a travelling/mobile library trailer, with what looks like a Cooper Craft (or another Keil Craft) cab-unit? And more Old Crocks in a jam round the corner!

******************************************

 

This should have, and nearly did, publish several hours ago, but I had to go for a quick drive, then got into an eMail conversation, and then lost an hour watching A Grand Night In, the Story of Aardman, which is free on YouTube!

 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcMexOinKhQ)

 

So what was aiming for a ten-post day will remain an eight-post day, as my eyes are going funny! But I'm cracking-on this month, and there's still a lot of seasonal stuff to clear, so more to come!

N is for November's Sandown Park - Civilian

Welp. Cleared some crap out of Picasa yesterday! But I'm running-about today, so don't expect the same posting rate! Here's another bunch of the odds from the recent Sandown Park show, and it's the civilian stuff.

 

I'm pretty sure these are French Dinky/Hornby (Meccano), but a quick Google just questioned that belief, I couldn't find them, although Google is so commercialised and generally shit these days, that's an indicator of nothing!

 

I have a larger sample in storage (these aren't that rare), and have had them for years, and I'm sure I found them or someone told me they were French Dinky, but they could be someone else? They are O-Gauge railway figures, and a vinyl rubber, of the old-school, quite dense/rigid, but stable (no weeping oily shite) type, and there were two tranches/issues, one with the little domed, concave cavity in the base, the others flat-bottomed.

 

Not sure on these either, I'm pretty sure they aren't the Marx set, one's similar, but the other isn't, and orange isn't a colour that associated with Marx, but they are more likely a US maker, than Hong Kong, just from the detail level?

 

One day I'll have to bring all the American Football players together, which will force me to research them properly, at which point I'll probably find a web-site with many more than me, that ID's all of them! And thanks to Gareth Morgan for these two, he let me pick through a mixed lot he'd found.

 

Copies of the Marx Power Mite road menders (two to the left), and a knock-off of the Blue Box copy of a Dinky to the right. One day I'll have to do a page or post just on the three - Dinky, Marx, Blue Box and all the copies!

 

Merit newspaper seller from the magnetic Driving Test game, a pretty-good knock-off of the Britains farm-girl, and another cracker-sized athlete.

 

Another question-mark here, it's not the common Hornby-Triang set, still being issued today I think, included with most of the steam locomotives, and many train-sets, so maybe Playcraft, Bachmann, or someone like Jouef? Driver, fireman, and some accessories for the locomotive?

 

These are also a bit of a mystery. The figure sets, as accessory sets, were vinyl, and issued on small runners, so I think these hard polystyrene examples must have been from a gift-set of some kind, it needs a Corgi expert, which I'm not!

 

Four bits of metal, the first is probably a coalman from one of the British minor-make wagon/cart toys in slush-cast lead or die-cast mazac/zamak, the little lead/whitemetal ringmaster, might be a cake decoration? But doesn't look to be that old, while the other two are obviously modern, aftermarket accessories for model racing cars, being Graham Hill in white, and . . . Andretti or Villeneuve, senior? Looks like Senna (again), but the helmet would/should be yellow?

F is for Follow-up - Wavyline Magic Roundabout

So, re: the red set of Magic Roundabout premiums in the previous post (see below, or click on 'previous post/s'), the colours usually associated with the known UK issue, are as these;

 

To which you can add orange, we looked at them in more detail here;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2018/09/f-is-for-follow-up-magic-roundabout.html

 

in part as a follow-up to the previous post here;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2017/01/c-is-for-contribution-week-iii-tatra.html

 

And while some sources still call them 'cereal premiums', we know they were issued with biscuits here in the UK (above colours) and as Olá ice cream premiums in Europe, as a much wider range of colours, they were probably also issued as individual gum packet premiums in Europe, under more than one brand, and now; 

 

Wavyline Magic Roundabout

 

Promotion

No.00997

 

Wavyline premiums. This is at least the second set of these to appear on-line, there is one on there now (same given code, which might be the promotion-code, rather than a carton number), but I would never use live images, I know someone who would, but he has the ethics of an ally-cat, and the morals to match! Scally's, what can you do?

 

Do we start with the image, or start with the history? Wavyline was a small, independent supermarket chain, in the Co-Op model; smaller, local 'supermarket' or convenience stores, down here in my neck of the woods, indeed, I think the current Tesco in Hartley Wintney was a Wavyline once, after it was a butcher's? Then an International? But, I might have made all that up? I was a kid! And, we used the Keymarkets in Farnham, now a Sainsbury's superstore!

 

The image above, shows each pose/sculpt in a separate bag, and while I don't know the nature of the premium/prize issue, I'm guessing it was a bit like Green-Shield Stamps (other stamp collecting schemes were available!), except with instant gratification, i.e., spend a pound, get a figure, spend five - get six figures, something like that? The similar Codec stores in France, were running giveaways in their rural shops, using multi-issuer premiums; ex-Van Brode, ex-Bonux etc . . .

 

EFE Bedford TK as articulated tractor-trailer for Wavyline

HO-OO gauge/scale

(http://www.modelbuszone.co.uk/efe/trucks/bed/22002gy.html)

 

So, if you did live in a village or suburb lucky enough to have a Wavyline, or a smaller market town, where everyone knew everyone else, and/or you knew the staff in the store, you could, upon qualifying for the dividend, ask for them to be red, so long as red ones were still in the bag, or you could ask for the figure/character of your choice? If your aunty/Mum/older sibling worked in the store, they might put aside the ones you were still needing?

 

Which would enable you to build a set of red ones! Or blue ones! So, the set I picked-up in DEBRA the other day were probably Wavyline, not Nabisco (who put one (random colour) in each pack), not that you would know, when you find them loose, they were all coming from the same factory, which still hasn't been identified, either side of the Channel. But the point is, we've lost more than we know, with a lot of this stuff, and it's only lucky feeBay hits, which fill the blanks we didn't even know were there!