E is for Exquisite Emperor

As well as the twelve tazze we looked at yesterday, Brian also sent a couple of shots of this, which I far prefer, despite the Met's website being slightly dismissive of the likely (it's not 100% clear or known) maker, Reinhold Vasters of Aachen, Germany.

To quote the Met's website description in full;

"This Silver Caesars-inspired statuette was probably made by Reinhold Vasters, a nineteenth-century goldsmith famous for his forgeries of Renaissance objects. Vasters evidently admired the tazze - his personal collection included copies of the Augustus and Vitellius dishes. It is likely that he also manufactured the six replacement feet added to the tazze in the late nineteenth century."

Made of finely carved marbles and other semi-precious stone, the joins (which I suspect - with no evidence - are peg-and-hole with grout) hidden by finely wrought, gilded, silver-work, which - as well as hiding the joins - will also hold the pieces in place., flush against each other?

I'm not so convinced that this is necessarily inspired by the twelve Caesars as just a wider part of the Enlightenment's look back at the Renaissance's own referring back to the splendor of Rome (and Greece) as it was seen by the 'modern' men of those ages, where the monumental statuary was the 'big puller'.

A few samples of marble similar to those used on the Caesar, including the green and red stone which I believe is called blood-stone, as used on his kilt, a fine Calcutta/caramel-yellow (onyx?) similar to, but paler than the sample his breast-plate is carved from, the cherry-yogurt pink comes in various hues, our little marble having large flecks of black in it (probably another version of Bloodstone), while the statuette's own shirt-sleeves and cloak are flecked with paler grey splotches; the plinth pink having white flecks and striations.

Note also that the decorative fringe of his belt was once fully enamelled in a rich, translucent apple-green, now mostly flaked-away.

I couldn't find a green to match the main-body of the plinth, it looks like the same stuff they cut signet-rings and seals from (they also used bloodstone, but tended to use purer-red pieces for small works) while the boots seem to be the same near-all-black as the black in the above group, infused with white, fern-like fronds or 'ice-crystals', you also get streaks or spots; his left boot has one running across the front of the ankle, and it's not far-removed from the Carrara we were looking at a year ago - but it's not an exact science; they will all be Italian stones though.

Link

Metropolitain Museum of Art - from the other side

The exhibition has been made possible by The Schroder Foundation, Selim K. Zilkha, the Anna-Maria & Stephen Kellen Foundation, Nina von Maltzahn, and an anonymous donor.

I'm very grateful to Brian for sending us these, it's nice to have a bit of up-market content on the blog, and to see what we might be adding to the collection after we crack that all-important 'becoming a multi-millionaire' ceiling!

T is for Toy Fair '18 Reports - Revell - Miscellaneous

Finishing-up the Revell reports with the bits and bobs, basically two ranges which - while probably not 'new' - are new to me and have some new items. Also a bit outside the remit of the Blog, but interesting for being clear attempts to steal market-share from people they never used to clash with, but the toy business is a cut-throat one these days, and Revell are flexing their muscles.

These are basically Playmobile for people who want more realistic figures, the vehicles and accessories aren't much different, the trolley may be a tad finer or 'less chunky' than the Playmobile version would be, but it's definitely the same type of toy; half-way between toy figures and action figures with a bit of construction thrown in for good measure.

I think they have nine points of articulation which takes them toward the action figures end of the toy-figure 'spectrum' and will give them greater playability than Playmobile figures that have always had that stilted 'Frankenstein' walk.

The subjects on display were all 'real life' of a modern or up-to-date nature, whether it will one day extend to Romans, Knights, Vikings or post-1914 style combat figures is anyone's guess, I suspect not, but if the line takes-off - who knows?

Single figures are available (like Playmobile) as an entry-point 'come-on' or collection-builders, and in a pocket-money price bracket (£4.99), given that for those lucky-enough to get pocket money, it's trending to a little-more (£5-10)that the occasional sixpence we got, way back when.

Police, fire and ambulance/paramedic crews need civilians in trouble to be able to spring into action . . . and a mix of vacant 'preppy' looking kiddults and high-performance sports cars look like a recipe for trouble to me!

One of the cars is actually licensed from Cars the movie franchise, dragging younger customers into the 'Playmobile Plus' world!

Not content to just attack Playmobile's market, Revell are also aiming their multiple sights at Lego, or it's sub-brand Duplo, with a range of large-stud [simple-] construction toys which are 'compatible with all leading brands!

A move I - for one - am happy with, Lego are a ruthless 'corporate' hiding behind the 'fake-news' of a cosy apple-pie family business, and now they've lost most of the (at one point; seemingly endless) court battles, it's nice to see other companies getting into that market.

Again, though; [getting back to Revell!] there is a more advanced element than I think you get with Duplo, in that the vehicles are radio-controlled, although as tech slides down the age-spectrum of toys, becoming ever more affordable, we will all end-up with walking, talking, flashing toys or figures who can get into their own drone and fly-off to worry the family pets!

Out now and better than Airfix's offering, but not exactly setting the world on fire either, and a clear move away from hobby-kits to early-years toys and from realistic representations of real life, historical or iconic things to licensed TV/Movie related stuff.

T is for Tazze

These have been pushed back a couple of times as far as the queue goes, but I'm glad they're here now as they are only on show for a few more days in the US (exhibition finishes on March 11th - next Sunday), before coming to the UK, so I can let you know about them with 'minutes to spare' as the saying goes.

All images from Brian B, although there is plenty more available on the web for those who's interest is for the wider sphere of figural-sculpture, or renditions of the human form or whatever the phrase [I'm not finding] would be! However; I wouldn't know anything about them without Mr. Berke's contribution, so many thanks to him.

This is a silver guilt tazza (plural; tazze) currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York with its eleven brothers and a whole bunch of copies, derivative 'homage' and influenced pieces, one of which we will look at tomorrow.

It may look like a cake-dish to you, it certainly looks like a cake-dish to me, but they are apparently standing cups, and are collectively known as the Aldobrandini Tazze, after the Roman Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, who was known to have owned them, they are also known as the 'Silver Caesars'.

Anyway not knowing anything about them, all this is paraphrasing the Metropolitan's own blurb or that of the next destination for the exhibition; the National Trust's property at Waddesdon Manor in Aylesbury, Bucks'; the exhibition will open there on Wednesday April 18th.

Another of the originals; Vespasian. The tazze are thought to represent the 12 Caesars of Suetonius' famous work, with each cup (dish)'s bowl decorated with four finely wrought, engraved scenes, each of which can be tied to specific events or anecdotes as told by Suetonius in the The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Incidentally: a bloody-good read.

Although credited to Aldobrandini (it is known/recorded that he had possession of them in 1603), it seems they were actually made for one of the Hapsburg rulers of the Holy Roman Empire further north, with the silversmiths being from or based-in the Low Countries, specifically the Southern Netherlands.

The clues (which are better explained on the websites or by visiting the exhibitions) point to Archduke Albert VII of Austria and the late 1590's as origin/owner. He may have subsequently gifted six of the tazze to the cardinal, the prelate having paid for the other six - according to his accounts?

Although it would be easy to use imagery (with proper acknowledgement and link-backs) from the websites, we're only going to look at Brain's images here, the websites are there and the exhibitions can be attended, albeit that the Met's is only running for a few more days.

These are copies made in the C19th, and have been left in their oxidised silver state, as the tazze were originally found when they resurfaced in London in 1826, the gilding added by the smiths of the day. Later still; some feet were changed . . . &etc . . . it's all on the websites.

And yes, if it wasn't for the known age and values, they could almost be a collection of unloved Stadden-clones on a table at a car-boot-sale!

Shot from the opposite corner; although there are 12 here, there seems to be a couple of duplicates (coloured dots) and there are signs of past gilding (white squares) on a couple of the pieces, but I believe there were quite a few copies made and there are more than these twelve on display alongside the originals as part of the whole exhibition.

The copies don't have the cup/dish, so presumably should be or are 'statuettes', but they are such accurate copies they are all referred to as silver Caesars. They (like the originals) would have been table centre-pieces for formal 'silver-service' functions and 'top-table' banquettes.

The naming of the parts! I would recommend that you follow the links and spend some time browsing the full story as it's quite interesting, and the Caesars are exquisite. Lovely things; thank you Mr B.

Links

Metropolitain Museum of Arts

Waddesdon Manor

The exhibition has been made possible by The Schroder Foundation, Selim K. Zilkha, the Anna-Maria & Stephen Kellen Foundation, Nina von Maltzahn, and an anonymous donor.

Z is for Zip-it-up; You Animal!

It's funny, I thought I'd posted this minor HK maker when the blog first started - I coudln't remember if it was the first 'Z' or the second, I had a feeling the first was Zizzle pirate ships and Zip were on the rebound after we'd climbed back down the alphabet - with a paltry pig (there may have been a sheep too?), but it turns out I never blogged it at all!

In the meantime I discovered Ludo's old website page on them - as premiums for Colonil - which added three more animals to the list, I had by then picked-up a turkey (in storage), while a few years later the Vichy started a thread and added another animal, and so it goes . . . Ludo's new Forum has added a Jersey cow and chicken family for instance. I had only done a listing on the defunckt a-z blog, and that not until 2011!

Today we'll add some more to the listing.

I had decided on the title and taken the shots before the rest turned-up, so I'm carrying-on for the moment as if the other four images aren't there!

A horse; here posed with the Timpo horse, to which it is similar, but by no means a direct copy; there are only so many ways to sculpt a bog-standard thoroughbred standing still, and the musculature on the two is very different. Zip copied several Timpo's though, but they also cloned Britains and others?

But what struck-me and led to the title, is that while the Timpo example has an anatomically-correct tuft of hair, strategically placed to hide the gelding-work of the veterinary surgeon, the Zip horse is rather Priapically advertising the fact that he's definitely a sire, and about to do some sire'ing!

I was so happy to have a 'new' animal, I had taken the shots before the foal turned-up, I shot him then thought I'd better check the rest, and well . . . quite a menagerie, and that's not the end of it, but I've now got another eepie-deep, other piggy-wigggy and the horse & foal for starters!

Anyway they are all marked - so there's no question as to their provenance! The foal is - of course - a Britains pose, but the sheep taken is from Friedel (probably via Italian nativity figures) so they cast their net wide at Zip Towers! But all of them are - if you ignore the marks for a second -  pretty generic Hong Kong fare.

As I mentioned above, I'm sure I'd got a turkey before everything went into storage, but this one came in a while back in another of these mixed charity-shop lots (most of this post is last Tuesday's purchase), he's marked on the underside of his base with the ZIP-mark and as pointed out elsewhere is taken from the Timpo original.

Now, this is where it gets complicated; both the right-hand animals are unmarked, but I would bet a shed-load of money on them being Zip, however, there were in the same lot many others which could have been too, but I'm not showing them to you as they have to remain question-marks, these two pairs are plastic-colour matched and - in the case of the foals - paint-matched.

If things this big are unmarked (the piglet actually has the remains of an entirely spurious MADE IN.... on his base), while things as small as the turkey have a clear ZIP, it's obvious that the marking wasn't consistent.

Likewise, because they are all poses copied dozens of times by dozens of HK manufacturers over several decades, in thousands of colours or slightly different shades of plastic (including Zip) it's clear that everyone collecting and adding to the listing of these over the last ten years (including me?) have probably sorted some genuine Zip out of their sample; Doh!

For instance, the lot I picked up the other day from which all these (bar the turkey) come, had a variety of old British, HK, modern 'CHINA' marked, some Safari vinyl and 'all else', some mint/near-mint, some clean, some aged and playworn . . . among which were some bog-standard 'generic' copies of Britains poultry; the duck family, hen family, separate hens, cockerel, goose and ducks, the old Blue Box versions probably providing the donors.

They were all unmarked, and the plastic/paint - condition was as good as the four Zip's, does this mean they are also Zip? Probably, but without a marked one to match them too - as I was luckily able to do with the other two (and a marked chicken family has turned-up elsewhere), or a carded/bagged set to turn-to for direct comparison; I can't say they are, and certainly can't present them as such - so a note's added to their bag, and if the 'coincidence' occurs again - I'll run with it!

I should add that I don't actively collect farm and zoo animals, I just 'encounter' and 'accrue' them! These mixed lots leave more questions than they solve, but that's a piglet, two foals and a horse added to the Zip/Colonil oeuvre, with second pig and sheep to join the turkey.

Although - as far as the Colonil connection goes - I think the link is less firm these days (?) and I also suppose they must have been sold in the UK as toys; carded or in bags, but were they marked or generic? Or were they in one of the many 'Home Farm' sets? If only the horse would 'put it away' and tell us!

Listing

Farm 
Animal - Donor

- Pig - Timpo

- Piglet - Blue Box?

- Jersey Cow (Britains?)*

- Horse Standing - ?

- Foal Scratching - Britains

- Foal Standing - Britains

- Turkey - Timpo

- Sheep - Friedel (or Italian Precepi?)

- Chicken Family - Britains

Zoo

- Giraffe - Timpo

- Zebra - Timpo

* Other sandy-orange/brown cow breeds are (or were) available, including Guernsey and [the probably extinct] Alderney, which we once tried to track down in Texas and . . . Nebraska I think, a bit of a goose-chase in the end, and most picture show red-white colouring; all three - Guernsey, Jersey and Alderney being linked to the French Normand (a white with red or black splotching) can be other colours or have white bits.

News, Views etc . . . Herne is 25!

Snow has cancelled today's activities, but I don't have my Laptop on me, so just a quickie . . .

Don't forget Sandown Park is still happening tomorrow, and a thaw should set-in overnight, but drive carefully anyway!

I've had a quick reminder myself, from Peter of the . . .

45. deutsche Kunststoffigurenbörse (25 Jahre Jubiläum) 18.03.2018 in Herne

Which I will flesh out in the week, but it's been 25-years of shows, where does the time go?

News, Views etc . . . Big Fat Fail!

So, it's Wednesday as I type, stuff came up yesterday, more stuff happened this morning, I'm not here Friday, Saturday I'm hopping to be at the show (Sandown Park), and by then I'll've lost Internet 'till Monday, so It probably won't be until Tuesday that anything happens here now?

As you can see; there's a week's worth of Posts 'in the bag', I just haven't got round to the Blurb! I may get something together over the next couple of days, but to be honest a few days off is appealing! Sorry, but that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes . . . I'll try and shoot something nice at Sandown!

T is for Toy Fair '18 Reports - Revell - Model Kits

After a look at Mr Lucas' movie franchise kits yesterday, we move to the general model-kits Revell have been offering-up for the longest time, (well, since 1951 at least!)

To be honest, most of the models on display WERE the Star Wars stuff, but there are a few drawn from elsewhere in the wider kit-range, and I've added some other bits and bobs from the catalogue.

You can't go far wrong with a Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane going round-and-round on a mirrored disc! Available now (but not when I saw it!) I think it depicts the RAF Memorial flight? But I'm not sure.

More interesting is the MTB in the background . . .

. . . which is the same Elco-type 'PT-Boat' modeled by various makers back in the 1960/70's(Revell listed more than ten versions, Lindburg a similar amount and Tamiya at least five, but in an odd scale; 1:126th), PT-109, which was the one captained by a future President - JFK, but this is an entirely new tooling with the levels of detail missing on some of those old kits, or at least I assume it has!

There are several versions of PT109 and some of them have only two [open-rack] torpedoes and no anti-tank gun lashed to the bow-deck? Again, this is just me presenting what was displayed at the show, and I'm sure the marine-modelling experts will know what's what - and why!

My Known Listing - Revell 'figure scale' High-Speed Motor Boats

? - Hemi Hydro - Civilian water-skiing tow- boat/racer - 1:25

? - PT-73 (see H-323?)

? - PT-109 / 167 Torpedo Boat - Torpedo Boat, 2 torpedoes, open-racks not tubes, two variants buildable? - 1:72

? - PT Boat 211 / 212 - Twin kit/two variants? Motorized, 1975 - 1:97

? - Vosper M.T.B. -  Motor Torpedo Boat, 2 tubes - 1:72

H-302 - Chris Craft Flying Bridge Cruiser - Civilian pleasure craft, reissued as H-387, 1953? - 1:56

H-304  - PT-212 Torpedo Boat - American WWII Higgins-type PT boat, moulds brought/bought-in from (?) in the late 1950’s, some sources state issued 1953? Later supplied to/copied by AHM as PT-207 - 1:98

H-306 - Mosquito Boat PT-207 - Issued 1965, same hull as Tamiya kits? Re-issue of H-304 (PT-212)? 1966 - Some sources give1:126, some sources state 1:98

H-310 - Historic PT-109 (JFK markings) - WWII American Elco-type PT boat, 2 torpedoes, racks not tubes, 'Jack of Diamonds'; Kennedy’s vessel - 1:72

H-312 - PT-190 - WWII American Elco-type PT boat, 2 torpedoes, racks not tubes - 1:72

H-323 - McHale’s PT Boat - From TV series 'McHale’s Navy' PT-73, actually a Vosper MTB - 1:72

H-342 - PT-167           - WWII American Elco-type PT boat, 2 torpedoes, racks not tubes - 1:72

H-387 - Sport Fishing Boat - Reissue of Chris Craft pleasure cruiser (H-302) - 1:56

H-464 - PT-211 - American WWII Higgins-type PT boat, moulds brought/bought-in from (?) in the late 1950’s, re-issue of  H-304 (PT-212), 1975 - 1:98

5104 - Swift Patrol Boat          - PCF -1:48

5105 - UDT Boat - With Frogmen - 1:32        

05048 - PT-117           - WWII American ELCO-type PT boat, 2 torpedoes, racks not tubes, re-issue of H-342, 1990's - 1:72

05051 - S-100 - WWII German Schnellboot MTB/Channel raider, 2002 - 1:72

05084 - Vosper MBT - reissue of old kit - 1:72

05147 - Patrol Torpedo Boat PT-109 - 4 tubes, 37mm A/T gun lashed to the deck, Kennedy's vessel, new tool - 1:72

While on the subject of 1:72nd scale vessels, the ex-Matchbox Flower Class Corvette is announced as a 'New' model, but you'll know it's a re-issue, back as HMCS Snowberry

Oh Lord! From the catalogue comes this piece of idiocy . . . still I suppose it will complement the equally idiotic figure sets from Evo/HYTTY/Kervella/LW/Odemars or whoever ended up with their moniker on the packets. So long as you treat it as a bit of fun, it's probably fun, but if you think the Nazis had a secret 'Dr. No' base in the Arctic (or Antarctic) you're an idiot, who spends too much time reading the wrong websites, find the porn and get real!

If you want Sci-fi (instead of porn) this is more like it, and three of them are compatible with 54mm/1:32nd scale figures; Bargain! Technically two of them are 50mm/1/;35th but who's rivet-counting - not me! Although, how? How the f**k do you get three scales in a line of four kits! Mind-boggling really - they didn't even get the two UNSC AFV's the same size!

And - proving there's nothing new under the sun; the UNSC Pelican is clearly the bastard child of a Hind D which has been raped by a clone-army Republican Gunship!

Another Build & Play (the future of kits?), but I was rather taken with it, highly detailed for a 'no glue needed' model, and sadly not a Massey 135, but similar! Porsche Diesel with a steel bucket-seat - you made your own cushion from a seed-potato sack (big sandbag!) half filled with straw, but your arse still hurt by lunchtime, especially if you were harrowing!

I also shot these two simply because it was a nice juxtapostion to see the two sizes built-up and side by side. The smaller one is another of the Build & Play clip-together range, but the larger one is a proper kit.

Not much on the figure front, we may well return to these depending on what images turn-up elsewhere, but in the meantime; in 1:72nd scale the 30 7-Years War figures have turned-up in double sets. Originally a poor seller they were quickly withdrawn (back in the 1990's) only for Peter Bergner at PB Toys to commission a re-issue, then they re-appeared a few years ago briefly - I think - only for these doubles to be announced. . . a while ago?

While in the 1:16th range (same as the old Airfix personalities) there's a SWAT-team 'heavy' and a US Marine Sergeant (in formal Dress Blues) joining the four existing ceremonials in a line which is shaping-up to be quite interesting.

I wonder if anyone's built the British Guardsmen from both companies and placed them side-by-side yet? 60-years and only the rifle's changed - They keep a supply of bulled ammunition-boots (hob-nail studded 'cobbly-wobblies' or 'cobble-wobblers') for ceremonial duties.

P is for Pull Apart Steam Roller

There seems to have been a little war between the early practitioners of polyethylene toy production, when it came to clip-together steam-engine road rollers, with Kleeware, Tudor Rose, Bell, Merit and others all producing one (several in the case of T*R) in that intermediate size around 40-50mm as far as any compatible or accompanying figures, go, and while most of them didn't have accompanying figures, this is one that did, and also one of the 'others'.

We had one (a road roller in ethylene) when we were kids which I think I've decided was the Merit one by dint of its having pink, sky-blue and mint-green among its plastic parts, but when I see some of the others I question my memory sometimes, however, this one with its drive-belt, metal-pin axle and square-section canopy-supports is definitely not the one we had. Also there's nowhere to stow the chimney-pipe on top of the canopy; which ours had.

Made by Raphael Lipkin in two colours; presumably there would have been reverse color versions to cover a full mould-shot, although red wheels are traditional so maybe there were two tools and one colour-way?

But this one had a driver, and a driver who I think is in the 'Unknown - maybe Kleeware/Tudor Rose' section of the civilians in storage, so double bargain, as A) it helps me out and B) got an instant booking on the Blog!

It's also a much better sculpted driver that those in a Tudor Rose three-vehicle set we've seen on the blog passim. Indeed the Merit roller is here somewhere as well, and possibly a Kleeware in a long shot from Pam Taylor in Wales.

The packaging is in green and black, so no clue as to the contents, but back in those days (pretty much when I was born!) there would probably have been one in a wood & glass display cabinet, along with other toys, the boxes (individual or 'counter-stock') arranged in stacks nearby.

Looking at the exploded views and artwork, it seems the drive-belt is an owner addition, a rubber band in matching red, a thinner black one possibly being included, but it's not on the assembly drawing; only in the artist's rendition.

Thanks to Adrian Little of Mercator Trading for letting me shoot this back in September at the Sandown Park Toy Fair, where he will be stalling-out again this coming Saturday (3rd) weather permitting.

And while I'm taking talk of a 'snowmageddon' heading this way with a pinch of salt, my toes are saying "Don't be too cynical, something big's on the way", however hopefully I'll be there too, looking for a few bargains to throw on the blog! Nice stuff from the Charity shops today

News, Views etc . . . Toys in Art

Hard to describe, pointless giving you my take, go check it out, it's fun . . .

'Prajñāpāramitā'

                                  By Ye Hongxing

T is for Toy Fair '18 Reports - Revell - Star Wars

I can't speak for everyone, but I think most of us (or a lot of us?) like a bit of Star Wars, even if only at a distance, or occasionally, and Revell had a bunch of new and old on display in London last month.

I only shot a few as I get a tad annoyed by the constant lack of scale-compatibility with this modern space/TV tie-in stuff, remember the great slogan of Airfix in the early days 'Constant Scale'!

It's one of life's ironies; back in the 1960's manufacturers responded to consumers requests for 'in-scale' ranges of toys which were being used to make railway layouts, or war-gaming armies, but now the whole industry has become servant to an ephemeral, fleeting phase of childhood before electronics and the stresses of 'growing-up fast' they have realised it's not about scale, it's about 'having an X-Wing' for a few months, as a result (and because the war-gamers and railway-buffs are taken care-of elsewhere) there's been a return to the 'box-scale', of the 1950's, especially for space lines, as there is such a differential between the depicted items - a 1:76th scale Star Destroyer would require a large garden to assemble in!

These four are from the Build & Play easy assembly/clip-together kit line (not sure 'kit' is the right word, but they are a kit-of-parts?) and with one around 40mm and the other close to 1:76th, they are quite useful, the 'Falcon and 'Walker' are not so!

A close-up of the A-Wing, well - it's got a figure!

A close-up of the Walker, scales not brilliant, but I like the fact that it references the old AT-AT, while being slightly different, sort of like the changes you see between an early war T34 and a cold-war up-armored T34/85, and I guess they couldn't call it an AT-HAW, but they could have called it an AT-Something; AT-HA would have been OK?

The 'new' Tie Fighter seems to have been given a bomber's body, which is definitely a continuity error! And the 1:80th of Obi Wan's starship is a bit small, but it could be useful with Galoob/Hasbro's figures?

There are also Star Wars themed stencil sets available in a link-up between Revell and an Orbis, whether it's the old Orbis Publishing of part-work and coffee-table book fame, or not; I haven't looked into (I think it is though!). Although, if you are tempted, I should point out that in the 2018 catalogue it's sets II and III, suggesting one is OOP, and will need to be tracked-down before it disappears.

Current Listing

03600 - Millennium Falcon - 1:241

03601 - X-wing Fighter - 1:112

03602 - Darth Vader's TIE Fighter - 1:121

03603 - Tie Interceptor - 1:90

03604 - Snowspeeder - 1:52

03605 - TIE Fighter - 1:110

03606 - Anakin's Jedi Starfighter - 1:58 1:58

03607 - Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighter - Episode 2 - 1:58 1:58

03608 - ARC-170 Clone Fighter - 1:83

03609 - Imperial Star Destroyer - 1:12300

03610 - Boba Fett‘s Slave I - 1:160

03611 - Naboo Starfighter - 1:109

03612 - Sith Infiltrator - 1:257

03613 - Republic Gunship - 1:172

03614 - Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighter - Episode 3 - 1:80

06053 - Republic Star Destroyer - 1:2700

06715 - AT-AT” 1:53

06718 - Millennium Falcon - 1:72

06719 - Imperial Star Destroyer - 1:2700

06749 - Imperial Star Destroyer - 1:4000

06755 - Rebel U-wing Fighter - 1:100

06759 - Resistance A-wing Fighter - 1:44

06160 - Kylo Ren‘s TIE Fighter” 1:70

06161 - First Order Heavy Assault Walker - 1:164

06762 - Resistance A-wing Fighter - 1:44

06763 - Poe's Boosted X-wing Fighter - 1:78

06765 - Millennium Falcon - 1:164

06767 - Han Solo Item A - 1:164 (still in development for forthcoming film)

06168 - Han Solo Item B - 1:28 (still in development for forthcoming film)

06169 - Han Solo Item C - 1:28 (still in development for forthcoming film)

06880 - Millennium Falcon - 1:144

Legend

Marked as new (but may be re-issue)

Not available yet

Close or near'ish to 'H0-00' gaming

Close or near'ish to 28mm role-play

Close or near'ish to 54/60mm figures

'51 is for Hudson Hornet 'Black & White'

A die-cast quickie this morning, but we seem to be in a bit of a die-cast phase at the moment!

Err. . . or we were when I wrote that about three weeks ago! Anyway, it's back to the top of a queue it’s been at the top of a couple of times already! Still just a quickie . . .

. . . covering this which I picked-up for a quid a while ago. I just thought that for a pound it was a lovely model, roughly 1:76/72nd compatible, nicely nostalgic and worth a punt!

Whether there is (or was - the model's two-years old which is an age with modern multi-wave stuff) a military version I don't know, but with Jonny Lightning and Hot Wheels also in the Mattel stable, there may be/have been one under another brand, which would be useful for 'Indy IV'; The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! It would go so well with the not-54mm figures from Galoob!

MBX (Matchbox - geddit!) Valley - looks pretty grim! This is just the sort of thing you would have found rushing around a Cold War airbase, or any base for that matter! And it's also the same type of thing you will see losing wars against Tentecled Aliens, Giant Ants or huge Japanese Dino-monsters in 1950's, black & white, B-movies!

"Invasion of the Giant Alien Dino-Antmen! At  theatre near you! Now in 3D, surround-sound, with smell-o-vision, and fright-o-seats!"

Posed with an Airfix airman; is he too-small or too-big? I think he looks just right! "Tentacles officer? No, nothing like that's come this way" he says, before turning back into a jelly-monster and smothering the patrolman in flashing, smoking, cotton-wool 'slime'!

An interesting point raised by this purchase, which I'm sure most of you have noticed for yourselves, but it's worth a paragraph or two of blurb,  is how the global nature of trade (and particularly the toy-trade with its centre in China) these days, means there is - both moulded and stamped into the belly-pan of the car and on the rear of the backing-card - an absolute plethora of consumer information, tracking data, licensing, batch QA/QC codes and other stuff, some of which is as mysterious to me as the tentacled-aliens might have been to the small-town cinema-goer's of 1951!

On the car

Above transmission

'52 Hudson Hornet ® TM. (nod to real manufacturer/rights holder (Chrysler)'s license)

© FCA USA LLC 2016 (Chrysler's parent (Ford), licence date)

Matchbox TM MB 1046 (Matchbox brand logo and stock code?)

Below transmission

© 2016 Mattel DVK 13 (parent's bit)

1186 MJ, 1, NL (Dutch distributor)

J43 (over-stamped model number?)

Made In Thailand [with elephant logotype] (nod to origin / [factory])

Also on the card

J44 (dry-stamped model number typo, or QA tracker?)

DVK13-4B10

TPN12 (Asian packer, packaging type/complience?)

57/125 (57th of 125 models for that season?)

Asst. 30782 (assortment - line/wave number)

ASTM F963 (French assortment?)

MC∙ 993532 - P (Peru, Poland, pack?)

OCP 0061 (Canadian packaging compliance)

CE-BRI/INNAC 00128-03A (British? Brazilian [import from EU] code?)

NM 300/2002

0 35995 30782 7 (bar code/stock number, also barcode, universal product code or UPC)

To which a lot of other stuff is added which is either self-explanatory (Mattel) or graphical logos awarded by ministries, consumer or trade organisations for standards met (CE mark), or membership of (Lion Mark)...

...Then there are other codes, some postal, some company registrations hidden in the blurb!

With the Donald wanting US firms to end all this Global 'shit-hole' crap and the stupider half (sorry - 52%) of the British (old enough to vote) also for opting-out; this information will only get more complicated as new taxes, tariffs and import/export controls get codified.

Not even a 'quickie' in the end!