F is for Follow-up - Magic Roundabout

Although a follow-up, it's a little longer than most, as it pulls everything together in one place with some archive stuff. As we saw last time (no point in a back-link as we're going to look at it all again) there were three sets of Magic Roundabout premiums, getting at least four issues between them.

We are actually starting with the second, as it was the first to hit the UK and I've already re-numbered all the images once, so I'm not going to do it again!

Kellogg's brought these out in 1969, almost certainly manufactured for them by Crescent who had a contract with them for such things, while the plastic colours/bases match the Sooty, Noddy, Spacemen and Thunderbirds figures of the same era.

• Dougal Dog
• Zeberdee
• Brian the Snail
• Dylan the Rabbit
• Mr MacHenry
• Florence

From Cluck I comes this poor scan (copy of a copy of a copy . . . ) of an advert from TV Comic for the set in 'Twicicles as Nicicles' Ricicles! Dated to the 5th of April 1969 it lists the six to collect. These are the 2nd largest of the three sets and would be the equivalent of 50mm-odd; were we not talking about fictional anthropomorphs!

Base marking refers to the French licensor; © SERGE DANOT 1968 rather than Kellogg's or the BBC who were carrying the series over here.

Funny story I happen to have in my head about The Magic Roundabout;

The BBC Children's TV department ('Watch with Mother' in those days) bought the footage from the French either without sound, or without translations (or both?), so had to make-up the narrated storyline from what was happening on the screen, as a result some of them are completely different 'mini-adventures' to their French originals, and even when it was pretty obvious (the sugar-cube trail/hunt) they are still far removed as far as dialogue and unfolding action sequence is concerned from their Gallic counterparts!

And - if it's not true - it's a nice story!

The rival food combine and breakfast cereal producer Nabisco issued these in the autumn of 1970, I have a note somewhere that they were in their cereal Shreddies, but both Cluck and Brian Berke's contribution (below) say Magic Roundabout Biscuits, so the Shreddies link will have been an earlier assumption on the part of collectors in the late 1980's-1990's I guess?

16 items to collect gave 15 'assemblies' as one of the items was Mr. McHenry's tricycle. I have to confess, despite being a fan of the Magic Roundabout at the time (I was six, alright!) I don't remember the birds, either separately or on the barrel-organ? I do vaguely remember Penelope the spider in a few episodes though.

• Dougal Dog
• Zeberdee
• Brian the Snail
• Dylan the Rabbit
• Ermintrude
• Penelope (spider knitting)
• Mr MacHenry (long beard) and his 'Motor Trike' (tricycle bike)
• Mr Rusty (long toothbrush-moustache) and his Barrel Organ
• Tweet (bird looking one way!) and Tweet-tweet (bird looking the other way!)
• Florence (ribbon on her head)
• Peter (boy pointing)*
• Rosalie (girl with pony-tails)*
• Paul (smaller boy)*

* As far as I can remember, these characters were mostly seen in the comics and annuals which accompanied the success of the TV series.

These had actually already been issued in Portugal back in 1968 by Gelados Olá ("Hello" Ice Cream); believed to be a Wall's subsidiary or partner brand. I think they were also issued as bubble-gum premiums at the time through various brands.

Cluck I reports that the figures were made by Airfix, I don't know where that comes from, the plastic colours would suggest someone like Crescent or Hillco (who had turned down the Kellogg's gig?) and while any one of a number of plastic fabricators could have run them, I believe the moulds were continental (as evidenced by their earlier-use over there), while others mention R&L in Australia.

Brian Berke kept his packet tops! 48 biscuits AND a toy! There are 8 of the commoner characters illustrated on the box and no clue as to how many you need to collect.

The Olá/bubble-gum issues came in a myriad of plastic colours while the UK got the four colours in the 'one-of-each' shot (three images above) only . . . and ours were a shinier plastic against the continentals more understated, chalky - or at least matt - finish.

Piracies exist of them, similar to the Tito-marked, Comansi-carried, Lucky Luke bubble-gum premiums we've seen here before. I guess they must have been gum-ball capsule things from Hong Kong, or possibly Christmas cracker prizes over here?

And like those Lucky Luke figures the originals have the distinctive holes (usually assumed to be mould release-pin marks, but a little too deep and deliberate, in my mind) in their feet, also shared with the two series of Asterix premiums of similar size and issued by the same ice cream and bubble-gum sources, along with wild animals and Disney, ergo, Tito are more likely to be the parent; not Airfix?

However, trying too-hard to work it all out leads you up a garden path littered with Americana, Malabar, Mundi, Tylers et al! There's a very good bubble-gum wrapper site somewhere which shows how incredibly convoluted the market was and still is with people like Bazooka, Topps, Wriggly's and ABC issuing licenses all over the world and sometimes to multiple factors in the same country.

So, it will never be worked out where they all came from, certainly not 'first'; another name in the frame (after Tito) is Heimo, who produced other sizes of the Disney even as Comansi were carrying rubber versions of the Tito's?

Two Mr MacHenry's meet! He has a larger hole in his feet which locates with the stud on the tricycle, firmly holding them both together as one. The set would be the equivalent of 35/40mm in a weird, but otherwise 'real' universe!

Ricicles had another stab (deliberately against the Nabisco issue?) in 1970, but instead of re-issuing their previous set (as they had done with Sooty and Noddy) they turned to Tatra for a new set of sculpts carrying eight characters instead of six, these were overall slightly larger at an equivalence of around 54mm.

• Dougal Dog
• Zeberdee
• Brian the Snail
• Dylan the Rabbit
• Ermintrude
• Mr MacHenry (long beard)
• Mr Rusty (bushy moustache)
• Florence

Tatra's own image which they kindly let me have before being swallowed by a competitor, ironic really; as they had swallowed a couple of dozen firms themselves over the decades, but there's always a bigger fish in the pond!

Above; a scale comparison between the three sets.

Below; We gott'a Rock Band with Spidey on the sticks! She (along with the barrel-organ) is harder to find undamaged.

So, that's them, there were other Magic Roundabout toys, the much sought-after Corgi sets, larger flocked-toys imported by HCF, wet-on temporary tattoos, rub-down transfers, key rings and such like, and you could send away with packet-tops from the Nabisco set for trees or a little train (also available commercially) which now goes for a mint on feebleBay occasionally.

From Cluck;

"Send-away 2/9d (14p) and 3 packet tops for a complete set of 16 Magic Roundabout toy figures. Also send-away 9/2d (49½p) and 3 Magic Roundabout biscuit packet tops for Mr Rusty‘s Magic Train - a toy steam engine with cattle-cart, passenger carriage and cart, also 4 Magic Roundabout Garden trees."

The difference between the Nabisco mail-away trees and the Corgi play-set ones is in the bases; Nabisco's were round, Corgi's diamond-shaped.

While the Nabisco/Olá organ and Penelope commonly suffer damage, both Dylan and Brian also can lose ears/antenna respectively, something the first set gets around in Brian's case by not modelling them, the tricycle sometime loses its headlight-lantern.

The TV series was remade a few years ago for a newer audience, and some new episodes were added, which to be fair - as someone who hates re-hashes and the changes to resurrected franchises - I didn't realise I was watching until I saw a computer in it and thought "Hold on! They hadn't invented PC's in the 1960's", I then realised the narrator/voices weren't quite the same; it was an all-new episode!

Links

1969 Ricicles Set

1970 Ricicles Set

1968 Olá - 1970 Nabisco Set

Gum Companies (now only on the WayBackMachine - takes a while to load)

I think the metal set in that third link will be from Goodsoldiers, I did email the webmaster a while back but I think he's no longer active on the site?

Thanks to Brian Berke for the Nabisco pack-tops and The Philosophical Toad for the Cluck I

F is for First Bendy?

Another cutting lost to the mists of time, probably another syndicated piece from a Floridian paper, and it could be one of the first 'Bendy Toys', if not the original, it's not something I've studied that closely! LRM not LRG . . . go Bendy!

It appears - from the hat - to have been aimed at the Halloween market? Anyone know anything else about it? Wham-O or Uncle Milton perhaps?

M is for Mettoy Medics . . .

. . . and various other related figures!

This started life as a quick 'Follow-up' post on the other two vignettes I've mentioned as being in storage, but sort of grew as things came out of that storage pile and were brought together with more recent acquisitions.

Mau's beside manner was dimmed somewhat by his instance on reading from a tedious little red book of aphorisms! Meanwhile nurse Crotchet decided to take the bed apart?

This is the 'Ward' vignette; we looked at the Surgical Theatre last time. There's a wash-basin, bed, table and chair with a bedside locker, bowl and lunch/puzzle-doing tray!

The other scene is of the Convalescent Ward or Day Room and is populated with the walking wounded and Nurse Ratchet poking someone in his wounded shoulder because he dared to ask for more at tea!

Now, following my pronouncements on arks, origins of infant toys, Trojan paratroopers and the forthcoming posts on Charbens cake decorations, I feel I'm on a roll and would like to suggest the sculptor (in Hong Kong?) of the mono-colour passengers in Multi-Toy's wacky Love Boat was also responsible for these figures, the fluid, smoothed-off sculpting is remarkably similar for both sets . . . as it is on a slightly 'stag' golf-tee, I also have in the collection!

The chap with the crutch has been very cleverly manufactured to hold his crutch's pad in a pinch-point, yet from the rear it seems that at one time he was being designed to have two crutches, or the ability to wear the one under either arm? That second hollow has been filled in from the front, but remains at the back.

A comparison with the Britains wheelchair began the expansion of the post into something - hopefully - worthy of the sum of its parts, the undersides of the furniture (most marked 'Hong Kong') being originally the last shot!

A further comparison of some of the other nurses (or matrons!) shows Toyway's to be well over the odds at 60mm+ while the two painted Mettoy's are from another (earlier?) set from the Ward 10 licensed franchise, but seem to have been home-painted, a near-mint box appeared on feeBay a while ago, and they were all (+ two doctors and a patient) in predominantly white plastic, with a few painted highlights.

Despite the fact that O'Keefe's syringe kit was probably original paint, I used the occasion of having them all out to get the pair of them steeped in oven-cleaner for a couple of hours, then scrubbed them with a tooth-brush and I think you'll agree that the exercise was worth the effort!

I have no idea what the faintly disturbing lump down the front of her gown is, but it seems to be some kind of production problem thing as it's absent on others I've seen, yet it's not a shrinkage mark; she's otherwise perfectly formed?

It may be due to overly high pressure at the injection-heat forcing extra plastic into the mould, extending the solidification time to the point where it expanded upon mould release, or it may have been an attempt to suggest a towel held in her waist-belt, which was removed from a second version of the sculpt - because it was faintly disturbing-looking!?

And the sculpting on these suggests they were all-UK in origin.

I already had a third figure from the set; a doctor, 'un-doctored' by semi-gloss PVA , but recently picked-up the other little-one, it had had a frightening price on it (which I won't share with you has it may have come my way as a favour) and was described as Mettoy, however, I couldn't believe that they had a third line so out of scale with the other two? And - Yes, that is the colour of her lipstick!

But as the outer-box, which had the two medical tubs in, was the 'Civilian' box, I had also found the Police tub . . .

. . . where I remembered seeing another pair of brown-based dwarves! The reason they were in the Police tub is down to their dark uniforms! It's clear that the nurse has been repainted, but I won't be stripping her back to bare . . . ooo-err! . . . plastic as - apart from the mouth - she's bearable as she is.

A quick perusal of the likely suspect's various 'PW Specials' didn't get far because Speedwell comes before Trojan, Una and VP! So I only had to wade through one-and-a-half tomes (Kentoy!) to find them.

PW's appraisal is that they are "probably" Speedwell, but could be someone else, and while they are similar to the German soldiers from Speedwell, they are unmarked. Their box however (get the Speedwell Special!) is VERY Speedwell!

As I now had the Kentoy publication out and the police tub in front of me and because the ambulance men looked a tad familiar I shot this quick line-up of Norman Tooth's work and piracies of it! The reason there's trojan on the screen is 'cos I was working on the Para' Battalion article at the same time!

The Policeman (4th from left) was one of the first figures Mr. Tooth designed for Kentoy, the figure was similar to the one he had already designed for Timpo (1st) and the mould went-on to Cavendish, due to the quality of paint on mine I suspect Cavendish [12-03-19 - now suspect it's actually a Kentoys - matt paint base], but as they probably also took the remaining-stock, as well as the moulds; who's to tell!

The two Hong Kong figures may have been sanctioned - much later - by Tony Kite at Cavendish, and he certainly carried them in his business as a purveyor of finest tourist trinkets!

But with or without his say-so; they are copies in hard styrene against the polyethylene of the other four - British - mouldings, one losing a millimeter or two in the reproduction process, the other enlarged to 70mm. The smaller ones were sold in sets of five with similar copies of the household troops (Guardsman, Lifeguard, Horse Guard and Beefeater), while I believe the larger ones were sold singly as stand-alone figures.

SF is for Space Farce!

Do you remember that fantastic Dr. Who Mount Rushmore that was sent to the Blog by Artist Jon Alderfer a while back? Well, he's had his coloured pencils out again, or at least I think he's working in a pencil medium, it's hard to tell from a scan of a print; it may be fine gauche or water-colour, but whatever, it's very talented work and it's a pleasure to carry another here . . . look to the horizon, there may be a third on the way?

Space Force - by Jon Alderfer

Isn't it fantastic? And I love all the little in-jokes hidden around the place, some of which I'm not getting, I'm obviously not American-enough! Sucka B. Flaunders obviously had the day off to recover from the last press conference!

If I have one criticism - using my years of experience as a world-famous art critic to go on - I'd say the pilot's hands are too big, I mean they're BIG, like, they're biggly-big, biggly-wiggly big, almost normal-sized! That's a Donald-fact - no fake news here!

Jon; thanks so much for this, delighted to host it!

C is for Chromoplasts from the Landi of Xilo!

Like the earlier Morestone post - no more than a box-ticker, but relatively uncommon. I believe these are actually Cromoplasto (no 'h') from the Landi stable, but I don't think they ever got the later plug-in/separate-based Xiloplasto re-issue as the combat infantry did?

Really fanciful 'Ming The Merciless' type 1940/50's pulp figures these; with a bit of the Lido bird-men about them (The Reamsa ones would have been contemporary?) and garishly painted in metallic-red and blue with a flat, gloss yellow on silver PVC.

I know of two other poses (same painting), and there may well be more out there? These are flat'ish - not so flat they could be considered semi-flats, but they lack a depth and are sculpted very-much in one plane if you know what I mean . . . I like them!

M is for Morestone's Modern Product Mars Mission Morris & Stone Men!

As you may have gathered from the title or already knew, Modern Products was an early incarnation of what would ultimately become Budgie, best known for their die-cast toy vehicles, motorcycles and wagons.

Yet these are made of a nice stable, slightly soapy polyethylene, unlike the supposedly later cowboys (seen on the Blog back at the start) who are in a brittle, chalky, 'early British' polyethylene, so I would be tempted to suggest these came along after the Modern Products branding had actually been dropped, or that my version are a late re-issue by Starcourt Ltd., who ended-up with the Budgie tools/mould-bank?

I don't know why I know they are Morestone (Morris & Stone), but I have firmly marked their card thus, so it's likely they've been in Plastic Warrior magazine (link) in the past and I got it from there? So - equally - I don't know how many there are pose-wise, I have three with the fourth a duplicate pose in another colour and they were among my first true 54mm figures, bought at the BP Fairs NEC Birmingham show in 2009/10 sometime.

I've had a quick look on Alphadrome but they don't seem to have them and Google also failed, so these may be new to the Wibbly Wobbly Way, but there must be at least a fourth pose out there?

You can clearly see the A Modern Product branding on the upper-side of the base, and he looks like he may have been manufactured for the 'de rigueur' fitting of a clear-plastic helmet as per- most of his contemporaries, but again; I don't know that for sure?

The weirdest thing about them (look again) is that they all seem to have been sponsored on their intergalactic challenge by Honda motorcycles! Even to a - blank - text-box below the eagle's wing where you would normally find Honda's moniker.

R is for Reisler's Retro Rocket-man Replicas

♪♫♪♪ "Rocket Maaaaaaan, he's besty-friends wiiith gob-shiiite Donnnnn'uldtrump!"♫♪♫♪

Both this and the forthcoming Mettoy post have sort of 'grown' as I've got my teeth into combining what is actually three collections, the main 'storage' collection (33 years - to 2010 - of predominantly small-scale), the autumn 2010 'Big Purchase' and anything unsorted from four NEC's, PW '11 and Birmingham '11 (large scale heavy - I was playing catch-up . . . and err, overtake!) and what was here at Fleet from the last few years (predominantly large scale), and it means I keep finding things that go with things I've 'sorted'!

I'm pretty sure these two came from Adrian at the end of the Birmingham show; 2011, he looked a little confused at my sudden interest in 54mm, until I reminded him the Blog had a voracious appetite!

Reisler originals with coloured helmets and factory paint, the helmets have a very slight shoulder cut-out both sides.

Adrian had another at recent show, and not knowing which ones I had (I thought I had four but couldn't remember the colours!) so I just shot it quickly for the archive! He's the same as one of mine, but with a clear helmet which - frankly - is far better than my blue ones as you can actually see the chap, which means he can see where he's going, mine must be blundering about- when I'm not looking . . . obviously; how mad do you think I am? -  trapped in their own psychedelic 'trip' of inky-blueness!

Comparison between the original and one of the recent paint-it-yourself-you-lazy-git re-issues! You can see how they all have a glue-on arm, but they seem to have stuck to a 'same arm for same body' rule in the factory, rather missing the main-point of different arms!

On the right is a shot which managed to escape the collage I did last time we looked at the Thomas/Poplar spacemen, showing a PVC original and a later painted example. The paint is part of the figure, so it's proper liquid PVC paint, applied in the factory/by out-workers.

Adrian had all four (of four?) and while preparing this article and digging out the old shots it became obvious they were - in part - lifted from the Thomas sculpts, with various elements reappearing on different figures as a cut-n-shut exercise.

Meanwhile my storage additions had come to light, so I shot them and added the other image I took of the unpainted Reislers, as I'd shot them at the end of the old camera's life and white on white with a failing mother-board had led to pretty poor shots! Mine are all PVC except the blue chap, and I think they will be joining the four in the previous image, one of which is a pirated, based-copy, with another polyethylene (yellow one) and two bronzy-PVC.

More by accident/co-incidence than design the Reisler's also mirror, or are similar-to a couple of the much-latter Britains poses!

I is for Infant Farm

When Chris Smith sent me that load of stuff the other month, he was particularly interested to see what I picked as highlights, and what I didn't, also he asked specifically about these, and I said I had some in storage and would wait until I'd got them out before blogging them.

Well, they are out, so we’re looking at them! They are a very different kettle of ball-game fish but I do like them, there is something of the nineteen-seventies filtered through an Art Deco trope about them and they are figural and fun!

These are the ones Chris sent me, the farmer has lost his hand but that doesn't matter; a sample is better than no sample - and we'll see in a minute; it's an important sample! And hopefully you can see what I mean about 'art deco seventies'!

These were the ones I had in storage, colours are different, but that's not all as we'll see in a minute. I'm loving the trees and the sheep remind me of Wallace & Gromit, despite being nothing like Shaun and his flock!

If you found these as singles or matching pairs you might think they were game-playing pieces, while my three people (from the left; Policeman, Milkman and Postman) look quite Chigley and Trumpton!

I cropped this out of a feebleBay lot a while ago (which had other equally interesting toys to either end), and we can see picket fences (which I think I may have somewhere else) horses in black and white, a dog and farm/village buildings (again; I think I may have the one with an overhanging roof (yellow walls) somewhere) and a fir tree. I also think pigs may turn-up, indeed I'm hoping I may have one or two elsewhere, but nothing springs to mind by way of picturing them so it may only be a hope!

I'm guessing these were by someone like Pedigree (Tri-Ang), [Hestair] Kiddycraft or maybe Galt, but the design-heavy styling could point to something as off-the-wall as Heals or Habitat 'early learners'? The German wooden-toy influence in the buildings is cancelled out by the British 'Bobby' with his distinctive helmet. But . . .

. . . the real present of Chris's donation, is that his are different to mine. His are almost certainly the British originals, while mine are Hong Kong copies!

Not only are mine marked Hong Kong while the ones Chris sent to the Blog are unmarked, but mine are cruder castings, with the cow having sharper edges and lacking the subtle curves to the calves (hocks?). You can see the HK one has heavier ears as well!

Now, I'm not saying they are piracies, we saw with the Britains Herald Khaki Infantry and Wild West how the quality dropped-off after production was moved to HK by the parent company, and it's very possible the two types here were issued in the same packaging by the same brand, but it's nice to have two variants to look-out for. I'll be looking for pigs and a baby fir too!

Do you know anything about them? Brand? How many people/professions are there? Cheers Chris; more to find though!

P is for Parachute Battalion

And I mean IS!

I was struggling to convince someone of my theory vis-à-vis the Trojan Parachute Battalion figure next to the Airfix donor-sculpt the other week, hopefully this will convince him (and others) and put the matter to bed?

One the left we have an Airfix 'early figure set' compatible example, 60mm high,  like others in the set, mould-release pin-mark showing front-centre on the small, round, domed base, as the rest of the set do and it's oozing age. He's soft polyethylene, earlier examples are found in hard polystyrene or even earlier semi-synthetic polymers like cellulose-nitrate or cellulose acetate.

On the right we have a smaller copy, painted to match other figures in the "Trojan" Series of Modern Khaki Soldiers, he is a soft polyethylene also, and has lost some of the detailing of the original in the copying process, including - as I pointed out last time - the helmet netting.

He's also lost the 'shorts' effect of pulling the smock-hem in to the legs with the fastening of the crotch-flap. You can see that all the differences I highlighted last time are clear when they are side by side.

By the time you read this a rear-view will be up in the Trojan section of the Khaki Infantry page.

Trojan mention quite a few items in the 'Airborne' line of Parachute Items and we can see from the catalogue that there are two clues to help us ID the figures/items; one - the price per dozen (or unit) and two - the numebr of items in a unit.

None of these is likely to be 1136 Air Commando Tommy Gunner, but he probably looks like some of them! In other words he will be a blow-moulded parachute toy like the Red Devil (1127 - below) being the same unit-price per-item.

I don't know if this - specific figure - is Trojan or another of the makes this figure has been ascribed to over the years, but a version of the sculpt is generally acknowledged to be 1136A Paratrooper (with raised arms), a bit costly for a smaller figure, but he's not part of the Khaki range, is a tad larger and comes in a  range of what would have been toy-like colours (when new), I've seen blue and green as well as this red (PW reports grey) and the - dare I say - commoner white and browns. If he isn't 1136A, we'd be looking for another blow-mould?

Also the expense will include the parachute, which we can see is very similar to the Red Devil below and seems to have been folded to fit a similar card.

Finally, we have 1127 New Red Devil Paratrooper, which leaves 1128 Moon Rocket - yet to be ID'd and the 1193 Parachute Battalion. Their coding comes within the OO-gauge Tiny Trojan line, and while they (OO) would be too small for parachute toys, do share some of the paint and plastic colour features of the chap at the top of the page. Both he and they share those same features with the Modern Khaki Soldiers who have a changing code-sequence, unlike most other lines.

The Parachute Battalion is priced at one-shilling & sixpence for three figures; all 50/54mm figures in the Trojan catalogue with the exception of the Japanese* are priced at sixpence-each, three sixpences were one-shilling & sixpence! Ergo; Parachute Battalion must contain 3 standard-sized figures.

Last time I posted this; I was "pretty sure", and apart from disagreeing private-emails, there was no feedback, this time - I'm telling you . . . the figure at the top of this post, on the right-hand side of the pair is from the "Trojan" Series 1193 Parachute Battalion and he can't be from anywhere else.

Photo' courtesy of Barney Brown

The question still remaining is - was there three of the same pose (he's certainly commoner than the Airfix original), or maybe two of these and one of the Timpo-copy with binoculars? As the binocular guy isn't listed under the Modern American Soldiers, my guess is one of them and two of the Airfix piracies?

That doesn't actually matter as it was this pose which was the real mystery, while a carded set will turn-up one day, probably - like the Red Devil - for a reasonable buy-it-now with no watchers!

* back in the 1950's British trade (and elsewhere - I'm sure) still held on to Victorian (or Edwardian) principles, and therefore if you made anatomically smaller figures (less plastic) you charged less; profit margins normally aiming to be between 1 and 10% - anything more being considered greedy and not a little vulgar! Consequently the diminutive Japanese were only 5d-each, actually a bit of a pain when we worked in sixes, pre-decimalisation!

Nowadays - of course - you have the Russians wanting a working-man's half-a-week's wages for half-a-handful of figures, while Lanard will sell you a bucketful for a fiver!

B is for Bagging Knights

For someone who claims to be no fan of poured-resin I do seem to acquire quite a bit of it!

These came from Peter Evans at the beginning of August and although a bit tall and thin anatomically are still rather nice and because they are a bit of a box-ticker I've jollied the post up with some notes on storage!

These are the figures, presumably Museum gift-shop or similar tourist-trap items, they are too similar in height/appearance to be chess pieces (unless they are the pawns for a larger 'back-row'?) or something like that, poured resin and 70mm ignoring the base.

One of the reasons I'm not a fan of resin figurines is that they damage or chip too easily; I broke a Mermaid the other day, getting it off the hook in the pet shop and felt honor-bound to buy it! I snuck-back when I saw a different girl on the tills through the plate-windows and bought a second!

So storage has to prevent them rubbing against each other, let alone any external influences, I do this with my two standard click-shut or self-seal (they're not self-seal, you have to help them!) bags, one 4x5½" (100x150mm) per figure which were then top'n'tailed (like sardines) in a larger 5x9" (130x230mm) bag.

The empty ends of all the bags are then folded under the figures before they are laid in whatever is their final receptacle, this provides a bit of extra padding, but - more importantly - all the layers of new plastic will slide around a bit if the container is dropped or treated roughly for some reason, you know; gives the whole parcel a bit of 'give'.

Also, and I don't want to patronise anyone, but . . . it's a good idea to fold the open bags over and give them a squeeze before you seal each of them to expel the maximum air - otherwise you end-up with a pillow full of pillows and the figures WILL rattle around and chip each-other through the plastic films!

Cheers Peter - They're lovely and will be looked after!

F is for Follow-up - Metal Flats; N'animals Not Nazi's

When we looked at those peculiar Nazi flatsthe other month, I said I had a rhino (and possibly other animals) in storage, so I was pleasantly surprised to find I had in fact added nine additional animals to the rhino.

Domestic animals and birds, wild animals and birds, all the bases are covered! The rhino; who I remembered to be smoother and cleaner 'of line', actually looks more like Albrecht Dürer's interpretation of an Asian Rhino!

I have no idea how large the whole set was or . . . 'sets' were, and like the clowning Nazi's don't know where they came from, or when. The suspicion is that the source is the same . . .

. . . both as far as the manufacture of the figures goes, and where they appeared, I favour cigarette premiums, but it's all up for grabs!

They are the same lightweight, tinny, aluminium casts and while the side-flanges are a little different, the overall look is the same, but that difference, along with the more realistic sculpting might still suggest a different maker?

The problem with shiny, looked-after aluminium is that it's impossible to date! A thought though - The Russians and East European members of the 'Soviet Bloc' did use this material a lot, including as flats or semi-flats, even for Toy Soldiers. So, were these to be from 'beyond the curtain', that would back-up the satirical angle of the previous set (especially if they came from the former East Germany) and date them to the 1950/60's?

F is for Follow-up - Coca-cola Flats . . . not!

Having only just posted the soft, polyethylene (or polypropylene) grey versions of these the other day, I was surprised to find a chocolate-brown one in a mixed lot of mostly modern vinyl from a charity shop a few weeks ago; I hung-on to it, knowing I'd have the rest out of storage any minute and here they all are! They raise several points to note -

So . . . firstly, the new one is the lion, bottom left, to his left and running back up to the top are the grey ones from a while ago and the rest is a complete vintage set in white polystyrene, along with a creamy-white plastic 'Euro-premium' variant of the lioness - bottom right-hand corner.

Secondly, the TRUE Coca-cola premiums (of which I have none!) have deeper bases with title messages running around the rim, ergo; I now believe these probably came first as 'Euro-premiums', and a deeper base was employed for the Coke premiums, making the South African addition (a Springbok) worth its 'premium' price, as it must be a separate, small tool, never re-issued.

Coke's Fanta brand issued 12 birds, with the same heavy bases and also in addition to - or because of the Sprinkbok - Coke didn't use the camel sculpt from this set, presumably/or because the offer was in sub-Saharan Southern-Africa, and camels are from the Sahel and Arabia far to the North?

Link To Thread on STS

But . . . thirdly; the original set's tool (for the other 21 animals) does seem to have been re-used, and quite recently, I've been collecting these for an age, and to find two new types a few months apart, in a new plastic type and colours, looking very new is more than simple coincidence?

I increasingly suspect something interactive (like hollow building-blocks, or Phidal type books, but for even younger readers) however; they might just be out there as Cracker-prizes or gum-ball machine capsule contents?

Last time I was wont to suggest they are recent, now I think they might be, I also highlighted the water-buffalo's heavy base as being more like the Coke ones, but it was always heavier, and lastly I now think these were probably first or stand-alone, not a re-shot of the Coca-cola mould, but rather something in a product mould-catalogue for Coke (and/or others) to pick-out.