M is for Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Neither had I, but it's all here;

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miraculous:_Tales_of_Ladybug_%26_Cat_Noir

 

And I'll quote the first paragraph for the lazier among you!

 

"Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (French: Miraculous, les aventures de Ladybug et Chat Noir) is a French, animated superhero television series created by Thomas Astruc and developed by Jeremy Zag. The series is produced by the French company Miraculous Corp. (a joint venture of Mediawan and ZAG Entertainment), and co-produced with Japanese studio Toei Animation's European division, as well as several international companies."

 

Totally passed me by, yet seems eminently preferable to Paw Patrol or Bluey! It's an age thing, I know, but it's funny how some toy lines sink, and others swim? These were sent to me by Peter Evans about eighteen months ago, and PMI are known for cheapo' toys and sell though, so I'm guessing they were clearance, in one of the Poundland type store chains, or a North London independent discount store?

 

Ladybug ('Ladybird' en anglais, although technically it should be 'coccinelle' in French!) is the red lady, Cat Noir the black, and other characters are beyond the time I'm willing to spend researching this now!

 

The full range? If a toy doesn't 'fly' on first release, it doesn't get a second chance these days, so this is probably all there is; ten human characters and six anthropomorphic blobs of an insecty or feline nature?

 

Very much in the style of the more successful, but also sold-though Poundland (and The Works) on reductions, or as clearance, Fortnite stampers and/or keyrings, so probably sourced from a similar producer in China.

Many thanks to Peter for bringing these to a wider attention, by sharing them with us!

M is for May Visit - TV, Fantasy and Sci-Fi

So, to the last of the plunder I picked-up in May, and it's all the less than realistic or historical stuff, with a little bit of everything!

 

Another Weetos cereal premium, I seem - over the last few years - to have gone from waiting for the full set in any colour to how many do I have in all colours?! A knock-off MPC and a rocket which might be a missile from a big-box set?

 

Four Phidal 'Busy Book' superheroes, or villains, I already have the second from the left, but without the freezy-fronds, and it was the Archer which kicked that particular odyssey off, back in 2017!

 

Christmas cracker angel, I have quite the orchestra now! Unicorn's were Unique or The Works I think? A Battle Beast sans weapons, often the way, but I do have spares bags of odd action-figure sized accessories, so there will be a mating-up session one day. And a Gem putti/Eros/Cupid cake decoration.

 

Those generic superheroes again, I did find their post the other day, with help from Brian we'd ID'd them one side of The Pond at least as both 'Aircraft Warrior' (JPW I think), or Warrior Super Fighters (as a generic), but - in both cases - sans these little companion figures (here missing the blue one),

 

A vinyl-rubber modern Santa, and an older styrene one, the latter sold as a cake decoration, the newer, probably as part of an eraser set? Soon be Christmas . . . again!

 

Elves or children? Obviously from a board game, and they seem to be moving on tippy-toe, and shushing, with their finger, so maybe they are night-caps, and it's a bedtime game?

 

I thought this was one of the Gormity figures from Ideal we saw, in some shelfies a year or two ago, but they were gunmetal and different poses, so he's still a mystery, and a chunky one!

 

Ben 10 on the left, prbably the green one too, and maybe the chap with a red shirt, I think the last one is Star Wars? While the gezzer in the middle looks like a Disney Princess type knock-off, some kind of price or suitor?

 

Two Mighty Morphin's, Micro Machine on the left, unknown mini on the right.

 

Two of the Hing Fat 'Galaxy Cowboys'. 

 

A mixed lot, with a rack-toy Ninja, Iwako eraser bear, Toy Story's 'Combat Carl' from Phidal, slightly damaged, poured-resin ceremonial bear (needs it's pole-crown replaced), a Munch Bunch banana, and what is, I think, Jess the cat from Postman Pat?

 

UFO with little Aliens, I actually saw these in the store on a more recent visit to Peter, and I can't, for the life of me, recall if they were drowning in slime, or surrounded with candies, but it was one or 'tother? Green or purple, and they are in that stiff but softish synthetic rubber/PVC replacement elastomer, while the saucer is a bog-standard 'styrene. Note they have charm-loops but no chains.

 

Many thanks as always to Peter for most of these, I got the Phidal's and the game pieces from the Toy project I think, he found everything else.

M is for Mighty Morphin's!

A new Toy Shop opened in Basingrad, while I wasn't paying attention, Toytown, in the big precinct, I think I have mentioned it before, but I bought these there, and kept going back to see if head office had sent some more down, although it was clear they were a discounted end-of-line thing.

 

As I clearly needed the Blue Ranger! Even thought they were clearly old stock, I thought maybe if the parent was supporting the new store with discounted stuff, to get the punter's in, maybe they'd have a couple more strips of these, but after over a year, they hadn't tuned up, and I'd blogged whatever else it was that caused me to mention them before, while the above shot languished in Picasa!

 

However, while visiting Peter Evans back in May, attending the Toy Project charity shop, and filling a few bags with bits, I managed to find these two, and thought "Hum, oversized Power Rangers, which ones do I need?", but, not remembering, I bought both as I was pretty sure I needed one, and indeed it was the Blue Ranger, while Yellow confirms they are the same set, without me needing to remove the others from their cards, or dig them out of the storage pile!

 

A bit big, at around 70-mil, but solids, and quite reasonable sculpts compared to some of the fatties we saw last time;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2020/09/mmpr-is-for-mighty-morphin-power-rangers.html

 

And, might go quite well with the based ones, we saw a couple of (red & black) in Rack Toy Month from Brian B. Interestingly, despite an ocean between them, the artwork on these baseless-figures' cards, is similar to the black-based ones sent to the Blog in August, so maybe the same prigin/factory?

O is for Once Upon a Time, in June! Sci-Fi, Fantasy, TV & Movie

As a complete contrast to Pirates, this is the stuff of a whackier nature I picked up at last June's Plastic Warrior show, not as much in this category as some years, but a couple of really quirky things, a nice box-ticker, and a rarity or two!

 

A T-Rex, on a skateboard, waving an axe? It doesn't get much weirder than that, except it's just about to! And while it may be Kinder, it could be a lesser make of capsule-egg, or even a gum-ball type thing?

 

The Heudebert marked copy of a Captain Video figure was a lovely find, and while the original is one prone to damage, here they've shortened the firearm into more of a pistol, and despite the fine barrel, it has survived! While the actually Kinder gnome, is standing front of the Lone Star toadstool house!

 

And no, this is not where it gets weirder, this is pretty weird, but not the real weirdness! A money-box/bank, made by the same division that was responsible for the rubber pet-toys and squeakers, this is a stable (non-weeping) PVC, issued under the Eaglet branding.

 

This is the box ticker, a set of the Toys R Us bucket set True Legends - Mythical Warriors fantasy figures, one of each pose, so someone was offloading their master set? I've seen them credited to both Toy Major AND Chap Mai, it's likely to have been one or the other, and with other True Legend sets having the Toy Major sleleton warriors, for now, I'll go with them. Brian Berke did send us a handful of these, a while back, but no one ID'd them at the time!

 

Weirdness, but still not the weirdest, the Alien is about seven inches, and while made of rubber, seems to have a very solid interior, like it's metal underneath, you could certainly use it as a cosh! UFO lawn-skittles maybe?

 

The Wonder Woman is a cord-tie type thing, I've seen others, for school-bags or whatever, sometimes they are a keychain type thing . . . I don't know, I'm blagging it, off vague memories of things seen, out and about, it was in one of the donation bags!

 

From the right . . . no, the RIGHT, we have another of the larger Captain Video space/GI figures from Lido Archer, then an unknown figure which looks both character-driven and a bit Phidal-looking, but probably not actually by them, maybe a Ben 10 thing?

 

In the middle is the female scarecrow, pencil-top, who looks like a line-up completer, for the John Pertwee era, Worzel Gummidge set; I don't recognise the character? I have three now, I think, and I assume there's at least four, so, with this and two Gummidge's, I suspect I'm still looking for a rendition of Una Stubb's Aunt Sally?

 

The monkey is a tea-bag premium I think, while on the far-left, is the real weirdness, it's so weird, it's been left-off the left of left-field! 

 

This was in a bunch of smaller bits from Adrian, and I looked at it and said something about 'fun' and 'homemade', and he looked a little hurt at my dismissal of his offering, and sure enough, when I got it home (my eyesight is getting shit! But I have got reading glasses now), it became clear that while, yes that is bread-bag ties for arms and legs, the whole assembly seems to have commercial thought, and actual design behind it?

 

Originally a cartoon dog keyring and pencil-topper, the green tie has been carefully designed to have the arm-and-leg twists run over the top of it, and down channels in the sides, so as it's pushed into the pencil cavity it holds everything tight. The boots are gum-ball charm, football boots, while the cartoon hands should have convinced me straight away.

 

Everything is PVC except the bag-ties, which are in a non-standard (for bag-ties) colour, and everything is filled/sealed with what looks like the plumbers-sealant I use for PVC mends. That someone ever thought this up, let-alone thought it might have commercial potential is extraordinary, but someone else looking at it, remembered something like them, in gum-ball capsule machines!

 

It's a commercially manufactured, 'homemade' bendy toy, gum ball prize! Of a dog, in a tie, with Mickey Mouse gloves, and football boots, with googly eyes!

 

A couple of Matchbox whatsit-2000 figures, an Aristocat cereal premium, an unknown . . . trash-panda? Kinder maybe? A phone-ornament/hanger, of Buzz Lightyear, an Autobot's fireable fist (?) and a Star Wars looking, action-figure sidearm!

 

Kinder either side, Daffy Duck as a plug-together 'Steckfigure', along with one of the cartoon 'deform' spacemen, but between them, in slightly marbled yellow plastic, too large for a Kinder egg, is a Res Plastic solid, of Speedy Gonzalez! And obviously punched for a key-ring or cord.

 

As I can never remember which of these Tinykins I have, I'll always buy them, if I see them going cheap, and these were reasonable, so I grabbed them. I think I have most of them, but the cousin-ducks are all different, and I don't know if I have all of them, and wasn't sure if any Thumper I have has both ears!
 

As before; thanks are due to - Issack, Graham Apperley, John Begg, Barney Brown, Brian Carrick, Peter Evans, Adrian Little, Michael Mordant-Smith, Trevor Rudkin, Steve Vickers, and with no emails since the intro-post, anyone else who gave me stuff, I've forgotten to add! Many thanks to all.

C is for 'Collector Pack' Corsaires!

So, the biggest question mark hanging over ITLAPD, was actually answered in the spring of 2024, when, quite by chance, looking for something else, I encountered not the Zizzle Pirates I've been asking about for years, but the superheroes tacked-on to the end of this post. The answer to the question being . . . They are Disney theme-park Collector Pack figures. But I ran-out of time last year, so they didn't get posted!

 

Five additions to the collection, I think one or two may be duplicates, but as they turn-up infrequently, and seem to have some value, when listed correctly (I've been lucky with mine, and the three or so prior purchases has always been unknown, undescribed, or just PotC type listings), the duplicates should sell-on eventually, and it's going to be the only way to get all of them!

 

 

Not that I have any idea how many there are, yet, and decent websites on the collector packs are hard to find, like, I haven't found one! I did find that in around 2012 (or earlier, Zizzle ceased trading in 2009?), the size changed, and the chap in the middle here, is from a set of 16, which includes three micro-ships, sized for board games!

 

An Internet shot with some of the figures I still have to find. It seems the Collector Packs, are like blind bags, or Gashapon, and only available in the theme-parks, possibly as you arrive, or leave? And the reason nobody managed to ID them all these years? I think the average toy soldier collector is two cultured to spend his or her days praying to the corporate money-pit of self-referential Mamon, which theme-parks represent?!

 

Another of the new, smaller figures, 40mm against the 54mm'ish of the older sets, depicts Captain Hook from Disney's Peter Pan, again, I don't know which set he’s from, or whether it's a set of Pan characters or mixed Disney staples, Micky, Sleeping Beauty etc . . .?

 

However, I did find out that newer franchises/Disney properties are represented in both sets, and ended-up with these Superhero figures in 54mm, also by Zizzle to go with the Kinder and Res Plastics types! I still don't know the significance of the base marks and wildlife silhouettes, and if this now rings any bells with anyone, we still need all the other questions answered!

• How many sets
• How many figures
• When were they issued
• How were/are they obtained 
• What's the story with the base marks

and, I guess;

• If Zizzle made the old ones, who's making the new ones?

But, at least we now know they are Disney collector packs, and I'll try to find time, in the next few days, to re-Tag the previous outings of them, here at Small Scale World.

R is for Rack Toy Round-Up - North America - Two of . . . a Few!

Continuing to look at the stuff Brian B has sent to the blog in the last few weeks, these were all shot in a Target Store in Connecticut I believe, and mostly TV/Movie related licensed characters.

 

My Little Fawn?

 

There is, somewhere in Picasa, a multipart 'miniseries' which never got published (it will, one day!), which Brian contributed to, on the subject of those figurines you see in the windows of game-swap shops, which are interactive, electronic playing pieces, for/from several modern gaming systems, these seem to be similar, but are more music oriented I think? Can't knock The Muppets!

 

Superstuff!

 

Also a bit big for my parameters, but I know from the Plaid Stallions crew, that there's a massive fan-base for GI Joe, Stateside, with the guys telling each other where certain figures have popped-up! Same with the 'new' Mego's!

 

Even dog-food is promoting the new movie! It launched with much hype as the summer's big movie, and a sort of reset for the brand, but it's gone quiet now, so I don't know if it's good, OK, or a bit duff . . . Has anyone seen it?

 

The two boats are halfway between the rockets and the rubber-boats we saw yesterday from B&M, and it looks like the two boats are wind-up workers.

 

Plastic flat, gravity floaters?

Thanks again to Mr Berke for going out and finding these.

H is for How They Come In - Charity Shop, November

To be honest, while sorting all these out I couldn't remember when or where I'd got these, but I remembered picking the four Timpo 'Action Pack' Arabs out of a bin of mostly shite, and with all the shots dated together, they must have been a charity-shop round-up, I didn't shoot the bags of?

 

They came with a medium-sized Supreme/SP horse, I think it was 20p each or something, so I just grabbed a quid's-worth, I know I have the Timpo Arabs somewhere, but it's a mixed tub of painted, Action Pack and later re-issues in beige, by Marlborough or Dorset, but I thought it would be nice to tick the box here with a matching set of the mauve ones, whether I already have them all, or not!

 

I suspect a mix of Kinder, Phidal and someone else here, all grist to the mill, and it'll all come out in the wash! God knows what's happening with the Pirate parrot, or the chaps either side of him, anyone recognise any of them? The pink t-Shirt is probably a 'Shopkin' or similar blind-bag, pocket-money collectable.

 

This guy was with the above, beyond the fact that he's some sort of robo-alien, in around 45/50mm, with a very, very big sword, I have nothing else!??

 

While these are Phidal, we've seen the two on the left, before, but the greenish-guy with the claw is new to me, however, a few have come in, not from the sets I've tracked down, so I know I'm missing a a few figures from some of the early Superhero issues.