Or...American killing American...what a to do! less than a hundred years after they turned on their king, and they've really gone and torn it...they'd clearly caught desireium frankoschisch or; the French disease, should have let them keep Louisiana and put a wall round it!
Following on from the above (if I’ve got the loading right!) article is the rest of the Blue Box ‘Wild West’ range, sort of…I’ve always had a soft spot for the ACW, it goes back to my mates brother having the Airfix sets in one of those little wooden cigar boxes with the inlaid decoration that a lot of people used as pencil cases in the early 1970’s.
About Me
- Hugh Walter
- No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
- I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.
Monday, May 23, 2011
A is for American - Civil War
All accessories are blue box, being mostly copies of early British plastics, or British Plastic-from-hollow cast moulds, the exception; the rock formations (inset close-up) which I’ve managed to carelessly trim-off in Picasa, so they’ll have to wait for another day now! [They are blow-moulded copies from Starlux cellulose acetate copies of Elastolin composition - I think!]
A minor rabble (bunch is probably a better word!) of Confederate troops career across the stack-yard toward a couple of equally ‘Thin Blue Lines’. One in cover as a firing-line, the other mounting a hasty counter-charge…it’s going to get bloody, so let’s leave them to it and go look at the poses!
Flags are all copied from the Britains Swoppets, although the designs carried through to the Britains Detail range, and are much copied by all HK producers. The range like most Blue Box large scale is around 50mm.
I’ve only found 6 poses, but they come in 3 distinct greys and several shades of blue, so must have been in production for some time, yet are not easy to come by in any numbers, so they must all be spirited away in collections?
Apparent pose variations in the photographs are down to bent figures, or shrinkage due to early removal from the mould, the Union standing firer and Confederate standard bearers at bottom right for example.
As we’re covering a minor make, and to extend the post to a reasonable length, here is another small range of ACW, these are by Lido, although I think the figure far right in the lower right picture may be Thomas Toys, he seems to be a harder vinyl with factory paint? The polyethylene bugler also seems to carry a simple factory paint scheme.
Two of the figures are made to be mounted although they serve as foot-figures as well, with that specifically, almost uniquely American contribution to the world of Toy Soldiers; the ‘Pod Foot’, although here more subtle than the old Barkley and Manoil dime-store slush casts. These are a large 54mm rather than a full 60mm in size range.
They don’t seem to have made them in a straight grey, rather some washy blue-greys, which must be meant to pass for Confederates? Still you can’t beat these old ‘Toy’ soldiers for charm, and with this year being the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War breaking out, I’ll try to get more ACW up in the next few months, but don’t count on it, there’s all manner of stuff going on in the real world at the moment, which I can’t discuss yet, but eventually I will tell all, as it’s not just Bernard Madoff who’s a crooked millionaire!
W is for Wagons...again!
Having delt with the Blue Box ACW carry-over, let’s go back to the third boxed set in the original article (two above - hopefully), this was the Hong Kong one with the factory painted blue horse…
A quick reminder with the sides in view, while it was/is similar to the Blue Box/Marx sets, the contents are very different, both the horses and wagons are of a different design altogether, know to some as being by National, a Hong Kong brand, while the figures, although also based on Britains Swoppets are different poses to those adopted by Blue Box for their range, and while having a lookie-likey paint job, it’s with a different overall look/feel or colour scheme.With the predominant blue to the artwork and the yellow inner tray, it’s trying very hard to be Blue Box, but I personally feel there’s no real connection other than these HK guys were as quick to pirate each other as they were anyone in the west!
The National wagons, they seem clearly the same as those in the boxed set…until you look closer, when you find a general drop in quality from the previous set, both in horse flesh and wagon wood. The pirates were pirating the pirates of Blue box piracies! Sieeempuulls!Still; it gives you a good idea of the full range of these clip-together wagons, there is at least one more, probably two or three designs I’ve still to track down, some of which are hinted at in the further images below.
These horses are the same as the boxed set, but are in sensible colours and came pretty-much exclusively in Christmas Crackers, always as a matching pair, always with a single two-horse draw-bar and always with a copy of the Giant ACW cannon (which usually had two draw-bars).When I say they are the same, I mean the lower pose with the bent foreleg, the upper pose, which is far more common with a bent rear-leg, dates from the mid-1980’s (the complete example you see hear came from a cheap Christmas Cracker at the 1 Glosters Cookhouse Christmas Dinner 1987, see below for the whole sordid tale!), and seems to have been a late re-design, probably to account for damage to the old mould. Although it’s not clear in the photograph, these late ones also have larger wheels, and a thinner drawbar, the mounting spigots on the drawbar that hold the horse in place also have rounded finials rather than the pointed ones on the earlier, less common versions – see the little graphics I’ve done below each towing pair.
These still turn up in budget Christmas Crackers of the sort sold to institutions and the big tent-party companies who set up on the outskirts of medium sized towns to cater for corporate ‘Do’s’ and works ‘Blowouts’ in the month leading up to Christmas, I got another from a cracker at the place which always sets up in Rushmore Arena, Aldershot, and a third from ‘Knights Out’ in Reading a few years ago.
Comparison between the Cracker Horse/boxed-set Horse on the one hand (left) and the National copy (on the right), cruder tail, mane and ear are obvious, the spigot-hole is smaller, higher-up and further back, the angles of the neck, raised foreleg and tail are all different and the buckle on the shoulder is a blob. Some of the National horses are also quite deformed with widely splayed legs or an shrinkage-induced arched back (too soon out of the mould again).
There is one other version of the horse; this one is quite heavy, definitely eaten all the hay-pies! He comes with a more elaborate range of Wagons with separate push-through axles, although using the same pulling bar as the National and boxed-set ones, clipping into the eyes on the fronts of the vehicles.Some (the red one) do come with the other axle type though, but I’ve yet to get a complete one, so I don’t know if they have just been mucked about with by kids or actually did come with both types of wagon.
Wheels are slightly heavier than those above and as you can see, the Stagecoach comes in two halves, while the Buckboard is a more substantial molding than the National/Boxed ones. Again these were Christmas Cracker toys.
Irrelevant Story;
The 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment Christmas Lunch
The Cookhouse, Wavell Barracks, Berlin, 1987;
A Christmas Dinner parade was held outside each companies lines at approximately 12:45 Hours. To ‘encourage’ good behavior each company was to parade in No.2 Dress uniform and Service cap…which we did (green plastic belts, not white ceremonials). We were then marched by company into the Dining Hall where the tables had been re-arranged into 4 company lengths, with the spare HQ bods spread among us (there weren’t many, they always seemed to wangle home-leave at Christmas, plus a lot of them were ‘pads’).
Support company marched in late…they were wearing their (newly issued in ’87) Kevlar helmets - sans covers, so we all knew what was to come (at this point you are allowed to feel sorry for RQMS; Cookhouse). RQMS; Cookhouse then gave us a lecture about how his boys had slaved over hot coals for six weeks to bring us the taste of home, and that we should behave ourselves, Padre said something religious and the Senior Officers retired to the Mess for a bloody-Mary before their own lunch.
A soup was served with hot rolls by the Junior Officers, Sergeants and SNCO’s and Crackers were pulled, a fine plate of institutional fare then followed, from memory being; 3 slices of Turkey, 2 chipolatas, a slice of bacon, 3 stuffing balls, 4 roast spuds, 2 boiled spuds, more sprouts than are decent when you are 4 men to a room, a roast parsnip, bread-sauce, carrots, peas in white sauce and the whole drowned in gravy to the rim of the plate…oh!...and a dollop of Cranberry sauce. [I might have invented the parsnip over the years in a tragic false-memory loop?!]
Once the 2nd-course plates had been cleared along with everything else on the table that wasn’t either part of the table or 1x bowl and 1x spoon per man and much stamping and banging on tables rattling the cutlery (probably worrying the local populace!) had ensued along with a roared round or two of ‘Happy Christmas to Us’, the ACC boys served Christmas pudding with rum-flavored white-sauce in indecent haste and ran for their block, closely followed by the Junior Officers and most of the SNCO’s.
Once we had eaten enough of the pudding to remember the taste of it (which I can, to this day!… just that parsnip still worries me), it was good, it really was, but…you see; we were stuffed, we couldn’t eat it all…and as RQMS; Cookhouse started screaming…screaming like a demon in a nightmare, Support Company put their helmets on, A Company on the other side of the hall pushed all their tables over, took cover behind them and let all-hell break loose.
A pre-arranged volley of spoon catapulted plum-duff and an assortment of previously secreted roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts arched through the air away from the A Company redoubt like a cloud of arrows at Crecy, raining white-sauce and lose raisins on the two companies between, while Support Company realised that helmets were funny, but up-turned tables were tactical…just too late.
By the time Support Company had recovered, built their own stockade and got their counter-battery fire properly ranged, the full length windows down the side of the cookhouse looked like very old oven-doors, spotted with half a hundredweight of steamed fruit in a brown treacle suet.
C Company had quickly calculated that overturned tables were fine if you enjoyed the strategically advantageous position of being down one side of the Dining Hall, but in the middle you were better-off leaving the table just where it was and getting under it. B Company (the fools) had followed A Company’s lead, and thinking Support Company were the natural enemy had turned their tables to match A Company and - as a result - were taking heavy mess from misfires leaving A Company and short-drop incoming from Support Company.
As this Author remembers it, Corporal Grey (the Elder) rallied C Company under the tables, and instructing us to gather handfuls of projectile-pud from the floor (spoons had by now either been dropped from sticky-mitts, or accidently fired at the enemy like Napoleonic ram-rods, to fall short on B Company due to their weight) he then lead us ‘Over the Top’ cresting the B Company barricade, where we deposited our fruity mud-bombs on the nearest human before running for the door, giggling and whooping like little kids who’ve just won a ten-day pass to Disneyland!
Of course we took casualties, Taff Davis tripped over his B Company victim in the confusion, several personnel fell victim to skidding on turd-like puddles of spent rounds of Christmas pudding and - as a Company - we took a broadside from A Company to our right in the headlong dash for the exit. Reforming outside we laughed until we cried and retired to the NAFFI for a beer and to ring home and tell our long-suffering mothers of our wholly un-festive yet - self-regarded - hilarious misbehavior.
As RQMS; Cookhouse started to lose his voice only to find it replaced by the RSM bellowing like a wounded bull-elephant (you could hear him in the NAFFI!), the Spirit of Christmas raised her hands and slunk out the back of the kitchens, and the real world returned to that little corner of leafy Spandau.
So who won…C Company of course, Support Company got collared to stay behind and clear-up - those helmets were guilt by association before the action began, while A and B had a Guards Division rainy-parade dry cleaning bill. Any HQ Company guys who were foolish enough to have stayed for the dessert course (most having joined the exit of Catering Corps and Senior ranks as pudding was served) were in the end to be found face down in a melted pool of mixed fruit and molasses sponge in a rum-custard, which really was very good RQ…thanks!
And nearly 25 years later, I wish I’d been cleaning-up with Support Company and rescued more Hong Kong cannon-&-horse combo’s!!!
Friday, May 20, 2011
E is for Esoteric or Ethnic
Looking at the most esoteric corner of my figure collection we come to the ‘Cloth, Fabric and Other Materials’ box…
The commonest, and probably encountered by most of you, are the little families of six worry-dolls from Guatemala, you whisper your troubles to them and place them under your pillow, in the morning you’ve still got all your troubles but at least managed to trick yourself into a worry-free good night’s sleep!
Like the Erzgeberge stuff from Germany, these follow a strict pattern and while colours and styles of doll or box vary, the pattern has remained unchanged for decades or longer; six figures (Mum, Dad, Gran? and Kids - 1 Teenager/2 younger or vice-versa), in a yellow-stained box with red and green decoration in broad strokes.
Made from scraps of material, and wound-cotton thread on wooden splints, with soil for hair glued to a brown-paper head and with the odd bit of wool, they are between 20 and 30mm.
In Bulgaria we find the Martenitsa or friendship cords, given (Mimi will correct me here once she’s read this!) both at specific time of the year, and when you just want to say; Hi, or; Thanks, or; I love You…
They began basically as twists of red and white wool, but over the years have had little things added like the faux-ceramic elephant or wooden broomstick seen here, or can be formed into more elaborate shapes themselves as in the two little figures.
I would imagine that over time so many have been fashioned both privately and commercially, that you could fill the British Museum with them before your collection could be called comprehensive, so just a small sample here!
The commonest, and probably encountered by most of you, are the little families of six worry-dolls from Guatemala, you whisper your troubles to them and place them under your pillow, in the morning you’ve still got all your troubles but at least managed to trick yourself into a worry-free good night’s sleep!Like the Erzgeberge stuff from Germany, these follow a strict pattern and while colours and styles of doll or box vary, the pattern has remained unchanged for decades or longer; six figures (Mum, Dad, Gran? and Kids - 1 Teenager/2 younger or vice-versa), in a yellow-stained box with red and green decoration in broad strokes.
Made from scraps of material, and wound-cotton thread on wooden splints, with soil for hair glued to a brown-paper head and with the odd bit of wool, they are between 20 and 30mm.
In Bulgaria we find the Martenitsa or friendship cords, given (Mimi will correct me here once she’s read this!) both at specific time of the year, and when you just want to say; Hi, or; Thanks, or; I love You…They began basically as twists of red and white wool, but over the years have had little things added like the faux-ceramic elephant or wooden broomstick seen here, or can be formed into more elaborate shapes themselves as in the two little figures.
I would imagine that over time so many have been fashioned both privately and commercially, that you could fill the British Museum with them before your collection could be called comprehensive, so just a small sample here!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martenitsa
Finally; A pin-badge which I was told is from a US Election campaign, sometime in the 1970’s from the condition of the piece? Any US readers help here? I’d hate to discover it was French…I’d have to burn it! (Joke; you miserable sods). There is an outside chance it could have something to do with the SDP? Or what I always thought (prior to the US tale); a football team mascot/thing?
I’ve also photographed a Peruvian Nativity scene in pottery, with figures in 10/15mm, as this is a round-the-world post. I think you hang it from a Christmas tree.
Three weeks ago I saw a jointed wooden worry-doll figure from…Nicaragua? That looked like one of those toys that collapse when you depress the underside of the stand, but he was only about 30mm and mounted on a card.
Finally; A pin-badge which I was told is from a US Election campaign, sometime in the 1970’s from the condition of the piece? Any US readers help here? I’d hate to discover it was French…I’d have to burn it! (Joke; you miserable sods). There is an outside chance it could have something to do with the SDP? Or what I always thought (prior to the US tale); a football team mascot/thing?I’ve also photographed a Peruvian Nativity scene in pottery, with figures in 10/15mm, as this is a round-the-world post. I think you hang it from a Christmas tree.
Three weeks ago I saw a jointed wooden worry-doll figure from…Nicaragua? That looked like one of those toys that collapse when you depress the underside of the stand, but he was only about 30mm and mounted on a card.
T is for Tulips in containers
Sometimes it takes a while for a plan to come together, especially in the garden, and while the second set of photos were taken with Giles’s camera, which I seem to be using more than him these days! (Thanks Giles), the early one's are taken with the failing Finepix (buy something else...I can recommend a Casio Exilim!)
These were planted in November (19th), after I'd emptied the old soil out, well, soil is a bit of a misnomer for the collection of sandy-mud and polystyrene twists! Planted 4/5 inches down and equally spaced on a bed of compost/leaf-mould and soil mixed with a little ash from the bonfire.
Then you just sit back and wait...
...untill the 26th April
As well as the two pots on the stairs I also replanted the end boxes of a retaining wall, (the maroon ones were already in there, and although planted deeper, came first and are just finishing in the upper-right shot.
It's pure luck that the middle one in the pot grew taller than the four outer ones, almost makes you think I know what I'm doing huh?!!
P is for Premiums
There have never been so many premiums around as there are now, they fill the gap left by the old 1960’s Hong Kong rack toys, or 1970’s Lucky Bags, so here is not so much a round-up, as just a quick over-view of some of the toys currently available.
Corinthian are responsible for several of the current crop, as well as Ben10 (which has totally escaped me, something on TV I think…shows my age!) and the Gormiti (Below) they are producing Zoo’s, Pets, Marine Animals and other “…in my pocket” toys, the brand-name originally produced/issued by a MEG/Kellogg’s/Matchbox consortium in the mid-late 1980’s as larger single colour or ‘dab-painted figurines around 40mm in a rubberized vinyl material.
These are around 50mm, in harder vinyl and follow the trend started by Galoob and Co. in the 90’s. The packaging talks of larger sets with more figures per box, I haven’t seen any so I’m guessing Toy Chains like The Entertainer or the ubiquitous Toys’R’Us?
The Gormiti have the added ‘bonus’ figures in unpainted gold or silver and being smaller (25mm – ideal for role-playing) come two per the smallest container. Like the Ben10 you get a small bag of cheap, undersized jelly-beans and a leaflet with some of the others in the range.
Zeta (Barcelona), Zàini (Milan) and a third company beginning with Z which I can’t find right now (all from Spain and probably all the same firm) have aimed at the Kinder market, with cheap toys from China in the Christmas Cracker mould, sometimes rip-off or direct copies of Giodi or Res Plastics (both Italy) or Bruder (Germany) products.
The subject of the egg (or other object, the ‘other Z’ did hollow-chocolate Bears a few years ago) has no relationship to the contents as you can see from the jet-fighter that came from this ‘Flintstones’ egg! Pink Princess gift-eggs were in Poundstreacher a year or so ago, probably the same set-up?
The current set of Lego point-of-sale collectables, in the style of trading cards, Character Options are fighting back with a Dr. Who set, the Dalek for which I have added to the ever-lengthening Dalek post, while an overview of construction-block figures has gone on the Other Collectables blog. And I mean ‘Fighting Back’, there’s been a ‘Free-Figure!’ war in the red-tops for a week or a few now!
Not illustrated here today are a set of Superhero eggs with 30mm hard styrene figures currently doing the rounds of local shops, and the endless out-put of Tomy in their shopping-mall dispensers…no chocolate with those but they’re the cheapest at a pound a shot!
Corinthian are responsible for several of the current crop, as well as Ben10 (which has totally escaped me, something on TV I think…shows my age!) and the Gormiti (Below) they are producing Zoo’s, Pets, Marine Animals and other “…in my pocket” toys, the brand-name originally produced/issued by a MEG/Kellogg’s/Matchbox consortium in the mid-late 1980’s as larger single colour or ‘dab-painted figurines around 40mm in a rubberized vinyl material.
These are around 50mm, in harder vinyl and follow the trend started by Galoob and Co. in the 90’s. The packaging talks of larger sets with more figures per box, I haven’t seen any so I’m guessing Toy Chains like The Entertainer or the ubiquitous Toys’R’Us?
The Gormiti have the added ‘bonus’ figures in unpainted gold or silver and being smaller (25mm – ideal for role-playing) come two per the smallest container. Like the Ben10 you get a small bag of cheap, undersized jelly-beans and a leaflet with some of the others in the range.
Zeta (Barcelona), Zàini (Milan) and a third company beginning with Z which I can’t find right now (all from Spain and probably all the same firm) have aimed at the Kinder market, with cheap toys from China in the Christmas Cracker mould, sometimes rip-off or direct copies of Giodi or Res Plastics (both Italy) or Bruder (Germany) products.The subject of the egg (or other object, the ‘other Z’ did hollow-chocolate Bears a few years ago) has no relationship to the contents as you can see from the jet-fighter that came from this ‘Flintstones’ egg! Pink Princess gift-eggs were in Poundstreacher a year or so ago, probably the same set-up?
The current set of Lego point-of-sale collectables, in the style of trading cards, Character Options are fighting back with a Dr. Who set, the Dalek for which I have added to the ever-lengthening Dalek post, while an overview of construction-block figures has gone on the Other Collectables blog. And I mean ‘Fighting Back’, there’s been a ‘Free-Figure!’ war in the red-tops for a week or a few now!Not illustrated here today are a set of Superhero eggs with 30mm hard styrene figures currently doing the rounds of local shops, and the endless out-put of Tomy in their shopping-mall dispensers…no chocolate with those but they’re the cheapest at a pound a shot!
B is for Blockmen (or Cubix as some are calling them!)
Just when I thought I’d got all the Daleks I could on the Toy Soldier page, I found another one! I’ll put it over there so you’ll have to go and have a gander separately.It all came about because I found a free offer of an Amy Pond figure.
They were being given away free in the paper the other day, and I thought they were Lego, but it turned out that they were actually Character Options, who already have various licenses for Dr Who stuff.
In fact the papers have been having a bit of a gift-war in the last few weeks, with Lego, these and other toys on offer most days! I was pleased to see they were putting proper feet on them…typical that they were in fact somebody else’s figures then, as the history of Lego figures has always been “Where our rivals lead, we will follow”!
Predating (the UK Toy Industry Award winning) Lego Space (1978) by some years was Tente Space from Spain, which was advertised on TV when I was still quite young, and I can remember it coming to Fleet Toys and Mum not letting us have it, because she’d heard on Woman’s Hour or You & Yours than it wasn’t compatible with ‘another leading brand’!
Early figures had non-moving arms (top left), while later figures (top right) were not only better articulated, but also had connection points (female connection on the back-pack, male on the ‘butt-tocks-sirrr!’), both versions of the figures had male-connectors on their feet. The soldiers that ran alongside them had no connectors (bottom right).
The back-pack usually had a 'Space' logo; to start this was a metallic blue, then a plain blue, before being reduced for the second design and finally dropped (bottom left).
The original Lego Space (top center) and other figures including the Nestlé ‘Nesquick’ Bunny, one of the first uses of Lego ‘minifig’s’ as an advertising premium by another company, some enemy of Spiderman with a shaped helmet and a Gamorrean Guard with an all-over body-shaper.
The two Martians make use of the design tested on/coming from the skeletons and – then – new Stap battle-droids from the Star Wars franchise. While finally the Pirates are by COBI, with the beard which clips on to a hole on the face of the ‘Captain’, mirroring - in construction - the figures produced by Res Plastics and others for Kinder in Italy in the mid-1970’s.
Once Lego had got the ‘collectable’ idea, and realised the implications of Adult Lego fans, they got well into the production ‘sets’. The first were the sprung-loaded Basketball players, and now a set of 12 new and ‘unique’ (nothing unique about something produced in its millions – if not tens of millions!) figures appear next to a million tills every 6-months or so.
The South-sea islanders from the ‘Pirates’ range, these have been added to over the years with Newspaper-freebies and the new collectable figure sets, and are among my favorites from Lego. Actually from ‘Enchanted Island’, they seem clearly related to ‘Achu’ from the Adventures range!
Lego were sliding into oblivion about 15 years ago, and it was touch-and-go whether the newly purchased (at the time) Star Wars franchise would save them, but it did!Here are 3 types of Stap battle-droid, the Dri-Decker droids and some Gungans!
Main picture shows the vinyl Snow-monster from Megabloks, which led-off the Lego 'Artic Explorers' by several years! The Lego version stands behind.
To the left are two more Megabloks, with more realistic feet, swiveling arms in all plains and better heads (two of which are to the right). Like Lego they started with a simple ‘smiler’, and added individual features latter, as all these makes are really following Playmobil/Little People, it’s all a bit achademic!
Bottom left, and the level of ‘realism’ is getting silly, with a chunk of hideousness from Megabloks from the Medieval/Ork? Range, this range also beat Lego to a Viking Longship, and having seen the price of the follow-up from Lego, I don’t know how they get away with it, or why some of these other brands aren’t more popular?!
Bottom right shows the tool-set that came with a Megablok's Spaceman.
They were being given away free in the paper the other day, and I thought they were Lego, but it turned out that they were actually Character Options, who already have various licenses for Dr Who stuff.
In fact the papers have been having a bit of a gift-war in the last few weeks, with Lego, these and other toys on offer most days! I was pleased to see they were putting proper feet on them…typical that they were in fact somebody else’s figures then, as the history of Lego figures has always been “Where our rivals lead, we will follow”!
Predating (the UK Toy Industry Award winning) Lego Space (1978) by some years was Tente Space from Spain, which was advertised on TV when I was still quite young, and I can remember it coming to Fleet Toys and Mum not letting us have it, because she’d heard on Woman’s Hour or You & Yours than it wasn’t compatible with ‘another leading brand’!
Early figures had non-moving arms (top left), while later figures (top right) were not only better articulated, but also had connection points (female connection on the back-pack, male on the ‘butt-tocks-sirrr!’), both versions of the figures had male-connectors on their feet. The soldiers that ran alongside them had no connectors (bottom right).
The back-pack usually had a 'Space' logo; to start this was a metallic blue, then a plain blue, before being reduced for the second design and finally dropped (bottom left).
The original Lego Space (top center) and other figures including the Nestlé ‘Nesquick’ Bunny, one of the first uses of Lego ‘minifig’s’ as an advertising premium by another company, some enemy of Spiderman with a shaped helmet and a Gamorrean Guard with an all-over body-shaper.The two Martians make use of the design tested on/coming from the skeletons and – then – new Stap battle-droids from the Star Wars franchise. While finally the Pirates are by COBI, with the beard which clips on to a hole on the face of the ‘Captain’, mirroring - in construction - the figures produced by Res Plastics and others for Kinder in Italy in the mid-1970’s.
Once Lego had got the ‘collectable’ idea, and realised the implications of Adult Lego fans, they got well into the production ‘sets’. The first were the sprung-loaded Basketball players, and now a set of 12 new and ‘unique’ (nothing unique about something produced in its millions – if not tens of millions!) figures appear next to a million tills every 6-months or so.
The South-sea islanders from the ‘Pirates’ range, these have been added to over the years with Newspaper-freebies and the new collectable figure sets, and are among my favorites from Lego. Actually from ‘Enchanted Island’, they seem clearly related to ‘Achu’ from the Adventures range!
Lego were sliding into oblivion about 15 years ago, and it was touch-and-go whether the newly purchased (at the time) Star Wars franchise would save them, but it did!Here are 3 types of Stap battle-droid, the Dri-Decker droids and some Gungans!
Main picture shows the vinyl Snow-monster from Megabloks, which led-off the Lego 'Artic Explorers' by several years! The Lego version stands behind.
To the left are two more Megabloks, with more realistic feet, swiveling arms in all plains and better heads (two of which are to the right). Like Lego they started with a simple ‘smiler’, and added individual features latter, as all these makes are really following Playmobil/Little People, it’s all a bit achademic!
Bottom left, and the level of ‘realism’ is getting silly, with a chunk of hideousness from Megabloks from the Medieval/Ork? Range, this range also beat Lego to a Viking Longship, and having seen the price of the follow-up from Lego, I don’t know how they get away with it, or why some of these other brands aren’t more popular?!
Bottom right shows the tool-set that came with a Megablok's Spaceman.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
News, Views Etc...Show Dates
Don't forget the Plastic Warrior Show is this Saturday at Richmond, Queen Charlotte's Hall, details - the same as last year, are on the Plastic Warrior website, link; Above right. Be there or miss out!
I'll be in my Tusker's T-shirt as usual, although it's getting so holey I'm going to have to find am alternative...?!
M is for MPC...Miniature Military 'Minis'
In 1997 - just as I was moving house and he was moving States! – I read about Bob Maschi’s publication on MPC Minis, due (if I remember correctly?) to the issue of an update actioned by his earlier reader’s feedback. He kindly sent me a copy with the fatal words “We can sort the money out later”.
Well, the more astute of you will be ahead of me on this one…I never managed to pay the man, lost the guides, lost his new address details and now 14 years later I find myself unable to locate him, even on the internet! So if anybody knows the current whereabouts of Bob Maschi, could they either let me know or pass my email [maverickatlarge@hotmail.com] on to him, so that I can remunerate him properly?
These little vehicles (They also did ships and Aircraft which I will cover another day and civilian cars of which I have hardly any) were issued in various forms and supplied to other people as premiums, but there was usually also a ‘standard’ pack with the complete set or a large number of the range contained within it.
This is the box for the military vehicle’s – also known sometimes as ‘Teenies’. When I got it; it was in two parts among several boxes of paperwork, the back panel/instructions having been torn away down the fold lines. However, as the tears were ‘clean’ it was a simple matter of supper-gluing it all back together again!
Some thematic shots, I’m missing 8 in total, which I think should have been in the box, so they’ve gone the way of flesh I’m afraid. My ‘Beep’ (Big Jeep) was found in the UK years earlier and is missing its aerial and a bit dirty, however I have the aerial for the missing set Beep, only it’s a different shade of metallic Blue! So far I’ve only seen these in metallic blue but seem to remember Bob saying they came in green early on.
There are also piracies by a Hong Kong producer in green marked IPA (I think? I’ve got a T54 somewhere but could I find it for the photo-shoot! I’ll have to add it another day). The subjects are all either late WWII or 1950’s kit, so would have been pretty incongruous to the child-collector of the 1960’s. The self-propelled 88mm (or 105mm?) and the CMP-cab’ed allied truck being the most unlikely vehicles to have served alongside the latter stuff!
American 6x6 trucks, THE military symbol of two generations, but increasingly only seen in home waters these days, among my favorites and the GS was seen here a while ago when I covered them separately, but I saved the other two for this post.
The Honest John is rather ruined by having its product information carved in relief down the sides, but considering it’s a three-part model in less than 1/100 scale, you can’t really kick-up too much, it’s a lovely little model.
The collection to date, less the Beep which is a darker blue and I’m missing one of the plug-ins for the SWS (a radar dish). The most felt absence is the Land Rover. I’d also like to locate the two missing British Armoured Cars and the Sd.Kfz.234 Puma.
Also missing are a Weasel, and an 8” Howitzer tractor, plus two French vehicles (no loss! They probably stayed in barracks).
Well, the more astute of you will be ahead of me on this one…I never managed to pay the man, lost the guides, lost his new address details and now 14 years later I find myself unable to locate him, even on the internet! So if anybody knows the current whereabouts of Bob Maschi, could they either let me know or pass my email [maverickatlarge@hotmail.com] on to him, so that I can remunerate him properly?
These little vehicles (They also did ships and Aircraft which I will cover another day and civilian cars of which I have hardly any) were issued in various forms and supplied to other people as premiums, but there was usually also a ‘standard’ pack with the complete set or a large number of the range contained within it.
This is the box for the military vehicle’s – also known sometimes as ‘Teenies’. When I got it; it was in two parts among several boxes of paperwork, the back panel/instructions having been torn away down the fold lines. However, as the tears were ‘clean’ it was a simple matter of supper-gluing it all back together again!
Some thematic shots, I’m missing 8 in total, which I think should have been in the box, so they’ve gone the way of flesh I’m afraid. My ‘Beep’ (Big Jeep) was found in the UK years earlier and is missing its aerial and a bit dirty, however I have the aerial for the missing set Beep, only it’s a different shade of metallic Blue! So far I’ve only seen these in metallic blue but seem to remember Bob saying they came in green early on.
There are also piracies by a Hong Kong producer in green marked IPA (I think? I’ve got a T54 somewhere but could I find it for the photo-shoot! I’ll have to add it another day). The subjects are all either late WWII or 1950’s kit, so would have been pretty incongruous to the child-collector of the 1960’s. The self-propelled 88mm (or 105mm?) and the CMP-cab’ed allied truck being the most unlikely vehicles to have served alongside the latter stuff!
American 6x6 trucks, THE military symbol of two generations, but increasingly only seen in home waters these days, among my favorites and the GS was seen here a while ago when I covered them separately, but I saved the other two for this post.
The Honest John is rather ruined by having its product information carved in relief down the sides, but considering it’s a three-part model in less than 1/100 scale, you can’t really kick-up too much, it’s a lovely little model.
The collection to date, less the Beep which is a darker blue and I’m missing one of the plug-ins for the SWS (a radar dish). The most felt absence is the Land Rover. I’d also like to locate the two missing British Armoured Cars and the Sd.Kfz.234 Puma.
Also missing are a Weasel, and an 8” Howitzer tractor, plus two French vehicles (no loss! They probably stayed in barracks).
Saturday, April 30, 2011
AV - for the last time, but it seems to matter?
Did anyone hear Lord Owen begging for a 'No' vote on the Radio this morning?
This man believes in Proportional Representation (PR) and thinks that a No vote for AV will result in an imminent vote for PR. The same man who ruined the Liberals for a generation and helped contribute to Labour's 20 years in the wilderness, yet - still thinking he has a superior faculty of judgement.
He has done more damage to political life in this country in recent memory than any other citizen bar the other three members of the 'Gang of Four'...one of whom was - if memory serves - a Televisual 'presenter', it says all you need to know about politics and the 'Ruling Class' in Britain for the last 35-odd years! And he got a Peerage!
Vote in the AV referendum, get out, and get your friends and neighbours out, Vote 'Yes' to save us from ourselves!
Or we will get the system we 'deserve'...a complacent, destructive, disinterested system lacking humanity and barely fit for purpose…
This man believes in Proportional Representation (PR) and thinks that a No vote for AV will result in an imminent vote for PR. The same man who ruined the Liberals for a generation and helped contribute to Labour's 20 years in the wilderness, yet - still thinking he has a superior faculty of judgement.
He has done more damage to political life in this country in recent memory than any other citizen bar the other three members of the 'Gang of Four'...one of whom was - if memory serves - a Televisual 'presenter', it says all you need to know about politics and the 'Ruling Class' in Britain for the last 35-odd years! And he got a Peerage!
Vote in the AV referendum, get out, and get your friends and neighbours out, Vote 'Yes' to save us from ourselves!
Or we will get the system we 'deserve'...a complacent, destructive, disinterested system lacking humanity and barely fit for purpose…
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
V is for Vote; for AV please - sorry 'Toy Soldier' people
I am putting this on all my blogs and it will stay here until after the referendum of the 5th May next month. I am one of those people who are always writing letters to a newspaper in their heads, but never actually do anything about it! The war ends, the politician goes to jail, the celebrity gets over their hissy-fit and life goes on, a new letter forms and gets edited in my head...
Indeed, the whole point of the PPE/Rant blog was to get some of those letters out there, but firstly; I rarely write anything on that blog and secondly; I'm the only one who reads them! The moral of the story...stick to toy soldiers! But today, I feel so strongly about something that I will 'Send the letter'...here.
I think it is absolutely vital that we 'The People' in Great Britain vote YES in the AV referendum next month and that to not do so will be to condemn ourselves to another hundred years of hollow promises from self-serving politicians who have grown far too fond of the support they leech from the pockets of a relatively anonymous, venal, moneyed-class.
Why do I think it is so important, when it is only a 'compromise' cooked up between the Conservative and Liberal democrats to get the coalition off the ground? Because it's a step in the right direction, and history is made of small steps. The illiterate Paleolithic tribes of the Serengeti didn't become the modern European democrats of today overnight, they didn't even do so in a series of easily defined moments, they did so in a trillion trillion little steps, with great slides backwards into right-wing, small 'p' protestant, reactionary bloodletting like the Dark Ages, the 'Reformation' and the Juntas of the 20th Century.
There is a lot of vitriolic rubbish, emotive nonsense and general brick-battery being put about by both sides, as far as the lobby groups go, the 'No' campaign is making more noise and of a seemingly more desperate fashion (which is usually a sign of a weak argument/feeling you've already lost the debate), but - while supporting 'Yes' I subscribe to neither camp as all lobbyists have - or think they have! - a secret hidden agenda that usually has nothing to do with the long-term goals of the man or woman in the street to see a greater level of fair play, decent governance, access to justice and advancement of the species, all preferably achieved without destroying the planet for their children.
It was said by someone the other day on Radio 4 of AV, that "Instead of the most popular candidate, you’ll end up getting the least unpopular candidate" as if to vote for such a thing would be the end of civilization as we know it! The truth is that with some people in Parliament right now, care of LESS than 1 in 5, 1 in 8 or even 1 in 10 of the adult population in their constituency or ward, it would seem to me (call me a retard if you're in the 'No' camp) that it will be a lot more 'civilized' to be represented by someone who has had at least one vote from over half those who turn out, than the current state where you might be represented by someone with less than a sixth of the votes cast - especially in a three-way marginal with a dozen candidates where one of whom is a 'Big-3' spoiler.
The fact that in a constituency with say 10 candidates, you will get the chance to rate all ten, and know that you have contributed to the final placing of all those you vote for will give you a greater 'vested interest' in whoever gets elected (and you don't have to vote ten times, if you like the old 'First past the Post' system, just cast one vote, and lose your voice if your candidate fails to get elected!), along with the feeling that because you gave the winner one of your ticks, you have more right to expectations of service from them.
Marginal’s will end up with a definite 'winner', 'safe' seats however will become two or three or more-way races, still with a definite winner, but not necessarily the colour who's been winning for the last 70 years! It means however, that all the candidates will have to mean what they say on the hustings, and then spend 4 or 5 years actually 'doing' the job we pay them for instead of filling their duck-pond from the gravy-train, while they line themselves up with a job in the industry they were supposed to be regulating, moderating or policing!
Moreover, if they have to prove themselves BETWEEN elections in order to justify themselves AT election time, there will be far less of the broken-promise politics we've endured for the last 50 years, they will actually have to find a way of legislating against BOTH rogue Landlords and rogue Tenants, instead of passing several score Rent, Property, Landlord & Tenant and Housing Acts, Regulations, Guidance notes and Amendments over half-a-century which achieve very little! After all, they managed to pass two gun laws and a dog law in weeks following Hungerford, Dunblain and the News of The World's various shouty-rag campaigns. Speaking of the Tabloids; If under AV politicians find they need to impress all their constituents most of the time, they might learn to ignore the most of the gobshite brigade all of the time?
And yes, I know the three pieces of legislation mentioned above were flawed, why do you think we don't still win the Shooting medals at the Olympics we used to! But they were enacted under First Past the Post. At the end of the day, History from time to time requires change, that change can come violently, or peacefully, but having been bankrupted by the Thatcher/Ragan-Bush/Blair generation of autocratic paper-money gambling grey-men, and being told we will have to pay, the NHS will have to pay, Social Services, Libraries, local services will have to pay while the grey-men move their bonus money to Nassau using 'Tax-minimization' vehicles, it would seem to me that now is a time for change?
AV offers that change. Whether we feel the need to go on to PR (Proportional Representation), or stick with AV only time and experience will tell, but to not chose change now would be - in my opinion - a terrible failure to our future selves. There are problems with both PR and AV in some of those countries that have already adopted them, but they are not in the same league as our One-party/Three-colours State (What? You mean you can still tell the difference between them!), and none of those countries are contemplating a return to First Past the Post?
Britain has always laid claim to lead the forward march of progress, democratization and tolerance, sometimes - it has to be said - at the barrel of a gun (history is always full of guns), one of the first to move against slavery, building a commercial empire while Napoleon destroyed Europe and the Congress of Vienna solved little. Standing alone against the Generals, Colonels, little chaplinesque-corporal and fat Italian who held so much of Europe in their collective grips from the 1920's until the mid-70's in some cases, paying the bill for that stand by giving up the Empire while America (currently paralyzed by the mad-hatters) payed for Germany and Japan to re-build.
Yet now we seem to be following, if we can't lead we should at least catch-up! Detractors say there will be a low turn-out? Prove them wrong, whichever way you chose to vote, there is still time to register if you've forgotten to do so...
Register, Turn-out, Vote...it’s easy…
I'll be voting YES to AV, yes to change.
I haven’t been payed anything by anybody for this (worst luck!).
Indeed, the whole point of the PPE/Rant blog was to get some of those letters out there, but firstly; I rarely write anything on that blog and secondly; I'm the only one who reads them! The moral of the story...stick to toy soldiers! But today, I feel so strongly about something that I will 'Send the letter'...here.
I think it is absolutely vital that we 'The People' in Great Britain vote YES in the AV referendum next month and that to not do so will be to condemn ourselves to another hundred years of hollow promises from self-serving politicians who have grown far too fond of the support they leech from the pockets of a relatively anonymous, venal, moneyed-class.
Why do I think it is so important, when it is only a 'compromise' cooked up between the Conservative and Liberal democrats to get the coalition off the ground? Because it's a step in the right direction, and history is made of small steps. The illiterate Paleolithic tribes of the Serengeti didn't become the modern European democrats of today overnight, they didn't even do so in a series of easily defined moments, they did so in a trillion trillion little steps, with great slides backwards into right-wing, small 'p' protestant, reactionary bloodletting like the Dark Ages, the 'Reformation' and the Juntas of the 20th Century.
There is a lot of vitriolic rubbish, emotive nonsense and general brick-battery being put about by both sides, as far as the lobby groups go, the 'No' campaign is making more noise and of a seemingly more desperate fashion (which is usually a sign of a weak argument/feeling you've already lost the debate), but - while supporting 'Yes' I subscribe to neither camp as all lobbyists have - or think they have! - a secret hidden agenda that usually has nothing to do with the long-term goals of the man or woman in the street to see a greater level of fair play, decent governance, access to justice and advancement of the species, all preferably achieved without destroying the planet for their children.
It was said by someone the other day on Radio 4 of AV, that "Instead of the most popular candidate, you’ll end up getting the least unpopular candidate" as if to vote for such a thing would be the end of civilization as we know it! The truth is that with some people in Parliament right now, care of LESS than 1 in 5, 1 in 8 or even 1 in 10 of the adult population in their constituency or ward, it would seem to me (call me a retard if you're in the 'No' camp) that it will be a lot more 'civilized' to be represented by someone who has had at least one vote from over half those who turn out, than the current state where you might be represented by someone with less than a sixth of the votes cast - especially in a three-way marginal with a dozen candidates where one of whom is a 'Big-3' spoiler.
The fact that in a constituency with say 10 candidates, you will get the chance to rate all ten, and know that you have contributed to the final placing of all those you vote for will give you a greater 'vested interest' in whoever gets elected (and you don't have to vote ten times, if you like the old 'First past the Post' system, just cast one vote, and lose your voice if your candidate fails to get elected!), along with the feeling that because you gave the winner one of your ticks, you have more right to expectations of service from them.
Marginal’s will end up with a definite 'winner', 'safe' seats however will become two or three or more-way races, still with a definite winner, but not necessarily the colour who's been winning for the last 70 years! It means however, that all the candidates will have to mean what they say on the hustings, and then spend 4 or 5 years actually 'doing' the job we pay them for instead of filling their duck-pond from the gravy-train, while they line themselves up with a job in the industry they were supposed to be regulating, moderating or policing!
Moreover, if they have to prove themselves BETWEEN elections in order to justify themselves AT election time, there will be far less of the broken-promise politics we've endured for the last 50 years, they will actually have to find a way of legislating against BOTH rogue Landlords and rogue Tenants, instead of passing several score Rent, Property, Landlord & Tenant and Housing Acts, Regulations, Guidance notes and Amendments over half-a-century which achieve very little! After all, they managed to pass two gun laws and a dog law in weeks following Hungerford, Dunblain and the News of The World's various shouty-rag campaigns. Speaking of the Tabloids; If under AV politicians find they need to impress all their constituents most of the time, they might learn to ignore the most of the gobshite brigade all of the time?
And yes, I know the three pieces of legislation mentioned above were flawed, why do you think we don't still win the Shooting medals at the Olympics we used to! But they were enacted under First Past the Post. At the end of the day, History from time to time requires change, that change can come violently, or peacefully, but having been bankrupted by the Thatcher/Ragan-Bush/Blair generation of autocratic paper-money gambling grey-men, and being told we will have to pay, the NHS will have to pay, Social Services, Libraries, local services will have to pay while the grey-men move their bonus money to Nassau using 'Tax-minimization' vehicles, it would seem to me that now is a time for change?
AV offers that change. Whether we feel the need to go on to PR (Proportional Representation), or stick with AV only time and experience will tell, but to not chose change now would be - in my opinion - a terrible failure to our future selves. There are problems with both PR and AV in some of those countries that have already adopted them, but they are not in the same league as our One-party/Three-colours State (What? You mean you can still tell the difference between them!), and none of those countries are contemplating a return to First Past the Post?
Britain has always laid claim to lead the forward march of progress, democratization and tolerance, sometimes - it has to be said - at the barrel of a gun (history is always full of guns), one of the first to move against slavery, building a commercial empire while Napoleon destroyed Europe and the Congress of Vienna solved little. Standing alone against the Generals, Colonels, little chaplinesque-corporal and fat Italian who held so much of Europe in their collective grips from the 1920's until the mid-70's in some cases, paying the bill for that stand by giving up the Empire while America (currently paralyzed by the mad-hatters) payed for Germany and Japan to re-build.
Yet now we seem to be following, if we can't lead we should at least catch-up! Detractors say there will be a low turn-out? Prove them wrong, whichever way you chose to vote, there is still time to register if you've forgotten to do so...
Register, Turn-out, Vote...it’s easy…
I'll be voting YES to AV, yes to change.
I haven’t been payed anything by anybody for this (worst luck!).
Friday, March 18, 2011
Herne Show This Weekend
31st Plastic Soldier show
20th of March 2001
11- 16 :00 hours
Kulturzentrum
44623 Herne
Be there or be miserable stuck in a no-horse village in the middle of nowhere like me!!!
Have Fun!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
W is for Webbing
Another update of the Royal, Loyal, German, American! This time he gets armed and dangerous! 60th Rifles are go!
A collage showing the file of paper and card oddments, the three sheets selected (two neutral 'linen' colours and a black for the Rifles belts and straps) and in the main picture the little strips cut ready, using both the Airfix template and the Chappell artwork as a guide, cut longer they will be trimmed down as I work on them.
By the numbers;
1) Waist belt, rifle sling and two 'webbing' traps cut ready for use. The waist belt and rifle sling have been dampened (I just lick both sides) and are being shaped.
2) The ends are folded over two pieces of fine wire, to make the sling-swivels. Old motor windings will produce nice workable wire in copper, bronze and brass finishes (although I think this came from a shaped-wire Christmas decoration of a basket/star thing?) while phone line gives steel wire and fuse-wire and solder provide very soft 'steel' wire in several thicknesses. Thicker wire in brass or steel finish comes from power flex, while stiff (tensile) steel wire can be bought from music shops as piano wire or guitar string. Finally; model shops have a selection of stiffer brass finish wire/rod and the same steel wires sold in music shops.
3) Once the superglue has set, the wire is folded round and over itself and trimmed-off. The joins will face the figure where they won't be seen by the casual observer.
4) Shaped and ready to fit, again a second damping helps, it actually looked exactly how I wanted it to look at this stage, slightly falling forward in line with the angle of the weapon and the effect of gravity.
5) By the time I'd mucked about with it for five minutes, damped it again, had it fall off, re-glued it and then 'set' it with a painting of superglue, it had lost the 'perfect' shape, but was still OK.
6) The finished strap against the un-worked off-cut. The coat of superglue gives a dirty/sweaty, 'used' colour and a bit more texture.
A collage showing the file of paper and card oddments, the three sheets selected (two neutral 'linen' colours and a black for the Rifles belts and straps) and in the main picture the little strips cut ready, using both the Airfix template and the Chappell artwork as a guide, cut longer they will be trimmed down as I work on them.
By the numbers;1) Waist belt, rifle sling and two 'webbing' traps cut ready for use. The waist belt and rifle sling have been dampened (I just lick both sides) and are being shaped.
2) The ends are folded over two pieces of fine wire, to make the sling-swivels. Old motor windings will produce nice workable wire in copper, bronze and brass finishes (although I think this came from a shaped-wire Christmas decoration of a basket/star thing?) while phone line gives steel wire and fuse-wire and solder provide very soft 'steel' wire in several thicknesses. Thicker wire in brass or steel finish comes from power flex, while stiff (tensile) steel wire can be bought from music shops as piano wire or guitar string. Finally; model shops have a selection of stiffer brass finish wire/rod and the same steel wires sold in music shops.
3) Once the superglue has set, the wire is folded round and over itself and trimmed-off. The joins will face the figure where they won't be seen by the casual observer.
4) Shaped and ready to fit, again a second damping helps, it actually looked exactly how I wanted it to look at this stage, slightly falling forward in line with the angle of the weapon and the effect of gravity.
5) By the time I'd mucked about with it for five minutes, damped it again, had it fall off, re-glued it and then 'set' it with a painting of superglue, it had lost the 'perfect' shape, but was still OK.
6) The finished strap against the un-worked off-cut. The coat of superglue gives a dirty/sweaty, 'used' colour and a bit more texture.
O is for On Yer Bike!
There are some Hong Kong items which come into the collection one at a time, or in such small quantities it can be stated with some assurance that they only ever appeared in Christmas Crackers. This is one of those 'sets'...no doubt someone will now turn-up a carded or bagged set to prove me wrong!
Straight copies of both poses of the 54mm cyclists from Britains, but in approximately 25mm/OO gauge, and a simplified version of the Britains bicycle. Painted-up they are perfectly good for a model railway layout, giving a bit of movement to the sometimes too static scenery/background. Memory serves that you got two per cracker in a little poly-bag.
There seem to be two generations, the guy with the orange bike being a far inferior casting to the others. He does not have the locating hole in his shin, which the other standing figures do, and while the eye for a waist-spigot is still present on the bike, he does not have the required protrusion. Also he's too short to stand up so has to be propped against something! The (older?) versions though, do stand-up in both poses as you can see.
Straight copies of both poses of the 54mm cyclists from Britains, but in approximately 25mm/OO gauge, and a simplified version of the Britains bicycle. Painted-up they are perfectly good for a model railway layout, giving a bit of movement to the sometimes too static scenery/background. Memory serves that you got two per cracker in a little poly-bag.There seem to be two generations, the guy with the orange bike being a far inferior casting to the others. He does not have the locating hole in his shin, which the other standing figures do, and while the eye for a waist-spigot is still present on the bike, he does not have the required protrusion. Also he's too short to stand up so has to be propped against something! The (older?) versions though, do stand-up in both poses as you can see.
P is for Pop-together?
This popped-up at the NEC this weekend, seems to be an Athlete (vest and pants/leotard). with a buckled belt, and is in the style of both 1970's Breakfast Cereal giveaways and Monta-man from Montaplex.
Smaller than Monta-man, but in a very typical Motaplex colour, the quality too is more 'Sobre' than 'Sugar Smacs'. I initially thought he was supposed to be Tarzan the Ape-man swinging through the trees, but suspect (after photography and closer inspection) that he should be swinging from a parallel-bar?
Markings are as overlaid; anyone got any idea as to his make, origin or identity?
13th June 2015 - He is on Kent Sprecher's site as Mattel for Shell Petroleum 'Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus' and he goes with set #10 Trapeze Artist and set #11 Accessory Act. The 'overlaid' markings were never published - I used to upload pictures without saving the edits in Picasa, and they'd lose the changes! I think it was only a (C) mark on the lower back?
Smaller than Monta-man, but in a very typical Motaplex colour, the quality too is more 'Sobre' than 'Sugar Smacs'. I initially thought he was supposed to be Tarzan the Ape-man swinging through the trees, but suspect (after photography and closer inspection) that he should be swinging from a parallel-bar?
Markings are as overlaid; anyone got any idea as to his make, origin or identity?13th June 2015 - He is on Kent Sprecher's site as Mattel for Shell Petroleum 'Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus' and he goes with set #10 Trapeze Artist and set #11 Accessory Act. The 'overlaid' markings were never published - I used to upload pictures without saving the edits in Picasa, and they'd lose the changes! I think it was only a (C) mark on the lower back?
Monday, February 7, 2011
U is for Update - Royal American
Just blocking in the colours before all the straps, belt and normal panoply of gubbins the PBI are loaded down with is added to him.
'This week I'are be mostly using....ACRYLICS' and they seem a bit bright for the job in hand; a sweaty soldier two years on campaign in the Iberian peninsular, in the middle of a battle. Also the camera (still; Thanks Giles!) cuts straight through any thin bits! I want the trousers to end-up blacker, more like the border of the collage.
'This week I'are be mostly using....ACRYLICS' and they seem a bit bright for the job in hand; a sweaty soldier two years on campaign in the Iberian peninsular, in the middle of a battle. Also the camera (still; Thanks Giles!) cuts straight through any thin bits! I want the trousers to end-up blacker, more like the border of the collage.
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