V is for Valkyries, The Ride of the Valkyries

Or, if you haven't got loudspeaker-equipped Huey 'Slicks' to hand, Colonel Bogey on the two-tone 'dixie horns' might suffice! It's the Jimson Land Rover, much bigger than the transporter we looked at last, at about 1:24/25th, and a rather nice Series III, except it's ruined by the white cab-roof, and what I'm guessing might have been circus horns on another version of the toy; model number 115.

 

That's it, it's clean, it needs the surgical removal of the sir horns, and a repaint wouldn't go amiss, but would obviously ruin its resale value, there's not a lot else to add, so I won't, and it's a Jimson, push-and-go, carpet-toy 'Lanny'! ♫♪♪♫ Paar-paar-paar-paaaarp-parp ♪♫♪♪!!

V is for Very Fine Sight!

During Brian Berke's recent sojourn in Italy, he bought this pair of larger scale items, as rather brilliant toy-related mementos of their visit, and nothing more iconic than a Vespa moped . . . with added babalicious babe from Babalonia!*

 

In Brian's own words;

"The two wheeler riders in Naples and surrounding area are positively demented.

This may be part of the universal road rage post Covid lockdown, though I suspect they were this way before.

The roads are narrow, which does not deter 2 wheelers from passing cars both into oncoming traffic and curbside at the same time. They go down pedestrian only streets. There are the equivalent of Zebra crossings. The custom is walk across and ignore traffic? Do not make eye contact. It was quite unnerving. Two wheelers don't stop they weave around you as you cross.

So I had to purchase this as it represents the most notable memory of the trip. The scale is larger than I would like but I wanted to buy it in Italy rather than later. The figure was the only one I could find, bought in the US which surprisingly it pretty accurate in terms of rider dress code near the beach!

It has gone on display temporally while the trip is fresh in the memory."

For a speculative purchase, they work very well together, and at 1:18th scale (approximately 90/100mm or 3-inches) the bathing beauty from American Diorama looks perfect on the Maisto moped, and one can imagine her posing in the warmth of the evening's setting sun, in one of the Piazzas, while her beau fetches a soft-scoop ice-cream cone!

We have a scaler, with the Crescent shooter, it's a trope which has rather fallen by the wayside in the last few years, not least because of everything else which has been going on, but I intended to have a couple on the planned, dedicated photo-station, once I'm fully settled, and we'll get back to 'berserker' comparisons!

As part of an eclectic display of odds and ends!

Brian shot an actual one in situ!

Many thanks to Brian for these, it's nice to have something a little left-field, and with a first for American Diorama (poured PU resin), it also adds to the underused Maisto (doe-cast) Tag . . . and, it's a babe in a bikini!

* I think I nicked that from Bill & Ted!

V is for Variations on a Theme

Nothing earth-shattering or definitive, so much as a few bricks in the wall, on the subject of the two robots seen in the previous post, which I picked-up at Plastic Warrior's show back in May, these are from a number of image folders I have with lots of pulp-era 'dimestore' stuff in, and were probably all shot on Mercator Tradeing's stall over the years.

 

We did have a look at them here before, as well, and some of those in this post may have since joined my sample in the older post, to which the other two will be joined, when everything gets sorted at the other end, where-ever and when-even that is!

 

I shot these on Adrian's table, this Saturday just gone, the reason being I thought it was interesting to show, that while there are some differences between the early and late runs of the old tool, here we have two originals (blue and copper-bronze), and a Glencoe re-issue (turquoise) who all have the same PAT. PEND. (C) mark on the rear of their torsos, latter Glencoe issues had a larger set of marks for some reason, but I've yet to shoot one, I have a sealed set, which I'll open on here one day, and see what marks that's got!

 

While these silver ones have no markings at all, and must be copies? You can tell they're not from the same tool by the lack of a collar/washer on the rivets compared to the Archer originals. I'm pretty sure the one in the two comparison shots is now in my stash, while the top left image of the back was taken at Sandown, at the weekend, and shows a more gunmetal/aluminium coloured moulding. The green one I picked up in May is the same moulding.

Suggesting these (bottom image) are clones too (Ajax, Banner, Dillon or Empire? Maybe Tudor Rose or Kleeware over here? Nobody seems to be 100% sure! Indeed, one source states no one else produced them, which is patently false.), while in the upper shot, I compared them to a few other spacemen from Marx, Manurba (et al) and Torgano., that were available on the day! Really only musing on the robot, I have rather neglected all these dime store era space figures, but soon hope to have the time to play catch-up with all of it.

V is for Vitriform Venusian Villains

Well, they don't look very friendly, they're as likely to be from Venus as anywhere else, given they are FICTIONAL, and they are definitely glasslike, as they are made out of glass! I shot these oddities on Adrian's Mercator Trading table back at one of the London Shows in the year just gone - torch-welded rod-glass alien figuriens

They look like the kind of thing you get in the sort of gift shop which isn't tied to a major tourist attraction, or a posh/independent Hotel's gift shop - "Something to take home for the relatives"? Clearly in a Murano style, but not well-executed enough to be such a renowned mark, and these were unmarked, in generic plain stock-boxes, but still - rather fun!

I think the two on the left are variations of the same purple/mauve chap/ess, while red and blue are to the same design, but obviously different colourways (red is quite opaque) and the green amphibiman one is altogether different, maybe from Mars! They could - of course - be qualification/end of term pieces from a glass student? The bases are also glass, opaque, white glass, like and Old Spice bottle!

V is for Von Braun's Vergeltungsparschwein!

Half WWII German A4/V2, half Tin-Tin, and all piggy-wiggy-bank! I would have sent it to someone else, as a bit outside my remit, but they eschewed my input with their own actions, and my remit has changed, so we will see more of this stuff and other things beside, so much to catch-up on!

Shelfie taken in TKMaxx just before the main Christmas decoration display went-in, mid-November, at which point they were displaced, but may be back there now, they weren't cheap though, or I would have taken the silver one, paint on the other was a bit hit-and-miss!

V is for Vertunni

Having raised the level of the blog (while lowering the tone!) with a fragment of Cellose earlier, I thought I'd carry it on with some Vertunni!

 

Joan of Arc

Originally an Italian wood-carver, working in France who immigrated to the USA, his wife was the only person allowed to paint the figures, which are mostly of French subjects, although a number of others are listed, including a few Brit's, mostly royalty through the ages, particularly those who 'interacted' with the French . . . throws up two fingers to show he can still use a bow!

L'emperor, in various dress, his wife & marshals (and mistress?), shot on Mercator Trading's table (thanks to Adrian), these are something I know of, but will probably never own a sample of! They are really nice, lead, or high-lead-content whitemetal, the painting by Madame Vertunni is exquisite, especially the patterns on the coronation robes.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ephemera - after the original Corr's leaflet are various cuttings which will be from - in no particular order, because I don't know - Polk's, Bob Bard and either Americana, or [American] Moulded Miniatures? One is clearly dated to just after Vertunni's death (1955) the others will be (from the lower numbers) earlier?

Which - reading from the bottom of the page - would make this Americana or Polk's?

 No, it's the Corr's general catalogue!

These two are probably from Bob Bard's list?

 

I think these two might be from a Moulded Miniatures catalogue?

V is for Vintage

This appeared in my feed at 5am, although it was posted yesterday evening, I used to ring Vintage Tyres daily when I worked briefly at Northhant's, so I'm sure the guys down there won't mind me spreading the publicity a little wider!

 

"We don’t know if the Daleks were to blame, but Doctor Who’s car had a flat tyre when it arrived at Beaulieu for a new exhibition at the Beaulieu, National Motor Museum.

The fabulously futuristic Whomobile was Jon Pertwee’s transport in two episodes of Doctor Who in the early 1970s. It was commissioned by Pertwee and built by custom car builder Peter Farries. It’s starring in an exhibition to mark 60 years of Doctor Who at the museum.

Underneath, the Whomobile is a three-wheeler powered by a Hillman Imp engine. Vintage Tyres replaced the less-than-futuristic 155/80R12 tyre enabling the car to travel through time and space all the way from the Vintage Tyres’ workshop to the front entrance of the museum.

OK, that’s only about 100 metres as the Tardis flies, but that’s not really the point, is it?"

V is for Voracious Verdite Vertebrate

An alternate title-idea was G is for Great Grey Green Greasy Limpopo River, but - although I can't find it - I think we did have that, many years ago?

 

A bit off the beaten track tonight, but a figural nevertheless, and a rather fine one! I believe it's carved from a form of stone known as Verdite (green-ite?!!), but something called New Zealand Jade can look similar, but should be much harder, this is quite a soft rock I think, not that I am any kind of expert!

Also known variously as Verdite Serpentine or Fuchsite, a group of rocks from Southern Africa, this was probably carved for the tourist trade, in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) by a member of the Shona tribe, and no, I didn't know any of the above until I started googling 'green rock animals' half an hour ago!

 

 

Crocodile rather than alligator, from the backplate and nose shape . . . and . . . Africa! I know you are supposed to know about teeth and stuff to really know what you are looking at, but this is a representative piece, not going for full realism, and as such I think the sculptor has captured it well?

I love it, it is a very characterful animal, with not a small amount of evil about its countenance, as it creeps-up on a wildebeest crossing somewhere on the veldt, waiting for a straggler, or a young fool to cross first!

It had an accident a few years ago, revealing a quite granite-like granularity to the unworked stone, which thankfully soaked up a couple of blobs of superglue and went back together perfectly.

The other thing I like about it, beyond the character of the sculpt, is the colour, or range of colours, which vary from deep olives and duns to flecks of malachite-green. During the resent Googling the last search was 'Verdite Crocodile', revealing this to be one of the better examples, sculpt wise, with modern ones being far more crudely sculpted/finished.

 

And it's about the same size as the late Britains beast (with moving jaw), so we'll probably look at them together with others (the Charbens is similar) one day.

V is for Viking, Vinyl Vikings

Quick box-ticker here at Small Scale World, nearly included in the mini-season on Supreme medievals back in January or whenever it was, and a go-to in Rack Toy Month most years; Supreme / SP Toys, and this year is no exception! There's actually some Arabs somewhere (show report) which may make the month, if I keep-up the posting rate!

 

Here masquerading as 'by Atosa', on a sticker, presumably an importer or retailer's phantom-brand, it's a standard Supreme packaging from about ten or fifteen years ago. Six foot, there may have been one or two pairs of mounted in similar packs? You can see two of them on the card and there were others on the back, but it wasn't in a fit state to photograph, or scan!

I was going to leave them in the blister so took this close-up, price label suggests the continent, but it could have come via the Republic of Ireland, however, I fancy it may have entered the UK on a second weekend in May, via PB Toys!

Here's some I prepared later! The packaging was pretty shot and only hanging together from the front, so in the end I binned it . . . makes room too! They're nice figures, one (guy on the end) needs his shield heat-bent the other way. That's it, box ticked, tagged - "Next!"

V is for Vivandiere - Historex No's 761, 762, 763 and 744

I think the closest translation is 'provisioner' or 'provender'. and it doesn't seem that the British army had quite the same role, there were hanger's on, women and children with some connection to the soldiery helping out at camp, and following the army, but not the semi-formal, vaguely uniformed women who served the French army, a concept which was passed to the American army during the War of Independence.

There's also some 'camp' stuff in there, but we can tell from the catalogue codes they are all expected or intended to be used together. And obviously, this cart was not within the Gribeauval System, and while of a common cart design, probably differed between Vivadieres?

V is for Vikings, Vandals, Varangians, Visigoths and err . . . Goths!

Plain old Goths . . . with a G! The same comments re. this post apply as to the Roman post - mixed lot on eBay about a year ago, posted a few elsewhere, a couple of unrelated photo-shoots, finding the Heimo/54mm's while putting them away in the loft, shooting them against the small scale before they all went to storage and then having to be a bit vicious with the pile of images but still ending up with some duplication!

We'll start with a comparison line-up this time; on the left is the Warriors of the World, hard polystyrene plastic 60mm Marx original with full factory paint. Then an unpainted copy from the former Soviet Union or post-Soviet Ukraine.

As the former they can be the Ukrainian DZI,  Донецький Завод Іграшок - Donetsʹkyy Zavod Ihrashok (Донецкая фабрика игрушек - Donetskaya fabrika igrushek in Russian) whether Russia steals it again or not - Slava Ukraine! 

As the latter: Ark Models, where they are often described as "recast Marx", well, firstly you cast metal not plastic (you run, shoot, inject, 'push-through' or mould plastic) and secondly, they are copies, possibly stolen from the German Charmore production, not even reissues, although Ark are reissues of DZI! More on DZI here.

You can see however, they are very good copies, even down to the blemish on the spear shaft, and there may have been a nod-&-a-wink, from Marx, via East Germany (?), but they are too small to be 'from Marx mould tools', a very good example of the pantographer's art, but the size difference can't be explained by the [marginally] greater shrinkage of polyethylene, over polystyrene!

Then we have a 54mm Viking from Marx (with home paint) and finally a pair of the Miniature Masterpiece ones which led to the confusion of my thinking I'd also shot 30mm Romans the other day! Of note here is that the right-hand (late, soft plastic version) figure has had his spear re-tooled, I think the back-end of the shaft may be 'short-shot', but the pointy-end has been re-done, with a new spear-tip, placed short off/of the base

Last year's additions, allowing for front and back shots of two, and these are often found damaged, due to the fine sections and frangibility of polystyrene. They're fun, and while as Verangians, the Vikings were enemies of Rome, it wasn't the Rome of Marx's legionnaires, but rather the Arthurian/Dark Age, late-Rome, beloved of fantasy set-dressers.

Again, what can I say, it's a good shot! Note the arrows are threaded behind the bow, not as you would sport-shoot today.

Base marking and plastic colour, one white the other a cloudy/marbled neutral-granule grey, neither have the full Marx-X of the Romans, but just a HONG KONG, which makes them look bought-in!

The other chap, I rather like him, he looks like he doesn't take nonsense from fuckwits, which is not a bad life philosophy! It's like he's daring you to say something . . . anything untoward!

The Ukrainian copies, I don't have the whole/complete lot in any type, but I have them all in 30mm, and I thought I had at least one larger example of each in larger iterations, but I am actually missing one - guy with a sword and shield, similar to the clubbing guy, top middle!

An equally incomplete set of the 54mm's, but a mixture of originals (top row) and reissues (bottom row). I think we all know by now that horns and wings were more of a ceremonial/burial-goods thing, rather than a practical feature of war-fighting, skull protection!

Miniature Masterpieces, all eight, for some years, from childhood until taking the hobby up again after the Army, I only had the chap on the left and always thought he was an Assyrian or something else more Biblical . . . Hittite or something! And with that cone shield he would/does make an excellent Goliath with HäT Industries Assyrians!

And there's a nice diminutive slinger in the Revell scale-downs of Elastolin Romans, who can be David!

In the putting-away I found a Heimo licensed-production figure in PVC; with the white beard he looks like an avenging God! Full Marx-X marks on the small scale figures and some size comparisons, the Heimo has no marks.

How they went away! Hard polystyrene and soft polyethylene go together, reissues, copy and PVC are in with the Rojas y Malaret elephant for some reason - enough room for an elephant I suppose! The PVC figures get a separate bag, as they have a chemical effect which can affect other plastics or paints and I don't want to find a tub of sticky goo, next time I go into it!