B is for Box-ticking - WWII Russians - Charbens & Timpo

The last of my British production Russians in 54/60mm (excluding Airfix; coming soon) are the Charbens set; poor sculpts/poses and the Timpo set; poor sample size!

They're fun, but they are struggling in the accuracy department aren't they, and suffer from the semi-flat'ness of a lot of Charbens production, some throwback to the hollow-cast days!

Also reissued recently (Blockhill-Marlborough-Plastics from the Past), my original officer is lacking a scabbard and the Vickers-Maxim is a tad on the odd side! Note also he's a darker, greenish, 'field-grey'. At least they have a single star, front, centre on a reasonable rendition of a 'Deputy Dog' hat!

Harsh indeed was the punishment

for forgetting your sword at muster!*

Getting very brittle now and both as rare as rocking-horse shit and priced to match! Timpo's Cossacks, the better one is probably the commonest survivor being a bit more substantial, but while I'm lucky to have him, I think I'm luckier to have the other one with all his arms and swords and scabbards flying around to break-off, but he's actually quite supple still, and I have a theory about that . . .

. . . along with their (Timpo's) solid 8th Army and German Infantry who are also both known for their tendency to brittleness and several of the Crescent sets (60mm Wild West, Romans, Elizabethans &etc.), it seems to be a bit of a factoid that when you do find them still flexible, they tend to be heavily played with . . . you know the state; hardly any paint, scuffed buckles, faces or hands, twisted or chewed bayonets and scabbards, garden-grime pressed into the sculpting, odd stains, home-paint, bent bases . . . !

I believe it's down to nothing more complicated than the oils in human skin and/or other substances they came into contact with during that heavy playing . . . grass, damp soil, rain, cake, sticky sweets? Coupled with the fact that constant handling would have lead to flexing, which may have 'exercised' the long-chain polymers, or maybe even the constant temperature changes help?**

It's not a hard and fast rule, just a bit of a factoid, but when you find mint-paint, 'laid-down' or never played with (all that old shop-stock of the Turks/Afghans kicking around a few years ago), they can be as brittle as biscotti, but find a tatty, played-with figure and it's often still as bendable as new?

--------------------------------------------

* In Berlin our 'in house' (or in the glasshouse!) prisoners used to have to double to the cookhouse at lunchtime holding a wooden WOMBAT drill-round above their heads. They would often vomit their meal back-up, whilst doubling back to the guardroom after lunch, and that was 'fluffy Britain' in the late 1980's!

** I know some sources blame temperature change for 'plastic cancer' but there's no empirical evidence for it, direct sunlight is the killer as the ultra-violet passing-through will blast out the polymer's free-radicals and kill everything left on a windowsill or shelf, over time; even polystyrene gets crumbly! but I've had my whole collection in several - very different - storage facilities over the years; commercial, old stable, attic and shipping container (where temperatures are even more extreme than an attic) and it's suffered no noticeable changes (except to un-bagged PVC figures which go mouldy (black 'soot' or grey 'flock'), but the mould rubs/washes off with no apparent detriment), the temperature changes (even a 'sudden' frost), take time, and the polymer adjusts with its inherent flexibility. There will be a whole page on polymers here one day.

B is for Box-ticking - WWII Russians - Cherilea+

So, onwards and upwards to one of the wackiest sets of toy soldiers, and as with several others from the 'wackiest' listings; it's Cherilea! Although it's arguable a pink background contributes slightly to the weirdness!

I'm sure the Soviets got a few Bren-guns before their own production was up to full war-footing, but the idea that the Cossacks went to war with only LMG's or heavy weapons is stretching the idea of artistic license somewhat, I fear!

But again, they were only meant to be toys and - although ours came from the church-fete (with much playwear showing in the paint) - we loved these as kids, double-breasted chef's jackets, fairy-tale prince's hats, rectal flame-probe an'all!

Re-issued recently (Marlborough/Dorset?) in several colours (I've also seen a lighter tan), there are also originals in a paler sand and with lighter-grey trousers. Hats were a bit off-the-radar, although the red flaps each-side seem to have been the genesis for the later Crescent set (seen earlier today here at Small Scale World) with their twin badges?

And - spot the deliberate mistake: the one damaged one is the one pose I haven't found in the newer versions either . . . go figure! 

B is for Box-ticking - WWII Russians - Crescent

2019 will be the year of 'Box Ticking'; posting stuff you're familiar with, or has been published previously elsewhere, which having been in storage since the 'big purchase'/for ages, nevertheless need to be posted here; to fatten the tag-list results, with the output of the commoner brands, lines or ranges.

East'ies yesterday, Brit's today . . .

WWII Russian infantry in winter greatcoats and 'Deputy Dog' hats from Crescent. For some reason they have mostly equipped themselves with UK weaponry! The fallen guy though, having a US Thompson 'Tommy gun' SMG with drum/cassette magazine!

Next to him is a very obvious EM2, while above them there's a hybrid EM2/SLR on the end and the Timpo 1st version Swoppet's weapon (with added drum-magazine), one-in from the end.

The officer is a particularly nice sculpt, but seems not to feel the cold to the same extent as his troops, while weaponry anachronisms aside (they WERE 'Toy' soldiers!); overall they are a nice set of figures, although that chap top right is a dead-ringer for Herald's casualty; sans helmet and pack!

Also they seem to (nothing 'seems' about it - they do!) have a cap-badge (red Soviet-star) on both sides of their furry hats? See note with the Cherilea set here, later today!

B is for Box-ticking - Soviet Era Troops - Russia

The Russian equivalent of Airfix! Unpainted, polyethylene figures from Progress, but choosing the 65/70mm of European composition rather than the smaller 54mm of UK makers makes them less than compatible with native figures though!

These are able to cover the revolution, WWII or early Cold War, by dint of having no automatic weapons to date them, or much personal equipment to speak of, although there may be automatic weapons in the full set, I have no idea how many poses there are. I think the standing guy is missing a plug-in flag; red - of course - which I'm 'fingers-crossed' hoping I may have somewhere . . . but rather know I haven't!

Colour variations have come in with mint green and olive-drab examples and I like the guy continuing to fight whilst propped against a rock or pile of blankets - rather reminds one of the crawling Turk/Space Commando pose from Reamsa/Eagle-Kentoy!

Added 15th Jan. 2019

Chris Smith has furnished a shot of the missing flag and an eighth and ninth poses, standing firing and throwing greande and further reports that - to his knowlage - that is the contents of a complete set - nine poses and flag.

B is for Box-ticking - Soviet Era Troops - Czechoslovakia

When looking at Drevopodnik in the past I've mentioned another card with historical/ceremonial uniforms, and I think this figure is from that set.

Over 70mm with his very deep (but typical for composition) base, he's posed in a field stance, but is definitely wearing 'best' uniform for a staff officer! The map is nice, but not as highly finished as a German composition figure's map would be, and I don't know if the leg stripe is a staff or regimental thing; infantry, cavalry or another arm?

Given the crudity of the sculpt, the paint is everything, and enhances this figures appearance far more than the simpler painting of the combat types we looked at back in 2012, or last year's 'Hitler' waitress.

The base mark is the teller for Drevopodnik, if you're unsure; they always have a (roman numeral?) dash-mark, or series of dashes, probably individual caster's marks . . . do you 'cast' composition or 'press' it . . . individual moulder's mark?

B is for Box-ticking - Soviet Era Troops - Poland

An awful lot of stuff is credited to PZG, a fair bit of which never saw the inside of one of their production-plants! These however are safely to be ID'ed as PZG having the correct bases!

Their 'bog-standard' Warsaw Pack, soviet era troops, there are more poses I think, but it's not a bad sample. Not as plagiarist as some of their stuff, the two kneeling figures (in a darker green) look vaguely familiar and the grenade thrower seems to be channelling the old Airfix German infantrymen!

Reverse shots, this is 'range-day' or firepower-demo' PCE (personal Combat Equipment) consisting of nothing more than a belt, day-sack and weapon/s, and the base-paint is starting to come-off in large flakes! At 60+mm (with base) they are a bit to big for 54mm armies, but go well with the other figures we'll be looking at today.

F is for Follow-ups - A Bunch of Them!

Over the last few weeks several things have come in or turned up one way or another, adding to previous posts, so time for a mixed follow-up on various subjects!

This was included in Chris Smith's recent donation to the Blog, and is a variation on the Lone Star shooting-game Indians' score-20 figure as we looked at recently (I won't post a link, it's about three posts now, but the Long Star tag will take you to all of them!), which seems to suggest (given other things I know) that they were only available in red or yellow, but were available in both colours, probably alternating set-by-set.

Paul Morehead; editor of Plastic Warrior magazine; has informed me there were two other score-numbers, but that follow-up is due in PW itself, at some point soon, I believe!

Following-on from the Gem/Festival/Culpitt skiing cake-decoration posts before Christmas, I found the other skier from Festival going cheap on feebleBay the other day (£1.99 for the pair?), she (I think it's a she?) is bare-headed with long locks and goes with the bobble-hatted chap from this post.

Also in Chris's lot was a variation of the  Hong Kong-for-Culpitt number 10-shirt footballer reaching for a long-ball, he's in better condition than mine and shows that there must be a ball out there with a little hole in it, rather than the common one with a locating-stud for the holes in some of the bases!

In the meantime - Image courtesy of Brian Berke - and as a scaler/foil to a couple of lovely Timpo 'Great Helm' knights, this is actually a follow-up to a post on Ed Berg's lovely toy Blog, with the Grumpy/Angry Dragon from Safari! Brian did also send me shots of several Safari dragons about a year ago, and I'm afraid they are still in the queue; it's all coming - promise!

Another one from Chris, and what a peach - the complete set of spigot-member'ed (well what else can they be called?!!) paratroopers from the Lion Group set we looked at here; Parachute Gun Set. He sent me a forth with most of the engorged spigot removed and I will spend an hour or so removing the rest to give me a 'fake' variation!

The real reason for the bitty post this morning was because in sorting the ceramic cat into the collection, I found I already had one, hence this! I assume Fairings, but they could be a more 'art pottery' thing, anyone recognise the designs to put with an artist or studio; one of the Cornish/West Country mob?

Chris also sent this interesting bag which could be a cereal premium bag or a cake decoration retail bag? I favour the latter option/likelihood due to the flakey paint; painted items in breakfast cereal have pretty much been confined to PVC, where the paint is 'welded' on.

It's a two figure version of the sets we saw here recently, and may have been bagged by a dealer, or be a sign that the stock was stretched-out toward the end of its run; they are the figures I consider to be the latter ones, and have no dogs (so could be a PC thing; 'riding' rather than 'hunting'?), but still add to the whole sample.

Back to Chris's beefeater, and the very next day, (you can't make this stuff up sometimes), I went for a Christmas breakfast with some fellow-collectors, and on way, Adrian - who was giving me a lift - popped into an auctioneers to pick up some lots he'd won earlier. In one of the mixed lots was the based figure, which he chucked at me as he got back in the car!

I went from none in 54-years to two in less than 24-hours! That's beyond co-incidence, that's synergy! Co-incidence would be seeing one in a tourist kiosk a few weeks or months-later, or having a mate say 'I've got one of those somewhere' but to be given two in less than a day was a bit weird . . . I think it proves the Gods are smiling on the blog!

He's marked MADE IN HONG KONG on the plinth's step and 335 across the small of the back, and is a hard polystyrene.

And many thanks as always to Brian Berke, Chris Smith and Adrian Little (Mercator Trading).

O is for Odds and Sods - Incoming!

A while ago, in some post on some toys somewhere, I used the following excuse - or something like it - to explain some point or another . . .

I've just been sorting a bag of swords, a Japanese APC and a ceramic cat!

. . . I thought it would be amusing to photograph the said items!

This was the bag of bits, mostly Britains with a lead torch, boy-scouts or Shaggy - for the use of! I kept one each of the swords and gave the rest to a dealer mate of mine. The street lamp is someone like Matchbox (petrol-pump stand) or possibly Peco?

An ACW arm from the Swoppet range, part of a cannon's metal-work, a Timpo Indian's necklace (red) and HK copy (lime-green) are also there along with a Deetail pole-arm handle, a ramrod and the little brown thing which I think is something to do with the Britains' seige engines?

Bag o'bits; whenever you see a bag of bits going cheap - grab it!

Japanese APC; loosely based on the M113, it's only Japanese because of its sticker. The running-gear is a bog-standard generic design which I have some tank-hulls on somewhere, if I could be fagged I'd look it up, but this is a fun/lazy/holiday post, likely to prove ephemeral - traffic wise!
 

The superstructure though is really quite good, if a little high-sided, and it is quite large, scale-wise, maybe 1:58th/50th, so probably better-suited to a Space Marine army from the Sherriff of Nottingham, which would allow for all sorts of markings and transfer crap on those flat, slab-sides!

A ceramic cat! Or at least I hope it’s a cat, it might be a particularly ugly snark, or a lesser-common, whiskered rock-owl from Planet Zolgon Snnikkitti IV?

The small fairing (or similar novelty) is a slip-ware item, manufactured similarly to poured hot-lead hollow-casts, but with a cold, thick, liquid clay-slurry run round inside a mould slowly until it sediments out and the water is poured away leaving it hollow.

I have three bags of TBS (to be sorted) kicking around, within reach - at the moment, one with the dregs of the PW show stuff and early charity shop stuff from 2018, another with the rest f the charity shop stuff, anthing waiting to be sorted from the four Sandown Park shows wich has also had some 'from storage' stuff added to it as I combine, and a third, bigger bag which I stated the other day, it contains the Chris Smith parcel's contents, the lose figures from Brian B's autumn parcel and a few charity shop things from the last five or six weeks.

The above is the second bag's contents! To which you can add a box with Peter Evan's finds, another with the animals from Jim's big box back in the summer (sorting animals is a big job!) and another bag with mostly TV/Movie and cereal premiums cartoon stuff going back a few years, they are all in the attic.

Although they are all sorted to some degree, by type or maker in the 4x5½ or 5½x9 inch bags which are my two main sizes, I've never had so much not yet put away at one time, and it's in part because of the time I've spent on the storage stuff, the generosity of other people and the amount of stuff you can find if you simply check your local charity shops a couple of times a week.

I think we've seen most of this lot on the Blog now, one way or another! The trouble is, once it becomes 'easy' to sort into the little bags and chuck them in a bigger shopping bag, the tendency is to keep doing it!

I will now have to go through the three bags here, putting some things duplicated between them together (Dinky, Corgi, Matchbox, Subbuteo, Blue Box and Airfix are the chief culprits!), then sort the animals out, for transfer to the Jim box, then start putting them in their final homes . . . as I continue to consolidate the attic and storage samples - it's going to be a busy year!

But I'll continue to photograph as I go, so lots to look forward to on the Blog. This eclectic bunch came in on the 29th December, when I shot-up into town in the afternoon to get ham for the cat! Six of seven charity shops were open and this was the loot - it never ends!

Lledo wagon, two accessories (from one of the electronic gaming systems I think?), a Tin Tin character key-ting, a robot with a Kinder 'K' but too big for a standard egg, so presumably a Maxxi-egg toy and a flocked parrot which seems modern, but it still rather clever. I was taken by the elephant made of beads thread on steel-wire, has he looks like one of the suits of elephant armour in a museum somewhere!

There's a post on the electronic gaming figures in the queue and it's been there for over a year, maybe it'll get finished soon, but time waits for no man and there's always new stuff to shot and post!

News, Views Etc . . . Airfix Russian Comparisons

I have posted some small-scale figures Chris Smith sent me straight to the relevant Airfix pages on that Blog, being the older WWII Russian Infantry and the later Modern Russians.

The figures were purchased from Hungary, so may be of Hungarian origin (especially with those helmets?) rather than Russian, and they look more 'generic' G.I. or NATO than anything I saw on my Soviet Studies course back in 1988!

T is for Two - Soviet Era Rocket Launchers

Or; J is for Just a Bit of Fun!

You may have noticed in the earlier post an odd green 'thing' in the pile of 'Other Vehicles', well it was a real 'thing', an infant-toy rocket on trailer from the days of the USSR.

I think it should have an integral/moulded-on tractor cab/unit which has been removed with a hot knife from the look of the burn-marks at one end and is a sort of Semi-flat design with a hollowed interior.

It's not so much 'military' as being all a bit 1950's Buck Rogers, you can imagine a plume of stop-motion cotton wool 'smoke' trailing it, as it rushes toward the camera, dangle-lines clearly visible, while someone plays a vibraphone in the background! Cheers Chris.

Meanwhile; this early FROG-type, battlefield tactical 'nuke' on a modified PT76 (or MT-LB?) chassis, which is approximately 1:87th, has been sat in Picasa since I last had a few Russian posts back in 2015! It came with the flats and marked vehicles/vessels we looked at then, but is unmarked and was waiting for some more unmarked-Russian AFV's (or rockets) to come-in . . . well, one just has!

P is for Perfectly Packed Parcel of Polymer Presents!

Briefly mentioned before the holidays but arriving just as I was winding-down from the break; Chris Smith sent the Blog a wonderful parcel of odds, sods and unknowns, which I will address in the next few posts, as it was chocker-block with lovely, interesting or quirky stuff which demands an audience!

The first thing I pulled-out was the pooper-trooping parachuters! However there were all sorts of nice things in the box and it was definitely a Christmas-comes-early moment!

Those parachutists in full - duplicates excluded we have a nice selection of current (blue and yellow Airfix clones, and the 'Max Headroom' and mate), vintage (green blow-mould and red pair) and mid-era 1980/2000's; the green blow-mould and the Lion Brand shooting set one (dark Green), which, as a parachute-toy page is on the cards for 2019 have come at just the right moment!

Above them are some of the 'larger-scale' figures in the box, of which the highlights are the two to the left, the first is a 4" motorcycle cop/MP of some kind in a soft rubberised material which may be a silicon or a PVC.

Chris said he was rejected from Chris's collection as he thought the figure was wearing a fez (and therefore some interesting Turkish or Italian/Spanish fascist-era figure), and so was disappointed when a rack-toy biker turned up! I - conversely - was delighted by a new, squidgy, sculpt!

Next to him is a very interesting figure. Around 5-inches, he looks to be quite modern, possibly from a part-work which has escaped my attention? Looking like a Hussar, I think he's actually an RHA or even HAC officer/outrider, and therefore if not a part-work figure, some sort of tourist keepsake - they fire the Royal Salutes in London/Windsor or elsewhere on the Tourist trail?

Well painted he has some elements in common with the Supreme 30mm figures from the 1990's including the glossy, black, oval base, but is in a much firmer PVC material than those quite soft figures and far-better painted.

On the left we see the silver PVC Samurai/Chinese warrior type with a matching gold spaceman, the fact that the silver one is hard to place in Japan or China seems to be because he's from space! I'm pretty sure I have the gold space-shooter somewhere with factory paint; silver-grey with red and blue highlights?

A nice Beefeater who was new to the collection (for about 24-hours, see forthcoming post!), two hard polystyrene Crescent piracies, both damaged, but workable due the material and one has already been fixed with a Timpo sword blade. Panda pencil-top, Marx sailor and a couple of ertzgibirge make up the rest of the shot, along with a very . . . alright; 'quite' . . . a quite interesting Gum-ball machine capsule prize of a cartoon-caricature of Stan Laurel, which is interesting for looking older (1970's?) than he can be, as he's a copy of a two-part plug-together from Kinder which itself, was only issued in the 1990's!

An equally interesting line-up on the right includes all sorts of little gems! I like the beetle belly, I wonder how many years . . . or decades it will be before I find his separate plug-on carapace! The two policemen look brand-new, but clink-together with a clunk suggesting an earlier phenolic resin of some kind, so they may have some age?

The stretcher is the second to turn up, this one wedged in a Dinky trolley-bed or 'gurney' and I think it must be from the Spot-On Ambulance? The blue donkey's from Merit, the yellow driver from the R&L clip-together racing cars. The teddy bear is brilliant - similar to the bee-bear we saw a while ago and there are various other cereal premiums included along with a glass cat!

Again of interest is the green plastic chick with an umbrella which is a Hong Kong copy of a cake decoration, usually issued factory-painted on white-plastic for Easter cakes, and the green 28/30mm infantryman who's new to me. The fireman (a die-cast vehicle accessory) is common in junk lots but this one still has his hose spout!

The wizard type in the previous image has a central core consisting of the legs (behind a cloak) and a head with two (similar, skeletal) faces, spin him to change the face and change his sash-cord to a belt-buckle and back again! I've no idea where he's from? But he's clever!

Useful bags which will be filtered into existing corners of the collection for future posts or follow-ups, or, in the case of the top-left bag, return this afternoon! Also a nice three-colour copy of the old Blue Box Patton tank (itself a copy of larger battery-operated toys), an actual Blue Box Bedford, doors are AWOL along with a couple of the delicate hinges, so I'll try to remove the body and use the cab/bed to repair another damaged one. The Bonux guns will get their own post.

On the right are more vehicles and scenics, some seem before, some to come, and at some point the bulk of the ex-storage HK stuff will turn-up and we'll have a series of posts on the various AFV's.

A really nice diver, who might be a Tin Tin character, but I think he's probably from a cheapie play-set or rack-toy, he's a hard styrene though, so unusual? Next to him is a pile of kinder bits to be sorted!

Below them are some of the other 'interesting' figures from the lot, mostly modern or modern'ish, the seated guy in the dungarees is from the old 1970's battery-operated or push-n-go toy fork-lift trucks, of which there were several designs/issues.

You can't beat a decent HK, polythene, tat-shite, rack-toy, 'gator . . . except . . . by adding wheels! How cool is this . . . too cool for traffic school! It's a crocodile with wheels! Brilliant; when you constantly search for the unusual, it just doesn't get any better than this turning-up in the post - without warning! Cheers Chris!

There were several space vehicles included in the lot among which were these three, the new-shape T4 (a bit nasty, design wise - but a nice model), a Klingon bird-of-pray type from Soma and a space tank!

The space tank is more of a robotic turret, and Chris reports that it did Stirling service with his son's Games Workshop armies for years, it's marked JD which currently means nothing to me? It looks 'Orky' with its hand-riveted, uneven-cut, plate construction!

I'm pretty sure these are catapult ammunition for executive desk-toys! Which will make them Tobar-Hawkins Bazaar here and Archie McFee-Accoutrements in the 'States, there are other forms of ammunition available including penguins, nuns and tarts (net-stockings not pastry)!

♫♪♪ Everybody was cat-foo fight-ting, dah-lah, dah-lah, daa-laa, Dha-la DOO, those mog's were as faaast as lie-hight-nin'! ♫♫♪

There was also a bag of arms . . . which I think may be from Merten? I have some Merten ACW, we looked at a few ages ago . . . but they don't need arms, however I can check the unmade ones - when they turn-up - and see if they match?

Guess who invited herself to the party within minutes of the seal being broken! Chris also sent me a lovely Christmas card but it's well within copyright, so I'll try to get permission to show it another day!

It reminds me of my favourite Giles cartoon;

Where the family (with granny) are in a department store's toy department at Christmas (possibly during the Cuban missile crisis or - more likely - one of the Berlin stand-off's), and there are three huge tea-chest/display bins next to the sales-counter, one has "Merry Festive Bears" written on it and contains a pile of large teddy bears with Santa-hats.

The second bin is marked "Ray Guns" and has a stack of Pyrotomic Disintegrators and similar hardware, the third bin is marked "Merry Festive Bears with Ray Guns" and is full of 'John Rambo' like teddy bears in Santa-hats, grimly holding the heavy hardware!

There's lots more than I've shown here; Commonwealth 'dolls', Waddington's, Manurba, all the usual Corgi, Dinky and Matchbox, some nice modern Chinese copies of Franco-German (Cofalux/Elastolin) medievals, Wild West, more sci-fi; all sorts - and we'll look at more in some of the next few posts, but for now . . . many, many thanks to Chris, this stuff really is grist to the mill, and the mill is the blog; it will all prove useful going forward; group shots, comparisons, gap fillers, quirky posts . . . there was a crocodile on wheels peeps; you can't run from a crocodile on wheels - it just doesn't get any better!