Above them are a few of the Fatlek Daleks with a couple of colour variations, the blues are elsewhere. Inset to the left; when batches collide, two-tone red, and to the right a comparison between the new 'classic' Dalek and a Fatlek.
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.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
F is for Figures From Freebie post
Thought I'd better put up a bit of a line-up of this growing range, but managed to miss one figure in each line-up! And - as I'd posted pictures of the new Daleks last time; left them off this collage, but you get the general idea, and the others are in the post below if you come to this from Google at some point in the future!
So accompanying a Sontaran child - far left of both line-ups - are a Cyberman, the two Weeping Angels (the only figure set so far issued in more than one pose), one punching and one crying, an Ood, a Silence (lanky-git), the lizard-like Silurian (green - missing from lower shot), a character I don't know (Automaton? White - missing from the upper shot) a Judoon (grey thing in a kilt) and something that looks like Disney's Beast...the Minator?
Above them are a few of the Fatlek Daleks with a couple of colour variations, the blues are elsewhere. Inset to the left; when batches collide, two-tone red, and to the right a comparison between the new 'classic' Dalek and a Fatlek.
Above them are a few of the Fatlek Daleks with a couple of colour variations, the blues are elsewhere. Inset to the left; when batches collide, two-tone red, and to the right a comparison between the new 'classic' Dalek and a Fatlek.
Friday, February 1, 2013
F is for Freebie
We've looked at this magazine before and - I'm sure - will do again, but I thought it was time to do a round-up of recent issues and the free gifts of interest to us collectors, as it's a while since I updated the Dalek post that has been getting the odd update on these.
A smorgasbord of issues over the last six months or so which contained figures. Mostly they are figures already issued at least once, sometimes they have already had two outings, while the Fatleks have been issued about half-a-dozen times now.
Still even the Fatleks get colour variations from issue to issue, and you can see here that the 'yellow' member of the team is a bright yellow in one set and a goldy-orange in the other, likewise I think I've got three blue shades in the collection now and at least two reds.
In the last month Silurians have been issued in two shades of green as well. But - look at the hexagonal pack bottom-centre in the collage; new Daleks! More on them below.
Other items which might be of interest to collectors have included the grwo-your-own Cyberman on the left, an approximately 54mm Tardis I'll be looking at in a separate post soon and the 'spinners' on the right above. These consist of standard figures from the existing range with mounting-holes in their bases, but they come with a roughly 1:76/72 scale Tardis and Dalek pencil toppers, both of which can be used as stand-alone additions to the figure range, the Dalek requiring the removal of the pencil spigot and being yet another shade of yellow!
It is a sad fact that the people who issue this stuff probably give no more value or have no more concern for these 'useful' bits as they do for the week-in week-out generic plastic or paper-based crap they put on the covers of all comics and magazines aimed at youngsters these days; rubber or paper masks, sticker sheets, logo-printed note-books, stationary sets, wallets, and so on, with the result that they've never corrected the small size of the Sontarans (the second figure set issued), and are now 'clearing' Sontarans and Cybermen (the very first set issued) covered in a mildew which suggests long storage in the wrong conditions.
Yet...while it appears they are 'clearing' the remnants of this series of figures, they have issued a brand new set...
...so, along with shots of the Fatleks and the Pencil-topper are the new Daleks, coming in six metallic colours, well two are sort of black and charcoal, but I think at least one is supposed to be metallic (graphite?), I thought they were a re-issue of the very first set of these figures, the small goldish-fawn ones from about three years ago, one of which the Philosophical Toad kindly sent me after I'd missed the original issue.
However, when I checked them against the picture in the previous post, it was quite clear these are a larger, better detailed return to the 'classic' Dalek shape, their weapon and eye stalks being particularly fine compared to the original one, so I hope we'll see them again in other colours.
Rather than keep-on adding to the product list on the old post here's an up-to-date version of the 'Master List':
Doctor Who Adventures Magazine
Tying-in with the BBC’s Dr. Who television series, it has some sort of premium/freebie on each cover.
Relevant Issues;
No. 98 - Cybermen (x5, approximately 25mm)
No. 99 - Daleks (x5, approximately 20mm, original type)
No. 170 - Dalek Soldiers (x5, approximately 30mm, ‘Fatlek’ type, orange, from; Premium World)
No. 183 - Dalek Slime (comes in a green Dalek container, approximately 45mm, ‘Fatlek’ type)
No. 186 - Build-your-own Dalek kit (approximately 54mm, ‘Fatlek’ type, silver/black)
No. 203 - Dalek Army (as No.170, but 17 ‘Fatlek’ Daleks in 5 colours, from; HMA)
No. 204 - 16 Mini Monsters/Monster Battle Pack (8 Cybermen - as No.98; 8 Sontarans, both from; HMA)
No. 205 - Dalek Pencil Set (4 ‘Fatlek’ pencil-toppers with pencils)
No. 211 - Dalek Slime (reissue of 183)
No. 223? - Build-your-own Dalek kit (reissue of 186, red/black, Xcel Concepts)
No. 224? - Dalek Slime (reissue of 183/211)
No.229 - Dalek (or other?) Micro-figure (from Character Options) + mini ‘Dr Who’ note pads)
No.237 - Weeping Angel Army (8x 2 poses = 16 figures in PVC/vinyl; HMA + collector card pack)
No.238 - Monster Battle Pack (6x each; HMA Cybermen and Sontarans; 5 Daleks, each of a different colour)
No.241 - 16 Glow-in-the-dark Who Shapes (Some items of use as approximately 60mm flats)
No.254 - Mini Monster Army (8x each HMA Judoon and Ood, batch: 15885)
No.255 - Mini Monster Army (8x each HMA Silence and Silurian, batch: 15886)
No.259 - Grow Your Own Cyberman (Henbrant 25mm figure grows to approximately 54mm with Cartamundi trading cards, package by Xcel Concepts, batch: 18130)
No.261? - Dalek Attack Set (Xcel Concepts, paint-your-own 50mm Fatlek, 2 paints, brush, bouncy-ball and Dalek key-ring, batch: YBC 086)
No.262 - Ultimate Monster Army (HMA, 5 Fatleks, 2 weeping Angels - 1 of each pose - 8 other figures, batch: 15921)
No.267 - Mini Monster Army (HMA figures - blind assortment with Berkshire Labels Dr. Who stickers and Topps Moshi Monsters stickers)
No.284 - Mega Monster Army (HMA Creative, 5 Fatleks, 15 figures, batch: PR1001140)
No.294 - Monster Spinners (HMA, Silence, Sontaran and Cyberman with Dalek and Tardis pencil toppers, batch: PR1001144)
No.297 - Paint Your Own Tardis (two part kit with sticker sheet, brush and 3 paints, HMA, batch: 1001266)
No.300 - Ultimate Dalek Collection (5 Fatleks, 6 original type, HMA + Cartamundi collector card pack, batch: PR1001596)
No.303 - Mini Monster Army (HMA, assorted, different retailers had different batches, I saw 8x each Cybermen/Sontarans [batch: PR1001598] in a large Tesco's store with a thick layer of mildew and 8x Silence/Silurians [batch: 15886] in a local shop, some magazines had non-figural gifts - all old or clearance stock)
No.304 - Mini Monster Army (HMA, 8x each Weeping Angels [only one pose; punching] and Silurians)
No.352 - Bumper Gift Set (9 different figures [2 new sculpts], 1 NS Dalek, 2 trading cards, HMA, batch 1004413)
Even if the originating PR/marketing companies don't rate them they make for very good war-gaming or role-play figures, can replace counters in board games and might make for an interesting cake-decoration! What do you do with yours?
Still even the Fatleks get colour variations from issue to issue, and you can see here that the 'yellow' member of the team is a bright yellow in one set and a goldy-orange in the other, likewise I think I've got three blue shades in the collection now and at least two reds.
In the last month Silurians have been issued in two shades of green as well. But - look at the hexagonal pack bottom-centre in the collage; new Daleks! More on them below.
It is a sad fact that the people who issue this stuff probably give no more value or have no more concern for these 'useful' bits as they do for the week-in week-out generic plastic or paper-based crap they put on the covers of all comics and magazines aimed at youngsters these days; rubber or paper masks, sticker sheets, logo-printed note-books, stationary sets, wallets, and so on, with the result that they've never corrected the small size of the Sontarans (the second figure set issued), and are now 'clearing' Sontarans and Cybermen (the very first set issued) covered in a mildew which suggests long storage in the wrong conditions.
Yet...while it appears they are 'clearing' the remnants of this series of figures, they have issued a brand new set...
However, when I checked them against the picture in the previous post, it was quite clear these are a larger, better detailed return to the 'classic' Dalek shape, their weapon and eye stalks being particularly fine compared to the original one, so I hope we'll see them again in other colours.
Rather than keep-on adding to the product list on the old post here's an up-to-date version of the 'Master List':
Doctor Who Adventures Magazine
Tying-in with the BBC’s Dr. Who television series, it has some sort of premium/freebie on each cover.
Relevant Issues;
No. 98 - Cybermen (x5, approximately 25mm)
No. 99 - Daleks (x5, approximately 20mm, original type)
No. 170 - Dalek Soldiers (x5, approximately 30mm, ‘Fatlek’ type, orange, from; Premium World)
No. 183 - Dalek Slime (comes in a green Dalek container, approximately 45mm, ‘Fatlek’ type)
No. 186 - Build-your-own Dalek kit (approximately 54mm, ‘Fatlek’ type, silver/black)
No. 203 - Dalek Army (as No.170, but 17 ‘Fatlek’ Daleks in 5 colours, from; HMA)
No. 204 - 16 Mini Monsters/Monster Battle Pack (8 Cybermen - as No.98; 8 Sontarans, both from; HMA)
No. 205 - Dalek Pencil Set (4 ‘Fatlek’ pencil-toppers with pencils)
No. 211 - Dalek Slime (reissue of 183)
No. 223? - Build-your-own Dalek kit (reissue of 186, red/black, Xcel Concepts)
No. 224? - Dalek Slime (reissue of 183/211)
No.229 - Dalek (or other?) Micro-figure (from Character Options) + mini ‘Dr Who’ note pads)
No.237 - Weeping Angel Army (8x 2 poses = 16 figures in PVC/vinyl; HMA + collector card pack)
No.238 - Monster Battle Pack (6x each; HMA Cybermen and Sontarans; 5 Daleks, each of a different colour)
No.241 - 16 Glow-in-the-dark Who Shapes (Some items of use as approximately 60mm flats)
No.254 - Mini Monster Army (8x each HMA Judoon and Ood, batch: 15885)
No.255 - Mini Monster Army (8x each HMA Silence and Silurian, batch: 15886)
No.259 - Grow Your Own Cyberman (Henbrant 25mm figure grows to approximately 54mm with Cartamundi trading cards, package by Xcel Concepts, batch: 18130)
No.261? - Dalek Attack Set (Xcel Concepts, paint-your-own 50mm Fatlek, 2 paints, brush, bouncy-ball and Dalek key-ring, batch: YBC 086)
No.262 - Ultimate Monster Army (HMA, 5 Fatleks, 2 weeping Angels - 1 of each pose - 8 other figures, batch: 15921)
No.267 - Mini Monster Army (HMA figures - blind assortment with Berkshire Labels Dr. Who stickers and Topps Moshi Monsters stickers)
No.284 - Mega Monster Army (HMA Creative, 5 Fatleks, 15 figures, batch: PR1001140)
No.294 - Monster Spinners (HMA, Silence, Sontaran and Cyberman with Dalek and Tardis pencil toppers, batch: PR1001144)
No.297 - Paint Your Own Tardis (two part kit with sticker sheet, brush and 3 paints, HMA, batch: 1001266)
No.300 - Ultimate Dalek Collection (5 Fatleks, 6 original type, HMA + Cartamundi collector card pack, batch: PR1001596)
No.303 - Mini Monster Army (HMA, assorted, different retailers had different batches, I saw 8x each Cybermen/Sontarans [batch: PR1001598] in a large Tesco's store with a thick layer of mildew and 8x Silence/Silurians [batch: 15886] in a local shop, some magazines had non-figural gifts - all old or clearance stock)
No.304 - Mini Monster Army (HMA, 8x each Weeping Angels [only one pose; punching] and Silurians)
No.352 - Bumper Gift Set (9 different figures [2 new sculpts], 1 NS Dalek, 2 trading cards, HMA, batch 1004413)
Even if the originating PR/marketing companies don't rate them they make for very good war-gaming or role-play figures, can replace counters in board games and might make for an interesting cake-decoration! What do you do with yours?
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
B is for Best...eMail Ever!
I have recieved all sorts of eMails in my relatively short flirtation with the Wibbly Wobbly Way, offers of free figures from strange and exotic places, sexy stuff from lovers, spam so funny it made me cry...important information from respected peers, long winded explanatory, short and to the point...with photo's, videos and other enclosures...conspirational PM's from fellow forum members - slagging off some 'tard or piss-ant or another, messages from long lost friends or acquaintances, all sorts, but this is the best ever...
Unfortunately I can't explain (yet) what it pertains to, but at last I have done something of which I can be pleased with, that required teamwork (thanks guys) and a bit of risk....I got £104 as well, and others have benefited and more will...in total I reckoned - on the back of a fag-packet - the 'financial irregularity' (for want of a better phrase while investigations are ongoing) totalled in excess of £10,000, taken from some of the people in society who could least afford it...watch this space, there's more to come...
As to the language? Us retards can call each other what we like!
Unfortunately I can't explain (yet) what it pertains to, but at last I have done something of which I can be pleased with, that required teamwork (thanks guys) and a bit of risk....I got £104 as well, and others have benefited and more will...in total I reckoned - on the back of a fag-packet - the 'financial irregularity' (for want of a better phrase while investigations are ongoing) totalled in excess of £10,000, taken from some of the people in society who could least afford it...watch this space, there's more to come...
As to the language? Us retards can call each other what we like!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
W is for What Winter Wants...
...More snowmen...Graham and I thought it would be a good idea to go outside and make a snowman...at 10 o'clock tonight, this is the result of our labours!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
M is for Mainzelmännchen from Mainz
A bit of a departure these - my 'main' present under the tree the other week and no surprise as I'd bought them myself! And they don't represent an expansion of my collections either, as they are up for swaps! I saw them in a charity-shop window and thought "Ah! Mainzelmännchen, I've been after some of those for a while...", but passed on them as they were not the size I'm looking for. As is always the case when you don't buy something when you see it, I then regretted not getting them, so when I passed the shop a couple of days later, and noticed they had gone, went in and asked if they were still around (why I didn't immediately assume they'd been sold I don't know!), the lady on duty said "Do you mean the little gnomes?", "Yes" says I, "Oh, I think someone's put them out the back", off she went to look for them and there they were...prompt purchase ensued!
When we we kids we used to go and stay with Dad, down in the French Zone of Germany (long story) and if he was busy we would stay with a German Officer ('Fritz' - I kid you not) and his family, where we were introduced to the duty of kids being responsible for clearing the snow from the foot-paths (call this weekend's slush 'real snow' do you?!!) before they were allowed to build snowmen, Playmobile and these chaps...
Mainzelmännchen...and proving there's nothing new under the sun, compare these small, fat, cartoonish, woolly-hat wearing kids with the denizens of South Park?
I won't bore you with the history because I don't really know it! But there is a Wikipedia page in German HERE. I just like them because they have an attached nostalgia hit! I do remember that their little 'ad'ventures were like the old 'Intermission' on early BBC TV, coming between the normal programming.
These particular figures are big, and - for want of a better description - are basically squeaky dog-toys without the squeak! Blow-moulded PVC-rubber by Goebel, who were/are the same Goebel/ Hummel AG known for rubber-headed dolls and more recently ceramic 'collectables'? Can anyone point us to a decent web-page on these little chaps?
From left to right in the above line-up we have Berti, Conni, Fritzchen, Edi and Derti and don't consist of a full set, I'm missing a 'Anton' and the Wiki-page says Derti should be Det? He also seems to be missing a small accessory which I suspect is a plastic representation of a clay-pipe, probably in an ethylene or polypropylene, but possibly a styrene, which he should be holding in his left hand and sucking on.
The Wiki-page also tells of a re-birth of the Mainzelmännchen, but with 'new' features, as mine don't seem to conform to the stated format on that page I knocked-up this table. I suspect that there were 'typical' dress-codes and adventure-specific variations, and that some of these figures show those variations, but I don't know? Anyway; I've put it here in case it has significance.
When I say they are up for swaps, I'd like to swap them for a set of the smaller vinyl figurines if any German collector fancies the idea - I believe Goebel are quite collectable and I know someone like Bully or Schlicht produced these fellows in a 40/60mm'ish range, if so; eMail me.
Added 19th Sep. 2017 - Another one which
fails to conform to clothing/colour schemes of all the figures listed on the
Wikipedia page?
When we we kids we used to go and stay with Dad, down in the French Zone of Germany (long story) and if he was busy we would stay with a German Officer ('Fritz' - I kid you not) and his family, where we were introduced to the duty of kids being responsible for clearing the snow from the foot-paths (call this weekend's slush 'real snow' do you?!!) before they were allowed to build snowmen, Playmobile and these chaps...
I won't bore you with the history because I don't really know it! But there is a Wikipedia page in German HERE. I just like them because they have an attached nostalgia hit! I do remember that their little 'ad'ventures were like the old 'Intermission' on early BBC TV, coming between the normal programming.
From left to right in the above line-up we have Berti, Conni, Fritzchen, Edi and Derti and don't consist of a full set, I'm missing a 'Anton' and the Wiki-page says Derti should be Det? He also seems to be missing a small accessory which I suspect is a plastic representation of a clay-pipe, probably in an ethylene or polypropylene, but possibly a styrene, which he should be holding in his left hand and sucking on.
When I say they are up for swaps, I'd like to swap them for a set of the smaller vinyl figurines if any German collector fancies the idea - I believe Goebel are quite collectable and I know someone like Bully or Schlicht produced these fellows in a 40/60mm'ish range, if so; eMail me.
Friday, January 18, 2013
News, Views Etc...PW Show - not Richmond!
Paul Morehead has been in touch with a bit of news, well; two bits actually, first this years PW show date, which is the normal bit of news...and the other news that there is a venue change!
The 28th Plastic Warrior Show will be on;
Saturday 4th May 2013
At;
The Winning Post, Chertsey Road, Whitton, Twickenham, TW2 6LS
In;
The Harlequin Suite
This
is just South of the previous venue on the same A316. For those who know the road, it's the big pub on the left where all the hoorays get tanked-up before the Matches at Twickenham, but it's off the dual-carriageway so I suspect for the car park you have to go left at the roundabout after the raised section (heading North from Sunbury), then turn right into Percy Road and right again for Pauline Crescent? I'll check that and get back to you!
[From the organiser - The main entrance to the Winning Post is straight off the A316 but there is also vehicle and pedestrian access from Percy Road. For people comming by public transport, Whitton Station is 3 minutes walk and gets 8 trains an hour from Waterloo. Detailed travel information will be released shortly.]
[From the organiser - The main entrance to the Winning Post is straight off the A316 but there is also vehicle and pedestrian access from Percy Road. For people comming by public transport, Whitton Station is 3 minutes walk and gets 8 trains an hour from Waterloo. Detailed travel information will be released shortly.]
There is FREE parking, and
a Premier Inn on the same site for anyone who wants to stay the night
Winning Post
Best show for rare plastics, hope to see you there.
Paul - Does this mean we can say horrid things about the management at the old venue and their parking-fascism now?
S is for Swansea
Still haven't worked out why that post migrated the other day, which is a worry as I want to add some more content to the Airfix blog, and if it's unpublished preloaded pages are going to migrate when I set them live I'm going to lose the chronological order I set when I created the thing...doh! At which point I may just bring it all over here to join everything else?
The granddaddy of all those Blue Box and other Hong Kong Arks - some of which (post Blue Box versions) were still available from Bible shops a few years ago? No, not really, the HK ones are mostly based on the Miniature Masterpiece version.
This differs from the small scale one and the wannabes by having a set of wheels hidden in recesses which become 'Feed' and 'Water' stores from the inside, a more ornate ramp (some of the HK ones don't even have a ramp!), sloping gable-ends to the roof and it lacks the sliding door of its diminutive brethren.
The animals are similar the the US 54mm set, but are not quite the same, having the same poses but a smoother finish. I really like these, they have a lot in common with the Kellogg's ones we looked at HERE, and when I first encountered these I though they were the unknown big-cats in that post, but again these are too smooth!
It's worth looking at THIS Merit post as well and comparing, as both are clearly the same beast; aimed at infants, lots of large colourful pieces, educational, biblical (still 'good' in the 1960/70's!) and tons of non-warlike play-value.
In the meantime, here's a great favourite of mine, the Marx Noah's Ark from Swansea...
This differs from the small scale one and the wannabes by having a set of wheels hidden in recesses which become 'Feed' and 'Water' stores from the inside, a more ornate ramp (some of the HK ones don't even have a ramp!), sloping gable-ends to the roof and it lacks the sliding door of its diminutive brethren.
It's worth looking at THIS Merit post as well and comparing, as both are clearly the same beast; aimed at infants, lots of large colourful pieces, educational, biblical (still 'good' in the 1960/70's!) and tons of non-warlike play-value.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
L is for Late, Thanks to Blogger!
Well - you nearly didn't get this post at all, for some reason the 'New Interface' has made it almost impossible to place text above the first image, and in trying to make it I managed to lose the image, and thought that the copies were elsewhere, luckily they were here and I've not only managed to find them but also find a way back to the old Interface, not for long, but hopefully by the time they force it on me again they might have ironed out the couple of dozen problems I've already encountered...some hope huh?!
Simple instructions for how to find the old template/interface if you wish to go back to it for a while...
Old Blogger Tip
I have a bit of a soft spot for tonight's subject. Long before Paul Morhead over at Plastic Warrior talked me into collecting up to 45/50mm "Because no one else will...", I had already started collecting up to 40/45mm in part for the same reason, in part because the lack of formal/industry standard 'size' between scales leads to a natural scale-creep in the collection! These guys would always come in in mixed lots as the unloved dwarves of 54/60mm collectors!
So, to look at one of the earliest sets of toy soldiers, and - like most early stuff - quite well pirated, copied and changed over the years.
The above image shows the Marx 40/45mm PVC vinyl G.I.'s from the early 1950's with the first version (small/no based) sets at the top, the larger-based re-issue below them with two painted variants; one PVC and the other a hard polystyrene on the second row. The third row shows the later Hong Kong production also in a styrene with the MG.
The problem with moving production to HK is that while it was done under 'if you can't beat them join them' conditions, due to the piracy that was already going on, as Britains found; it just makes it easier for the pirates to obtain product to copy. As a result Payton in the 1970's issued the figures in the forth row, not marked HK but almost certainly made there, the quality and plastic type matching a lot of similar production from the then British colony. The forth row are 'all' HK.
The Marx originals, on the left the earlier set with the smaller or non-existent bases, where there are bases; they are smooth and unmarked. To the right are the larger-based replacements with the characteristic dimples or hollows of so much Marx production
The hard-plastic versions from Hong Kong (top right, middle and bottom right) with the painted vinyl bazooka-man and the white plastic marching soldier on a less common oval base.
The bazooka-man has the same mould-line as the HK production, and as the HK one has no mark, I'm assuming they are from the same mould. The white plastic guy must be a 'special', perhaps to go with a stand-alone vehicle or something? he might just be a Marine - I don't have one to compare, but is still in an unusual colour, and seems to have been factory-painted? (see comments now - thank you to Mike Niederman)
I have somewhere a perfect copy of the guy with an empty shell case from the Airfix kits of the 6lbr and 25lbr, but in 40mm and with a very similar paint-job to these dudes, but he has a silver helmet (and I have several now), so I'm suspecting he actually went with an HK military vehicle or something, anyway I would have shown him but I don't know where his bag is at the moment!
The Payton pirates - lower shots. These are in a polyethylene or polypropylene type plastic and come in various colours and had some real HK shite by way of accompanying AFV's. The two above with the plug-feet are more likely full-HK copies, issued with some form of military vehicle or vessel like a PT Boat, Landing Craft or AA Gun? The guy missing his feet has the same poor quality as the other two, so probably shares the same source.
Some comparison shots showing the evolution (degradation?) of the figures over time, and the support weapons issued with these guys in the Marx play-sets. The MG in the middle was the sort of 'standard' piece of kit, but they also made a recoilless rifle to fit the same tripod and there was also an earlier water-cooled Browning MG for the same mount. The Japanese version to the right seems to be a copy, in a more tinny polypropylene with added 'rivet' detailing to the legs...do any of the larger-scale experts know the origin?
Marx favoured this scale in their early days and we can see a few more here.
Top left; the PVC circus and Tom whatsit/Space Patrol/Rex Mars etc... 'Space Academy' figures.
Top right; Wild West in a Cowboy and Indian and a Hawaiian dancer I should have added to This Post.
Bottom left; Some navy figures, again - like the marching figure above - the yellow guy is a non-standard figure, in an odd colour and missing the kit-bag he is more commonly seen dragging behind him.
Bottom right; Navy bases and a mechanic in an ethylene polymer.
Tom Corbbet!
Added 17th July 2012;
This is the Airfix piracy I mentioned above, he has a green helmet not a silver one and is in a very dense polyethylene or polypropylene, so not actually connected to the above HK Marx, except in size and vauge paint-style, so probably a HK AFV accessory, but I mentioned him so he can stay here!
These have also turned-up, they are definitely a polypropylene or even nylon type polymer, the stretcher is almost impossible to keep together due to poor tolerance/QA and a they have to face each other as there is just the one moulding! However several of the poses are from the Marx 40mm and the rest are other Marx poses scaled down. Again I would imagine HK (or 'China'), and quite recent rack-toys - within the last 15/20 years?
[Added 14/01/2013 - I haven't the faintest idea why this post has moved here this afternoon? But as I can't find it wherever it was (June/July last year?) it will have to stay here! I guess it is a stupid new-version Blogger thing? reading the post it seems it was the first post I did after the first forced-change which might have something to do with its sudden migration. The link to old version no longer works. Weird...]
I have a bit of a soft spot for tonight's subject. Long before Paul Morhead over at Plastic Warrior talked me into collecting up to 45/50mm "Because no one else will...", I had already started collecting up to 40/45mm in part for the same reason, in part because the lack of formal/industry standard 'size' between scales leads to a natural scale-creep in the collection! These guys would always come in in mixed lots as the unloved dwarves of 54/60mm collectors!
So, to look at one of the earliest sets of toy soldiers, and - like most early stuff - quite well pirated, copied and changed over the years.The above image shows the Marx 40/45mm PVC vinyl G.I.'s from the early 1950's with the first version (small/no based) sets at the top, the larger-based re-issue below them with two painted variants; one PVC and the other a hard polystyrene on the second row. The third row shows the later Hong Kong production also in a styrene with the MG.
The problem with moving production to HK is that while it was done under 'if you can't beat them join them' conditions, due to the piracy that was already going on, as Britains found; it just makes it easier for the pirates to obtain product to copy. As a result Payton in the 1970's issued the figures in the forth row, not marked HK but almost certainly made there, the quality and plastic type matching a lot of similar production from the then British colony. The forth row are 'all' HK.
The Marx originals, on the left the earlier set with the smaller or non-existent bases, where there are bases; they are smooth and unmarked. To the right are the larger-based replacements with the characteristic dimples or hollows of so much Marx production
The hard-plastic versions from Hong Kong (top right, middle and bottom right) with the painted vinyl bazooka-man and the white plastic marching soldier on a less common oval base.
The bazooka-man has the same mould-line as the HK production, and as the HK one has no mark, I'm assuming they are from the same mould. The white plastic guy must be a 'special', perhaps to go with a stand-alone vehicle or something? he might just be a Marine - I don't have one to compare, but is still in an unusual colour, and seems to have been factory-painted? (see comments now - thank you to Mike Niederman)
I have somewhere a perfect copy of the guy with an empty shell case from the Airfix kits of the 6lbr and 25lbr, but in 40mm and with a very similar paint-job to these dudes, but he has a silver helmet (and I have several now), so I'm suspecting he actually went with an HK military vehicle or something, anyway I would have shown him but I don't know where his bag is at the moment!
The Payton pirates - lower shots. These are in a polyethylene or polypropylene type plastic and come in various colours and had some real HK shite by way of accompanying AFV's. The two above with the plug-feet are more likely full-HK copies, issued with some form of military vehicle or vessel like a PT Boat, Landing Craft or AA Gun? The guy missing his feet has the same poor quality as the other two, so probably shares the same source.
Some comparison shots showing the evolution (degradation?) of the figures over time, and the support weapons issued with these guys in the Marx play-sets. The MG in the middle was the sort of 'standard' piece of kit, but they also made a recoilless rifle to fit the same tripod and there was also an earlier water-cooled Browning MG for the same mount. The Japanese version to the right seems to be a copy, in a more tinny polypropylene with added 'rivet' detailing to the legs...do any of the larger-scale experts know the origin?
Marx favoured this scale in their early days and we can see a few more here.
Top left; the PVC circus and Tom whatsit/Space Patrol/Rex Mars etc... 'Space Academy' figures.
Top right; Wild West in a Cowboy and Indian and a Hawaiian dancer I should have added to This Post.
Bottom left; Some navy figures, again - like the marching figure above - the yellow guy is a non-standard figure, in an odd colour and missing the kit-bag he is more commonly seen dragging behind him.
Bottom right; Navy bases and a mechanic in an ethylene polymer.
Tom Corbbet!
Added 17th July 2012;
This is the Airfix piracy I mentioned above, he has a green helmet not a silver one and is in a very dense polyethylene or polypropylene, so not actually connected to the above HK Marx, except in size and vauge paint-style, so probably a HK AFV accessory, but I mentioned him so he can stay here!
These have also turned-up, they are definitely a polypropylene or even nylon type polymer, the stretcher is almost impossible to keep together due to poor tolerance/QA and a they have to face each other as there is just the one moulding! However several of the poses are from the Marx 40mm and the rest are other Marx poses scaled down. Again I would imagine HK (or 'China'), and quite recent rack-toys - within the last 15/20 years?[Added 14/01/2013 - I haven't the faintest idea why this post has moved here this afternoon? But as I can't find it wherever it was (June/July last year?) it will have to stay here! I guess it is a stupid new-version Blogger thing? reading the post it seems it was the first post I did after the first forced-change which might have something to do with its sudden migration. The link to old version no longer works. Weird...]
[Added 26/11/2013 - Another one, no base, no paint but same plastic, there doesn't seem to be signs of the base being removed but neither is there a locating stud to mount him in an AFV? Both will go on to the Airfix Blog eventually]
Mid-2021 - Three more have turned up (in the collection) with a new pose, and they (the same three) were also in Plastic Warrior magazine about a year ago, I'm pretty sure now they will turn-out to have been the crew in a probably Hong Kong boxed or carded gun.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
T is for Tatra, not the trucks from Czechoslovakia and not Rubinstein!
So a mystery solved, not by diligent research in the British Library, or months poring over old toy trade magazines, nor buy the serendipitous matching of a Littlewood's catalogue image with an old order form from Woolworth's or something like that, but by a simple comment I almost missed, written months after the original post had been published, and received with thanks from Gareth Callan;
As soon as I had read Gareth's comment I Googled the firm - just to see if there was anything - and found that they are not only still going but have a website, a blog (with images of the original mouldings) and a fascinating history page which seems to involve them taking over most of the firms within a hundred miles of them in every direction over a number of years (decades!) and then moving the whole thing North!
I contacted the company and received a kind reply from one of the staff, he has declined to enter detailed correspondence on the subject, a position I can understand as the company now is an extrusions company, very different from the injection moulding they were engaged in when they made these and so have little interest in what was probably a 'pin-money' earner for them more then 40 years ago. Consequently I won't name the individual but thank him for the images.
Also there may be very few people left in the factory who remember the fine details of what was happening "down south" all those years ago, but if Gareth could remember and comment, maybe someone else will...do you know anyone who worked at Tatra in the 1970's?, get them to drop a comment here and share their memories with the rest of us!
The most interesting thing I learnt from the company spokesperson was that the moulds were finally sold only a few years ago (when the original owners retired?) to a plastics firm in South Africa, they couldn't remember the name of the firm, but anyone in SA, or with friends or family there might try to look out for them in the smaller shops or kiosks?
The other two were the bigger set (16 poses?) of very small ones issued all over Europe with gum, ice-cream or soap-powder and the larger based set probably made by Crescent - and like these; destined for Kellogg's Ricicles.
Obviously the original post has a few red-herrings now, as they weren't made in, for or by a pulping-mill on the North or South banks of the Thames or the Medway for starters!! But I'll leave it as it is with a link forward to this one - it is still one of the most popular posts with 40-odd visits today alone. And they may have been for a pulping-mill as the other connections hold vis-a-vis box supply, games etc...?
A couple of links;
Company History
Tatra Blog
More Tatra on this Blog
Known Listing;
Magic Roundabout Characters (c.1968) - Kellogg's Ricicles
- Brian the Neurotic Snail
- Dougal Dog - The Sugar-rushed Worrier
- Dylan the Rabbit...the very, very spaced-out rabbit, man!
- Ermentrude the Cow, nice but dim.
- Florence
- Mr Rusty
- Old Mr McHenry
- Zebedee...that was all wrong...a talking bed-spring with a Mexican-mustachioed tumour for a head?
The Aristocats (c.1970) - Nabisco - Different set to the European gum-premiums, being larger, less poses and similar in execution to the Robin Hood figures.
Robin Hood (c.1970) - Nabisco
The Flintstones (c.1970) - Nabisco - See above link, were reissued in a soft vinyl.
Football Players (World Cup 1974) - ?
Warriors Through the Ages (c. 1975) - Various - See the original post for a fuller (but probably still not complete!) listing of the various 'to market' titles and dates for these.
As soon as I had read Gareth's comment I Googled the firm - just to see if there was anything - and found that they are not only still going but have a website, a blog (with images of the original mouldings) and a fascinating history page which seems to involve them taking over most of the firms within a hundred miles of them in every direction over a number of years (decades!) and then moving the whole thing North!
Upper shot shows the footballers, these have bases like the Timpo ones but are a little smaller, they also seem to be the hardest to find of the main football types (Airfix, gold named-base, Timpo and pop-on based cake decorations) and when found are usually in the same cream as Airfix or the pinky-cream colour above.
Below are the Soldiers of the World in blue with two poses missing.
I contacted the company and received a kind reply from one of the staff, he has declined to enter detailed correspondence on the subject, a position I can understand as the company now is an extrusions company, very different from the injection moulding they were engaged in when they made these and so have little interest in what was probably a 'pin-money' earner for them more then 40 years ago. Consequently I won't name the individual but thank him for the images.
Also there may be very few people left in the factory who remember the fine details of what was happening "down south" all those years ago, but if Gareth could remember and comment, maybe someone else will...do you know anyone who worked at Tatra in the 1970's?, get them to drop a comment here and share their memories with the rest of us!
Some old shots left over from the previous post, showing the marking that clinches the British angle to these figures, they weren't supplied by Rubinstein, but to them!
The most interesting thing I learnt from the company spokesperson was that the moulds were finally sold only a few years ago (when the original owners retired?) to a plastics firm in South Africa, they couldn't remember the name of the firm, but anyone in SA, or with friends or family there might try to look out for them in the smaller shops or kiosks?
Tatra PR shot above and a few of mine - below - for the Magic Roundabout set, this was one of three sets of premiums issued for the iconic children's TV series of drug-infused madness; "Hey...anybody got a carrot maaaaannn..."
The other two were the bigger set (16 poses?) of very small ones issued all over Europe with gum, ice-cream or soap-powder and the larger based set probably made by Crescent - and like these; destined for Kellogg's Ricicles.
Finally the Robin Hood set complete, these appeared in large numbers a few years ago all in the same clean pale blue polyethylene, whether they were old stock or a quick run before the moulds were sold is not clear.
Obviously the original post has a few red-herrings now, as they weren't made in, for or by a pulping-mill on the North or South banks of the Thames or the Medway for starters!! But I'll leave it as it is with a link forward to this one - it is still one of the most popular posts with 40-odd visits today alone. And they may have been for a pulping-mill as the other connections hold vis-a-vis box supply, games etc...?
A couple of links;
Company History
Tatra Blog
More Tatra on this Blog
Known Listing;
Magic Roundabout Characters (c.1968) - Kellogg's Ricicles
- Brian the Neurotic Snail
- Dougal Dog - The Sugar-rushed Worrier
- Dylan the Rabbit...the very, very spaced-out rabbit, man!
- Ermentrude the Cow, nice but dim.
- Florence
- Mr Rusty
- Old Mr McHenry
- Zebedee...that was all wrong...a talking bed-spring with a Mexican-mustachioed tumour for a head?
The Aristocats (c.1970) - Nabisco - Different set to the European gum-premiums, being larger, less poses and similar in execution to the Robin Hood figures.
Robin Hood (c.1970) - Nabisco
The Flintstones (c.1970) - Nabisco - See above link, were reissued in a soft vinyl.
Football Players (World Cup 1974) - ?
Warriors Through the Ages (c. 1975) - Various - See the original post for a fuller (but probably still not complete!) listing of the various 'to market' titles and dates for these.
Friday, January 4, 2013
P is for Plong...of course!
These chaps are by Jean/Big and would have been supplied to Cand-Import for their 'Plong' gum cards in the same way Kellogg's were supplied with figures by Crescent.
The eight cards make-up into a continuous background scene, although you'd be hard pressed to get the blister off without damaging the backing card. Gum is missing on these examples which may still be available from Adrian at Mercator Trading, see links to right of blog-page.
They have a simpler paint scheme than the originals as issued by Jean, which can be seen Here, a link which is well overdue as I said I'd add it back in March 2010 and then never got round to it (in my defence I was being dragged through the mill by a crooked Knight at the time!), thanks are due to Klaus Lemper for the heads-up on that one.
The eight cards make-up into a continuous background scene, although you'd be hard pressed to get the blister off without damaging the backing card. Gum is missing on these examples which may still be available from Adrian at Mercator Trading, see links to right of blog-page.
They have a simpler paint scheme than the originals as issued by Jean, which can be seen Here, a link which is well overdue as I said I'd add it back in March 2010 and then never got round to it (in my defence I was being dragged through the mill by a crooked Knight at the time!), thanks are due to Klaus Lemper for the heads-up on that one.
T is for Thales
That's 'Tar-les' not 'Thailes'
About a year ago I was hanging around Newbury, with an hour or so to kill, and having outstayed my welcome in the local coffee house thought I'd do a quick overpass of the charity shops in the main square, of which there are about 5, as, despite there rarely being any major pickings in charity shops these days (not because there's nothing there, but because they mostly save stuff 'out back' for their local tame collector!) you can sometimes find the odd useful piece.
And in one I did indeed find something, in the little restaurant-style bread-roll basket of infants toys and squeaky things, there was this soft expanded-foam moulding of what was obviously a pretty modern item of military kit. Well, it was what it was (20p?) so I bought it and when I got home Googled the thing, found it was one of a family of similar vehicles and thought "Ah! Different versions of prototype must equal different versions of toy, surly?", and I was right, but must stop calling myself Shirley (if you got that - you're showing you age!).
So this is the beast I found, it's a very accurate model - given the material - and seems to be around the 1:50 mark, scale wise. Clearly an advertising premium, the underside has more basic sculpting than the upper surfaces but gets across one of the main selling points of all vehicles of its type these days - mine resistance, with a clearly emphasised blast-protecting/directing ridge running the full length of the crew cab and passenger sections.
Anyway - I then eMailed a couple of the people I found on the websites and sat back to see what would happen...not a lot...and for a year this collage sat in Picasa with me wondering weather or not to blog it as a stand-alone. So a couple of months ago I tried again, obviously got a different eMail, and the result was a small parcel all the way from Australia with the rest of the crew on-board.
At this point I must thank Julian Elliott of Thales PR/Communications down under for going the extra mile.
Not only did Julian help with the rest of the Bushmaster family, but also sent me two versions of the smaller Hawkie ('hawk-eye'), a small air-portable AFV and the I-Mast, an integrated naval radar system (with all the various electronic units in one structure), which is manufactured by the Thales subsidiary in Hengelo, Netherlands, although the foam model is made in the same place as the Aussie AFV models.
The other members of the Bushmaster family are an APC version of the armoured ambulance I'd found and soft-skin versions of a pick-up truck with short and crew-cab layouts (the ACSV?). The I-Mast just screams 'Dalek HQ' to me and with Doctor Who Adventures magazine giving us no less than 6 old-type Daleks last week in five colours there's potential there somewhere for a good scrap (HOTT rules?).
Indeed all these lend themselves as very hard-wearing pieces for a gaming table, and would go very well with the modern standard 28mm Sci-fi or fantasy figures, or - of course - any similar sized 'modern' troops, the Bushmaster being in service with several armies now.
I was also given a small koala bear! he's now on the Christmas Tree!!! For those who have more than a passing interest in AFV's, these are interesting vehicles, not least that the original Bushmaster design comes from an Irish company called Timoney who - I'm pretty sure - made an interesting AFV/APC for the Irish army in the 1970's that looked like a Big-wheeled Ferret on steroids! Also the camouflage on the Hawkie, is quite similar to the camouflage on a 6x6 heavy-weapons conversion of the Land-Rover Defender I saw at Farnborough airshow about ten years ago, which also came from Australia.
Detailed links for those interested;
I-Mast
Hawkie Air-portable Light Wheeled AFV
Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle - Wikipedia
About a year ago I was hanging around Newbury, with an hour or so to kill, and having outstayed my welcome in the local coffee house thought I'd do a quick overpass of the charity shops in the main square, of which there are about 5, as, despite there rarely being any major pickings in charity shops these days (not because there's nothing there, but because they mostly save stuff 'out back' for their local tame collector!) you can sometimes find the odd useful piece.
And in one I did indeed find something, in the little restaurant-style bread-roll basket of infants toys and squeaky things, there was this soft expanded-foam moulding of what was obviously a pretty modern item of military kit. Well, it was what it was (20p?) so I bought it and when I got home Googled the thing, found it was one of a family of similar vehicles and thought "Ah! Different versions of prototype must equal different versions of toy, surly?", and I was right, but must stop calling myself Shirley (if you got that - you're showing you age!).
Anyway - I then eMailed a couple of the people I found on the websites and sat back to see what would happen...not a lot...and for a year this collage sat in Picasa with me wondering weather or not to blog it as a stand-alone. So a couple of months ago I tried again, obviously got a different eMail, and the result was a small parcel all the way from Australia with the rest of the crew on-board.
At this point I must thank Julian Elliott of Thales PR/Communications down under for going the extra mile.
The other members of the Bushmaster family are an APC version of the armoured ambulance I'd found and soft-skin versions of a pick-up truck with short and crew-cab layouts (the ACSV?). The I-Mast just screams 'Dalek HQ' to me and with Doctor Who Adventures magazine giving us no less than 6 old-type Daleks last week in five colours there's potential there somewhere for a good scrap (HOTT rules?).
Indeed all these lend themselves as very hard-wearing pieces for a gaming table, and would go very well with the modern standard 28mm Sci-fi or fantasy figures, or - of course - any similar sized 'modern' troops, the Bushmaster being in service with several armies now.
Detailed links for those interested;
I-Mast
Hawkie Air-portable Light Wheeled AFV
Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle - Wikipedia
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
H is for Happy Birthday
Might I - in my well-stuffed, slightly alcohol-steeped state, and before midnight turns over to the 26th - take this opportunity to wish the Little Baby Jesus a Happy Birthday.
It happens than I am not a follower of Christ, nor do I believe in his father, nor their (shared?) holy ghost! which - as someone like Bernard Shaw (?) pointed out; suggests a sure-fire place for me in this mythical Heaven as I have given all three of them a great deal more thought than most of the people who will have been popping down to their local church in the last few days, or who will be doing so in the next few days, for the first time in twelve-months!
However I do believe in him as having been a historical person of some substance and I also believe he was a man who meant well, and had the knack of taking a crowd with him using only oratory, even when the message was one they wouldn't have liked...
* Be nice to people who are not the same as you, whether or not that difference is one of income, skin colour, religious belief or mental or physical state.
* Be generous with what you've got, whether that is in talents of money or talents of the mind, and expect nothing in return, but show gratitude for the generosity of others.
I'm sure that were he alive today he would have something to say about keeping guns in the closet too, but that's for another post, although the 'Give unto Caesar' rule would let the Swiss off the hook; they do have a mature attitude to them after all!
Indeed, all in all - for a non-believer I seem to believe quite a bit! The thing is though, this birthday thing we celebrate today and which has been so usurped by 'Big-Business' and the media, by politicians and the movie industry, was only ever the party we all need in the depths of winter, being earlier usurped by the Judeao-Christian lot from the Romans, who had usurped various aspects of it from the 'barbarians'.
We have bits of the Roman Winter Solstice, Scandinavian Sol (or Yule), Saturnalia, and others included in some of the traditions we think of as 'Christmassy' and hundreds of festivals ancient and modern from Halloween in the Autumn through Valentines to Walpurgisnacht in the Spring have risen and fallen in popularity, morphed, evolved and been subsumed over the years to the point where the truth of any of them has been lost in the need to eat mountains of food, buy truck-loads of manufactured 'stuff', drink a small brewery and light fireworks!
But there is one truth: that we need to stop, in the middle of winter, let of a bit of steam, fatten the bones and contemplate where we've been and where we're going, who we love and why.
And if they want to do that in the name of the Little Baby Jesus, sobeit, maybe calling it Winterval (C)/(R) Sponsored by Pepsi-corp/Lego TM would be more honest, but...hey? When did those at the top ever do anything honest to us or for us, be they priests, phat-cats or politicians?
Look to those around you, and be nice to them, it's all that matters in the end.
Thanks go to Dario (from Venice, not Italy! - see; keep it small and local) for the figure - maker unknown.
It happens than I am not a follower of Christ, nor do I believe in his father, nor their (shared?) holy ghost! which - as someone like Bernard Shaw (?) pointed out; suggests a sure-fire place for me in this mythical Heaven as I have given all three of them a great deal more thought than most of the people who will have been popping down to their local church in the last few days, or who will be doing so in the next few days, for the first time in twelve-months!
However I do believe in him as having been a historical person of some substance and I also believe he was a man who meant well, and had the knack of taking a crowd with him using only oratory, even when the message was one they wouldn't have liked...
* Be nice to people who are not the same as you, whether or not that difference is one of income, skin colour, religious belief or mental or physical state.
* Be generous with what you've got, whether that is in talents of money or talents of the mind, and expect nothing in return, but show gratitude for the generosity of others.
I'm sure that were he alive today he would have something to say about keeping guns in the closet too, but that's for another post, although the 'Give unto Caesar' rule would let the Swiss off the hook; they do have a mature attitude to them after all!
Indeed, all in all - for a non-believer I seem to believe quite a bit! The thing is though, this birthday thing we celebrate today and which has been so usurped by 'Big-Business' and the media, by politicians and the movie industry, was only ever the party we all need in the depths of winter, being earlier usurped by the Judeao-Christian lot from the Romans, who had usurped various aspects of it from the 'barbarians'.
We have bits of the Roman Winter Solstice, Scandinavian Sol (or Yule), Saturnalia, and others included in some of the traditions we think of as 'Christmassy' and hundreds of festivals ancient and modern from Halloween in the Autumn through Valentines to Walpurgisnacht in the Spring have risen and fallen in popularity, morphed, evolved and been subsumed over the years to the point where the truth of any of them has been lost in the need to eat mountains of food, buy truck-loads of manufactured 'stuff', drink a small brewery and light fireworks!
But there is one truth: that we need to stop, in the middle of winter, let of a bit of steam, fatten the bones and contemplate where we've been and where we're going, who we love and why.
And if they want to do that in the name of the Little Baby Jesus, sobeit, maybe calling it Winterval (C)/(R) Sponsored by Pepsi-corp/Lego TM would be more honest, but...hey? When did those at the top ever do anything honest to us or for us, be they priests, phat-cats or politicians?
Look to those around you, and be nice to them, it's all that matters in the end.
Thanks go to Dario (from Venice, not Italy! - see; keep it small and local) for the figure - maker unknown.
Monday, December 24, 2012
C is for Cristmas, Crimbo and CAKE!
A bit of a thematic - indeed - 'Seasonal' post tonight. We have looked at this sort of stuff before and will again, tonight's have all come into the collection in the last 15 or so months.
This is a surprisingly sophisticated design from Festival, a UK company, and I suspect a late production attempt to fight back against the onslaught of cheap imports from Hong Kong, who were simply copying their older polyethylene cake decorations in polystyrene.
Made from a polypropylene type material, it's in two parts which slot together, the white trim and red cloak reducing the need for the quantities of paint they had used in the 1950's and '60's. Supplied to Culpitts in the UK (as most of their output seems to have been), we see also a late Culpitts packaging.
Another carded set; this company (Anniversary House) are still extant and based in Bournemouth, although this item seems to be a discontinued - probably 1980's - piece, it has a spike or spigot to punch through the icing on a Christmas cake.
Nothing to do with cake this one, except that I have a whole set of cake decorations somewhere with this trombonist, so he's a case of cross-marketing, being supplied to cake decoration wholesalers and glued into snow-domes/snow-shakers.
Some older or more traditional ones - to me that is...or people of a certain age! Tradition with regard to Christmas is a very movable feast! But these are the sort of thing I remember from my childhood. The top picture's items are all by Festival, with the deer, the motto and the cupid all being copied in Hong Kong in polystyrene at one time or another, these are all originals with the registered trade numbers and/or Festival logo showing. The clown is only in the picture because they were all in the same bag, he's more of a Birthday cake decoration!
Bottom left are my favourite type of Christmas cake decorations; the plaster-of-Paris ones, going back to the turn of the century they ran alongside the bisque ones for years as the poorer brother, but have slowly lost out to plastics in the last 40 years, although they are still around and two of the above were bought new from a bakery in Newbury a year ago.
The final shot are 1970's style Hong Kong imports of a tree with and without a metallic finish and a little church, with another Festival item - the other tree - to the right.
Mostly more modern types although the large picture of the Santa' with a spigot looks to be early British (1950's) and could be Festival or Gem (who I think are connected anyway). Top left are poured resin (or 'Poly-stone'!!), the chap next to them seems to be made out of that oven-cure modelling compound, used by kids for craft stuff, but here used commercially.
A mixed bag which starts with a pair of earrings, these were imported by several companies a few years ago. and somewhere I have a bunch of them with the hangers removed and various treatments, both hand-painted and sprayed, in various schemes.
Next is a 'Mr. Man' pencil top who looks like a snowman and - you'll be unsurprised to hear - is called Mr. Snow! The very small one skating is interesting as he appears to be a polystyrene HK effort, but is quite finely designed and may be a copy of an earlier European moulding, but I've never found a soft plastic or marked version?
The chap on a card-plinth is the only Christmas themed cake decoration I could find in Britain's main supermarkets in the last month, and I tried Tesco (Andover and Aldershot), Walmart-call-me-Asda (Farnborough), Waitrose (Fleet) and Sainsbury's (Fleet and Farnborough). Not one of them thought to stock Christmas dec's, despite all having large displays of 'year-round' and birthday decorations? Oh...and he's made out of Royal Icing and is good for eating or removing teeth!
The lower image shows a china/ceramic 'fairing' type candle-holder of indeterminate years and origin...possibly made in Japan post war for the German market? And a hideous glitter covered, pipe-cleaner 'enhanced' Santa' who came with a commercial cake years ago, but was being sold with 5 other coloured fellows as tree decorations in Tesco this December, so the mould - unfortunately - survives somewhere in Hong Kong/China...
Going back to earrings for a moment; the main shot here shows three ex-earrings, which are just the right size for filling in at the top of the tree where you want little baubles and other hangings, and both the stripped bauble and the Christmas pudding were so converted a few years ago, while the little bell was courtesy of Tesco's about a week ago!
Below them is last years Christmas cake, with a poured resin and Santa Claus and his tree, which lost out at audition to a more traditional brush-type with plaster snow...and this years Yule Log with a squirrel bought from the local toy shop.
At the risk of repeating myself - wherever you are and whoever you're with; have a lovely Christmas, and get cake, eat cake, only...save the decorations!
Made from a polypropylene type material, it's in two parts which slot together, the white trim and red cloak reducing the need for the quantities of paint they had used in the 1950's and '60's. Supplied to Culpitts in the UK (as most of their output seems to have been), we see also a late Culpitts packaging.
Bottom left are my favourite type of Christmas cake decorations; the plaster-of-Paris ones, going back to the turn of the century they ran alongside the bisque ones for years as the poorer brother, but have slowly lost out to plastics in the last 40 years, although they are still around and two of the above were bought new from a bakery in Newbury a year ago.
The final shot are 1970's style Hong Kong imports of a tree with and without a metallic finish and a little church, with another Festival item - the other tree - to the right.
Next is a 'Mr. Man' pencil top who looks like a snowman and - you'll be unsurprised to hear - is called Mr. Snow! The very small one skating is interesting as he appears to be a polystyrene HK effort, but is quite finely designed and may be a copy of an earlier European moulding, but I've never found a soft plastic or marked version?
The chap on a card-plinth is the only Christmas themed cake decoration I could find in Britain's main supermarkets in the last month, and I tried Tesco (Andover and Aldershot), Walmart-call-me-Asda (Farnborough), Waitrose (Fleet) and Sainsbury's (Fleet and Farnborough). Not one of them thought to stock Christmas dec's, despite all having large displays of 'year-round' and birthday decorations? Oh...and he's made out of Royal Icing and is good for eating or removing teeth!
The lower image shows a china/ceramic 'fairing' type candle-holder of indeterminate years and origin...possibly made in Japan post war for the German market? And a hideous glitter covered, pipe-cleaner 'enhanced' Santa' who came with a commercial cake years ago, but was being sold with 5 other coloured fellows as tree decorations in Tesco this December, so the mould - unfortunately - survives somewhere in Hong Kong/China...
Below them is last years Christmas cake, with a poured resin and Santa Claus and his tree, which lost out at audition to a more traditional brush-type with plaster snow...and this years Yule Log with a squirrel bought from the local toy shop.
At the risk of repeating myself - wherever you are and whoever you're with; have a lovely Christmas, and get cake, eat cake, only...save the decorations!
Friday, December 14, 2012
M is for Merry Christmas
IT'S CHRISTMAS ! says Noddy five times a day on every radio station!
12 Days to Christmas, better get the tree up and start stuffing myself with stollen, tangerines, mince-pies, family packs of 'bisquits', Quality Street and anything else I can lay my hands on that might get me in training for the big day!!!
So - I'm finally getting to grips with 3D and after a frustrating week on 'mesh' or basket-weaving as I call it, I had a bit of a play with 'solids' yesterday and lighting for shadows, so this is the first self-designed Christmas card wot I done did since primary skool init! More festive and less technical-exercise one next year I promise....
I still have all the Corgi/Matchbox articles to post and the French stuff, but time has waited for no man in what has been a very interesting year, however, I will try to get some catch-up done in the next four weeks.
Have a good one wherever you are and whoever you're with.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
M is for Morris Museum Morristown
Sadly. I can't go, but for anyone over the pond who's liked the art-links I've been posting; this looks like a lot of fun if you're looking for something to do over the holidays...
Morris Museum - Morristown
Morris Museum - Morristown
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