News, Views etc . . . Forthcoming Events - Saturday 21st-Friday 27th September 2019

Well . . . the judges have pushed back their decision from 'perhaps today' until 'maybe early next week'! If they find against Johnson's decision to prorogue (I think I wrote pirogue last week, which is probably a dance move!) we will still be living in a democracy, albeit a wallowing one; holed below the waterline! But if they find in his favour, they will have rendered Parliament (and themselves) irrelevant! He will be free to prorogue whenever he feels like it and for as long as he wants, ergo; he will be able to prorogue before a no-confidence vote, or if he wants to go to war, and we will be in a very dark place.

California's skies will be getting darker now Trump has banned them from banning dirty cars!

But then the skies over Brazil, Peru and Indonesia are already dark! There's a metaphor in there somewhere about a gathering storm . . . 

. . . toys; we need toys!

Toy Shows

Saturday 21st September 2019

Gloucester - Steven Clement Fairs

Churchdown Community Centre, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL3 2JH
eMail: clementfairs@aol.com
01380 725 322
10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown
Refreshments available

Henfield - David Parsons - Toy & Train Collectors Fair

Henfield Village Hall, High Street, Henfield, West Sussex, BN5 9DB

Web. - www.modelcarmart.co.uk/henfield

eMail - modelcarmart@gmail.com

Mob. - 07742 609 865 (David)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission £2

'Delicious' breakfast/refreshments available

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

Rugby - Barry Potter / BP Fairs 'Rugby Vintage'

The Benn Hall, Newbold Road, Rugby, CV21 2LN

Web. - www.bpfairs.com

Tel. - 01604 846 688

Mob. - 07966 527 177

10:30-15:00hrs

Admission £3.50 (early-bird £7, from 08:00hrs), OAP's £3, Children £1

Sunday 22nd September 2019

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, early bird (from 08:00hrs) £6

Free parking

Great Bentley - R & G Toy Fairs

Village Hall, Plough Road, Great Bentley, Essex, CO7 8LD

Internet presence unknown

Tel. - 01206 251 351 (Gary)

Tel. - 01255 473 509 (Richard)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission £2.00, under 16's free

Free parking, refreshments

Haydock Park - Barry Stockton Fairs - Toy Fair

The Exhibition Centre, Haydock Park Racecourse, WA12 0HQ

Web. - http://barrystocktonfairs.co.uk/
Tel. - 01513 343 362
10:30 - 14:30hrs
Admission - Adult £2, Children £0.50p

Orpington - SRP Toyfairs

Crofton Halls, Orpington, Kent, BR6 8PR

Web. - www.srptoyfairs1.co.uk

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Weston Supermare - Wendy Hobday - Doll Fair

Royal Hotel, South Parade, Weston Supermare

Web. - http://www.wendysworldfairs.co.uk/index.html

Tel. - 01895 834 348

Hours unknown

Admission fee unknown

Possibly the worst website still on the Internet! I hope 'Bluechip Computer Support' aren't charging her for that?

Wilton - Steven Clements

Michael Herbert Hall, South Street, Wilton, SP2 0JS

eMail -  clementfairs@aol.com

Tel. - 01380 725 322

Mob. - 07958 101 891

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission unknown

Tuesday 24th September 2019

Garstang - Janet Pearson - Garstang Evening Fair

Kirkland & Catterall Memorial Hall, PR3 0HR

Web-presence unknown

01282 439 009

18:00 - Finnish

Admission fee unknown

Tonbridge - SRP Toyfairs (evening fair)

Angel Lane, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1SF

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

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

18:00 - 20:00hrs

Admission £1.50p, children Free

Auctions

Saturday 21st September 2019

Newark - Northgate Auctions

17 Northgate, Newark, Nottingham, NG24 1EX

Web. - www.northgateauctionroomsnewark.co.uk

eMail - auctions@northgateauctionroomsnewark.co.uk

Tel. - 01636 605 905

Fax. - 01636 612 607

Mixed toys, vintage and modern

Monday 23rd September 2019

Downham Market - Barry L Hawkins

The Estate Office, 15 Lynn Road, Downham Market, Norfolk, PE38 9NL
Web. - www.barryhawkins.co.uk
eMail - info@barryhawkins.co.uk
Tel. - 01366 387 180

Sale starts 10:00hrs

Scale models and collectable toys

Tuesday 24th September 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions

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

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

Tel. - 01642 750 616

Simon Hope Matchbox Collection - Part II

Thursday 26th September 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (1st day of a two day auction)

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

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

Tel. - 01642 750 616

TV & film memorabilia (more in a separate post here at Small Scale World on Monday)

"The Tony Hillman Collection.

The Tony Hillman Collection, features 129 lots of cinema and film lobby cards and stills, Star Wars press books and literature, Photoplay and other monthly film magazine groups including Empire, Film and Picture Show etc; plus movie posters and production notes, film scripts and screenplays.

The collection started in 1955 when on holiday in Great Yarmouth I got the idea of collecting autographs, the first ones being Ronnie Ronald, The Beverly Sisters and Charlie Chester. Returning home to Birmingham every Saturday evening I’d go to the Hippodrome and wait at the stage door for autographs of the variety artists, getting anyone who came out so my first books were mainly of unknown names. I rarely went to the other city theatre, the Alexander, which did plays, as at that time I didn’t know of many actors but I did get Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.

As I got older and more knowledgeable about actors, I started doing trips to London to get top names and by that time I’d started building up a collection of film magazines and books and bits and pieces scrounged from cinema managers

By the late 60’s and being in a dead-end job and with my interest in the cinema I decided to try for a job in the industry and got one in the publicity department of Classic Cinemas based in London’s West End.  Being close to the theatres and hotels made it easy at times for getting top names, such as one evening after a few minutes wait at Claridge’s getting Bing Crosby then a walk around the corner and getting Fred Astaire coming out of the Athenaeum, while at other times it could be a long fruitless wait.

Contacts in the distributor’s publicity departments helped build up “Classics” stills collection and mine until in 1974 Classic’s head office was closed. I asked what was going to happen to the publicity material and was told to help myself, so I did, taking the lot,

After moving North in the early 70’s I started writing a film column for a local magazine and doing research on films made in the North East and the film actors born in the region. I put the information to use by doing talks for various groups and when it was the “Centenary of the Cinema” I got six plaques for the region and put my collection to use by mounting a good number of exhibitions.

It’s now come to the point to thin some of the collection down and hope that it will give enjoyment to some other collectors."

Friday 27th September 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (2nd day of a two day auction)

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

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

Tel. - 01642 750 616

Trains and model railways

Other Events

Thursday 19th September (yesterday) - Sunday 3rd November 2019

Newcastle - Discovery Museum - Brilliant Bricks

Discovery Museum, Blandford Square, Westgate Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Web. - www.discoverymmuseum.org.uk

'The story of Northern innovation, recreated in Lego'

Expect Lego black puddings, Lego slag-heaps, Lego whippets and Lego flat-caps?

(that's a joke, not 'racism' Mr. Stadinger, It'll be Ironbridge and shit like that, but that's obviously shit as in Rap 'shit' not 'bad shit', or 'shit as in bad' because bad-shit's probably quite good shit if you smoke shit, like rappers, so it could be rap shit AND bad shit, except there's NO drugs - it's bits of ENGINEERING and shit . . . I have to try and explain myself to the morons in Pennsylvanian, but I don't think they get it, even then . . shit!)

Dedham - Munnings Art Museum - Behind the Lines: Alfred Munnings, War Artist, 1918

The Munnings Art Museum, Castle Hill, Dedham, Colchester, Essex, CO7 6AZ

Web. - https://www.munningsmuseum.org.uk/

Tel. - 01206 322 127

Wednesday to Sunday, 14:00-17:00hrs, closed Mondays & Tuesdays (or groups by appointment)

Saturday 21st/Sunday 22nd September 2019

Duxford - Imperial War Museum - Battle of Britain Air Show

Imperial War Museum, Duxford aerodrome, Duxford, Cambridgeshire

Web. - www.iwm.org.uk

Pre-booking Required

Bitton - Avon Valley Railway Trust - 1940's Weekend

Bitton Station, Bath Road, Bitton, Bristol

Web. - www.avonvalleyrailway.org

Re-enactment, costume, vintage military vehicles &etc.

Overseas Events

Saturday 21st/Sunday 22nd September 2019

Mariembourge (Belgium) - CFV3V - Train Show

A Côté de la Gare, Couvin, Mariembourge, Belgium

Tel. - ++060 312 440

Saturday 21st September 2019

Köln (Germany) - Auktion Team Breker - Auction Sale

Otto-Hahn Straße 10, 50997, Köln-Godorf, Köln, Germany

P.O. Box - 50 11 19, 50971, Germany

Web. - www.breker.com

eMail - auction@breker.com

Tel. - ++02236 384 340 (Herr. Uwe H. Breker)

Fax. - ++022363 843 430

Optical amusements, photographica and cinematographic collectables sale

Roseville, (USA) - Dolls4All - Crossroads Doll & Teddy Bear Show

The Grounds, Placer County Fair, 800 All America City Blvd, Roseville, California, USA

Web. - http://dolls4all.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Crossroads-Teddy-Bear-Doll-and-Antique-Shows-120434594669598/

10:00- 15:00hrs, early-bird: 9:00

Admission unknown (early-birds US$10.00)

Sunday 22nd September 2019

Aachen (Germany) - Jurgen Hörner - Toy Fair

Kurpark-Terrassen, Aachen, Germany

Tel. - ++0210 251 133

Chicago (USA) - Roger Garfield - Chicargo Toy Soldier Show

Hyatt Regency Schaumburg, 1800 East Golf Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173, Illinois, USA

Web. - https://chicagotoysoldiershow.com/

eMail - roger@chicagotoysoldiershow.com

Tel. - ++8475 675 355

10:00-15:30hrs

Admission US$10.00, children 12-and-under free

Probably the most professionally-run show on the circuit

Walldorf (Germany) - Automania - Diecast Fair

Stadhalle Walldorf, Marfelden-Walldorf, Germany

Tel. - ++6221 786 422

Monday 23nd September 2019

Unterhatching (German) - Automania - Diecast Fair

Hatchinga Halle, Unterhatchin, Munich, Germany

Tel. - ++6221 786 422

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!

H is for How They Come In

This chap; Bob the Builder or a dozer-operating Bob-clone, was found lying in the street! He's obviously from the younger-infant end of the toy-market, but will still go in the tub with all the other larger-scale seated civilians/drivers!

Picked this up just before final editing of last week's 'show dates' in a Basingrad charity shop (back there today, so who knows what I might turn-up?), consisting of a job-lot of ceramics; the green duck is a small fairing, the owl earthenware, while the puppy is probably a Wade thing? The foxy-looking bear (?) is either doughcraft or chalkware, but I haven't done a dig to decide as it's well-sealed with varnish (suggesting flour & water!), and the glass bird may be damaged with the upper beak now a hard-to-explain cresty-thing! But they were 50p.

This is getting silly! It's another - new sculp - Chap Mai! In defence of the shop, it was in the same basket as the truck I picked up a week or so ago, so I may have just missed it first time round! I have removed the 'soldier' from the bonnet in the same way as last time - a dab of nail-varnish remover on the end of an ear-bud/Q-tip.

Came-in this week; there are three posts on these in the queue - really a more frivolous Christmassy posting thing - but they garner traffic for other sources, so not to be sniffed at! Gogo's Crazy Bones, including some early ones (I'm slowly learning them - early ones have no paint and a cruder sculpting style) and I might sort them into a forth post!

Links

Go 'Strhaarliah! Toy Soldier-collecting Political leader . . .There's hope for us all!

Memories of childhood past

From the WTF but looks like fun Department!

Received With Thanks

• Imagery and a press-release from Vectis, I've parceled them up as a stand-alone 'News, Views...' on Monday.

• We've seen the Captain Pugwash from Mr. Berke, but he's since sent more on them - Vivid Imaginations is the maker, and the line was from a range which included bean-bag figures, squirting toys (put that in the tag list and I'll get more traffic than the White House!) and a Black Pig Adventure Pirate Ship which could be useful for smaller 54/60mm figures - main deck's a bit short!

•  Theo van der Weerden has sent some stuff following-up on some of last week's posts, but I've only just found it so I don't know if I can use it here, or just tuck it in the archive for 'latters'!

Thanks all, as always, and it reminds me there are various follow-ups to sort out, so I may have a day or two on them at some point.

Other News

Hopefully by the time you read this I will have got the planet-dividers right! If not I'll put something simple in quickly and remove this so you'll never know I tried!

No toy news, I've given the paper's a miss this week - it's all old Etonians misbehaving! The only lesson of Brwreakshit (other than don't have Brwreakshit) is never send your son (no daughters ever!) to Eton, he'll end-up sexist, racist and behaving like a deranged performing-seal! I might catch-up at the weekend, although I'm gutted the 'i's gone-up 20p for the Saturday edition!

"What'er we sorting? Unknown civilians? Why don't you know them then? So you won't be needing this lid? For . . . a while like?"

Away From Toy Soldiers

Mentioned in the week at some point I think. . .

. . . not as hot-a-shots as some you'll find on-line, but there is - nevertheless - something pleasing about capturing them yourself, even on a little pocket camera - the naughty Rosemary Beetle, so pretty! And yes - related to the spud-munching Colorado!

F is for Follow-up - Hing Fat - Astronauts

Just a quick follow-up to the other day'spost as I have dug-out the loose stuff from the storage lot, a few new poses and some clues, but only serving to confuse!

Three different sets are represented here, of which the one marked 3 above is an additional pose in the confirmed Hing Fat set we looked at last time, complete with obliterated earlier (probably 'HONG KONG') mark and the uneven 'MADE     IN CHINA', as well as the same silver plastic, but not so dark a gunmetal shade as in the set.

The number 1 lot are annotated on the container as being Hing Fat, so, despite forgetting where they came from, or when, I assume they are Hing Fat as someone I trusted must have told me so! They include the seated figure from the Luna Rover we could see in one of the bagged sets last time, and several new poses, along with a darker grey figure (rather washed-out by camera-flash) to the right.

The last figure (number 2) has a variation of the poorer Hing Fat mark but without the scar hiding something underneath.

The number's 1 on the left and 2 to the right; you can see the 2 has a smaller but neater 'MADE IN CHINA' mark than that which we saw on the previous Dollar Tree Distribution set, so a sub-piracy or - as there's little to tell between all these size-wise - a different contract, but probably not Hing Fat, the quality is better than the Hing Fat mouldings so, closer to the originals.

However the Hing Fat's (1) are much better marked than the set we looked at the other day. I suspect these are the re-marked replacement for those, with their scars. It is in point-of fact a font similar to the Dollar Tree set, but with a more rounded type to Dollar Tree's slightly condensed lettering.

With the un-scratched-out Hing Fat 'HONG KONG's still to be found and an almost certain pre-1997 'handover' HK-marked, best-quality original out there, I suspect we will return to these, more than once, but it might take a few years to tell the whole story?

B is for Brucy Bonus!

Cap't Pugwash me'harrties!

I nearly ran out of time yesterday, but this was waiting in my inbox from Brian B (the real one!) and I just got it to go here as a late entrant!

It's Captain Pugwash!

ITLAPD is for It's Time Lost - Away Pirate Dudes!

Small but perfectly formed! keeping the best for last!

All over for another year; I must say I had worried the stuff in the 'For ITLAPD 2019' folder wouldn’t amount to much, but in the end I think it betters last year for post numbers, if not figure quality, but that's a metter of opinion and there is some nice stuff this year, with plenty to dig into if you have a quiet moment over the weekend!

Closing with Merten's diminutive pirates, these chaps are 18mm/HO-gauge compatible, and are taken from the sets;

Box HO-2024 - Pirates #1

Box HO-2025 - Pirates #2

Although I'm missing one! I've arranged them as ship's deck crew (swabs?) above and ship's rigging crew (aloft) below, but the two sets contained 3 & 3, so you could crew a model kit of the appropriate size with only one set. If the AWOL scabrous-rotter ever turns up, I'll do them again in their sets!

And many thanks to Peter Evans who's contributions have been heavily leaned-on this year, to Chris Smith, Brian Berke and Jim who have all sent stuff which helped or got a mention and thanks to whoever keeps taking this stuff to Charity Shops!

It be only twelve month'odd 'till Internationaaaal Talk Loik a Poirate Day be rownd again, me'harrties, whatch thaat horrrizon furr thur soin o'thurr craaah'ssed-bones. . . Aahhaaaarrrr!

T is for Treasure Trunks

Booty Boxes, Coin Chests, Plunder Packs, Pillage Pelisse's, Horde Handlers, Stash Stores, [ill-gotten] Gain Gatherers . . . OK, I'm just being silly now, but when you've spent two days writing-up 12 posts on the one subject you get a bit punch-drunk, and I know it's just this post and a single-photo' finale to go now!

Grabbed these two in a charity shop back in January, there was a bunch of them, new-old stock probably donated by Official Receivers somewhere as being too small or invaluable a sample as to be worth the expence of sending to a clearance auction?

Real tourist-trap tat; poured-resin in glittery silver and copper-bronze, but when they are a few pence each and there's ITLAPD to think about . . . well; bargain!

I think Peter Evans told me who made these figures, the other day, while we were looking at his, but if he did - I've forgotten who it was!

Chris Smith sent them in one of his donations earlier in the year and I believe there is another pirate to find and that they may go with a build-your-own plaster fort similar to the 4M Industrial one we looked at ages ago, but which had different figures?

The two guards would make useful additions to an Alamo setting, even if they seem to have ray-guns! While the lower shot is a comparison with the fish-tank ornament we looked at this time last year.

The K&M set's trunk, which I chucked in here to keep the PVC meme flowing on that post and because it's roughly the same size as the other two types here. I was going to dig the rest out and do a bigger post on treasure chests but there's always next year, and no with guarantees of keeping-up the output of the last few years ITLAPD's, it maybe we'll see them all in 12-months!

But several have been seen, the drunken pirate Brian B sent a couple of years ago was defending a nice chest (along with his booze stash!), the Safari set had a nice one with a skeleton draped over it, and there are others . . . small boats, cannons, palm trees and a plunder trunk are the de rigueur accessories of a pirate crew!

T is for Two - Marx's Mischievous Maritime Men

Just a quick one to make-up the numbers this year, the alturnative was to squeese them into the first post, but it would have started to get unwieldy, and with the two to look at, it makes sense to have a separate quick post, as with the diggers earlier!

We've seen the better versions of hard polystyrene Marx, looked at them way back, but this chap on the left (re-issue of original on the right) is from Wilton's cake decoration range, although also issued as a carded Treasure Island rack-toy., he's lost most of the meaningful detail of the original sculpt and his pistol has become no more than a pointing finger, although it has a dash of silver!

This is the Marx pose included with the Ideal re-issues in the Glencoe set a while ago, I think we've seen my original (on the left), but Peter Evan sent the other in one of his parcels and I think he may have painted it, although it's got a bit flakey.

That's it; a couple of Marx smallies to look at!

V is for Vinyl Giants

Even the stumpy ones are 60mm, so 'Giants' is the ticket for this one! And they are all vinyl or vinyl-like softish polymers, most coming from Peter Evans I think!

K&M, 75mm the real giants, but as a stand-alone set quite nice sculpts, if only (like their smaller astronauts) a bit 'standy aroundy' in posture - it's like a six-way pirate version of the last scenes of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. They also come with a huge chest full of 'Spanish Gold', reminiscent of the PotC curse movie . . . how we laughed at the stupid monkey!

From the rear, where they are all clearly marked K&M, not sure why there is a random skeleton among them, but it's the modern way now; pirates = zombies! I like these, larger 'toob' stuff, they are currently/still available now in various configurations around the Internet, with other accessories; small boat, cannon, flag &etc.

These have a history, I bought a set of four (there's one with a peg-leg I've still to find) in an olde-worlde hardware and general store/stationers off a car park/one-way system in a Sussex town which name escapes me and gave them to either the editor of PW or JB, years ago - I mean like 22 years ago - when I was a sign-fitter driving round the country destroying it with the ephemeral shite of Thatcherite-Raganomic capitalism!

Anyway, now they are coming back, in dribs and drabs of 65mm PVC loveliness! We saw the other last year I think; in the mixed/introductory post and they are OK, but would be vastly improved by better footwear! The peg-legged pose, who we will hopully see one ITLAP-day, is particularly idiotic with a wooden leg on one knee and a giant clog at the end of the other! Also - I'm not sure pirates had many elephant-rifles!

This lot are the smallies of the post at a meer 60mm! They are also rather chunky, lots of plunder and a good ships-cook! I think these arrived just after last year's ITLAPD and seem to be older than the others, 1980's maybe?

Size comparison between the three, the black-eyes of 'Shorty' being explained by the fact he appears to be trying to use a piece of motorcycle drive-shaft as a telescope!

This was in the old Marshall's wholesale catalogue, and while looking similar to the ITP Imports Pirate Monkey/Toy bank set from a couple of Christmases ago in Poundworld Plus, it is in fact different, although has the same half-hexagonal box design. It also looks to have largish PVC type figures as that earlier set had, and as this post is covering! Both Marshall's and Poundworld Plus - of course - are no more.

D is for Desperate Diggers Doing Dark Deeds

Or maybe just carving a latrine into the beach! But to be fair, it's commonly a dead-man's chest, or a live man - up-to the neck . . . or a casket of plunder, that requires a hole to be dug!

I picked up another Charbens digging pirate at some point, then Peter sent me a reissue he had painted (main images above), so although we ticked that box years ago, I dug-out (geddit!) all the Charbens diggers for a comparison.

All four? I don't know how I ended-up with four but the camera doesn't lie! Variation between the Charbens seems limited to shade of paint, with a strict-enough pattern being followed by the out-painters, while Peter's is more realistically-muted in the palate used.

Also this chap came-in from somewhere, possibly Peter Evans, I thought he was one of the Tim Mee baseless figure, of whom I have a few somewhere which we looked at years ago, with the Charbens I think? But he's not! He's my first Plasticraft, and he needs some black marker-pen to be removed which may prove problematical. He's about 80mm but would be closer to 90 if he straightened-up!

P is for Pack of Paint and Pirates

I have forgotten the origins of several items in this year's Pirate Posts; it comes of trying to keep track of thousands of things and truffling a few away every few days or weeks, through the year for ITLAPD!

So, this may have come from Peter Evans who has sent several parcels to the Blog since last year's ITLAPD, it may have come from Brian Burke who's also sent stuff which hasn't been H is for How . . . 'd as I'm waiting on Blogging some bits from it, or it may have been saved for me by Adrian Little, or bought by me at Sandown Park in March, where I both saw Adrian and bough a bunch of rack-toys?

I really can't remember, and there are no clues in Picasa beyond the fact that I shot the pictures at the end of March? So I will thank all three for all their help and support for the Blog over the last year while trying to convince myself it may have been a charity-shop find . . . or even a Hawkin's Bazzar purchase in Basingrad! But I'll tag it 'contribution' anyway!

This is the thing anyway, and how cool is it? Too cool for art-school, that's for sure! Perfect 54mm figures (I wonder if there's a second set of three other poses in the full line?), unpainted, which four paints and a brush, the brush being one of those naff kiddies ones with stiff bristles cut flat and only of use for stippling - thankfully being phases out of even the cheapest craft sets buy a better generation of 'cheap' brush from China, which are closer in design/construction to 'proper brushes, just made of short-lived bristle material!

Normally I'd leave them on the card, but as it's a modern set (from the Tobar graphics) and they were such nice figures, I whipped them out for a closer look! As stated they are 54mm and a softish modern PVC-replacement polymer.

We have three standard tropes, with a slight twist; the de rigueur treasure chest man, the slightly Asian-looking, mean-looking oriental cutlass man, and a 'hook hand', but he's actually using a cargo-net/large fish handling hook (which may have a colloquial name?), rather than having a hook-hand!

T is for Two - Little & Large!

The last additions to ITLAPD, but not the final posts, I've mixed them all up so they differ from hour to hour! And it was going to be more of a 'Look at this!', then it was a genuine T is for Two, now it's more of a T is for err . . . four?

The crux of the post; a Hong Kong copy of the Fontanini large-size pirate we've previously seen before here on a lump of Carrara Marble, alongside a Papo 45mm (smallest size they do) pirate, who's toob we've seen in a past Show Report. The larger figure is 210mm in total, or 150mm sole of foot to eye-line.

That was going to be it!

But at the last minute I thought I'd better do a comparison with the Carrara-mounted original, and tucked last year's newie in between them, giving us a technical 'four'! They end up the same height despite having very different bases, by dint of the blow-moulded chunk of pirated pirate being reduced in size, he also has a filled-out hat for technical reasons related to that kind of moulding.

I had shot him separately before wondering what to do with the Papo figure! Peter Evans gave me the gold giant when I was on my 'country-mouse' trip to the big city the other week, and I think I picked-up the Papo figure when he took me to the Toy Project's shop in Archway?

Goes away and checks - no; he was in the dino-lot from charity with the robo-space-catpig-thing (and which I'd 'hidden for later'), same week - end of August! Anyway, thanks again to Peter for the big one!

Z is for Zizzle's Zombies from Zanzibar!

No They're not, they're from the Caribbean, or Disney's excuse for the Caribbean and they were cursed rather than specifically undead - we all know that, but it was a title crying-out for a post which was never going to happen, so in an act of piracy on English as we understand it, I went with my heart!

Such is the way of things that I bought these just after last year's ITLAPD, I can't remember what I shelled-out for them, but they would have been going for a song, or I wouldn't have jumped at them so soon after clearing the decks of the previous 12-month's stuff!

Although they look like the action figures, they are roughly 54mm, and are a continuation of the earlier, more simple or 'bog-standard' based series we've looked at in ITLAPD's passim (2018 I think, under Zizzle in the tag-list they will be below this post if you jump the tag), but now with landscaped bases, which actually limits their use in some imaginations!

Two of Davy Jones' crew; the man himself and one of the seaweed men, this Davy is much of an improvement over the one in the previous series, but if he didn't exist, there'd be nothing wrong with the old one, if that makes sense! They both have seabed/coral pod-bases which can pass for ground or beach.

Two of the Chinese vessels crew (third or fourth movie?); The boss-man's base is also quite generic, it's the fat bloke's which is so specific, but I remember looking at these in the shops at the time they were released and thinking several of them had bases which limit their scope, so it's pure chance three of mine are quite generic and match the others better than this last chap; he also has a separate loop-over cross-belt.

The seller had sent the wrong captain, and was quick to get the correct one in the next post with an apologetic eMail. While I had them both in front of me I shot them together with a sizer (the trusty berserker), before returning the 100mm action figure to the seller.