E is for Elite Soldier Rack Toy - Not!

The Force Elite Soldiers has no soldiers in it!

Another one sent to the Blog by Peter Evans, and featuring various generic elements we've seen before under other branding's, this set is credited to that timeless rock of the toy industry; Kingstar International! There? Do you hear that? That's Tomy, Hasbro and Mattel quaking in their boots!

The 'bits', the flag will go to charity, the helicopter too probably, but only because I picked a couple up a few years ago in Fire and Police toobs from the now defunct 99p Stores (where they were branded PMS I think) but the carrier will be retained as a sample, it sort of goes with the old Ri-Toys warships, and the trees will go with all the other palm-trees.

These are the best bit, again we've seen them before, both 99p and Poundland (Funrise?) and possibly other generics? I seem to be building complete batteries of these vaguely 1:72nd scale missile launchers (and the other vehicles in the - contract manufactured - series), but it's trying to get each in every colour variation/camouflage which is taking the time!

Just as the Britains khaki infantry and Wild West swoppet piracies of the 60's were copied and copied again, as the Airfix piracies of the 1970's likewise and then the Airfix Paratrooper 'armymen' with generic helmets in the 1980/90's, so these new generics are being copied and re-copied, compare these two and you'll see lots of little differences, they are easy to copy as they are simple mouldings, so pantograph well, but the red one is a poorer copy.

Wales versus Austria? I think we can all agree who'd win, but we also know Germany would get the blame and Austria would be let-off scot-free!

B is for British Rack Toy

I can't remember if this has ever been seen here? It was seen in One Inch Warrior, but that was not my example, which means there are others out there (I think I've seen a third at some point), and it's exactly the sort of thing to be found at the back of granny's junk/treasure drawer (from where house-clearers will tip it into a bin-bag and send it to landfill - I've seen them do it with more valuable stuff; medals, family photo's!), half as a memento of the coronation, half as a forgotten 'emergency' present!

It's a carded 'map' of the coronation route, pre-crowning, as the queen left Buckingham  Palace, and is enhanced with 'Euro-premium' style buildings of the Abbey at Westminster and the Palace, along with the coronation coach (least used - most modelled!) and two figures, a royal footman and a beefeater - yes, a 1:72nd'ish beefeater who missed both beefeater posts; that's how the cookie crumbles here sometimes - messily!

The two figures in close-up, they are a tat larger that the Airfix guards, but only a tad and can be described as 1:76-72nd with no guilt. The royal footmen are civilians I think, while the beefeaters are recruited from retiring SNCO's. not so much 'semi-flat' as 'stylised' I feel is the best way to describe them and pretty unique - the pair.

What caused me to purchase this, years ago and long before I noticed the two little figures to its left; the horses are semi-flat (closer to 'flat') but the riders have some body or substance to them and the wagon follows the pattern of all those Jean/Big/Manurba wagons or the cake decoration we looked at recently (which excited the Vichy as much as the Lutin bear! Non Ducor, Duco - quite Jovian Mr. Roffler [Gillebertus 36], don't you agree?!) but all glued together as a rigid model.

IHC is for Mini People Rack Toy

International Hobby Corporation was born - in part - out of the rump of AHM (Associated Hobby Manufacturers) when the later filed for bankruptcy in 1982. Where AHM imported all sorts of toys and models, IHC tend to concentrate on model railroad stuff, where they seem to be head-to-head with Model Power, at least in the 'States, but I'm no expert on that aspect of the hobby.

Item 4261 from the Mini-People line is a set of six firefighters, here seen as an assortment of four poses, but I suspect that varies from pack to pack as there are six poses to chose from and therefore no reason to duplicate

Dario from Italy picked up some unpainted tool-shots still on the runner and sent us some pictures and here you can see the fifth pose on a part-runner; a chap fighting with the fire-hose, scaled against a Quaker Gladiator, you can also tell they are sized to HO-gauge (1:87th) model railways rather than the slightly larger British outline OO (1:76th), and that the tool had many identical cavities.

The cavities have an odd distribution which continues through to the other end (?) of the runner, where here we see the other four poses but in twos, threes or fours with some together, some interspersed.

I may have a third type of these figures somewhere, either as a second branding, or different colour of unpainted plastic (white?) figures loose but I can't remember, it just means we may return to them again one day - with more of the story? Not least because these (IHC packed) will most likely be bought-in/re-badged anyway.

Speaking of Model Power - as I was a moment ago - they are in the queue too, and many thanks to Dario for the images.

T is for Tanks, Rack Toy Tanks

Hard to find enough blurb for a set with no data, which is available right now on feeBay, Amazon and Ali Baba (among other sources/platforms) and which I've over-photographed! So I won't say much!

'Military Free Match', an interesting combination of three reasonable German WWII tank hull/superstructures (two with Soviet extended-range fuel-tanks!) and one piss-poor excuse for a Panther/T34 hybrid, all four on a very poor set of generic tracks/running gear.

The worst one on the left, to its right; the StuG IV, Tiger I and Stürmtiger, being quite passable for quick-building of war-games armies (around 1:72nd scale), and all going for  a song either as a set of four, in various bagged rack-toy 'play sets' or as bulk, wholesale.

Airfix comparison - they're not to be sniffed at, and you could probably retro-fit some Esci or Hasegawa running gear, (with a couple of wood screws and a hot glue gun!) if you had some bashed-ones in the spares-box?

But the Panther is a bit shit, not shite; proper shit! Cut the front mud-guards off and re-drill for a new barrel it'll still look like an ugly-duckling road-kill. And you can see from the photographs - the StuG is a bit over scale, probably closer to a 28mm role-play size?

007 is for Secret Agent Rack Toys

These are a bit of a weirdness, they continue to attract a high premium, price-wise, despite being nothing more that Hong Kong rack-toys, and quite common. By quite common I mean there is always a good lot of these, seemingly in every general toy sale, at either Vectis or SAS and they are often on evilBay, while the figures can be found loose at most toy fairs - and I don't just mean the odd toy soldier shows, but the workaday, several-a-week, general toy-fairs!

Still, they are better made than most HK stuff, original sculpts and James Bond related, and it's that which keeps their value-up. We're not looking at the figures today, but the oddity of the line - the baddies' vehicles - which come in at a passable 1:76/72nd scale.

Gilbert's carded James Bond Action Toys of Doctor No's Dragon Tank (turned out to be DUKW I seem to recall and the two-into-one hydrofoil of Mr. Largo. reflection is always a problem photographing blistered sets and this was further complicated by being shot outside on a blazing-hot day!

The 'tank' which is passed off as a dragon in the swamps of Dr. No's secret island base and which - in the film - was equipped with a flame-thrower. I do have a lose one (or two, but the second is broken?) of these somewhere so we will return to it in close-up one day, but suffice to say, if you press the nipple on the cupola, the flame-mouth shoots forwards a centimeter or so, with all the spectacle of a biscuit breaking! Hay, they were simpler times!

The silver shaft - looking like a convincing gun-barrel is actually the mast of the boat sticking up behind the tank!

Not so clear images for Largo's boat, but basically it's two halves with the rear, stern section clipping over the hull of the forward part, to be jettisoned in the bath for a quick getaway!

That's it - expensive rack-toys - they're a bit of an oxymoron!

S is for Six Sealed Sainsbury's Supermarket Saurians

A really quick one here . . .

. . . re-badged generic dinosaurs, bought about 2009/10 and what I like about these are the subtle packaging-design, visually-conditioning the parent to the pocket-money aspect of the purchase without mentioning pocket-money by having a stitched-denim theme with small pocket!

That's it, that's them - glow in the dark dinosaurs for pocket-money! I haven't checked these against the recent odds (some of which have been seen here) but the Sainsbury's' look to be rougher mouldings, so probably not exactly the same.

Highlander is for US Rack Toys

Seen before here, but I had them out to shoot other stuff in the same tub the other day and as it's a while since we saw the set I took the opportunity to try and shoot some decent close-ups of the figures without de-carding them.

All the info is on the 'Highlander' tag, or the Highlander page in the A-Z, so just a reminder.

The 'gun crew' consist of a loader with shell, a radio-operator and a gun-commander, all kneeling, all unique poses, all approximately 35mm

The set also includes an observer/spotter who can go with the gun, or help the .50Cal machinegun crew do their work. All have got green berets so; Rack Toy Rambo x6! Or should one be John Wane? Nice to see two African Americans in a set of six US figures.

H is for "Houston - We Have Hing Fat!"

Although I'm pretty sure Hing Fat are themselves copies of a set I've yet to obtain and we're actually looking at two makers here the other responcible for unknown generic sets in the style of, shadow of and after Hing Fat! For some reason I've just written Hing Kat twice and had to correct it!

Part of the plunder pile from Sandown Park in May, for some reason (too much stuff to blog and a three month hiatus - two resons!) I've not done the show reports on the last three Sandown's, I might as well wait until next weekend and do all four on the same day!

Two very similar but completely different NASA-type, Moon-shot,  space-themed rack-toys, one credited to Hing Fat the other from a jobbing unknown with a Dollar Tree Distribution sticker. And hard to know which came first as I will discuss in a minute! Artwork on both shares elements and either could have contributed to the Photoshop'ing-efforts of the other!

A 2006 catalogue image of the Hing Fat figures (carrying the 'cabbage patch kids' logo) with a better selection of accessories, clearly a larger bag with adjusted card-art and almost certainly a high price-point than my recent purchase was originally aimed at?

Back to the two recently acquired sets and we find that the figures do differ, only the chap with pliers/snips (far right pair) is the same whole pose, the rest are either different, or slightly changed (middle pair), although both sets are using elements (arm/hand implements/general posing) of the old MPC Mercury/Gemini suited chaps but with chubby, Apollo-suited bodies.

Hing Fat have gone with a Marx flag, while the Dollar Tree uses the common 'pile of dirt' flag, and their set has the added play-value of a couple of blow-moulded rocks (meteorites?) and a small rocket which looks more like an ICMB than an Apollo-programme launcher!

Both marked MADE IN CHINA, with the Hing Fat having evidence of a previous, smaller-fonted, MADE IN HONG KONG mark scratched-out. Now - as hinted at above - I'm sure there is a third source of these, and that the third set is the best set, also wearing a Hong Kong mark and from the early 1980's.

The reason for which is that before I was collection this stuff myself (last ten years) I spent some time helping a well known dealer (as some of you know) and sorted a load of these, and can well remember the Hing Fat bag (from the second image above) being lesser quality that another sample. That other sample (lacking packaging) were as 'cleaner' sculpts next to the Hing Fat as the Hing Fat are, here, next to the (3rd generation?) clones. So there is probably another chapter to today's story, which will have to be for another day!

Dollar Tree's rocket disassembles into four pieces and it struck me that the top section would make an excellent comm's tower/objective in sci-fi micro-armour war-gaming!

From a 1986 catalogue (courtesy of Bill B) comes this image of some of the larger pieces from Hing Fat sets, the shuttle looks to be different to the one on offer in 2006 above but that may just be a question of the cutting-back of paint phases! It's a sub-scale model, while the (Soviet-looking?) satellite is more in-scale with the figures by the looks of it?

I photographed them twice! Doh!

Hing Fat are also responsible for some of the straight-copy MPC clones and again they are not the best quality copies out there, but neither are they the worst. Colour mixes aren't clear but I think one is red, white & blue and the other silver & white.

News, Views Etc . . . Bits & Bobs Over the Weekend Etc . . .

HT&M

Two messages from Barney over at Herald Toys & Models came in over the weekend;

Archive Category

". . .  we have now moved the vast majority of SOLD items to an Archive category with over 900 products to view! To select a particular manufacturer e.g. Speedwell, simply select "Speedwell" from the drop-down menu to show 77 results with prices achieved. Do contact us if you experience any problems with the Archive category . . ."

New Arrivals

". . . this week we have a good collection of Britains Zoo models for sale, including some more interesting colour variants and model make-up cages complete with pools, buckets, feeding stalls and name plates! We also have many more items from the Roger Saunders collection, with more to follow, mostly in great condition. Also, check-out our large number of 'Specials' for all the latest SALE products and "Get Them While They're Hot!" (we always have a vast number of sale items right across our range of categories). . ."

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GI Janes?

Meanwhile 'the wire' lit-up on Saturday over the story breaking Thursday which I reported on Friday (they're all in my dust!), so there's now more on the little girl who wants Army Women 'Armymen'!

Links

• Jeff Imel (current owner of BMC Toys)'s update.
• BMC's original thoughts (from Friday post)

Original US media articles from Friday's post

• Arkansas Online
• Connecting Vets Radio

Newer Stuff

• Belfast Telegraph
• Breaking News
• CNN's on-board by Saturday-gone too
• Southern Living
• Youtube Vid.

• All the rest!

The irony is, I can well imagine what the Daily Wail and its stable mates will have to say if they even come to market . . . "Normalising the killing of women!", "Militarising the fairer sex!", "Brutalising women!", "Political-correctness gone mad!", you can take your pick or make up your own from the regular language of the tabloids!

But there's an undeniable logic to it; they also serve, they should be in rack-toys!

Shitestuff picked the story up too, also a day late (watching me 'very closely'!), and - of course - TJF managed to get the wrong end of the stick, suggesting the little girl was responding to the BMC plans when she wasn't, she was writing a plea, with no knowledge of the BMC thing, which her mother sent to JaRu and J.Lloyd first! From whence; it went to some local media. But then I've noticed as his war against me progresses that his comprehension skills are no better than his honesty skills, or his grammar!

The drawings on the BMC posts rather remind me of Wayne's Pomeranian Piccolo Players, as rendered by H over at HäT back in 2007-09'ish! Another set that's well-overdue . . . for a [very] limited release?!!

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Obituary

Another obit' for Dad, Daily Telegraphtoday; the trouble with having a war-hero for a father (apart from never living-up to him!) is that the world won't let him go, even after he's definitely left the building!

C is for Confederate Rack Toys

Or Confederati! These are so generic they are archetypal, yet they are distinctive enough to be ID'd if they ever turn-up in a old HKTDC catalogue/Toy Fair yearbook, so one lives in hope!

I'm assuming it's Italian - the Confederati? If it's Hungarian or Slovenian or somewhere else, for 'Confederate' I stand to be corrected! Italian toy soldiers usually use Sudisti (Southerners), but we use Confederates, Rebels, Johnny Reb's  and 'The South', so presumably other tongues have several monikers too?

We looked at couple of foot figures of these, loose, as part of a minor round-up/overview of ACW swoppet-types years ago here at Small Scale World, and I commented at the time that they were more unique than some of the others, but had very long legs compared to their bodies, I can now report (as you can see) that the mounted figures suffer the same affliction!

Is it just me or does the artwork look more 'Westpoint' than confederate rebels? The legs, horse and bases are polyethylene, while the bodies, heads, saddle, blanket and horse furniture are PVC, the heads having moulded-in or integral kepis, not the usual plug-in or pop-on headdresses.

Foot base has a HONG KONG, the mounted base the full MADE IN HONG KONG, neither shot is that good, but photographing jade-green through cellophane is neigh-on impossible!