Q is for Question Time - Parker Games Knight in Armour

Well . . . I know it's Parker, not KPG (Kenner-Parker Games) and not Hasbro and that's pretty much all I know! Whether it was also Waddington's on this side of the pond is anyone's guess and what it was called is beyond me, but hopefully someone will know the game?

It's a knight-in-armour alright, but then I wouldn't have said so if it wasn't! My guess - for what it's worth - is that it's probably an empty suit of armour in a grand house or museum, possibly being used as a prop in a posh version of Clue/Cludo or maybe to jump out at those 'pesky kids' in a Scooby Doo franchise game? A haunted-house or ghost game is another possibility?

This is one of those 'tip your screen slightly (or bob your head) to read it clearly' images - dated to 1978; a date that would fit Scooby's early popularity nicely, and wasn't that also around the time of the Clue movie? Anyone remember a board-game from their youth with a knight in armour? I suppose it could be a chess piece, but . . . Parker . . . 1970's? Bit highbrow for them, then! 

25th Jan., 2021 - All The King's Men board game, home-painted silver. 

R is for Return . . . To Cludo

You may have worked out by now that I took the camera through the Kenner-Parker-Hasbro board-game playing pieces box the other day!

So this is just a quick one to catch-up with the almost constant stream of Charity shop purchases of games with figural elements, and the almost constants stream of Cludo (Clue) games in particular!

Having looked at most of these I the last year or two, this is just to show the progression of the figures, while adding-in the figures I've mentioned in those previous posts and which I knew I had in storage, the grey ones with coloured bases. I suspect - looking at them in close up, that several are on the wrong base for the character, but that was as much the fault of Parker Brothers as it is mine!

Originally the pieces were wooden, and looked like the inset card's figure, albeit with a ball-finial in place of the cartoon head! That had become a similar-shaped plastic piece by my childhood.

In the 1970/80's they became the dumpy versions seen in the foreground, and by the 1990's the grey figures (second rank) with slip-on bases coloured to match the traditional characters had replaced the plain 'counters'

The 2000's saw the PVC (or substitute PVC) full-colour set of more caricatured figures in a slightly manga-anime style reflecting both the opening-up of the Asian markets and where they are made!

While the two sets at the back we looked at recently (and will be finable through tags) and are from variant games with the four realistic figures being actually four new characters enabling electronic game-play for the original six who are card-only.

This is the second set of these Simpsons licensed figures I've obtained in the last few years, as far as I know, it's the same game, just - new version = new money for Parker!

The irony is that while I scrabble around shoving the odd quid-or-two at charity, somewhere there will be dedicated Cludo (or Simpson) collectors who have every version ever made. It's the same irony with the TJF 'thing' he gets excited about stuff which is on evilBay every day; often photographed better! For nearly everything I've ever shown here, there's been a hundred better shots on feeBay! Or elsewhere on the wibbly wobbly way!

The best of the playing pieces was this cobra, death by cobra is surely the cobra's fault, not the players, that's manslaughter, not murder! "I didn't know it was a cobra your honor!"

News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events

March is quieter than I thought it would be - show wise - but I guess it's not full-on spring yet, and there are a fair few on Sunday so I'm probably just being a cynical misery!

Speaking of cynical misery - isn't the Brwreakshit 'thing' going swimmingly! Add the Grayling thing, the Irish thing, the Anti-Semitism and Anti-Muslimism things, The knife thing, the police thing and the fact that the other 27 keep telling us there's no movement on the backstop while our lot keep telling the media they are sure of movement any minute 'thing' and I recon we're heading for the Klüsterfik of all Clusterfucks, and with literally no-one useful to vote for when it all collapses - sometime in the next three weeks!

But you get what you vote for and 52% voted for this, despite being told endlessly by lots of sensible, intelligent, articulate, non-political people, that this is what would happen!

Buy toys . . . cheers you up! Or drowns your sorrows

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Toy Fairs

Saturday 9th March 2019

Romford - SRP Toyfairs

North Romford Community Centre, 32 Clock House Lane, Collier Row, Romford, Essex, RM5 3QJ

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

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

10:00 - 12:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Err . . . That's it! Let's hope the weather's good on Saturday, 'cos it looks like gardening day!

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Sunday 10th March 2019

Doncaster - Barry Potter / BP Fairs - 'Doncaster Racecourse'

Doncaster Exhibision Centre, Leger Way, Doncaster, DN2 6BB

Web. - www.bpfairs.com

Tel. - 01604 846 688

Mob. - 07966 527 177

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission - Adults £4, Seniors £3.50p, Children £1, 'Early Bird' (from 8 a.m.) £10

Plenty of free parking

Newton Abbot - Ray Heard Train & Toy Fairs

Newton Abbot Racecourse, Devon, TQ12 3AF

Internet presence unknown

Tel. - 01823 480 097

10:00 - 15:30hrs

Admission £2

Free parking, refreshments

Walsall - Transtar Promotions (Geoff & Linda Price)

Oak Park Active Living Centre, Coppice Road, Walsall Wood, Walsall, West Midlands, WS9 9BH

Web. - www.transtarpromotions.com

Tel.- 01922 643 385 (Geoff or Linda)

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission £1.80p, seniors £1.50p, child £1

Refreshments

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

Admission charge unknown

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Auctions

Reminder - Today - 8th

Taunton - Greenside Taylor Hunt (GTH)

The Octogon Saleroom, 113a East Reach, Taunton, Devon, TA1 3HL

Web. - www.gth.net

eMail - antiques.saleroom@gth.net

Tel. - 01823 332 525

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Saturday 9th March 2019

Elstree - Excalibur Auctions

The Village Hotel, Elstree, Hertfordshire, WD6 3SB (venue)

Chiltern Buisness Centre, Woodside Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP6 6AA (office)

Web. - www.excaliburauctions.com

eMail - enquiries@ excaliburauctions.com

02036 330 913

Free Tea or Coffee

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Wednesday 13th March 2019

Prints to A4

Tunbridge Wells - C&T Auctioneers

The York Suite, The Spa Hotel, Mount Ephraim, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 8XJ (Venue)

Unit 4, High House Business Park, Kenardington, Near Ashford, Kent, TN26 2LF (Auction House)

Web. - www.candtauctions.co.uk

eMail - enquiries@candtauctions.co.uk

Valuations - jamesopie@yahoo.co.uk

Tel. - 44 1233 510 050 (from abroad)

Tel. - 01233 510 050 (within the UK)

Viewing from 08:30hrs, sale starts 10:00hrs

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions

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

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

01642 750 616

Specialist die-cast sale

Note - this is actually day 1 of a two-day sale, the details for the second day weren't ready at the time of going to press.

"The Specialist Sale to be held on the 13th of March features five private owner collections. The first includes Dinky aircraft, military and emergency vehicles plus trucks, Corgi TV & film related, helicopters and Matchbox superfast."

"The Colin Collin's Collection features over 280 lots of Corgi racing, road, sports and rally cars; buses, emergency vehicles and giftsets, Corgi Juniors James Bond and TV vehicles, plus Dinky cars, kits and shop displays, Solido groups and gift sets, plus models from Siku, Mebetoys, Joel, Schuco and many others."

"The Thailand Dinky Toy Collection features 107 lots of cars, trucks, tankers and French Dinky; and The Spanish Dinky Toy Collection includes cars, buses, farm, trucks, military and French Dinky including a "Coffret Cadeau Tourisme" set. The Tynemouth Collection includes Dinky Military, Corgi Farm, Chipperfield's Circus vehicles, tankers, trucks and gift sets. Further items in the sale include White Metal & Resin models from TW Collection (Trevor Wright Models), Brooklin and Lansdowne, Dinky Toys and Corgi instruction packs, and collectors club leaflets."

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Thursday 14th March 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions

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

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

01642 750 616

Specialist die-cast sale

Note - this is actually day 2 of a two-day sale, the details for the second day weren't ready at the time of going to press, and should be added here in the course of next week, all details will be available earlier on the Vectis website

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Overseas Events

Dublin - Brian Collins Enterprises - 'Collectables Toy Fair'

Collinstown Suite, The Carlton Hotel, Dublin Airport, Old Airport Road, Cloghran, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland (Eire)

Web. - www.briancollinsenterprises.ie

Tel. - 00353  879 827 712

[Findable on Facebook - Brian Collins]

Admission "Small charge"?

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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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H is for How They Come In!

Good haul week this week; Apart from the Sandown Park show stuff which will get a separate post Monday brought a couple of bags of novelties, insects and collectable blind-bag, kid's TV stuff . . .

. . . which as a sample weren't a whole hill o' beans, but will sort into a growing pile of such stuff, which I'm learning about 'on the hoof' as it were (three Crazy Bone knock-offs from two brands?), and they will make useful posts in the future as the sets or sample sizes grow. The best bit was four different crocodile/alligator erasers, all with the same mark, for kids who don't want dinosaur or cacti erasers!

Tuesday it was a bag of AFV's (a large incomplete Jeep with a GI Joe sticker has already gone to recycling!) and a bag of mixed dinosaurs, snakes, lizards and a fish!

Can I help sort the sorting?

Wednesday brought a huge parcel from Peter Evans which had some very interesting stuff (a bendy-toy Vicky the Viking!); I will do a HTCI post on it, and a few posts on individual pieces, while some of it will be held 'till September!

Well, maybe I'll just nest on the bags!

Two things I will definitely follow-up on are the Irwin (it's actually Irwin RX which will help separate it from the vintage Irwin in the tag list!)* 3D Maker I shelfied at Christmas in TKMaxx, which it turns out has no maker in the box!

* At time of posting - Tag list says I said that last time!

There is a bit of small-print to that effect, but the moulds (or the mould for the figures) will be of interest - and they look better than the box-art! Also the food-picks we looked at a while ago, seem to be here, on the runner, with another branding, so that'll be two F is for Follow-up's!

Finally; today, a quick purchase in a little pound-shop which opened recently in Fleet, they don't have much of use to toy collectors, but this Red Deer dino' set was worth a punt, and turned out to be two-part polystyrene models with a prehistoric marrajahwhanna tree! I took a couple of further shelfies (farm and paper-planes) while I was there!

Funnily enough one of the dino's in Tuesday's bag was also a hollow 'styrene model, as were two others I picked-up last weekend which I haven't shot yet. Coincidentally; the first mention of Red Deer here at Small Scale World was courtesy of Peter and there's more in the queue somewhere.

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Seen-But-Not-Bought

The Works had a set of four resin fairies around 54mm and a set of four similar animals paired as two panda-bear sculpts and two sloth sculpts, I nearly grabbed them but thought they could wait 'till next week, I also forgot to shelfie them!

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B is for Battle at Sarlacc's Pit

Another board game now, the Return of the Jedi licensed Sarlacc's Pit game from Parker, a super game for figure collectors, but not if they are a bit discerning as the figures are pretty poor, and with no board or box to look at (went to 'recyc' years before I had a digital camera) it's the figures or nothing here Peeps!

Good Guys! From the left - Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca. Sculpts are poor, paint is poorer, but they are recognisable, so all is not lost and a repaint would give you four more figures for a Wizards of the Coast collection, which they are vague matches for, size wise!

Bad Guys! As you were - Nikto, Jabba the Hutt and Bobba Fett. The bounty hunter looks like a street cleaner from Blade-Runner, the Nikto looks like an Ewok on steroids and JTH looks like a blancmange which has been left too long in the sun!

The Gamorrean Guard however is a much better sculpt and better painted, to the point where you think it must be a different sculptor, and possibly a separate sub-contracting factory? I'm not saying it is, but that's the impression given by the sudden improvement in overall finish on the one figure sculpt!

If you've got any of the figures from this set sitting in your TBS pile, it's likely to be this chap as there are a bunch of them in every set; six . . . eight or maybe ten . . . I've put them away and can't remember the total, but they are like the 'pawns' of the game - and chief Sarlacc food!

Same marking on all eight sculpts, the 'board' was a hex-decked skiff, suspended over the Sarlacc's maw, all in card, which folded and slotted together to create a theatrical 'vignette' playing area.

News, Views Etc . . . Herald Toys & Models

Recent message from Barney (who was spotted at Sandown Park - looking well!) reads;

"Dear Customer, we have been carrying out some essential site maintenance to make Herald Toys and Models secure and, whilst we have now completed this via Ionos and updated the SSL security (the site is secure to use PayPal for example), the Home page looks a bit wonky because the 'slider' photos are http not https format. This is something we are continuing to work on and rectify. Best regards, Barney."


Site found here

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Other bits
Nothing new under the sun, buts there's hours of cool, fun browsing here!

B is for Bloody Big Blow-Moulds!

Brian Berke sent these to me the other day and they went straight to the top of the queue!

US Marine rifleman stabbing downwards with bayonet. We like a bit of blow-moulding here at Small Scale World and it's been awhile since we had some, does anyone recognise them or have a branding for them?

A flamethrower operator, bunker-busting in the World War Two Pacific theatre  'Island Hopping' campaign; he's got the same weapon Action Man carried on the heath in my childhood!

Both figures have substantial scenic bases with flat-bottoms so probably stand-up a little more easily that the three smaller 5/6-inch ones of mine we've seen here in the past which require careful placing and my holding my breath before I take the shot!

I tried to work out the scale from the Crescent 'berserker' Brian posed with it and they seem to be 170+mm or around seven-inches! I suspect that between parachute toys and beach toys there are quite a few of these out there, so I'm sure we'll visit them again! Cheers Brian - Brilliant!

S is for Scourge of the French!

It's one of those lovely facts which you think may be an urban myth but which turn out to be - at least in part - absolute fact! When Welsh ladies turned a whole invading French army into little defeat-eating, runaway surrender-monkeys! Indeed one unarmed lady of the 'Valleys' - 'Jemima the Great' - forced the surrender of several (a dozen or so), heavily armed invaders - all by herself!

Recent acquisitions either side of an older key-ring from storage, the resin one on the left is quite well done, with a subtle facial paint in a porcelain doll style and probably pretty contemporary if not actually still on sale back in 'The Valleys'!

The bell is only there because it was cheap, I won't be building a collection of them; there are thousands! My Granny (Walter) had a collection of them on her Mousy-Thompson sideboard, fifteen or so, which she used to buy one per year on their annual holiday to Blackpool (I guess they took day trips over the border!) and when we were kids we would ring them all and line them up by tone, next morning they would all be back where they started - poor Granny!

Anyway I don't know what happened to them when she passed away, so I thought I should have one for sentimental reasons and when I saw one in a charity shop for 50p, it had my name on it.

The key-ring is a Hong Kong sourced, and marked, piece of PVC Vinyl-rubber for the tourist kiosk/gift-shop trade of the 1970's and is a not too shabby 54mm sculpt. I need to give her a pitchfork and a dozen half-starved, sea-sick, revolutionary French, for her to frog-march down to the town square . . . pun? What pun!

We've looked at another Welsh lady here in the past and I meant to add the Charbens one to this post, but forgot to, so we can look at her another day!

Links

Popular mythical version!

Slightly more accurate and therefore slightly boring version!

D is for Did You Spot It?

I didn't! I found it last Friday looking for something else!

T is for Two - Wild West Oddities;

You may remember this shot in a 'forthcoming from the storage collection' post I did back in the late summer/early autumn of last year? When it went into storage it was about 40% of my large-scale Wild West (along with the cowboy tray), now [they] are probably no more than 20% of the unsorted and considerably less than 10% of my Wild West, but the whole Wild West 'thing' is rather on the back-burner . . . and in a big heap in the attic!

Anyway; there were some interesting things in the shot, and I've arrowed two, it's the chap on the right I got a little . . . err . . . 'chuffed' about, looks to be a bog standard Crescent Indian, but the light's making him look awfully like a very 'red' Indian!

No - he actually IS that red! I was talking with John Begg and Steve Vickers at Sandown the next day and mentioned I'd found this the day before and they thought it was a test-shot, but I wonder if there was a contract-manufacture production-run of them, as I believe they do turn-up, pretty regularly, if only from time to time?

As you can see the base is unmarked as well and he has the sandy or sand-blasted surface detail which you find on some of the Guards and Khaki Infantry and that I tend to think of as earlier production, but without much evidence beyond a hunch!

What I was actually looking for - One of the Vichy image-pirates was asking after one of these the other day and someone mentioned Kinder, I knew I had them somewhere, but both incomplete . . . have you got one - or the other - with the missing drum or whatever plugs into the head . . . feather, full bonnet? Send a shot of it in and it can be shared with everyone.

50 and 54mm approximately; I'm pretty sure they are Italian with the smaller one supplied to Kinder, probably pantographed down from the larger one by the same manufacturer to fit in the egg/capsules. They maybe Res Plastic but they are both unmarked and dozens of companies supplied the novelty market in Italy, selling in capsules or little card boxes.

If it was Kinder it may have been around 2005/8 as I can't find it in the 2001 or 2004 O-Ei-A Preisführer, not that they are that accurate! But then Erwin 'makes-it-up-as-he-goes-along' Sell says I haven't got a Library - so I must be lying altogether about having either of the volumes!

 

July 2022 - A similar but glossy, yellow one is now known to be by Locati from Italy; similar capsule toys.