R is for Roveing Reporter's Rack-toy Round-up #2

The second set of images from Brian Berke were all taken in a New Your branch of a Japanese firm called Daiso, and are mostly beyond the parameters of the Blog, but it's a movable feast, and water-pistols/ray guns have crept in over the years!

 

With Dinosaur!

 

Although not the same, this double-decker looking firearm, reminds me of Deckard's piece from the original Blade Runner movie, I'd call it 'seminal movie', but there are about five versions, and the better ones have been watched by the least numbers of viewers!

 

 

Clip-together, or basic constructional infant toys, it's a "yes" from me for the motorcycle, which seems to be a finer model, still on the runner, the other two are more grandchild fodder, but I hope Brian won't mind me pointing out, he does look at this stuff with a grandfather's eye now!

 

Both marked Series B, I must assume another B was the Roaches, with other critters in the Series A, whenever that was current? Ants, Spiders and ? Maybe?

 

Daiso had also sourced some stuff more locally, and these last three are from Jaru, a US jobber/importer of some standing, in both years and ranges, squishy stretch-monsters are cool! Thanking Mr Berke, and there's more to come!

L is for Lucky Large Bags!

We saw the two current issues of 'cornucopia' back in December, and one of these in Jan., and there was another, similar beast, in the queue, until I visited Peter Evans the other day, and he gave me a second, so we're looking at them both today, the contents being quite similar to each other, suggesting a common source for the contents, if not the management/corporate origin.

 

To be honest, I can't remember if this was fund in B&M, The Works or somewhere else, maybe The Range actually? Or when - it looks like it may have been this last January. Contents are close to those of the Hunter Price International/Toymania branded one, we saw in May, with the same toys, including the stretchy dinosaur-caterpillar thing, but with a 15-count, rather than the 20 in that previous sample - missing are the two maracas, the two flicky things (ID'd by Mark as 'slap-bands') and the yo-yo.

 

While the latest sample is another of the Toymania ones, but now reduced by 50% to ten items, even the catersau/dinopillar has 'bought it', but, as you can see the car, spinning top and others are identical to the previous set above, so clearly they are from the same stable. As they (this and January's) are both 'Series One', it may be a price-point thing, rather than a 'shrinkflation' second tranche?

D is for Donation - Peter - Books, TV, Movie and Licensed

OK, so we're on to recognisable characters, although these days, they are coming so thick and fast, from so many streamers, with all the old favourites getting darker (Batman) or lighter (the dreadful Disney Pooh) makeovers, alternate universe versions, good and bad clones (Spider-Man, or should it be Spider-Men now?), indeed, the whole Marvel/DC thing is disappearing up its own arse, as Andy Warhol once predicted, albeit with choicer language!

 

Another Smiley (we've seen one or two recently), but this one has some age, and unlike the modern ones with their overprinted faces, his facial detail is sculpted-in. A Batman keyring, a bit of a caricature, this one, and a Gamorrean Guard from Hasbro's Star Wars Command.

 

This is an interesting one, on one level it's a teeny novelty rack-toy from China in a generic bag, but it's in the style and material of, and the same size as, the Phidal interactive book figure Duke Caboom (Captain Canuck knock-off from Toy Story), and the suspicion is it might be from the same source/factory, maybe a cancelled order, on clearance, and is compatible with the better-known figure? We can compare in a later post of this series!

Disney . . . for girls! And we have two from Frozen, Kristoff and Elsa, both capsule toys, one Kinder the other a lesser make I think, possibly both seen before? Bo Peep from Toy Story, a larger figurine from a source unknown to me, and a less definite 'fairy' like figure, almost certainly a Kinder something?

Some Japanese Anime/Manga thing, don't know anything about him, but nice figure.

Alternate Hulk in red? Actual Hulk from Phidal, we saw another recently, but they are very different shades of green, a Hotwheels figure from Mattel, shades of General Grivous in him, a damaged LB knock-off in 50mm (in the wrong post!) and a stamper;

 

I searched 'yellow suit' and 'horns' for both Marvel and DC, and couldn't find anything looking like him, although I knew several of the new characters have a similar look, then I remembered the flyer from the Fortnite post, and there he was, top left in the 'legendary' section, so a Fortnite character.

 

Current, or very recent Kinder, in two separate lots from Peter here, and interesting as they seem to be copies (fully licensed, the Playmobil logo is all over the packaging) of the children from that toy line, but with clip-together waists, to get them into the eggs. DC Superheroes, they have all the better ones! And, I guess, you add them to your Playmobil tub, as children dressing-up as DC characters? No accessories, but the hands are full-size for standard Playmobil stuff, and - with these - there's already a lot of value packed into the standard-priced eggs.

 

No idea on the Superman, the diver is also in the wrong group-shot, but hey, there he is, definitely to be further sorted (he's probably still in a bag with the other three!) a modern stretchy-smiley, with the over-printed face and a Homer Simpson of the size of, but not from the Monopoly set, so maybe a lesser capsule toy egg issuer like Zàini - LZ or Maraja, like the Kristoff from Frozen above?

 

I suspect these are from a kid's comic or magazine/periodical, they are that two-halves-of-substantial-polystyrene, glued together, which you see with a lot of the cover-presents, we've seen Clangers, Peter Rabbit and Octonauts here so far, this is the Fat Controler from Thomas the Tank Engine I think, and clearly two different issues, one realistically finished, one all in silver?

Super-deforms, I recognise a couple of the recent Marvel Spider-People, don't know the other two. They might be from a blind-bag set Brian Berke sent images off, but I can't find them on the Blog, and I can't find them in the ever-growing Picasa queue, so possibly badly tagged, however, the search did reveal how much of this blind-bag stuff is out there, and how much we've seen, one way or another!

 

Two more, not much idea on the issuers, I think Chewy may be Kinder, the sucker Captain America is the first licensed figure of the type I've seen, but there is a growing bag of the generic cartoonish sucker 'monsters', in the style of Shopkins, Moshlings, Smashers, Ooshies or Superzings, from which he's taken!
 

On the left another superhero I think, but I don't recognise him or his line/make, then a Barbie, which looks Kinder, but is a whole figure and wouldn't fit in an egg, so some other cheap bagged, capsule or rack-toy line? Disney dwarf, and another Fortnite stamper, easier to ID, as most of the female characters seem to have those armoured knee-pads!

 

Thanks again to Peter for saving all this for the blog, quite an eclectic mix!

B is for Big Bag

Just a quickie, another 'lucky bag' type thing, in the same vein as the two cornucopias we saw a while back (Christmas?), and with very similar contents of little use to military figure minded peeps such as yourselves, but, we buy this shit so you don't have to!

 

Courtesy of Hunter Price International, under the Toymania branding, I think I got this in The Works, it was back last August, but I think I've since seen it elsewhere as well? Asda carry Toymania, as do a couple of the Sub-Poundland discount stores.

 

Contents include a quite good sample of 18 standard novelties or party gifts, including light-up cars, bouncy-balls, a shaped slinky, maracas clackers/clappers, blow-ball balancer, 'helicopter', spinning tops, a couple of stretchies, a balancing bird, a disc 'baseball' firer, and two weird bookmark things? Clearly designed to keep two smaller people happy, without fighting over who has what.

 

The stretchy unicorn has a hole in its arse and can pass through itself?

 

Two-colour stretchy smiley.

 

The weird bookmark things? They seem to utilise memory-metal, to roll up or unroll, but why? I think I'm missing something in my old age; both space-themed, they would make useful bookmarks, but I suspect they have another function?

 

It's funny, but memory-metal, is a bit like 3D printing, apart from one or two esoteric medical applications, both technologies have been used primarily to make toys, novelties and other short-life, ephemeral crap! While I don't think Nano Carbon or Buckminster Fullerine have even had a decent application yet, beyond research and being talked about as the next big things . . . it's almost like we are running out of ideas, even as we keep having them, if you know what I mean, ceasing to strive for excellence and sliding back to an anti-democratic, belligerent, less enlightened 19th century mindset! 

 

The launcher of the 'helicopter' disc, they had a period of being 'UFO's didn't they?

 

That't it, might keep younger kids happy for an hour or so!

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.

M is for May's Visit - Boxed and Carded

In addition to the stuff I bought on the day, Peter had also encountered some rack-toy and other stuff, which he put to one side for me, and with the next Rack Toy Month a while away, they can go here!

 

I think we've seen the Unique set before, but the stretchysaurs from Tobar are all new. Similar to others we've seen here, but a bit bigger. And with several comparison shots of these party-favour type monochrome beasts, in the smaller scale, now seen here on the Blog, I think the first image is the 'missing link'! 

 

KTL Topco Limited would appear to be a trading name for Kandy Toys, they share the same business park and postcode address/es, and this larger-scale set may give us a clue to one or two of the many mini-sets, as that bright pigmented spray, over a greyish-white synthetic PVC, is seen in mini-sets of Dinosaurs, sea-life and wild animals?

 

I think Peter really just wanted off'ski for this, and I said I'd try to offload it, but I didn't really know how, then I realised the gazebo/folly, and a couple of the other elements, might make useful photo-props in the future, so for now it's in the storage unit!

 

There used to be a chap who specialised in Bayko (it's not Bakelite, it's polystyrene!) around the shows, but I haven't seen him or his distinctive Bayko knitted-jumper for a while, probably not since . . . well,  lockdown, so I fear the worst - when you look at the Blogs which haven't uploaded/posted for five years, you realise Covid cut a bit of a swathe through old toy collectors, I'm afraid.

 

Many thanks to Peter for all these.