M is for Motormax, from Redbox

Sort of running out of time tonight, despite finishing early, I've been deep in the contents of a parcel from Peter Evans (next post, brilliant bendy band babes!), so I'm throwing this up before midnight!

Various treatments of camouflage/paint on-, and plastic colours of- the 20mm copies of Matchbox US Infantry, as inherited by Redbox from Zylmex/Zee Toys a decade or so ago, and sold with the larger boxes of military Motormax sets.

M is for Merry Mass of Malleable Model Mayhem! 7 - Military & Marine

A shorter post, I suspect because Chris himself specialises in 'khaki', modern combat, WWI, II etc . . . and will hang on to any interesting things in that vein, although he sends plenty of shots as well as these donations, so it's no whinge, just an explanation for the shortage of images, also, I shot them in groups . . . but I've added Marine subjects at the end to make up the numbers!

Small scale; the most interesting is probably the chap on the far left, who needs a paint-strip, but seems to be a Hong Kong copy of an Eko copy of Airfix's first series 8th Army, we've seen similar here, but not that pose I think, and the base is the giveaway!

 

The US marine pointing is also interesting, as he's not from the Aurora 'HO' sets, but is in the same style, might be AHM? Three from Redbox's Motormax (ex-Zyll), a Blue Box vehicle-mounted equipment operator, three commoner Airfix piracies, a Skybird and a kit figure (at the back) make up the company!

The big guy is marked C-P Inc, which/who, I believe, are a subdivision of US Toy? They who make the sets of ten in two colours (five of each) mostly civilian 54mm rubber figures. These are a very brittle (from new) polymer, of the Nylon/Propylene feel, and I have some others somewhere (among the first large scale figures I got), and equally damaged on the extremities, so early-to-mid-2000's, maybe the late 1990's?

The heat-shrinkage Lido-copy German from HK, is fun for being a 'new' pose, albeit, dying backwards, and the Monogram which looks like many other copies, is hard plastic against the copies usual polyethylene, so may be one of the shop-display figures which came out of those early kit-makers, as the painting has a casual, but practised 'factory' look about it?

A 'Bonux' FFL shaking his fist at someone, but unmarked, normally the unmarked ones are in brighter colours, not the Bonux olive-green, so I think he's a useful addition? Some Hong Kong to sort, more of those Naval looking hard-plastic vehicle/vessel crew, and the one on the left is a colour-variaton I think, while the one on the right is probably home-painted?

 

Three useful HK copies to be sorted into existing samples, another US truck-rider and a couple of more interesting figures, the sandy one modern'ish, the other part of the ever-expanding 'might be Pioneer for somebody else' oeuvre?

 

Pitrates! It's all you're getting, as I never know, at this time of year, with an empty or near empty Pirate Zone, what I may have for next year's ITLAPD, so they have all gone there, in order that I at last have a few shots for the Intro-post! What can you spot anyway?

 

Ships and vessels, two of the Hong Kong copies of Triang Minic's waterline battlefleet, a smaller one with added hull from another maker, a yacht which looks like it should be from a board-game, but wouldn't be very playable with that keel, so maybe a 'working' sink/bath-yacht from a Christmas cracker, or a real-water race game?

 

The tug is another Triang copy, the raft is a Manurba copy, yellow boat is a Kellogg's cereal premium, and a more recent take on the old baking soda novelty and the orange cruiser is a novelty candle-holder for cake-decorations!

 

Many thanks again to Chris Smith for all these lovelies, and if you keep scrolling past the gold-lamé nutcrackers, I added a couple of images to yesterday's Crescent/Kellogg's knights post.

C is for Canoes - 2 - Britains Herald and Copies

So, who didn't have one of these when they were a kid? You didn't? You may have a case at the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, or wherever - 'parental cruelty'! I think we probably got ours in our Christmas stockings around 1969/70? But they may have been a summer treat to play-with in the inflatable paddling pool?

 

This was a different packaging than I remember, although it changed several times, in fact the following of the canoe-cards, the Elephant-boxes and especially the catalogues in the 1960's & 70's is a journey in itself from B&W, to psychedelia, through flower-power and glam-rock to something more conservative and boring in the 1980's!

Brian has two, both manufactured in the earlier marbled plastic which was to try and recreate the natural wood and hide products used in real life, but, it has to be said, the design itself was 'Theme Park', I remember hiring canoes like this from Wellington Country Park, and they were aluminium shells with fibre-glass-reinforced plastic seats and fittings!

 

The crew of his fawn one have the later, more colourful, paint-jobs, the grey boat's crew have the earlier 'buckskins', and the boats had stickers of the US interwar pattern, international military-aircraft recognition roundel!

I believe that when the type 2 appeared, it first appeared in this guise, as a trapper's boat with a Native American Indian . . . mate, partner, guide . . . servant? Both vessel types had the bent wire-rod counter-weight, which serves as a keel and keeps the otherwise very buoyant toys level and realistically low in the water.

 

Mine; I too have a marbled 1st type, with the trapper-era type 2 in the middle and a final iteration on the right of the trio, new mouldings of crew are given a Deetail compatible 'wash' finish in a leery orange!

 

Although the crew of the third canoe are genuine Britains, the boat itself is from the Red Box (Redbox) 'Buffalo Fort' play set I think, which has mostly Airfix figure copies - Indians in red and the cowboys in blue - for US cavalry!

 

Comparisons, the pictures pretty-much say all that needs saying, the new ones were a tad bigger, but then with Deetail, everything was bigger than Herald, with heavier sculpting too.

 

Brian has a nice copy, no brand attribution at this time, but similar to and probably 'after' the Supreme one, but it's superior for having a crew!

 

The Supreme one is a bit more colourful, but didn't get a crew, so I've used a couple of 'unknown' crew, which I've also shot in close-up, as we won't see them again in these posts. 

 

One of the Supreme sets which the copy came in, we saw a copy of the copy in the introductory post, smaller, but copying the same colour-scheme as the Supreme/SP Toys example. Note also; the raft and oar.

S is for Shop-full of Shelfies!

I've been building up a small stash of shelfies, with lots of help! And while they should have gone-up in August, there's no hard and fast rules here at Small Scale World, so we'll have a quick look now.

These are in Poundland at the moment . . . not unsurprisingly for a pa'nd! Three versions of Buddha on the left, a piratey type, a gardener who had nearly sold out and some white blob at the back which looks a bit Thai!

On the right a new collectable? She's probably already sold-out, more pirates and three ger'nomes, two are off to Pride, the third is a mermaid . . . how long before we have a limited-edition, chrome-plated, super-deform, angry-bird, Star Wars, gay-pride, Funko-mini mermaid-gnome with troll hair Tamagotchi? It's only a matter of time peeps!

Redbox under their Motor Max label, ID'ing a few of the many mechanics out there, this was in TKMaxx a while ago now, so will have gone, but it'll be out there somewhere if you need it, I'll wait for the loose figures to turn-up . . . thinks; might have a few already?

Couple more from TKMaxx, the Siku 8x8 swamp-hog is about 25/28mm compatible, and would seem to need a matt khaki re-spray and a recoilless rifle or ATGM mounting! The other Redbox has no figures either, but was interesting for being credited to the French Motormax Toy 'Factory' in Villepinte (my qoutes), via the 200 Horton Road, Middlesex office (UK) but 'manufactured' by RBI (Redbox International) in Rialto, California, yet "MADE IN CHINA"! Ultimately it's all Tai Sang!

These came from Brian Berke, our roving reporter in New York, rather at the infant end of the spectrum, the one on the left though has nice, realistic fire appliances (quite collectable) with deformed mini-vehicles you think must be from another line! While I'm strangely drawn to the three slightly deformed mini-AFV's on the otherwise aircraft card - just the sort of stuff which turns-up in mixed lots at car-boot sales or charity-shops!

Also from Brian came this Mexican, traditional style bagged rack-toy with header card and a collection of Marx 3" copy figures and various (non-Marx?) accessories. It might have a bit of age, but a lot of that Mexican stuff turns-up on evilBay, issued by KiKo or Ki-Ko (aren't they the people who did the licensed version of Arfix's Robin Hood play-set in the 1980's?). There's a yellow canoe in the Tee-Pee, which will return to the Blog soon . . . 'ish . . . I hope! It's my bad!

Peter Evans sent us this one at the beginning of September (where did that month go?), via Faceplant messages, so it would have missed RTM ayway, shot at the Gift and Promotional show in Birmingham the other month. A mix of stuff, some of which we've seen before.

Nothing special, but the stone towers with their industrial-looking doors might make a useful sci-fi accessory, suitably repainted, and there is a couple of new trucks and some M60's with ERA if I'm not mistaken? I don't know who's carrying it, but at two quid wholesale, it shouldn't be more than £3.50/£3.99 when you find it?

Thanks to both Brian and Peter for the contributions, shelfies sorted, still out there now!

ITLAPD is for It's That Long Assorted-Post Dissertation

Oi' been led to ber'live some scurrvy scurr callin' hisel' Mad Cap'n Tom were for a number o' years callin' hisel' the 'ead of ther Brit'ish ITLAPD . . . and feel Oi' should point owt, Oi's been postin' err' regulur-loik ferr longurr thun thaat!

http://www.yarr.org.uk/

So 'ere's be ther furrst o'a' few posts on Poirates and Poiraty things 'er at Small Scale Worrld, not as many as some yurrs, but plen'eny to's keep me 'and in! Aharrrrr maties!

First off, a question-mark; they keep turning-up, usually in small numbers and have as many clues to early Hing Fat or late Ri-Toys (plastic type, plastic colour) as they do to DFC or HG (figure size, figure subject), and could be two of the above (or others altogether) as there are definitely two versions of the sailors/pirates (left and middle), but so far only one type of AWI/Revenue-men?

You feel they should be commonly known, but they might have been some kind of cheap'o rack toy? Or I'm just being dumb! Anyone able to add any more to these; were they branded, big-box or bottle-bag, 1980's or '90's? I've been picking them up since the early 1990's and they're around the 50mm mark.

The weird thing is the unmarked revenue men seem to go with the middle pirates, not the similarly coloured lot who ARE marked CHINA, so late 1990's-onwards for definite, on them

Another question-mark; A rather stubby gun and pile of muddy cannon-balls. From the colour this looks as if is't cut out of a Bellona vac-formed scenic sheet, but which one? There was a 19th century battlefield one I think and a couple recommended for ACW, but the barrel here is more piratey than Napoleon or Parrot?

We've seen these before, and I keep a look-out for them on that there interwebamathingy, but the big lot were sniped at the last second and the others were too-expensive or reposted on value-aggregators like Worthpoint, but the two question marks remain; what's the significance of the wild-animal base marks? And what set/line/range were they in? I've seen them listed as 'The Disney Collection' but not found many more with that as a search term.

From the number which have turned-up and the number of duplicate characters/different poses now found, it looks to be at least two boxed sets of around ten poses? First two movies? Two waves of the second movie? Four boxes of six figures? I said we'd return to these and we have . . . and we will again!

We looked at these big-box generics last year, but I've collected a couple more images which are worth a peek, if only because one is wearing a rather piratical A-to-Z logo (which is the importer Padgett Bros) and new box graphics.

Just a bit of fun, these are out there on-line; expanding foam pirates, this one credited to a Forum Novelties Inc., but there will be others I'm sure! Put him in water and he grows, put him on a radiator and he shrinks, cat gets him and he shreads!

With the demise of the Early Learning shops, and having received a few of their other large 'solid' figures in Charity Shop lots, I was pleased to find this old sales picture still finable on-line, The Early Learning Centre pirates.

Saw this, or was I sent it? It might have been part of the wider conversation into Brian Berke's Charles W Morgan kit, which we looked at a couple of ITLAPD's ago? Or I looked it up after? No matter, it's piraty, and Captain Morgan may have produced pirate premiums at some point, maybe a little metal one like the old Britains semi-flat Johnny Walker? I just feel I should be saying more about it?

I got a Supreme carded pirate, I'm sure I've seen a generic version in a catalogue somewhere, but can't remember where . . . Henbrandt or Marshalls maybe? Anyway, it comes with a faux-velvet purse (treasure bag!) and one figure, who gets a rather crude boat to play in which is barely large enough for him and his huge treasure chest, which has a naff card-insert treasure, rather like Blue Box's hay-wagon load! Here branded to Halsall's (HTI) Time4Toys.

When I looked at the Klutz bits a while back, this chap had just come in, in a mixed lot, so I used him as a sizer, and shot a couple more to go here, so here they are! Fontanini, hard PVC 60/70mm, they also appeared in a smaller size, like these and as unpainted/antique-washed polyethylene versions - the cat'O'two-tails!

Peter Evans bought this for me in the Toy Project Charity shop a while back (Christmas-time I think) and we will be back with them in a minute, but this post is written-up in an 'as they were added to the folder' order, and he came earlier.

He seems to be designed to hold something on his head and I suspect it's treasure or tokens as you move round a board game? He may - equally - not be a pirate, but more of a general 'historical' figure, he looks a bit fairy-tale-artwork-of-my-childhood like? I think he IS a pirate, just covering possibilities - anyone recognise him?

Why is this in the folder? First Captain Morgan, now these? Goes away, has a coffee and a think, comes back non-the-wiser and writes a couple more picture captions . . . OH! Yes, someone (Chance Priest?) on Brian Heiler's Facebook group (where lots of them are Mego fans) found it and I was sufficiently amused by the subject-matter to chuck it in the ITLAPD folder!

Italian kids of the 1970's obviously thought nothing of buying their pirates large and in sixes! There's gotta'be a story here - festival of some kind, very larger garden-toy/sand-pit ship by the same company? Giocattoli Querzola.

Unknown cartoon octopus with a pirate's air about him, unmarked, but in a Kinder style, so maybe another capsule-toy issuer? Is he a character from Sponge Bob or a more generic thing?

This IS a capsule toy AND Kinder! Lady-pirate from a crew which is both unisex in mix/numbers and overall quite androgyn! Not sure if the 'Pablo' character comes separately - and apart from the rest of the set - in a larger 'maxi-egg', or is reduced from the apparent size in the artwork on the insert sheet (where this figure - Alisea - is not seen in the issued figure's pose/sculpt) to fit in the normal-sized eggs?

Not my thing particularly, but it does ID some blobby, black knights we may or may not have seen here, I know I had some come in but can't remember if I posted them? Redbox infant toy set, with equally blobby pirates and a ship which is of limited use in any scale that might be looking for something more realistic, but they would be cheap.

I can't remember if we've seen these here before or not, they were available last year as I shot them for the 'seen elsewhere shot (next shot below), but I think I then realised they weren't on the Blog, so shot them for this year, or something, anyway, here they are and I don't think I know anything else about them - more corner-shop, counter-box pick'n'mix vinyl's?

That 'seen elsewhere' shot, which was all the softer PVC or PVC-a-like figures, with the K&M / Wild Republic; centre left, Klutz in his own row; top right, the chap from Brain B above him. The two ships crew; bottom right, the four we just saw; top left, and a few odds and sods.

These are on Alibaba, and are probably available about the place as generic cake decorations, I have a similar Disney Alice' set in the queue which I have managed not to post several times despite meaning to! Nice sculpts, well finished, but cartoony, and nothing like the characters in the licence they are knocking-off, but both the skeleton and the lady have mileage enhancing others sets?

Current listing on Toy Major's site, set W5545 Action World Pirate Collection window box, previously carried by Toysmith (and others), and here with some useful accessories.

Another one I was outbid on! And it went for silly money for a relatively current set, but there you go! Pech Brothers copies with a runner of crude accessories from BumSlot! They may previously have been seen from Montaplex or Hobby-Plast.

I was up in London last Wednesday and added these two to the post at almost the last minute, a Papo-Mini (40mm) and a piratical penguin of unknown origin who has something of Phidal about him?

Both bought from the Toy Project which I visited with Peter Evans, they have a new layout and more stuff (post in the queue) and have opened another shop, so seem to be doing well which is nice!

But the eleventh-hour slot on additions to this post went to an eBay BIN-purchase of cheap fondant-icing cutters which arrived a day or two ago! They were so cheap, and I plan on making a pirate-cake for a future ITLAPD, so we may see them again - plans and reality being separate tenants on life's journey!

W is for Whacky Wheeled Wanderers

Picked this up the other day, relatively recent (2014) and not expensive, but possibly the best 'readymade' so far, so we will have a look at it, although while it's not a kit in the sense of Airfix or Revell's trim-and-glue offerings', it does come in pieces and includes two screws!

New Ray's window-boxed Space Adventure, includes the Command Module and Eagle Lander (in an indeterminate scale) and a Luna Rover 'Buggy' with supporting figures in approximately 1:50 (35mm).

The bits I'm less interested in! The Command Module comes as a single piece, the Landing Module is two assemblies, both of four pieces with the screws, and after assembly, they further clip together with the two holes just visible on the box-base and two spigots on the Rescue Module - which are different sizes so everything ends-up the right way round with the two halves of the exit ladder lining-up.

This is much cooler, a die-cast model with two clip-, or slip-in plastic instruments that can be glued, but I'll leave them loose to minimise future breakages . . . albeit increasing the risk of loss! the driver however is polymer.

The final item requires me taking a new 'line-up' photograph, so soon after I last updated the Airfix page! Indeed I've added some more to that page today, but not this chap yet. The base I'm using is - I think - a wall clock backing, and possibly a home-craft kit one at that, but I don't know, that's just a guess!

The Instruction sheet has no surprises, and no whacky language or syntax, indeed it has no words of command or guidance whatsoever " . . . and they did it all with a computer-brain smaller than a Nokia's!" But does have some easy-to-follow pictures . . . bargain!

So, here we have the nearest rival (bottom right) from Realtoy (so probably/almost certainly Pioneer, or Pioneer components - the driver for sure), it too is a die-cast mazac-alloy model, with a different layout of different instruments, given the effort that's gone into making these models, would I be correct in thinking they represent different mission vehicles, or different tasked journeys within a single Apollo mission?

Above it is the Tang drinks premium from the USA, it's had a bit of damage to a chair back, but I'm not in a position to be trundling such things into surgery at the moment so mending can wait. It is almost as simple as the Airfix one, and the positioning of the boxes on the front 'plate' have you wondering if they didn't use Airfix's as a starting-point for their bigger design?

The model is all polypropylene including the identical riders, and is about 1:35th scale, it has a motor-mechanism, running through the hollow rear-axle, which consists of a loop of thread-elastic (like you get round your spring-onions or gammon-joint sometimes) which hooks over two studs on the left wheel-hub, it is then wound by holding that wheel still and winding the handle on the other side, which the elastic is also looped through, which twists it up in the tube. Let go of the wheel and off it goes, dragging the handle with it? The handle may make a motor-noise, but I can't test it until I replace the now floppy, perished thread.

Finally the small one is from Safari's tube of Nasa's stuff; 'Space Toob', and is just as simple as the K&M one we looked at here (rather small images, but they do enlarge if you click on the main picture), and is in a similar material - substitute PVC.

The other three from the side, that's it; the other three from the side, there's no more blurb in the blurb jar!

I had a couple more shots which were too good to chuck! And . . . a bit more blurb; the instruments on the Realtoy model are integral die-cast with the main-body, so more robust than New Ray's, until they're snapped-off after-which they would prove a bugger to fix!

The Hing Fat one can be seen in a bag here, while the Montaplex one (or actually a rather dreary, grey plastic BuM reissue one) will get here eventually. I still have to track-down Redbox's recent version (a small black & white finished one), and a nice foam-puzzle one I saw from Buil-d-ream at some point.

And I thought I'd put the Galoob one/s up here, but I can't find the post, so I may not have (just thought about it with vivid mental imagery!), so i'll rectify that when I next have them to hand . . . they aren't in the drawers we saw briefly the other day, they are kept with the near in-scale Micro-Machines figures elsewhere!