T is for Two - Boxed Dinosaurs

Except that there are three boxes with seven animals so the 'T is for . . . ' trope doesn't really stack-up but you'll see what I mean! A big box from TXMaxx the other day, and two from 2017 and the now defunct Poundworld-Plus.

I also shot this shelfie in TKMaxx, about twice the size (of this morning's Poundland set) and five for a tenner they work out as less of a bargain, but still cheap and also reasonably sculpted and decorated, although a bit gapey-mouthed 'Chinasaur'! They're branded to NBC Apparel, which I think is also an in-house, phantom brand?

Top left to bottom right we seem to have; velociraptor, stegosaurus, tyrannosaurus rex, spinosaur and triceratops. That last one's a tad too babyish-looking!

We may have seen these, certainly we've seen other examples from the same multi-branded set of six models, and we saw some of the Poundworld-packed ones, but I don't know if I showed any from this sequence which I found in Picasa. Dated to the end of June (right) and beginning of July (left) 2017, so they may have been left out of other posts?

Triceratops and spiky-bastard-a-saur, they have been carried in two color-ways by at least four brands and in five or six packaging types(both sides of the pond) including pairs and trios, and would here (packaging has long gone) be branded to Toy Bank.

Other brands and known outlets are/were Henbrandt (singles in counter dispensers), Lollipop/LP (carded), Pounland/Funtastic (separately boxed) Out of the Blue (singles) all in the other - common -colour way, then TXMaxx (pairs and triples, brand-mark unknown) and these - both in the later paint-scheme.

V is for Villainous Venturer's New Version!

Remember the trio of small pirates we looked at in ITLAPD a few years ago, which I then found a Halsall-branded packaging (now HTI) shot of, on my old 'phone, for last year? Well, I found the even-older donors in storage!

These are they, the top three are the poses we've seen before here, the lower trio are 'new to Blog', colourful, around 35mm and a soft vinyl-like polymer.

They too (mentioned in the last post) have things in common with the Tiger/Strawberry Group stuff from the 1990's, credited to Supreme, but that doesn't mean I'm saying they are SP Toys, just that they are of that era/oeuvre, not least that Halsall carried the smaller copies and also carry copies of Supreme knights!

On the right of the clone-pairs are the Halsall copies and you can see they are a bit smaller and thinner all-round, (classic bad-pantographing), but follow the paint-scheme closely, apart from the base-wash. In cases like this they are as likely to be contracted by the originator of the donors as they are to be illegal copies, but again; I'm not saying that's the case, there's no evidence, either way.

They are scaled to go quite well with the Toy Bank vessel Peter Evans sent to the Blog last Christmas, after I had shelfied it; too tight to buy one!

Incidentally, there is a similar vessel appearing on feebleBay and Amazon at the moment, with two 54/60mm pirates, there are several deals, all 'buy it now', at least one direct from China, the others apparently UK clearance/wholesale type eBayers/sellers and all between 5.99 and 10-quid odd, well worth a look, I was tempted and they may be here for next year's ITLAPD!

A is for A Tail of Six Dinosaurs

Tail - tale - dinosaurs . . . never-mind! Brain sent a bunch of dinosaur shelfies the other day without knowing I had just bought another from the range in Poundland Plus, nor why I had bought it, and it's led to my digging out a few other images for a post which - if nothing else - is instructive of how the toy industry works at the bottom end!

These are they (Mr. Berke's shelfies, that is!); three dollars . . .  is what; one-eighty? Something like that! And for that money you can't complain, nicely blister-packed with backing-cards and a decent level of decoration, my complaint - voiced before now - is the rather obvious joins where separate mouldings are fused-together to give the impression of, or allow for poses which would otherwise have proven difficult or impossible with only undercuts.

By the 'other' LP; Lollipop Toys (or Brooklyn Lollipops Import Corp. as they call themselves!), there are six in the whole line, and you may have recognised one or two of them, as they have popped-up on the Blog in the past.

This is the range in its entirety, the upper shot being from Henbrandt's old catalogue, the lower shot from the back of the Poundland one I bought and Blogged a year or two ago. You can see that both companies were (are?) getting the same colour schemes, which also those carried by Brian's shelfie herd.

But, I'd already bought my 2nd 'Dippy', this time from Poundworld Plus, and now in a different scheme (right) to the [common] previous scheme, as we saw with the Funtastic one on the left; Funtastic being what the industry calls a 'phantom-brand' of Poundland, I tend to call them made-up brands or imagibrands!

The new one is by Toy Bank another phantom-brand . . . of the same group! This time the sub-branding on the box is 'Little Fossil Toys', which has to be added to Green Gecko and Pirate Monkey in the ever spiraling-upward list of cross-referenced 'brandlettes'!

Packaging - clockwise from top left - for Lollipop, Henbrandt and Poundworld Plus, note however, that the counter display carton from Henbrant's catalogue is wearing the logo for Zhong Jie Toys, a company already supplying Poundland (or was it 99p Stores? . . . Aaaaarrrrrhhhhh!) with wild animal models!

Remember my paint-tray-guilt-stupid-Brit-thing purchase the other month? Well, it's from the same range, in the same (older?) scheme; Out of the Blue, probably a contractor rather than a phantom, and while I can't remember the counter display, I bet it was the same as the Henbrandt catalogue shot . . .

. . . and I'll bet there are other contracted and phantom brands out there carrying these six rather good, usually very cheap, foamed-PVC (or similar) dinosaur models, indeed, I think I mentioned TKMaxx having sets of three about two years ago, with different graphical packaging! In fact I thought I'd taken a shelfie, but I can't find it so I may not have!

More dino's - later today.

F is for Follow-up - Pirate Ship

Of course, I should have left the pirate ship 'till TLAPD, but I wanted to let people know it was out there in case they wanted it, as it happens there are still several in my local Poundworld Plus, so there was no panic!

However, in the meantime Peter Evan's I think had gone for the figures (which were quite good) and had a Toy Bank / Pirate Monkey ship (via ITP Imports) to donate to the blog, so we can have a proper look at it.

Figures added to the ship on the left, I was going to populate it with the Eastern figures we looked at last TLAPD, but they were a bugger to dig-out, and it was an equal bind to put them away, so I grabbed Washington's tricorned troops of treachery from Airfix for a quick crew.

As you can see they go very well with it, the wheel is hideously over scale though, as are the two deck-guns and the 'party shop' sails probably need work first! The masts are clip-in and can be turned through about 30°; 15° each way from facing front, to catch wind from either direction. The ornate decorations on the sails are removable vinyl stickers, but the stripes are stencil-sprayed and will need a scrubbing!

There is a little black cannon-barrel sticking out of the hull and when you press it various lights and sounds are effected, with the two big deck guns going mad and various different messages shouted over war-sounds! Two other - white - lights by the wheel and in the bow also light-up for extra oomph!

Detail shots, the rat-lines could be properly woven and attached to the rather truncated chain-plates/chains (that here look like small, paired-cannon!) rather than relying on the stiff and over-scale, clip-on, polyethylene ones, as supplied. I also turned the anchor up the other way, I just thought it looked better, and imagine it would now swing forward and away from the vessel when released.

The figurehead - which is a clip-on - reminds me of the 30mm chap with a goose under his arm from the old 1960's Faller (?) powered/working fountain!

The bowsprit (if that's what the front sail's called!) was not bedded-in properly and while taking it all apart and putting it back together; I shoved it home properly and removed the little spruelete (top right) hanging underneath it!

There are floor-wheels which have a cleaver gearing or a slip-clutch which allows for pull-cord power through pulling the toggle at the back of the ship, but will also tolerate grip-the-ship pull-back-and-go motive power without damaging the cord's mechanism . . . I tried! However; the wheels are quite shallow, so it's vinyl or wood 'oceans', but not carpets.

Although put together in the factory (or at the wholesalers), it has a large number of removable bits and for those thinking of a quick paint-conversion to something more realistic for small-scale war-gaming - the two cannon on the deck can be removed, the wires could then be sealed-off with insulation tape, or the power removed with battery extraction. If the rat-lines went as well, you'd have a very useful little 14-gun whatever . . . brig? Sloop? I think it's a brig as it has two masts, square-rigged? [He says! After a quick Google!] Perfect for 1:76/72nd scale figures. Makes you realise how huge vessels like the Victory were, 10-18 guns was normal!

Thanks as always to Peter. They're still out there if you want a couple! Poundworld-plus and probably larger Poundlands.

21-03-18 - A similarly boxed medieval set has turned-up in Russian [Cyrillic] Graphics, only a matter of time before it appears here?

News, Views Etc...In Brief

So, I sort of lost my mojo over the weekend, I was going to post something for Sunday afternoon and this morning but my can-be-arsed tanks ran-dry on Friday and it didn't happen, and although I have tons of stuff in the queue I don't really know what I'm playing at for the next week or two.

New Additions 2017

In my defence we will hit 450-posts before the end of the year whatever happens so I'm not too bothered, clearly why the 'can't-be-arsed' reserve has kicked in! A few shelfies in awhile and the latest PW review later today, nothing for tomorrow yet, I may post something Spanish later, for tomorrow, but I'm doing Christmas trees and cutting wood and looking for holly with berries and important stuff like that right now!

That Pirate set the other day was imported by ITP, and branded to Toy Bank and Pirate Monkey . . . Toy Bank was one of the brands on those big rubber insects, so we can deduce that Pirate Monkey and Green Geko [sic] are madeupnames of Toy Bank. I'll add all relevant tags to the Pirate Ship's post before you read this.

Also Francesco Ferretti sent me the most fantastic shots of his Kinder collection last Thursday and they will make lovely eye-candy for the 12-days of Christmas, both for closing 2017 and setting us on the right path for 2018.

Maintenant - ici est un blog Français bel pour les jouets en plastique

http://www.lesjouetsdenicolas.fr/

P is for Poundworld-Plus Plastic Pirate Play-set Preview Post

Or - S is for Shiver me Shelfies, it's a Shifty Ship with Surly Sailors!

Saw this in Poundworld-Plus the other day, a big stack of them for a tenner, Christmas-stock I'll be bound, or my names Buttsttead Forttesque the III! Figures are Schleich/Papo-like, while the ship is better suited to 'HO/OO' compatible sea-borne shenanigans.

I didn't see a brand anywhere [ITP Imports from Toy Bank/Pirate Monkey] but I was holding shopping and a camera so it was all a bit cack-handed in the play-set inspection department, while they were piled-up by the tills, so I was sort of in the queue as I was faffing about!

A tenner? I left it, and I can't think of any collectors I know who are likely to grab one, but if you want an individual item from it and have younger relatives . . . it really would be like taking candy from a baby, "Oh dear, must have got lost in the wrapping-paper - which went on the fire"!

The figures; there's four of 'em.

Of more interest, maybe, for garden/54mm war-gaming (?) is this catapult, it's a bit clumsy-looking, a bit chunky, more like the old MPC one, but a bit of paint would bring it up to some sort of presentable shape! Or the wheels would be a useful addition to the ancient/medieval spares box!

And then there's this wheeled cage? Has it escaped from a 1970's Planet of the Apes play-set? As a lot of pirates WERE also slavers, it sort of makes sense, but none of the figures included will fit in it, so you'll need to source some miserably malnourished 65mm figures first! Ohh . . . Kinder Barbies - they'll fit, and the pirates will thank you!

At first glance I thought the horse was another of the Maxxi Toys ones we have been looking at but it lacks all the holes and the pulling-tackle just seems to just hook-over the saddle.

So there you go, Poundworld-Plus, and probably ordinary Poundland and Poundworld stores if that's what's local to you, they are all now owned by the same SA-based company, currently under investigation for fraud somewhere . . . Austria? It'll all be in the next 'News, Views...'.

F is for Follow-up -Poundworld-Plus Insects

Well . . . I bought them . . . it's funny, a few years ago I never would have bothered with this stuff, and - indeed - have been studiously  not buying the other set since the store opened back in the spring (or was it last year? I can't remember when I first Blogged their stuff?), but after the plethora of insects came together in one day last year (or the year before!) and with the Halloween tat piling-up this year, it's almost like why wouldn't I? And when you follow the traffic-stats per-post; it's funny what people actually want.

Buying the other set the other day obviously triggered a re-stock message back at head office as there were a whole bunch more when I was in the other night, and sure enough the other six of the "12 to collect" are on the other card, so 'two to collect' really!

No spiders in this sample, but we get two longer coffin/ground beetle types, three more hedge/garden beetles (the yellow one is very chafer-like) and a roach-alike.

They still look better dead! Gas! Gas! Gas!

Countdown to Halloween - 5 - Poundworld Plus's Rubber WTF's

While I was getting the previous 'countdown' post's back of bugs from Poundworld Plus I also purchased these - so you don't have to!

These are not part of the Halloween range, and I have been studiously ignoring them in the toy section of the store since it opened back in the spring, they are basically shite; large blobs of poorly executed silicon rubber, vaguely representing generic species, three spiders, two beetles and an ant, except that the ant is probably not an ant and therefore the only really interesting item on the card.

The card claims both Toy Bank and Green Geko [sic] Industries as brands/brand-marks but are actually another ITP Imports item - here in the UK at least.

The 'ant' looks like a Velvet Ant, which is actually a wingless wasp and a worthy species to have as a model, but the beetles are poor and while the three spiders are all different and all resemble the outlines of real creatures, they are chunky infant toys of no real merit, fun for five-year olds!

I would add, that while I've been ignoring them for a month [and wouldn't have bought them if it wasn't for the fact that over the last few weeks what was going to be multiple posts on the 31st became an insect related set of rack-toy posts suitable for a countdown trope], I have as yet to find the other six of the advertised "12 realistic insects for you to collect", despite checking the toy section at least once a week. Now that I've weakened and bought these I'll have to get the other six - if I see them!

They look better . . . dead; now that's a proper bit of the spirit of Halloween, right there!