News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events

It rolls around quickly enough; this Friday malarky! Another bumper crop of shows this weekend, not so many Auctions in the next week, unless you know better . . .

. . . but if you do and you haven't told me about it, it won't be here will it!

One of the 'Midlands Posse' emailed me to point out that it was the Birmingham Toy Soldier Show last weekend and I didn't list it, but there was nothing in my sources and nothing in my eMail; so it didn't get a listing! As it's all metal, and all glossy-mag' Ad's now, I guess they are advertising elsewhere to other 'types'!?

In the meantime; that I know of . . .

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Toy Fairs

Saturday 13th October 2018

Bristol (North) - Chris Dyer Fairs

BAWA Health & Leisure Centre, 589 Southmead Road, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
Web. - www.chrisdyerfairs.co.uk
Tel. - 01643 702 757
Mob. - 07966 694 579

10:30 - 15:00

Admission £2.00

Chester - Tony Oaks Toy Fairs

The Cheshire Country Club Sports Club, Plas Newton Lane, Upton, Cheshire, CH2 1PR

Tel. - 01270 652 773

Mob. - 07825 631 323

10:30 - 14:30hrs

Admission £2.00

Free Parking

Nottingham - Townsend Toy & Train Fairs (Malcolm Townsend, evening fair)

Bluecoat Academy, Nottingham, NG8 5GY

Web. - www.tttf.co.uk

Mob. - 07951 072 790

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission unknown, accompanied under-16's free

Light refreshments

Free Parking

Plymouth - Events Frontier - 'Devcon' Sci-fi and Comics Convention (day 1 of 2)

Plymouth Guildhall, Guildhall Square, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2BJ

Web. - www.eventsfrontier.com

eMail - eventsfrontier@hotmail.com

Mob. - 07508 548 938

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Sunday 14th October 2018

Coventry - Barry Potter / BP Fairs

The Connexion, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Coventry, CV8 3FL

Web. - www.bpfairs.com

Tel. - 01604 846 688

Mob. - 07966 527 177

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission £3, seniors £2.50p, children £1, eraly bird (from 08:00hrs) £6

Free parking

Huntingdon - J&J Fairs

International Indoor Areana, Kings Bush Centre, Wood Green Animal Shelters, London Road, Godmanchester, PE29 2NH

Web. - www.j-jwebbtoyfairs.com

eMail - jandjfairs@virginmedia.com

Tel. - 01522 880 383 (J & J Webb)

10:00 - 14:30hrs

Admission £3, Seniors £2.50p, 1st Child £2

Leigh - Barry Stockton - Train & Toy Collectors fair

Leigh Sports Centre, Sale Way, Leigh, WN12 0HQ

Web. - http://barrystocktonfairs.co.uk/
Tel. - 01513 343 362

Plymouth - Events Frontier - 'Devcon' Sci-fi and Comics Convention (day 1 of 2)

Plymouth Guildhall, Guildhall Square, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2BJ

Web. - www.eventsfrontier.com

eMail - eventsfrontier@hotmail.com

Mob. - 07508 548 938

Wincanton - Toytrac - 'Toytrac 2018' Model Farming Show

Wincanton Racecourse, Old Hill, Wincanton, Somerset, BA9 8BJ (venue)
27 Mayflower Court, Highbridge, Somerset TA93BQ, GB (promoter)

Web. - www.toytrac.co.uk

 

Tel. - 01278 785 295

Sponsored by Britains Farm Toys (Tomy)

Can be found on Twitter and The Facebook

Worthing  - SRP Toyfairs

Charmandean Centre, Forest Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN14 9HS

Web. - http://srptoyfairs1.co.uk/

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

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Tuesday 16th October 2018

Wootton Basset - Steven Clements Fairs - Wootton Basset Evening Fair

Memorial Hall, Station Road, Wootton Basset, Wiltshire, SN4 7EN

eMail: clementfairs@aol.com

Tel. - 01380 725 322

Mob. - 07958 101 891

18:30 - 20:30hrs

Café

Free parking

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Thursday 18th October 2018

Thatcham - Steven Clements (evening fair)

Thatcham Catholic Hall, Bath Road, Thatcham, Berkshire, RG18 3AG

Tel. - 01380 725 322

Mob. - 07958 101 891

eMail: clementfairs@aol.com

18:30 - 20:30hrs

Refreshments,

Free parking

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Auctions

Reminder - Today

Ledbury - John Goodwin

3-7 New Street, Ledbury, Herefordshire, HR8 2DX

eMail - rupert@johngoodwin.co.uk

Tel. - 07968 694 746 (11th and 12th October only)

Viewing - Thursday 11th October 15:00-19:00hrs and morning of sale from 08:00hrs

Sale starts 10:00hrs - finish.

Trains, ephemera and advertising goods

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Monday 15th October

Lewis - Wallis and Wallis

West Street Galleries, Lewis, Sussex, BN7 2NJ

Web. - wallisandwallis.co.uk

eMail - toys@wallisandwallis.co.uk

Tel. - 01273 480 208

Fax. - 01273 476 562

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Tuesday 16th October

Ludlow - Mullock's Specialist Auctioneers and Valuers

Ludlow Racecourse, Bromfield, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 2BT

Mullock's

Web. - www.mulletauctions.co.uk

eMail - reception@mullocks.co.uk

01694 771 771

..........ᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥ◈◇◆◊☼◊◆◇◈ᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥᴥ..........

Thursday 18th October

Newbury - Special Auction Services (SAS)

81 Greenham Business Park, Newbury, West Berkshire, RG19 6HW

Web: www.specialauctionservices.com

eMail: mail@specialauctionservices.com

Tel: 01635 580595

Fax: 0871 714 6905

Express Music and Entertainment

(not sure if this is happening, check before travel)

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Thursday 18th  AND  Friday 19th October 2018

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis (2-day sale)

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

01642 750 616

Thursday 18th - general toy sale

Friday 19th - trains/model railway sale

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Other Events

Saturday 13th October 2018

Theydon Bois - North London & Essex Transport Events (NLETE) - Transport Bazaar & Vintage Bus Displays

Theydon Bois Village Hall, Coppice Row, Essex, CMI6 7ER

eMail - nleevents@outlook.com

11:00 - 15:30hrs

Admission £3.00, accompanied children free

Free rides around Epping Forest.

No public car parking, refreshments, stalls etc . . .

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Saturday 13th AND Sunday 14th October 2018

Milton Keynes - Key Events - The Great Electric Train Show

Arena Milton Keynes, Stadium Way, Milton Keynes, MK1 1ST

Web. - www.greatelectrictrainshow.com

Tel. - 01780 480 404

Sponsored by Hornby Magazine

New venue

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Thursday 18th October - Tuesday 23rd October 2018

Loughborough - Various Events/Promoters - 'Loogabarooga Festival'

Loughborough, Leicestershire

Web. - www.loogabarooga.co.uk

Highlights include;

- 80 years of the Beano comic

- Comic Art by J.P. Reynolds (at the Charnwood Museum)

- Illustration Workshops

- Public Readings

- Vintage Book Fairs (with an 's'!), and other activities. The umbrella event celebrates illustration in publishing.

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If you are an event promoter/show curator/auctioneer and you want your toy, model, collectable or popular-/youth-culture type sale/exhibition/event listed here - FOR FREE - or linked to; please eMail me -

maverickatlarge[at]hotmail[dot]com

- stating the date/s of the event, address of event, contact details, opening/viewing times, admission pricing and any other relevant facts/details or features - parking, travel notes, disability access, availability of refreshments, event subject matter &etc.

And please mention any flyer-art or poster-/leaflet-scans but send by separate eMail, in case they go to the 'junk' folder, from where they can be recovered and marked safe, but only if I know they're there!

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 Random shit off the internet!

T is for Tiger . . . Electronics.

Having mentioned the conversion I did on a Tiger Electronics Star Wars vehicle earlier today, I thought I'd better show it, and in doing so we might as well look at the small sample in the collection.

These three came in first, all from the 2^nd/5^th movie in a franchise I've lost track of; are we up to No-9 or waiting for No-9? How many altogether, how many are back-story spin-offs, do I care now that it's all new characters?

The two cars/Speeders from the opening scene's 'car chase' came together in a sale - at Woolworths I thing? It was a long time ago now - while Jango Fett's spaceship was a separate purchase, I seem to recall.

The electronics were a simple set of sounds from a slightly raspy speaker, triggered by pressing a button.

This came out a year or two later, and had a handle attached so you could 'fly' it about while making noises, the removal of which I refereed to earlier. It'll need to be filled-in one day, but as you can only see it if you turn it upside down it's not an issue and it looks far better than it did with a handle attached!

Also Tiger and roughly scaled with the other one-man fighters from Galoob's Action Fleet line, it's a nice addition as I don't think we ever got 2/5-movie stuff for Action Fleet after everyone got their fingers burnt with the 1^st/4^th.

A comparison between the Action Fleet Bobba version from Galoob shows up the smallness of the Tiger Electronics one, they were 'header-card' scale! Which makes the speeders perfect for Micro Machines, but leaves Jango's ship needing some muck it its boots. Why they didn't use the Galoob one - when they had previously used the Action Fleet AT-AT for their battery-operated effort - is something to ponder?

N is for Not That Long Ago, in the Galaxy We Share . . .

. . . I scored a couple of Star Wars items, the middle of August to be exact, and having another hanging around, a small post was born . . . phffft . . . that's a different movie!

I think this must be either an unmarked McDonald's type premium (which is unusual; their stuff is usually clearly marked?), or some bootleg market-stall rack toy type thing? I don't remember it being marked anyway, but as it was not working I'd already decided to take it apart for the figure. Is that crown the Burger King logo or the new movie graphics? Kylo Ren?

A light-sabre will cut through anything! The funny thing was it started making Star Wars noises and flashing as I was taking it apart - it clearly had a loose connection somewhere - and for clues to origin I took similar equipment out of those Tiger Electronics spaceships and Speeders when I added them to the Galoob fleet a decade or more ago now?

From the same Charity shop (and the same collection?), I also got the C3PO jiggler, like a bobble-head he is articulated, but at the waist, and he jiggles like a hula-girl at the slightest movement. He's unmarked apart from a single figure '15' on the underside of the base, and while construction seems simple, it is robust, even the push-on base can't then be removed due to a sharp shoulder on the pegs.

Go Berserker! Get him while he's posing for the camera! . . .

. . . the final item in the line-up is the Stormtrooper toothbrush Peter Evans had chucked in the big bags at Plastic Warrior's show! I'm using it, not on my teeth mind; to clean dirty toys!

For some reason it is called 'Firefly' which is also another movie altogether? And is carried by Dr. Fresh in the US and Canada; Grosvenor Consumer Products here. It came with a spinning Power Rangers Biro-topper TV thing!

U is for Unknown Wild West Flats - 4 - Odds and Sods

So we come to what else is in the Unknown Wild West Flats box, recently out of storage and topped up with the bits I had here. Actually a few of them are known I just haven't got round to labelling them up or moving them so they are in the final shot!

Only the two poses, and I can only try to get across the feel of them as being like gritty rubber, the sort of stuff Auburn or Sun were using to make their early toys, but not so hard, possibly only because they are younger/newer?

It's almost as if they have been made from 1980's exterior door & window sealant or shoe mending compound!

Although only the two poses, they keep turning-up! And while the figures are - in the main - well formed (one of the archers is a bit short-shot at the tips of things), the bases seem to tell a different story! I suspect a hand-operated injection machine? The gate marks are at the head-end, so lack of 'puff' or dropping-off puff seems to have been the problem here!

These are interesting, sold to me as German sweet-premiums (wundertüten), they are only etched on one side, the reverses being blank. I wondered if they might be cake decorations when I first saw them as they seemed to have icing-spikes, but in fact they are just the poorly-gated runner-ends.

Looking at the way the 'base' line runs out to the cactus on the prone figure, suggests the sort of thing glued into snow-shakers, but they are a bit big for that at 60-odd millimeters, so I wonder if maybe they are factory blanks from some similar touristy thing, perhaps deep-framed pictures or 'box dioramas' - a slap of paint, some lichen/flock, a bit of sand-paper as a base and a formulaic gouache-painted backdrop?

If they are wundertüten, they must be quite early, as they are nowhere near the quality of the later Jean/Manurba/Heinerle stuff, nor even up to the detail of the margarine-premiums of that age?

While I have lots of margarine giveaway types in the 'known' boxes, there are the two gold ones here who are orphans, the one on the right being a poor copy of the Siku original, the one on the left a more original Mexican type.

The red chap holding his saddle was a recent purchase and seen here then, the rest have some info. attached; the pair shooting each other are from a board game; The Fastest Gun by Denys Fisher, missing are yellow and green 'good guys' and a bunch of black 'bad guys'!

Pretty-sure the white, running Indian is Nosco or Crackerjack (or Nosco for Crackerjack!) but I need to check and get him labelled correctly. The Tipi is a flat scenic accessory for fully-round Polish figures from PZG (the design continues round the back as the outside of the shelter), while the other five are purportedly from Italy, I'd like them to be Portuguese Osul, but I fear the bases are wrong, and they may be from a board-game?

These are all polystyrene, bar the orange chap who's ethylene, the two game-pieces who are polypropylene and the PZG which is a recycled polymer mix with some of the properties of each of the other three types!

So that's me' unknown Wild West flats, if you can anything to any of the figures in today's four posts it'll be much appreciated, but the search goes on, in any event!