MPC is for Mini Ships - Part One; 'Ships of all Nations' Comic Offer

So I promised a round-up of the MPC mini ships a while ago, and this is it - The low-down on the set of model vessels called "Ships of all Nations" by Multiple Toy Makers / Multiple Plastics Corp. (MPC) [and if that reads a bit 'poncy' - it's because it's for search engines!]

With help from Marc Frattasio (who kindly dealt with my emails asking for information on his examples, and identified those I didn't have, but which he did), between us we can present what is pretty-much the only detailed information on these among the billions of pages (approximately 4.71 billion to date) on the Wibbly Wobbly Way, or at least I can't find much else! I have linked to what little there is.

There seem to have been 68 models in the range and they vary from the obvious to the frankly esoteric vis-a-vis the ships depicted and it took a while to work out the whole range as there are different totals presenting themselves when the student of old toys first looks into them.

Each model had its name, nationality, length and gross tonnage in relief on the base underside. Some models had no tonnage given, while quite a few are missing their SS, MV, USS &etc. prefix, I have used the given titles wherever possible as that's how they will be listed by on-line sellers. Nationality, again; is the given one, ships such as Liberte having had three owners. There were dates given to each vessel listed on the comic ad. but they (the dates) weren't included on the vessels...with the exception of the two British Tugs - and maybe some of the 'details unknown' ones below?

The main source of them seems to have been as a single purchase of a full-set+, to wit; 102 vessels, including at least one of each, how the duplicates panned-out I couldn't tell you and the adverts in old Marvel and DC comics give no clue as they only list 64 of the boats. I assume they must have been available as a retail shop-purchase at some point but can't find any details on that at the moment.

Another problem with getting this article together has been the plastic they are manufactured from - with the exception of the green ones; it registers very high in the infra-red spectrum and has proved hard to photograph so that the detail is clear, this was also a problem with the 'planes we looked at last time we visited MPC minis, but with them it wasn't such a bind as they have their distinctive outlines to help....but these ships have very fine detail which needs to be captured in order to help ID them.

Therefore I've been preparing this on and off for a few weeks now, retaking photographs and trying different techniques to get focus, playing with saturation in Picasa and so on...as a result there is now a second page (below this post on the homepage or click 'previous article' at the end of this post) with various comparisons of other compatible / near compatible or similar ranges.

The final list is incomplete in some details, and understanding that some people will have better collections but no desire to advertise the fact; any help - even anonymous - will be greatly appreciated to both complete the listings and base-marking data. A better scan of a comic ad (or the dates to the left of each vessel) are particularly sought-after.

There were 102 included in the comic offer [this is the best version of the ad. I can find on the Internet] 64 vessels are listed in the adverts - split into four groups; 16 Current US Combat Fleet, 16 Historic Passenger and Cargo Fleet, 15 Modern Passenger and Cargo Fleet, 17 Historic Warships (neither UK 'Tug' is listed and there seem to be two interpretations of  Burton Island; 'BI' and 'USS Burton Island'?)

68 vessels are listed on old MPC paperwork - split into three groups, 16 large, 32 medium and 20 small ("68 assorted miniature ships") wait for the page to load fully and then keep an eye on the first slide-show for the original worksheet to appear...I have tried to get a copy of the sheet off the chap via Facebook, but no joy there! There will be 68 vessels listed by the end of this article

So to Marc's picture which was included with an old image of some of mine when I did the round-up last time, now named, these are all missing their/any accessories but the number of locating holes are included in the listings. We will follow the photographs left to right, top to bottom, where possible and because of a few duplications as we work down the page, I will place the full list at the end in alphabetical order.

USS Eddy Country, USA, L.328, GRT 1,625 (x1 - offset T-mast)
TSS Rotterdam, Holland, L.748, GRT 38,845 (x2 masts?)
SS Liberte, France, L.936, GRT 49,750 (x2 - single-post mast, small T-mast)
Tramp Type, Great Britain, L.331, GRT 3,100 (x2 - Y-shaped twin-boom masts)
RMS Lusitania, Great Britain, L.762, GRT 31,550 (x6 - 4 funnels/stacks, 2 masts)
August Victoria, Germany, L.459, GRT 7,661 (x2 - masts?)
USS Eddy Country [duplicate in shot]
Merrimac, CSA [Navy], L.240, GRT 3,500 (no accessories? possible tab on stern for rudder)
SS Hawaiian Pilot, USA, L.492, GRT 12,500 (x4 - parts unknown)
Yerba Buena Ferryboat, USA, L.256, GRT not given (no accessories)
HMS Devastation, Great Britain, L.285, GRT 9,320 (x1 - mast)
USS Dewey, USA, L.512, GRT 4,770 (x4 - 2 communications masts, crane, torpedo tubes?)
TS Bremen, Germany, L.700, GRT 32,336 (x6 - 1 single-post mast, 5 unknown - king-posts, or cranes?)
Great Britain, Great Britain, L.680, GRT 18,915 (x6 - 3 different offset T-masts, 1 Y-mast, 1 single-post mast)
SS Normandie, France, L.981, GRT 79,280 (x2 - unknown, masts?)
Scharnhorst, Germany, L.755, GRT 26,000 (x6 - angled mast, 2 loading derricks, 3 triple-gun turrets)

These are all small ones, they seem to have no accessories, but there's a possibility of the LCM having one (or more) but I doubt it and I look at both possibilities in the next post.

Tug 1936, Great Britain, L.120, GRT 250 (no accessories - Identical sculpt to 1940 version)
Termoil, Great Britain, L.205, GRT 1,800 (no accessories)
LCM, USA, L.56, GRT 22 (no accessories? possible spigot for mounting something at stern)
Yerba Buena Ferryboat, USA, L.256, GRT not given (no accessories)
Monitor, USA [Navy], L.179, GRT1,200 (no accessories)
Tug 1940, Great Britain, L.120, GRT 250 (no accessories - Identical sculpt to 1936 version)
U-2, Germany, L.175, GRT 250 (no accessories)
USS Yatanocas, USA, L.81, GRT 310 (no accessories)

Submarines or semi-submarine type things! One of the things that will already be becoming as clear to you, as it now is to me, is that there is no constant scale to this set, with a higher and lower range in all three groups (large [liners, battleships], medium [merchantmen, other warships, packet steamers] and small [all sorts]), so it's hard to group them anyway other than 'by eye'!

USS Patrick Henry, USA, L.455, GRT 5,600 (no accessories)
Monitor, USA [Navy], L.179, GRT1,200 (no accessories)
U-2, Germany, L.175, GRT 250 (no accessories)

Some spare photographs I didn't get to label, and they are all listed elsewhere, so just eye-candy - this one! Two of the very small ones have accessories though, as - indeed - some of the larger ones have none. Note the two shades of blue used. All my small ones are the darker shade, with the mediums in the paler colour.

While it's common to struggle to photograph reds (flowers as well as plastics!), with these both the yellows and the blues also give a 'white-out' effect due to a high infra-red range 'reading', hence ending-up with two usable shots of the large yellows, I'm not going to copy and paste them twice so see the next image for the listing.

It's worth noting that anyone who's tried to photograph the MPC Wild West 54mm Cowboys and Indians will have had the same problems getting decent shots of the same colours, so it is an MPC plastic thing!

Another thing to note is that my sample - which came from one source - seems to have red and yellow 'large vessels', dark blue 'smalls' and pale blue 'mediums' with few greens? I've seen similar demarcation with different colours in each group, so - and I'm guessing here; that they cut the runner/s (the link above to factory paperwork seems to suggest they were all on one runner/sprue) in the same place, and then mixed the colours in each 'lot' before mailing?

Five 'bigs' and the rest 'mediums'? Until I've tracked them all down, it won't be clear, but it would seem the bigs were the carrier/s, battleship classes and large ocean liners, everything else was medium, and the 'smalls' are more obvious?

SS Liberte, France, L.936, GRT 49,750 (x2 - single-post mast, small T-mast)
USS Dewey, USA, L.512, GRT 4,770 (x4 - 2 communications masts, crane, torpedo tubes?)
USS Eddy Country, USA, L.328, GRT 1,625 (x1 - offset T-mast)
SS Varicella, Great Britain, L.643, GRT 21,800 (x2 - small single-post mast, broken-T mast)
USS Canberra, USA, L.673, GRT 13,600 - (x5 - 3 small masts, 2 triple-gun turrets)
Great Western, Great Britain, L.212 - GRT 1,340 (x4 - 3 Y-post masts, 1 double-T mast)
Great Britain, Great Britain, L.680, GRT 18,915 (x6 - 3 different offset T-masts, 1 Y-mast, 1 single-post mast)
USS William T Powell, USA, L.306, GRT 1,200 (x3 - 2 twin-gun turrets, communications mast)
Scharnhorst, Germany, L.755, GRT 26,000 (x6 - angled mast, 2 loading derricks, 3 triple-gun turrets)
Vanderbilt, USA, L.323, GRT 3,360, (x2 - single-post mast, triple T-mast)
HMS Vanguard, Great Britain, L.814, GRT 51,400 (x8 - 2 cranes, 2 A-masts, 4 twin-gun turrets)

Many of the ship models are anything but accurate, and this is one of the better examples of that inaccuracy, the toy bares little resemblance to any of the configurations of the holder of the name in the 1950/60's, but is clearly not the later replacement, yet the rise at the back of the hull, the missing third 'turret' (AA battery), the two distinctive crows-nest masts all make it also hard to place as the earlier vessel...the model is paying less than lip-service to the original.

USS Canberra, USA, L.673, GRT 13,600 - (x5 - 3 small masts, 2 triple-gun turrets)

Dropped a capital 'V' on the large reds, but can't be arsed to do it again, so; sorry Mr. De Vinci! Again it's obvious from the photograph that the accessories were primarily for play value, with some ships having larger moulded-on details (turrets / superstructures) than other models have smaller plug-in ones, and it seems totally arbitrary, there's no problem with undercuts etc...Fuso being the exception, as there would be undercuts if the superstructure wasn't a plug-in.

The 'United States' has a miss-moulded accessory (common with these, especially if they were all on one mould-tool, leaving the accessories far from the main sprue-gate) which I'm assuming is the other aerodynamic stack-top?

USS Maine, USA, L.425 - GRT 6,682 (x2 - masts with 2 crows nests; 3 arm and 2 arm)
SS United States, USA, L.990, GRT 53,350 (x3 - single-post mast. stack-top, 1 unknown)
Fuso Class Battleship, Japan, L.660, GRT 42,000 (x5 - 4 twin-gun turrets, main superstructure)
TV Leonard Da Vinci, Italy, L.763, GRT 30,500 (x3 - assorted masts, king-posts, MPC Spelling, correct 'Leonardo' in comic ads.)

Medium Blues, the Tramp steamer ('Tramp Type') is a very different style, due to it's being in a larger scale I suspect, but the lines are captured well, as kids we would be taken to see these when there were still a few to be seen from the bridges in London and when empty they looked just like this, when full they could be very low in the water, and they are big, some served as mail packets or took passengers.

USS Brooks, USA, L.314, GRT 1,190 (x1 - offset T-mast)
USS Atlanta, USA, L.541, GRT 6,000 (x6 - 5 twin-gun turrets, offset T-mast, link's to CL-51 but might be CL-104?)
Tramp Type, Great Britain, L.331, GRT 3,100 (x2 - Y-shaped twin-boom masts)
USS Dewey, USA, L.512, GRT 4,770 (x4 - 2 communications masts, crane, torpedo tubes?)

This illustrates the scale differentials very well for the whole range, these are all roughly the same length - as models - but if you check the stats, Dewey and Atlanta should be much longer.

Further studies of the steamer, I weakened and took the accessories off the side and plugged them in! The result of the collection having been stored (in a smoking home?) in Florida for several decades is to be seen on the Q-tips. A lot of stuff in the [James Chase] collection (the ships came with) had signs of extreme humidity or the results thereof! Compare with the previous picture where the smuts are clearly visible on the sides.

Interestingly, although the bulk of the collection was toy soldiers with a strong Marx presence, he was a Florida harbour-master (can't remember which port!) and must have had a soft spot for these as he also had all the Wiking, Trafalgar and Comet mini-ship catalogues, if he had the models too - they went through Christie's which was a bit too rich for me!

Colour variation of the red is subtle, but is does exist, here the TV Leonard Da Vinci is in a darker and paler shade. Note also the miss-moulded masts on the yellow Dewey and paler Da Vinci.

Fuso Class Battleship, Japan, L.660, GRT 42,000 (x5 - 4 twin-gun turrets, main superstructure)
USS Dewey, USA, L.512, GRT 4,770 (x4 - 2 communications masts, crane, torpedo tubes?)
TV Leonard Da Vinci, Italy, L.763, GRT 30,500 (x3 - assorted masts, king-posts, MPC spelling, correct 'Leonardo' in comic ads)
USS Maine, USA, L.425 - GRT 6,682 (x2 - masts with 2 crows nests; 3 arm and 2 arm)

[caption incorrect...shows SS United States not TV Leo...]

The USS Maine is another one which bears only a passing resemblance to the actual vessel which had its two main turrets offset to either side so they could both fire forwards.

USS Maine, USA, L.425 - GRT 6,682 (x2 - masts with 2 crows nests; 3 arm and 2 arm)
NS Savannh [sic] (NS Savannah) - USA - L.595 - GRT 22,000 (x3 - 2 double-x-post masts, 1 unknown - correct 'Savannah' in comic ads)
SS United States, USA, L.990, GRT 53,350 (x3 - single-post mast. stack-top, 1 unknown)
Motor Trawler, Germany, L.140, GRT 200 (x2 - angled loading booms)
Light Ship, Great Britain, L.110, GRT not given (x1 - single-post mast)

This is my 'the rest', a pile of bits and no clue as to which goes with what ship. A similar sized lot to mine was on evilBay recently, and with most of the accessories like these, it went for over $250, plus postage! These were 102 for less than a cent-and-a-half each for the best part of a decade (approximately 1963-1970), and there must be many! I hope the buyer finds this post to match-up some of his bits, but it was silly-money for a lose/unattached accessory lot!

City of Paris, Great Britain, L.346, GRT 2,556 (x3 - parts unknown)
TS Bremen, Germany, L.700, GRT 32,336 (x6 - 1 single-post mast, 5 unknown - king-posts, or cranes?)
USS Eddy Country, USA, L.328, GRT 1,625 (x1 - offset T-mast)
City of Paris [duplicate in shot]
USS Rankin, USA, L.459, GRT 7,040 (x6? - parts unknown, 10 holes but some paired?)
USS El Dorado, USS, L.459, GRT 10,700 (x? - 2 tall single-pole masts, 1 short single-pole mast, 1 piece of electronic equipment; total x4...no other accessory mounting spigot/sprulette apparent on my sample, but 5 holes?)
USCG Picket Boat [link is .pdf], USA, L.40, GRT not given (x1 - parts unknown)
Tramp Type, Great Britain, L.331, GRT 3,100 (x2 - Y-shaped twin-boom masts)
Elco, USA, L.105, GRT 58 (x6 - 1 cannon, 5 unknown)
MS Bergensfjiord, Norway, L.578, GRT18,739 (x3 - parts unknown, nee; De Grasse - Rasa Sayang - Golden Moon)
USS Gyatt, USA, L.390, GRT 2,425 (x3 - parts unknown)
USCG Patrol Boat, USA, L.95, GRT 51 (x2 - parts unknown)
Burton Island, USA, L.269, GRT 3,500 (x4 - parts unknown) [might be listed as both USS Burton Island and B.I. in comic ads?]

So, that's all I can show for now, it would be nice if people like Marc and Paul Harrison (who you will remember was the other contributor last time) who have these could let us know what the missing data on the bases of the other vessels are, or even supply shots of them complete, or with the accessories still attached. I will repeat my call for the current whereabouts/contact details of/for Bob Maschi, and of course if I had his guide in my hands this article would have fewer gaps, has anybody got a copy to hand? Does it help fill the gaps? We also need the one or two question-marked ship's names solidified.

FeeBay images, of note is the maroon colour variant in the centre of the collage

The list in full, alphabetically by name as given on the base of each vessel, or as I can read it from the catalogue imaged above;

Atlantic, Great Britain? (no other details known, see also; USS Atlanta, below)
August Victoria, Germany, L.459, GRT 7,661 (x2 - masts?)
Burton Island, USA, L.269, GRT 3,500 (x4 - parts unknown) [might be listed as both USS Burton Island and B.I. in comic ads? Actually a USCGC...]
BI [B1?] (no other details known, see note; Burton Island above)
City of Paris, Great Britain, L.346, GRT 2,556 (x3 - parts unknown)
Celtic (no other details known)
Clermost [?] (no other details known)
Corzair [Corsair?] (no other details known)
Elco, USA, L.105, GRT 58 (x6 - 1 cannon, 5 unknown)
Fuso Class Battleship, Japan, L.660, GRT 42,000 (x5 - 4 twin-gun turrets, main superstructure)
Great Britain, Great Britain, L.680, GRT 18,915 (x6 - 3 different offset T-masts, 1 Y-mast, 1 single-post mast)
Great Eastern, Great Britian (no other details known)
Great Western, Great Britain, L.212 - GRT 1,340 (x4 - 3 Y-post masts, 1 double-T mast)
Gripsholm, Sweden (no other details known)
HMS Devastation, Great Britain, L.285, GRT 9,320 (x1 - mast)
HMS Queen Elizabeth, Great Britain (no other details known)
HMS Vanguard, Great Britain, L.814, GRT 51,400 (x8 - 2 cranes, 2 A-masts, 4 twin-gun turrets)
Karol Haze [Harol Kaze?] (no other details known)
LCM, USA, L.56, GRT 22 (no accessories? possible spigot for mounting something at stern)
Light Ship, Great Britain, L.110, GRT not given (x1 - single-post mast)
Merrimac, CSA [Navy], L.240, GRT 3,500 (no accessories? possible tab on stern for rudder)
Monitor, USA [Navy], L.179, GRT1,200 (no accessories)
Motor Trawler, Germany, L.140, GRT 200 (x2 - angled loading booms)
MS Bergensfjiord, Norway, L.578, GRT18,739 (x3 - parts unknown, nee; De Grasse, Rasa Sayang and Golden Moon)
NS Savannh [sic] (NS Savannah) - USA - L.595 - GRT 22,000 (x3 - 2 double-x-post masts, 1 unknown - correct 'Savannah' in comic ads)
RMS Lusitania, Great Britain, L.762, GRT 31,550 (x6 - 4 funnels/stacks, 2 masts)
RMS Titanic, Great Britain (no other details known)
Robert E. Lee, USA - L.300 (Info. courtesy of Dr. Smythe)
Saxonia (no other details known)
Scharnhorst, Germany, L.755, GRT 26,000 (x6 - angled mast, 2 loading derricks, 3 triple-gun turrets)
SS Hawaiian Pilot, USA, L.492, GRT 12,500 (x4 - parts unknown, ex-Burleigh)
SS Liberte, France, L.936, GRT 49,750 (x2 - single-post mast, small T-mast, ex-Europa)
SS Normandie, France, L.981, GRT 79,280 (x2 - unknown, masts?)
SS United States, USA, L.990, GRT 53,350 (x3 - single-post mast. stack-top, 1 unknown)
SS Varicella, Great Britain, L.643, GRT 21,800 (x2 - small single-post mast, broken-T mast)
Termoil, Great Britain, L.205, GRT 1,800 (no accessories)
Tramp Type, Great Britain, L.331, GRT 3,100 (x2 - Y-shaped twin-boom masts)
TS Bremen, Germany, L.700, GRT 32,336 (x6 - 1 single-post mast, 5 unknown - king-posts, or cranes?)
TSS Olympia (no other details known), nee; Regal Empress
TSS Rotterdam, Holland, L.748, GRT 38,845 (x2 masts?)
Tug 1936, Great Britain, L.120, GRT 250 (no accessories - Identical sculpt to 1940 version)
Tug 1940, Great Britain, L.120, GRT 250 (no accessories - Identical sculpt to 1936 version)
TV Leonard Da Vinci, Italy, L.763, GRT 30,500 (x3 - assorted masts, king-posts, MPC spelling, correct 'Leonardo' in comic ads)
U-2, Germany, L.175, GRT 250 (no accessories, still haven't found what they're looking for!)
USCG Patrol Boat, USA, L.95, GRT 51 (x2 - parts unknown)
USCG Picket Boat [link is .pdf], USA, L.40, GRT not given (x1 - parts unknown)
USS Atlanta, USA, L.541, GRT 6,000 (x6 - 5 twin-gun turrets, offset T-mast, link's to CL-51 but might be CL-104? See also; Atlantic, above)
USS Barry [Barmay?], USA [no other details known]
USS Brooks, USA, L.314, GRT 1,190 (x1 - offset T-mast)
USS Canberra, USA, L.673, GRT 13,600 - (x5 - 3 small masts, 2 triple-gun turrets)
USS Dewey, USA, L.512, GRT 4,770 (x4 - 2 communications masts, crane, torpedo tubes?)
USS Eddy Country, USA, L.328, GRT 1,625 (x1 - offset T-mast, a strange choice...USS Achilles had a far more eventful history?)
USS El Dorado, USS, L.459, GRT 10,700 (x? - 2 tall single-pole masts, 1 short single-pole mast, 1 piece of electronic equipment; total x4...no other accessory mounting spigot/sprulette apparent on my sample, but 5 holes?)
USS Enterprise, USA (no other details known, link's to CV-6 but may just be CVN-65)
USS Gyatt, USA, L.390, GRT 2,425 (x3 - parts unknown)
USS Hornet, USA (no other details known, link's to CV-12 but might be CV-8)
USS Long Beach, USA (no other details known)
USS Maine, USA, L.425 - GRT 6,682 (x2 - masts with 2 crows nests; 3 arm and 2 arm)
USS Mason [?], USA (no other details known)
USS Missouri, USA (no other details known)
USS Navarro, USA (no other details known)
USS Patrick Henry, USA, L.455, GRT 5,600 (no accessories)
USS Rankin, USA, L.459, GRT 7,040 (x6? - parts unknown, 10 holes but some paired?)
USS Sarge [?], USA (no other details known)
USS Yatanocas, USA, L.81, GRT 310 (no accessories)
USS William T Powell, USA, L.306, GRT 1,200 (x3 - 2 twin-gun turrets, communications mast)
Vanderbilt, USA, L.323, GRT 3,360, (x2 - single-post mast, triple T-mast)
Yerba Buena Ferryboat, USA, L.256, GRT not given (no accessories, doesn't look much like any of the boats that worked the route or wore the name!)

Kent Sprecher's Toy Soldier HQ site has pictures of two not featured above HMS Vanguard and Gripsholm

If you've read this far and followed all the links, you now know as much about these as I do...or anyone else - I suspect!

24'ish hours later...and another five or six hours work!...I have added text, sorted out typos and several more glaring errors (I have yet to re-do one of the images!) and provided links to most of the ships. Wherever possible that is the Wikipedia page from which you can follow hosts of other links, but for a few of the generic types; other pages have been used, and one or two specific vessels had to have more esoteric findings...one of the liners ended-up with a page of postcards as it was all I could find. One of the USCG vessel's links is to a .pdf file, just be aware if you're on a tight data-leash with you Internet provision, also give it time to load.

The bad news is...we have lost a vessel from the master list! Devastation was - of cousre - also HMS Devastation! I have added BI to make weight and changed the notes. All the real question-mark vessels have no link, and a couple of the links may to to the wrong vessel, as depicted in the set of models.

MPC is for Mini Ships - Part Two; Comparisons

So to comparisons between the MPC mini ships and other comparable vessels ancient and modern (of manufacture), to give an idea of what goes with what size-wise, as 'scale' is so clearly a moot point with these models.

Starting with the larger submarine, it's actually quite close to both the similar and almost as accurate (in outline) ballistic missile subs from Galoob's Micro Machine lines, the other three are really just toys.

I left the similar sized Crescent sub off the first image, so have squeezed it into both collages as a continuation shot, I also forgot the Lido one so I've placed that with both as an inset. It's quite interesting as it's an early Nuclear-sub design which keeps some of the lines of the old U-Boat styles, but for scale purposes, would have the size of the more modern ships.

These are all board-game playing pieces with the possible exception of the two grey ones nearest the Patrick Henry (dropped [or; lowered?] an aitch on the caption!), which may be war-game pieces, and the two aforementioned (Lido and Crescent) which were both 'carpet' toys.

Landing craft; The MPC WWII one flanked by the two modern ones from the Airfix HMS Fearless kit, and all lead by an unknown kit boat (LCA shape...'ish) which I think might be from one of the odd box-scale kits from Pyro or early Revell?

On the MPC vessel the spigot sticking out of the back may be for an unknown accessory, or just a bit of frame? Likewise the indentation forward of the wheelhouse may be a mounting hole for an unknown accessory, but I think it's just shrinkage.

Battleships - The larger size and by association smaller scale range of the MPC minis;  the INGAP and the penny-toys are quite similar, but the Hong Kong and Crescent boats are modelling smaller vessels, so are over-sized in comparison with the MPC ship.

When I say penny-toys, it's only because I don't have a name for them and they have 'cheap' decoration. They may be by a later a 'name', there were several smaller die-casters in the UK making toys in the 1950's-60's such as Benbros and Kemlow, these may be by either? They are also all slightly different and marked B1 through to B3.

[Now ID'd as Chad Valley, probably from a boxed set, 1950's?]

Intermediate or medium size, here using the Tramp Type steamer and an LST from MPC as comparison vehicles for food premiums from Manurba and Sanella and the Matchbox accessories from a large harbour play-set they did. Painted-up these would all look fine next to each other size-wise.

The smallies; the MB Games Axis & Allies ship in the centre is a much smaller scale, being a tramp steamer, and both the Montaplex vessels are military ships of larger scale size.

Back to the medium sized rage, for more naval vessels, the Lido set are all roughly the same size, but obviously one of them is a much scaled-down battleship, as is the MB Games Axis & Allies one.

03-09-2016 Unknown (bottom right, along with two pale grey subs above) is now known - Silvercorn

The ocean liners are all from the bigger end of the MPC stable and match the Rosenhain and Lipmann (R&L) for Kellogg's cereal premium pretty well. The kit is scaled by collectors at 1:3640 and is missing two very fine mast mouldings, I suspect it's a tad smaller than the MPC mini ships, being the larger vessel in real life?

Quaker also had a go at Ocean liners and their little set are scaled smaller that both the MPC ones and the Kellogg's import. A Direct comparison with two versions of Liberte (Europa for most of her eventful life) showing a lack of accuracy as well!

We looked at these Quaker liners here and there's more here.

Shades of blue above with three each from MPC, Quaker and Hong Kong above, the HK vessels being - I believe - copies of the old Triang Minic waterline series.

I forgot (or meant...) to label this shot, but the red one is Tina Onassis the only cargo-ship in the Quaker set and I've done a comparison with similar vessels, the HK one being a militarised version of the original Triang mail or packet steamer? The USS Eddy Country looking like a cargo vessel and the SS Varicella being a tanker.

The Hong Kong set were looked at before in the post linked to above with the Quaker and other smaller ones, but I've since got some more, so a new line-up of mouldings and colour variations is above with a look at the various tugs.

There are three tugs from Hong Kong, the one I've numbered '1', is a full hull model which I suspect goes with these from Lucky Toys, sort of confirmed by the unpainted pale one, going with the unpainted versions of the larger vessels in the linked post. The number 3 (two designs) goes with the similar blue-grey and sea-green copies of Triang Minic vessels, while the charcoal grey one I've numbered as '2' seems to be from a third source or even a kit, it has better detailing and a smaller superstructure.

The MPC version as a higher prow, and probably isn't a copy of the Triang one, this was a standard design of tug-boat and years ago the harbours of the world were full of them, indeed we've already seen MPC produced two, dated a few years apart, but they're all but identical.

F is for Frederico (and Fabiano) Frogman?

Sorting things out for the MPC 'Minis' ships article I promised a while ago (hopefully posted-up over the coming weekend) and found this while the 'Unknown Vessels' box was out again, so fired-off a few shots.

You may recall the Italio-Spanish post I did back in March (only just down the page due to lack of posting in April!), well, I'm told this two-man vignette is also Italian? I don't have a maker's name or era, but it's getting that waxy brittleness of some early plastics so I guess quite early?

The figures are about 15mm in size, but due to their being sat astride a large bomb, they don't look too small with your bog-standard 1:76-72 plastics, as can be seen from the Airfix figure. Note also; the large card-carton staple, used to weight it for bathroom or garden-pond operations! Can anyone put a name to it...from the sculptural style I fancy Co-Ma (?) but suspect otherwise!

[Later the same day] By Request of Anne O'Leary - painter extraordinaire;

With a canvas tender (courtesy of Airfix) in attendance, a pair of intrepid navy commandos set off on operation 'Sink the Scharnbizpitz'! It floats at just the right depth for the little square visors to be above the water.

W is for Werfing Nebels...bloody Nebels, they're everywhere!

Not my joke, this was going round Facebook a while ago, I don't know who originally produced the meme, but I tip my hat to him!

The old Esci (Esci-Revell, Ertl, Aurora et.al.!) Nebelwerfer kit. One of my favourite kits as it comes with a decent crew in heavy winter gear, and with a small, but versatile 'multipose' element.

The tubes can be modelled in a travelling or in-use configuration, but unlike a lot of artillery kits; have to be glued in the position of choice and can't easily be converted to having moving parts.

That versatile crew i mentioned, there are only five poses and a few lose arms, but with the accessories supplied and a bit of imagination; they can make a bunch of workmanlike grunts or gunners in no time.

Mid/late boxing - this set is still available, now part of the Italeri stable. Originally called Smoke Units (they were named to mislead the League of Nations inspectors...plus le change!), the actual weapons were from the start developed to fire HE and later kits are called Nebelwerfer 41.

Plastic coloures above and some OBE's (other buggers efforts) below, I buy these whenever I see them, in whatever condition, as they are such useful figures.

The sprues from both sides, this is the contents of a box (x2 of everything), and if you ignore the launchers, or model them closed for towing, that leaves you with a ten-man section to convert to infantry (or other) troops in winter gear.

The whole set was pantographed-down from a 1:35th set by...well? It seems to have been issued by both Esci and Italeri from the start, there was always strong co-operation between the two. I suspect Italeri were the originator, due to the rest of the 1:35th scale range, but who knows?

I've cut-off the ends of the pre-loaded rockets and drilled the tubes out, the discolouration is bruising/tearing to the long-chain polymers and will be hidden by paint. Here are some I did earlier!

In Action
Towed

 

 

News, Views Etc...Plastic Warrior 157 AND 158 (I know...I'm still hopeless!)

So, don't know what happened there, as I predicted in the review of 156, the next one dropped through the door a day or two after I'd published! Then Christmas and the New Year happened, I predicted the imminent coverage of the new one at least twice (?), only for 158 to arrive (several weeks ago!), so we'll look at both today, to try and get back on track...doh!



As always - still available as a back issue; Plastic Warrior 157 featured..

* The next part of Thomas Stark's series on figure sculpts; 'Animation', looking at the ones that make him laugh! 
* James Opies obituary/tribute to Shamus Wade 
* Hearld 'Notes and Queries' by Daniel Morgan reaches the four ACW figures in both paint schemes 
* The Editor (Paul Morehead) looks at a fascinating desk ornament (?) from Subbuteo 
* Catalogue illustrations wet the appetite for tracking down Mettoy play set figures 
* An editorial center-spread feature on Gemodels is real eye-candy 
* 'What's New' includes...

• Toy Soldiers of San Diego / TSSD (Alamo Mexican Lancers and WWII Germans)
• Engineer Basevitch (Finnish War)
• Replicants (Robin Hood character figures)

* 'Converters Corner' looks at restored Kentoy, Lone Star, Salpa and Timpo figures in a follow-up to the What the !&*$?...its Salpa from issues 155/156
* There's more museing on Cow & Gate farm premiums from David Scrivener and the ed. 
* 'Castle Warfare' from Brad DeSantis looks at a lovely MPC fort set called er...Castle Warfare! The mantlet/shields were new to me
* Juan Hermida looks at a specific character figure of a real-life bullfighter known as "Manolete"
* Brian Carrick looks at some recent production from China he's found including a couple of lovely Gladiators
* There's a look at Marx's Warriors of the World versions of Robin Hood figures from Les Collier
* What the !&*$? asks about a tractor/trailer pairing and a Cyclopean er...Cyclops!
* Reader's Letters covers

• Engineer Basevitch (Mathias Berthoux)
• Tudor Rose-Tim Mee (kent Sprecher)
• Vietnam (Les Collier)
• Shing Hing Plastics/Smyths (Eric Keggans)
• Marx website update (Eric Johns)
• Benbros (Editor)
• Poultry What the !&*$? (David Scrivener)

* Plus all the usual small-ads, news and views including news of Marx recasts (www.classicrests.com), Shaun's Fantasy figure blog and feedback from David Pomery on Johnny Walker, and Eurofigurines magazine
* This months book review looks at Figuras de Plastico Reamsa 1951-1978 by Juan Martin Garcia 
* Cover images this issue are both illustrating the Gemodels article within



While the - still current - Plastic Warrior 158 brings the following delights to your door (if you subscribe!)...

* Brian Carrick takes a look at fish-tank accessories with a view to use as war gaming scenery 
* The Star Wars Command sets from Hasbro are covered by Les White [Apparently like the Horrible Histories stuff, this range is to be dropped already, so get them while you can, they are still full price in most toy chains, Sainsbury's and other outlets, but expect discounting as summer approaches]
* An interesting in Poplar Plastics graphics with Thomas figures is examined by Kent Sprecher with accessories not covered here) and an apparently random Lido Indian! 
* Les White returns to produce a brilliant turn of the 19/20 century's policeman at 'Converter's Corner'
* Thirty Years On is a look back at the development of Plastic Warrior from its inception...fascinating to those (like me) who came a bit late to the party)
* Alwyn Brice is still looking at 40mm Elastolin (like the 70mm but not so well-painted!) 
* 'What's New' includes...

• Austin Miniatures (WWII US Marines)
• Paragon Scenics (Alamo Defenders)
• Expeditionary Force (ACW Zouaves & Militia and Medievals)

* Stevan Dance reports on the latest in Japanese capsule toys (Gashapon) with a look at Panda's Ana 'Green Green Army'
* There's an editorial on the elusive series II Horrible Histories - as I predicted, now filtering onto evilBay and Amazon as clearance 
* Jack Shalatain (who has fed nice small-scale to me in the past) covers the ceremonial output of ABC out of Hong Kong, with nicely painted examples of the US Marines and British Line Infantry
* Reader's Letters include

• David Scrivener shows a Goodman Indian
• Eric Johns announces an update of his Marx website (link to right of this page somewhere)
• Mike Blake reminisces on Herald
• Mettoy feedback from yours truly
• Barney Brown talks glues
• Juan Hermida ID's some of the What The !&*$? and reader's letters items from PW157
• Andreas Dittman expands on the PW figures from PW156
• Drazzen Lulic discusses Karl May with a request for help on the same
• Juan Martin mentions the Wikipedia page on Reamsa
• While Brian Johnson provides an illustrated mini-article on Reliable of Canada and their take on the much-copied Bergan-Beton/Lido horse

* Plus all the usual small-ads, news and views, including an offer of reduced price, final [2nd's] copies of Suspended Animation by Peter Cole, a must for your bookshelf if you haven't got a copy yet
* Cover images this issue are a 'fish tank' diorama and an interesting Chialu figure from a composition mould

Both issues presented in shiny, rainbow, technicolourfulness!



Also, it's now only just over a month to the 30th anniversary Plastic Warrior toy soldier fair, full details here;

http://plasticwarrioreditor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/our-30th-show.html

E is for Exhibition Report

So, trundled down to Southampton in last Sunday's gales, spent an hour in a traffic-jam minutes from the venue (note; come off the A27 (M) at the A31, not 'town centre and docks'!), was well worth the trip...and the wait!

Character figures featured, with Herr Hitler coming in for a fair bit of ridicule! I believe the Kitchener doll (about 15", larger than Action Man/GI Joe) pre-dates the First World War, and reflects on his efforts in South Africa? - Correction - an hour later...He's a WWI patriotic item...Kitchener Doll

Wartime wooden austerity figures from the States ("Manufactured under licence by Colorgraphic") rubbed shoulders with some lovely Heinrichsens, tin-plate clockwork Westerners and Britians risible swan-song!

The three Heinrichsen cavalry are particularly interesting as they have a moving-arm feature brought about by a sort of tube/rivet/collar running through the body of the flat, joining the arms in free-movement. The Britains figures were reasonable, but the vehicles? Awful, just awful, and it's only when you see them like this that you appreciate how incredibly poor the support stuff for the figures was.

What's going on here?!! Just enlarge (right click, open in new tab) and enjoy...you've got Lilliputian Bluebird tying-down a vintage Action Man, while a modern one gloats, they are being totally ignored by an AT-ST engaging some Airfix Japs and DAK...an so it goes on...I could have spent an hour going round this table spotting stuff!

Architecture provided by Burnett's Ubilder and the entrance lobby of the museum building, part of the old Town Hall, the museum itself is a very modern structure.

There was plenty for kids, voting boxes with a supply of rack-toy figures to vote with (I was tempted to palm a couple of the larger pale green ones I hadn't seen before (I didn't!), colouring sheets, video-loop displays etc...

It's a small exhibition, took 40/50 minutes to cover? The message is social history, with specific regard to war toys, and there is a vague chronological path to follow through the room, with thematic displays.

Not photographed are lots more flats, some really nice compositions, the expected hollow-casts (including some lovely small size Britains khaki cavalry of Boar War typeidge (made-up word!)) and a lot of board games...if I have a criticism - it's the display of the board games; a lot were unopened, some just had the lids off and where they were 'set-up' it was 'token' rather than 'by the rules', and on CAD printed boards, not the actual boards (which were present, folded in the boxes)?

I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in these things, and while I don't know how much longer it's 'on tour' or where it's going next (if at all), it's will remain at So'ton 'till the 10th May, so you've got a month there.

And...I had no problem taking photographs in full view of the attendant - and wish I'd taken more!

C is for Christmas Past

There are many thing's in Picasa (or on the dongles) that languish there because I've forgotten about them, or because I've forgotten exactly why I've photographed them, or that I haven't taken enough/suitable images to get a post out, or make a post work, there are even a few that have just lost their relevance...if I don't post these now - while I think about it - They will be joining the lost stuff in Blog limbo!

So, a round-up of the toys/toy related bits that came my way around the 25th, three months ago...

Presents from Mim were two cats for the Cabinet of Curious Things, including the Wade Whimsies kitten and a resin tabby, two antiqued metal examples of recent (but dated) technology, which I was expecting to have pencil sharpeners in, but they don't, so just 'trinkets' in the best traditions of the 'under a fiver' section of the museum gift-shop! Also destined for the cabinet.

And at the top; a set of Christmas decorations from Fiddes Payne, which - in heavy resin - are better used as cake decorations than tree ornaments and have already lost their gold thread loops!

Presents for myself; a dunny-bunny thing from a charity shop in Alton, there were two, but the other was hideous, this one was painless, if a little pink! having mentioned them on one of the pages I thought we'd better have one up here at some point, I don't know what series/make/type he his, but as a generic example of a Kubrick, he'll do!

I love Christmas for the buying of presents for the kids, and not having any myself, always look forward to spoiling those of my friends, in recent years blind-bag Lego and Mega Bloks have become a staple, and I always get an extra one...for me! Also shows how much bigger the Kubricks are. Finally an old Erzgebirge type tree decoration of a Santa-sleigh that came as a make-weight in a 5-for-a-pound charity shop bauble splurge in Basingrad.

This Giraprendi Madball water-squirter (called 'Fleabag') was found in the street after the Bin-lorry had done it's post festive-season round, making room for newer stuff no doubt, anyway, it made a bid for freedom and - for now - resides in the 'what the hell do I do with these' box!

From the same mentalities that produce designer toys and Kubricks, but aimed at kids, it really is a awful thing, without a redeeming feature (it's ability to wet someone?) and as a measure of human achievement would suggest we are entering either the end of days, or the period of decadence that - like Paris at the turn of the last Century, or Berlin in the 1930's - tends to presage a big war?

Saw this in...you guessed it...The Works for 99p, and had my mother wrap it for presentation on the day! Not much of use to toy soldier collectors, but plenty of nostalgia, two relevant entries and some useful company histories, particularly on Asian and 1980's electronic toy manufacturers.

T is for Toy House from Toytown

As a main course for the bitty aperitifs posted a few minutes ago (previous post, or immediately below this one on the homepage), this is back to a real favourite of mine...the 'infant' toys of J & L Randell / Merit. The same colour range we saw with previous visits to this make.

The set is supposed to contain a Noddy figure bought-in from Lone*Star (which explains why he's the commonest) but this one actually had two, and I photographed the PC Plod for a sizer.

A rather tatty box, the colours on it and the actual contents suggest that all parts will turn up in all colours? Compare with the other Merit bits...Mr Booby ... Castle Builder/Stacker ... Noah's Ark ... Circus Train.

Thanks to Adrian of Mercator Trading for the photographs.

T is for Toys of Toy People from Toytown

I've got all the pictures in the wrong order, so this will jump back and forwards but it's a post of bits and bobs anyway, so we'll press on. I have mentioned the origins of the 'Golly' moniker before, so to recap, I'll copy the entry from the abbreviations page, which I hope sums it up succinctly without causing offence...

Golliwogg/s - Ghul/s Working on Government Service (led to; 'Wogs', a now extremely derogatory nickname for Egyptian natives employed on British government service in the 1800's, which then gained wider use as a general racist/racially-derived slur word)
Golly / Gollie - See; Golliwogg/s

However, it is the only word we have to work with, and when it comes to Robinson's (Jams and Preserves), a sort of 'pax' was called on it's use due to the fame of the brands logo use, and the fact that Robinson's never used him in a negative context...not that most of the thousands of other 'Golly' products, books and soft toys did...Enid Blighton's (sometimes bad Golly) being the exception rather than the rule!

Adrian had this on his table back in the summer and I shot it when I had the chance, it was empty, but I had an idea I'd seen the HFC label before somewhere, without even noticing the image between the jar and the orange above, but that'll have to wait 'till the end of the post...

...in the meantime, the above shot shows some of the larger Marx (UK) figures (which may or may not have been supplied to Codeg / Cowan de Groot?), the two to the right have been paint-stripped, probably by Ron Good of Good Soldiers who casts them in metal and sells them in sets, in red gift boxes, like old Britians! I'm not even sure they're not from two Marx series, as Big Ears seems a tad too large?

Below them, are some finger-puppets, possibly from Christmas Crackers? But unknown in the provenance department and could just as easily be from a pocket-money craft set. Litho-printed paper faces glued to a felt loop, which on some provides the hat or other detail.

Back to Marx (UK) the upper-shot here is of a figure also from the above set (sets?), but which was languishing in the 'Unknown, probably Blue Box' box for years due to his similarity to other Blue Box (or Blue Box-like!) figures that follow the Marx (US) Disney production. It is actually (I assume) Mr. Bear; husband to the Mrs. Bear finger puppet above.

Below him and we're back to the top...where I'd recognised the HFC from; a bit of a disappointment, but it was illustrated on the lid, and pretending to be a Golly Badge (we think the link with Robinson's - established on the box - is tenuous, if not; non-existent) when it's actually a pencil sharpener! These were sold in newsagents and corner-shops back in the early 1980's although; note no date on the (C), a sure sign of everything being not as it seems in the licensing department?

This image was in my files, I suspect evilBay, but I'm not sure, so if you're the owner of the image, recognise it and want it removed, that's not a problem, eMail me...I rarely use downloaded images, and it's presented here for research purposes.

As a footnote; in 2001 Robinson's ceased to produce Golly memorabilia and he was dropped in 2002 with this press-release;

"We are retiring Golly because we found families with kids no longer necessarily knew about him. We are not bowing to political correctness, but like with any great make we have to move with the times"

F is for Fighting Fops in Feathered Fedoras

A quick look at my small selection of Britains ECW figures, I only have the foot figures to view here (I think there's a horseless, broken-sword'ed,  lobster-pot'ed rider somewhere in storage?), along with a couple of knock-offs...

The duellists, we've looked at the red one before, he's marked ABC, the yellow one is more of a generic, but probably from the same source, there were a few Hong Kong brands with similar (or no) marks, we looked at them here a while ago (ABC, CM, CMV, HK, &etc.) , and they specialised in copying the better output of Britains, Crescent and Timpo...badly!

Britains varied the paint on these figures and a group together are really quite stunning, I think one of James Opie's books has a lovely en-mass picture of them and it makes you want to morgage the kids to a poppy-farm and buy loads of these!

If the two above are paired as a sword-fight, and the mounted figures make-up another 'pair', the third pair of this 6-pose set is really imbalanced, a musket against a poll-arm...it's just not cricket! Still, it's a rather tatty musketeer, maybe one of the pikes will get through while he's reloading!

The only figure in this set with a moveable arm; the musketeer presaged the German 'Tommy-gunner' in the Deetail range with the way the weapon is lined-up in the hand.

C is for Crescent Children's Ward

Quite uncommon, due to their being made out of  poor batches of Zamac/Mazac which is notorious for breaking-up and crumbling, they've obviously been well looked after!

There was a Matron figure in a darker pinafore in larger sets, and I suspect the blankets are replacements, the originals should be squarer - apparently - and these are a modern sort of nylon towelling? You will see if you click on the image that the kids and the bedside-cabinets are all on the way out, but they're here for a while now, whatever happens to them and the beds and adults have kept their integrity.