F is for Flying Circus, No Clowns

Watching the Catalina Flying-boat take off at Farnborough the other day, was one of those times when you wonder how any aircraft ever gets of the ground, despite understanding the principles of flight, or like watching a butterfly cross three gardens and avoid a both a blackbird and a tree with apparently three or four flaps of its huge wings, in a breeze! Flight is fascinating, so small boys love flying machines.

Nice carded set from what? Around 1970/72? The Psychedelic and cartoon artwork seemed to come to toys a few years after the Summer of Love, nothing quite like the fashion industries' ability to miss the boat and spend the next ten years exploiting something which has already passed into myth!

Today's equivalent (picture courtesy of Brian Berke), these have pull back motors and are hard plastic, but very much in the same price bracket as their 45-year old brethren! Call me stupid but I prefer the old ones, nostalgia strikes again, so let's return to them for the rest of the post!

When I got them out for the above photo (they've been in the collection for years) I noticed that actually five of them are very different to the two-part versions I'd always assumed they all were, being in fact single mouldings with integral struts.

The orange one is however they 'old' type, this is an example of a stock-change in action, with the last of the old moulding being cleared through with the new stuff. It's useful as it may tie two 'types' to one source, but as they may well have been bought-in from two sources by a third packer, it would require more evidence before that could be assumed, with any confidence!

So a post which was going to end there, has been expanded somewhat, as I went and looked at the loose-stuff I have here to see if any of the others where single mouldings (I'm not counting wheels and little parts), one was - the orange '4'!

But I photographed all the good ones, and the above is four examples of different string-bags in the smaller size; we looked at the largest size here and will look at the interim/medium size ones another day.

Three of the 1's from underneath, showing the marks -  a 'MADE IN HONG KONG' split over both wings. Also note the wheels are smooth-tyred and quite large. These numbers are not 'types' in the sense that I know the order of their production, but rather to help you follow them through the images. There are at least three or four other designs, not represented here and the carded set could be 5 and 6, or: 5a and 5b?

In storage - for instance - I have some marked with the aircraft type (Albatross, Fokker, Camel, Niewport (and SE5?), maybe a Spad? Another lot have the aircraft type and nationality; 'Niewport France', 'Fokker Germany' &etc. "Yeah, but these fokker's were Messerschmitts!" {Thank you Roy 'Chubby' Brown, for one of the best jokes ever!}

While yet others were sold one to a bag, with the wing-marking's as heavy raised carving and no wing-stickers. We will return to these one day as they need the same level of fartyness research as the 1-Ton Humbers, but I need to enlarge the overall size of the sample (which takes time and money!) and bring the two lots I do have together, so we're just looking at what's here and the numbering is for ease of passage.

The 2's are a tad larger than the other three samples, and may well be earlier (as are the 1's I think), I've already re-numbered them a bit to get them in a vague order, they also (like the 1's) have a pin-through propeller with a colour-matched pin, unlike the 'later' versions which have a plug-on propeller which slips over an integral spigot.

The other three compared, 2 has MADE IN HONG KONG smaller on one wing, 3 gets a smaller, inverted HONGKONG on the left wing, and a larger rougher one on the right wing, 4 gets MADE IN on the left wing and HONGKONG as one word, in a different typeface on the other wing, these will all prove to be important clues one day. As will the similarity between the wheels of 3 and 4, and the differences with 1 and 2's wheels.

A comparison between 'banana-planes' of samples 3 and 4. While the fuselage is getting more and more whacky with each passing generation of sub-piracy, the 4 is a better moulding, with less distortion, presumably due to the integral nature of the moulding rather than the plug-in main plane.
And while one is tempted to conclude that the shorter wings are due to the single-moulding process, it doesn't seem to have stopped the carded versions at the head of the post from having 'normal' length wings?

Also, while the pilot and gunner have been given collars on their locating spigot, in every other respect they are the same, so that can be explained as an improvement, and can be carried-out on the mould tool, so the crew at least are from the same source, but that could just mean a family business on the fourth-floor of a residential tenement block, sub-contracting to two 'plane makers, using an injection-moulding machine Replicants would recognise!

I have a mate with Asperger's, who makes my eccentricities look calm and responsible and he has a habit of shouting 'Banana-Car!' like a four year old every time he sees a yellow or orange car, it's become involuntary . . . I'm going to post this to his Facebook page and tag Banana-plane, he'll be so angry . . .Ooh yes!

Imagine the roar! My balbo of kites crabbing along on a coastal rhubarb mission, with no clouds to play pussy in they'll just have to snake about and hope they don't buy-it in the drink!

R is for Royal Guard Set

That's the 1st Royal Regiment of bog-brush wearers to you sir, how very dare you! What is going on in this artwork? Knitted tea-cosies? Manx-cat skin? The 94th Loyal Circus Volunteers - Foot & Mouth?

We've looked at these before, but two more have come in since, both overprinted to Corneilius' WHC-Success label and with three different coloured legs, so worth a punt in Rack Toy Month!

Comparison with various other Hong Kong produced Guards (and one Household Cavalryman and an Infantryman in No.1 Uniform: 'Blues') and Airfix - far left - with a tatty Britains Eyes-Right figure to the far right.

The breakdown of the three common small-scale HK swoppet figure types. That's it; short and sweet!

C is for Cats, Chats, Mats

The Brit's 'll get it! We are back to lumps of plastic that are not toy soldiers, which will pee a few people off, but they probably need peeing-off occasionally, keeps them grounded in reality! I'm a cat person, so this post is fine in my book.

Brain Berke sent me a couple of shots of cat related rack-toys; sounds like they were mongeese or civets or something! Start again; Brian sent me some shots of rack toys with cats, and nothing un-cat in them!

A few weeks later - when I got those insects and stuff - I found a set of ten cats for a pound, well, that's half what it cost to make them and ship them 14,000 miles by truck and container vessel, so it would be rude not to buy them . . . a whole pound!

When I got them home and compared them, one seemed to be the same as one of the cats in Brian's MTC blister, but over here they were Amscan. As Amscan have a US office and are FoB'ers, I guess they probably facilitated the MTC deal, separate from the Milton Keynes based UK office issuing them under their own Amscan branding.

My ten were actually seven poses, with four of the foxy-looking breed top right making-up the total. As Brian's 'mere' four has three poses I don't (well actually I do now because he sent me the blister - thank you Brian!), I am guessing, these are from a larger pose-sample maybe 15 or twenty, possibly originally arranged for a kids magazine as a cover freebie (like a lot of the smaller Chinasaurs are), so I will return to the Party Shop they came from and pay greater attention to the little bags and see how many I can find, they'll make a nice post for December!

Brian also sent pictures (and then the bag - Thanks again!) of this Hunson/JPW bag, with what looked to be larger models of smaller kittens, they are definitely fluffier, and they look more recognisable as the Euro-tabby mongrels I'm used to (is the pale one a 'rag-doll'?), the MTC/Amscan set has some odd-looking breeds in it!

Look at the face of the ginger-tabby in the right-hand/reverse artwork . . .

. . . That's a real face, which real cats make at real humans!

After the two sets arrived I could take a comparison shot to confirm the above musings. Apart from the odd breeds (another clue to a part-work type thing going on there) in the adult cat series, these are all quite nice sculpts, but are all let down by the eyes . . . I suspect a Chinese cultural thing might be in the background and they have that 'Lucky Cat' thing, and I think . . . no; no I don't know what I think and rather than throw a paragraph together full of question-marks, I'll leave it hanging. . . possible reason for big eyes . . . cultural?

These were in Picasa from a year ago, not really Rack Toys either, a rule broken in Rack Toy Month - Doh! Schleich kittens playing on a rug, well; on AND under a rug! Their eyes are a bit OTT too! The Tabby paint-jobs are better, but as they are also made in China, it's all about budget, and these are $4, 5, 6.99 each, not £1 for ten!

Well - now the rule's broken lets go for the full witches brew (is that even a proper saying? I have been up a ladder all day, in the sun! Posted 12/08/16!), two more kittens playing on a coir mat, watched by two adults, several puppies and a grown Alsatian . . . along with a hedgehog . . . all Schleich, and still an improvement on a parachuting penguin!

I think we've seen most of these before, a badge, some charms, a large resin kitten and a Whimsy from Wade in pottery, all compared to one of the cats in the first set. And thanks to Mimi for two of these.

That's it for cats for a while, rack toys or not; nice aren't they?

L is for Lizards Again!

So another post covering recently Blogged stuff, which has come around again in time for Rack Toy Month (yes - we'll get back to army men soon!), with more of the multiple connection thing we've seen in the last two posts (below).

In the previous post on lizards (back in June), we looked at an MTC set Brian sent picture of with six small lizards, well, the other day I picked-up the same six, with two others in a net by Unique at the same time as the similar insects. Then - last week Brian sent me a picture (top left) of the same in the Big Apple - which is why I suggested in yesterday's post that the MTC insects may turn-up over there in the Unique bag as well! Anyway, there's 3 poses in at least 8 colourways!

4 snakes and 4 snakes is eight snakes, but in a Rack Toy, not on a plane - phew! More MTC minis . . . put money on them turning-up in Unique packaging, or would they wiggle out of the bags! Also; take a 'sportsman's' on them turning up as glow-in-the-dark under Grossman?

Hunson novelties, but Rack Toys for Rack Toy Month! We had these when we were kids, there were lovely composition ones still around when I was a child as well, little lozenge-shaped lumps of 'olin' composition, formed either side of a canvas strip and richly painted, the head had a little red-leather tongue!

Also who remembers the howling snakes: long concertinaed tubes with a snakes head, and you whirled it round as fast as you could to get an eerie howling noise which was part air-raid siren, part Hawkwind instrumental and part alien battle-fleet attacking; it didn't sound anything like a snake!

Ooh! Are we doing reptiles again? Have I shown you this? Best Birthday present ever . . . I have? Well, they're here now, so they can stay! Isn't it brilliant?

I is for Insects Again!

So the multiplicity of sources for the same figures I mentioned in yesterday's monkey post, is highlighted again with today's post (most supplied by Brian Berke), which looks at insects again, had I known I'd be running Rack Toy Month I might have held over that first post, but it's all grist to the mill!

So these are the same insects as were (are being) issued over here by Unique, except in the 'States they are under the MTC branding. Although, tomorrow's post suggests that the Unique set should be findable in the New World too. A few days after the original post (couple of weeks ago), I found the same set of insects as glow-in-the-dark novelties, in the same net-bag as Unique, but branded to H.Grossman (HGL) - one of our oldest surviving importers (although recently sold; I seem to recall reporting here a while ago), which is two types of product from the one set of moulds in three formats from at least three brands on two continents!

These 'Souvenirs de Fiesta' (must put that in the foreign terms section!) from Amscan are larger and what I consider novelties rather than model animals (but then so were the The Works insects!), and it's nice to see that something (or a version of something...) which is 30, 40, 50 years old can still be bought by - mum's and dad's who enjoyed them then - for their kids to enjoy today.

I think it's 3x12 and the list looks like (from the top); dragon fly, bristle-tail, millipede, mantis, scorpion, ant, fly, earwig, grass-hopper, caterpillar, spider and cockroach?

These seem much cruder than the Unique/MTC beetles, more like the older Ackerman bugs we looked at the other day, same softer rubber in black, with basic paint-job in a contrasting colour. Don't show them to my mother, she'll be off up to Baker's hardware to by a packet of magnets and some glue . . .

. . . for her fridge door! Thanks to Brian for the pictures in the first three images.

3 is for Monkeys, Wisdom not Included

Another pack sent in from Brian Berke, and another MTC Rack Toy from the other side of the pond, however, as with a lot of this current Chinese stuff, it raises questions rather than answering them.

'3 Monkey', no lie and nice sculpts, well . . . small lie; one of them looks like an eye-eye or bush-baby, not a monkey! But, remember when I showed the snail key-ring and said I'd got a couple of others, and that I thought they were from larger sets, well this was one of the other two . . .

. . . and clearly it's from the same set as the MTC branded ones. Now - there are people who buy this stuff in bulk and add key-rings, earrings or such-like for onward sale on evilBay as a sort of craft business. But the three I bought were in a retail 'party' chain, so will be more commercial, I'd imagine the full set is larger, maybe 6, 8, 10, 12 figurines?

The trouble with trying to pin this stuff down is that the OEM contract manufacturers in mainland China will carry a bunch of lines in a catalogue, and any or several of the various FOB's and 'Jobbers' can pick-and-mix from those inventories/mould-banks, ship it to their UK/US end, or on to various smaller importers/jobbers, any of whom can then package it for further onward marketing ('jobbing') to various retail outlets or other clients, in the importers, the retailer's/client's own or a made-up brand.

Meanwhile back at the China end, the originator will offer them in maybe a deluxe, standard and basic paint job, glow in the dark, an infant version in monochromatic bright colours, in ethylene or PVC, or in synthetic-rubber as erasers, or as key rings or fridge-magnets, glued to plinths for museum shops or such like, in gum-balls . . . and . . . and!

T is for Tub Fun!

Courtesy of Brian Berke comes this set and the associated photographs, some taken of the sample he donated to the blog! You can't beat a good bath/beach toy - when you're six! But as we saw in Brian's own diorama of Operation Dynamo they can paint-up well and prove more useful than throwing at your younger sibling in a tantrum, when he tries singing over the wafted sounds of Bob Dylan Live at Blackbushe, blowing in the evening wind (see what I did there) across Bramshill Forrest and through the bathroom window!

Previously issued by Amloid (now holder of Crayola brand, still carrying beach toys and celebrating 100-years in the toy business!), these will be a copy of what were probably originally US desings, such is the nature of the toy business!

Common designs, they are based on earlier sets with more detailed sculpts, one of which - 'Pee Wee Boats' - is on Kent Sprecher's Giant page, I would disagree that Giant 'made' them, Giant issued them, as many other firms did, as Ja-Ru does, but they were (and still are) made in the plants of otherwise anonymous contract manufacturers in China or what were the 'New Territories'; these (and a dozen copies of them) were available in every sea-side kiosk in Europe when I was a toddler (and still are).

In recent years Ja-Ru have taken to getting their own logo placed/moulded-on to larger items (and most - but not all - packaging) this will likely be in response to China's decision to develop 'own' (or actuall!) brands (primarily to serve a domestic market) rather than exist purely as a contractor to the West and to establish Ja-Ru as a 'player' (or the player they have been for 55 years) rather than the [in the background] 'Jobber' they've been happy to operate as, thus far!

Two of the other designs from the Ja-Ru set, along with an earlier un-marked version of the yacht, and a carded set of smaller clone yachts from Pay Day Products (a Madeupbrand if ever I heard one!), we looked at a similar (but 20-odd years older) set from Ri-Toys quite a while ago.

The Ferry, again a common enough design, similar to the Lido dime-store model, and the barge I was chatting to Ed Berg about on his blog the other day. Basically an on-shore, inland or harbour ferry design with a roll-through facility to allow quick-turnaround, here loaded with rack-toy copies in soft ethylene of old hard styrene US dime-store mini-vehicles - more on them soon.

Yes - I am fully aware of the garbled block of 'text' pertaining to Ja-Ru (in answer to a totally unrelated comment about new production Nappies?) which have appeared after my recent mentions of them and apparently trying to pre-empt the A-Z entry being forthcoming; as have also appeared comments on Amscan, Ackerman and Hing Fat, also within days of them being mentioned here, most of them rubbish or containing a barrow-load of rubbish amongst the commoner 'facts'!

As there are only so many days in a month and this is Rack Toy Month, not 'Start a War with the Penn-State Toy Soldier Mafia (hereafter: PSTSM) Month; such things can wait, after all: Give a man enough rope and he'll hang himself! 'So called jogger' - Too funny! Somebody tell him what a jobber is, I hate the phrase - it's too similar to FoB'er, prefer 'importer' and only use it out of deference to the PSTSM!

The Ja-Ru A-Z entry is now here, and sensible feedback or additional links, product listings or empirical evidence will be happily accepted and credited/acknowledged, however made-up rubbish from secret ..."business chamber international system"…'s won't be! Although it's nice to know he's following the blog so closely!

H is for Homies

I'm loving these, I'm not sure if they pass muster as Rack-Toys, more of a blind-bag or carded 'collectable' thing, but my blog-my rules and all rules are made to be broken, even "Rack Toy Month means Rack Toy Month" and I'm loving them anyway.

I don't know anything about them, there's a link here to the website where there's loads of stuff if you want more. Also because they are popular/originate over the pond, I wouldn't try to explain in depth something a chunk of the readership probably know more than me about.

From the author/artist:

"The Homies are a group of tightly knit Chicano buddies who have grown up in the Mexican American barrio (neighborhood) of "Quien Sabe", ('who knows') located in East Los Angeles"

- Dave Gonzales.

They were a gift from Brian Berke, and while they may have been available over here, I suspect it would have been in small quantities, somewhere like Forbidden Planet, where they wouldn't have been cheap! Let's look at them . . .

There are various sub-stories/genres within the line, some of which involve clowns!

I love the guy with the 'Stars & Stripes! Is he a vet, or is he a wannabe? Either way he's proud . . . "Don't tread on the flag dude!". When I get my stuff out of storage and set up my desk he's going to squat on the disc/dongle tub; guarding the archive!

They all have so much character, they are quite cinematic really, but I believe they are now a cartoon as well. However as figures they vary between quite cartoonish, flat caricatures and almost realistic sculpts, yet they fit together wonderfully, each is 'right' for his or her part.

Left - "I ain't seen nut'un. Straight-up!"

Middle - "Guys! Look up! I'm trying to take a snap here!" although after I took the shot I realised whatever he's holding has a power lead, so I think he's actually a barber!

Right - Priceless . . . if there's one thing about American culture that the whole world knows, one trope, one stereotype which has travelled via Hollywood round the world it's the whole fat-cops and doughnuts thing! And the Pigeons on the bin! Thinks "Any minute now the guy in blue is gonna' run to his cruiser's voice and that third doughnut is mine!" he's just willing the cop to drop one!

Close-ups. I didn't think to do a photo but I think they go well with the boarders/surfers and probably the Kid Robot street performers, but I don't know for sure?

Product-placement is got around by using the Homie meme for everything logo'ed, which is a really nice touch in a world where everything is covered in brand logos or product-placed. Scale varies as much as humans do, and they are all made of a stable, soft but firm vinyl, like old school Bully, Heimo or Comic Spain stuff

I love the look on the face of the older guy, talking to the graduate . . . "You got a degree? Little Louie got a degree? I don't think I can spell degree, you gonna' make loads of money and move away huh? Buy a big house up the hills? Sheeesh, whoda'thought it; from this neibourhood?"

Brain - Thank you so much for these, I love them!

Could someone over the pond do an article on them for Plastic Warrior magazine, I don't think they've been in yet (maybe in 'new product news'?) and they need to be, I'm sure Paul M would appreciate it? With a little more knowledge/background than I've managed!

UFO is for It's a Wind-Up!

It's a UFO . . . that's it.

What?

It's better than a parachuting penguin . . . or a doll in a basket!

I like the backing-card artwork; . . . "zzzt...'crackle'...Wingman?...Zzzt...Stay in formation for fucks sake!...Zzzt...You'll have us both on the deck...zzzt...and why are you wearing the same call-sign as me - you doofus?"

T is for Toys, Tour, Tonto and Tiny T'ings . . .

Well, this is the bottom of the bran-barrel as far as Rack Toys are concerned, these - would in their day - have been the sub-dollar stuff (with the exception of the metallion bits) in 20 or 50 ¢ or p brackets, or a few cents or a shilling or less for the really early ones.

No wheels, no rotors, but recognisable as a helicopter! The card hints at nicer stuff?

From the same stable, some Christmas cracker/gum ball capsule 'hair tools' - bagged!

Ah, things improve somewhat! A plastic copy of the old (and much copied/pirated/licensed) Lone Star Metallion of Geronimo (they didn't do Tonto but I needed wanted to literate the title!)

An actual metal Kit Carson, but not a Lone Star one, I think this might be Gilbert Toys, but I don't know?  They were issued in several packagings, some store-specific such as for SS Kressege, whether this is a pirate, a licensed product or from the original mould, after onward sale I can't say but from the apparent lack of a title on the lump of grass (which I think was a rock on the original) I'd plump for piracy!

Below it is a Polish copy of the same figure courtesy of  Konrad Lesiak 

The same treatment was given to various bits of the Britains Deetail range including the Japanese and US Infantry, here we see the recoilless-rifle team, expertly antiqued by the chrome-elves of Aitchkay!

Below it is one of those things you'd love to lose, but it has age and adds to posts like this (and the 'whole picture'), so it sort of stays as an ugly duckling, without a proper storage box, worryingly with an ever-growing bag of mixed babies and piracies of the Thomas Toys kids and infants!

The fireplace is probably sold as a dolls house accessory (as was the baby in a basket), and I think I'm correct in saying this was also placed in Grandmother Stover's packaging?

The cycles are fun, and we'll do a cycle post one day, as there is a whole bunch in storage. These will be copies of game playing pieces, there is a super cycle board game page somewhere (or there used to be) with loads of bicycles, including about five games with the Britains cycles in, which is why they are always on feebleBay and wholly over-rated price-wise!

Britains copies aagin, the show jumper, I should get one out and shoot it in glorious techniclose-up, but another day.

That's some older cheepies cleared, more newer stuff to come in Rack Toy Month!

ZZ is for A-Z

Just a quick one, mid-1970's, Germany via Hong Kong, although also handled in the USA (as this set was). Posted here to announce that the ZZ entry in the A-Z has been posted, if anyone can answer the call for more information or product listings, which would be nice. Or help get the animals and their coded-bags twinned.

Two scale-up's of the Britains zoo-keepers, to feed the mostly Elastolin animal knock-offs in 70mm.

A is for 'Army Men' in Alternate Artwork

Back to Modern stuff, both from Brian Berke, several months apart, but both still findable that side of the pond I'm sure.

The two packagings found by Brian in his jaunts round the dime-stores and party-shops of the Big Apple, the figures must have been around for a while as they are already available as much poorer piracies. We may even look at some soon, I know I've photographed a few.

Let's face it - if you're over about eight years of age you don't really want these in your army!

But you do need one of each in the archive! Three figures 'after' Matchbox, 2 after Airfix and three other poses, all from Ja-Ru, one of the older import 'Jobbers' still going, and I'm working on their A-Z entry, with help from Brian!

M is for Monogram's Men Made Much Mangier in Macau

Not much blurb with these, being vintage (after all the new stuff we've been looking at) and un-branded generics; there's nothing TO say! They are all copies of Monogram's kit figures, which have been much copied and re-issued (by Revell) over the years and we will look at them all in greater detail on the Hong Kong Blog eventually as there are various types, we're looking at 3 maybe 4 different sources here. Enjoy the artwork!

The first four are all from the same source . . .

We looked at the vessels (loose) when I did all the mini-ships years ago, they are copies of the Triang Minic range in soft plastic. We also saw three of the sets when I did the 1-ton Humber posts. These sets are all dated early to mid-1960's.

This was sent to the Blog by Dario from Italy, and we looked at another one from the range on the Airfix Blog (8th Army - 1st Type), they are rather charming with the shaped blisters, but the contents are third-rate in the hierarchy of Hong Kong production - as are all the sets in this post, of course, that is the nature of Rack Toys! These figures are slightly smaller and I would imagine this set dates to the late1960's or the early 1970's.

Your eyes can tell you as much as I can waffle. Back to the earlier 1960's for this one.

Ditto! It's trying to be the same as the last set, but has a different mix of slightly different figures.

PS - probably not Macau!