SF is for Semi Flat!

We saw some of these previously, briefly back in a show-report, others further back (2012?) and several from Ervino (who was going to do a post on them and may yet, but I know 'real life' intervened, so we'll see?), anyway I thought I'd get them all together in one place!

Torgano's late version (1970's) 'spacemen'; taken in almost equal measure (but really only as 'high influence') from the Thomas/Poplar sculpts and the slightly earlier Lido 'Captain Video' figures and a third source, yet to be identified - if they aren't original sculpts?

Here it's the two gold ones which have the Thomas Toys DNA oozing from them, while the pair in the middle and the one on the far right have shades of Lido's fighting robots about them, the other figure is not so easy to place?

The figures were sold as rack-toys in the 1970's on roughly A4-sizes carded sets which often had an added novelty; here a cap-rocket, elsewhere a bullet-firing gun (to knock them down) or a parachute-toy space-ship, and often seem to have carried a phantom branding such as 'Balu' or here 'E Ora Giochiamo' (And now let's play?), other cards were bereft of words, having just playful graphical stuff.

These are all in off-white and include two examples of the sixth pose, which has the Thomas helmet but is otherwise the other 'original' pose. they are all fairly well-sculpted but tend to a flatness in the design which I hesitate to call semi-flat, but they have - undeniably - been flattened to ease manufacture . . . and give me my title, so yeah! Semi-flats!

I've been told these are Torgano too, but earlier. Unlike the soft, polyethylene figures above, these are polystyrene and manufactured in two parts; figure and base, before being glued together firmly.

The red one was reported by Ervino to be Torgano also, but would appear to be from a separate line, being a new pose, he's really flat and a single moulding of what is probably also the harder polystyrene

One of the Torgano's compared with his near stablemate - Cromoplasto; although the painted figure would have been more contemporary with the two-part 'styrene ones, from the previous image, I suspect?

News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events; Saturday 22nd - Friday 28th February 2020

I used to listen to Priti Patel on Question Time or Any Questions, and be astounded by her lack of knowledge, pricklyness and feeble-minded replies, we then all saw her - under Mrs. Maybe-maybe-not - prove herself to be a dishonest, lying fascist, which leaves as the first question what was she doing being offered (or accepting) another cabinet post?

Now we hear that she swears at staff, wants to get rid of her trained-professional civil-servants and is apparently 'out of her depth', yet she has decided that the 8-million not in meaningful employment (because they are old, infirm, in school, students, unpaid careers, in a pram, in a coma, mentally or physically disabled, he long-term sick, in prison, or missing presumed lost) can take up the slack left by departing Polish Uber drivers, or the fact that a points system (already labelled fascist in Australia) which would have prevented her ancestors coming here in the first-place will prevent Uber drivers arriving from Poland in the future!

And yet 46% of our fellow citizens voted for this omnishambles of a klusterfuck government! Do I read like I'm coming round to healed societal reunification under Boris? Or do I read like I'm becoming even more divorced from the other, Brwreakshiteer, half?

Meanwhile one of Cumings (that's how I'll spell it) 'wierdos' proved not to be so weird, as just simply a transparent, self-declared, racist, racialist, eugenics-believing, patriarchal, sexist, homophobic 'kill the poor's kids' Nazi fuck . . . you can't make this shit up you know, you have to read it in the paper!

And, in his arrogance, instead of slinking away to Beachy Head and killing the fuck out of himself, he puts out a statement saying he's been 'taken out of context'? You want to sterilise the poor, you Nazi fuck; the only other interpretation is that you want the poor to be sterilised!

Meanwhile, it turns out that the British fishing industry (one of the big movers in the Brwreakshit debate) constitutes less than half-of-one-percent (0.4-something) of the UK economy and that many of the fish-stock quotas, licenses and/or vessels which were 'ours' have been legitimately, legally sold to other European fleets or operators, the only way to get them back will be to surrender Gibraltar, the Elgin Marbles and probably the Sovereign Base Area's in Cyprus, but it [fishing] will still only constitute a half-of-one-percent!

It would make more sense to put the money (if there is any) into cycle repair-shops, white-van men or video-bloggers, than to spend another penny on something which has changed forever, like coal-mining or walking in front of a motorised carriage with a red flag! But NO! Brwreakshiteers think "Go, cast your nets, yeah, upon the waters, you sons of Britannia and thence shall Albion rise, leviathan-like; a mighty phoenix, to take control of Africa again!"

Further afield some German Nazi shot-up the shops for his mum, then had a pop at her, while the Orange Loon pardoned a bunch of people who were probably only in trouble for knowing him! Still, at least Trump is around & about, talking mentally-deranged shit - nice bit of veiled-racism aimed at South Korea yesterday; Boris has gone doggo and is running frit after being heckled at a flood visit the other day - coward!

Thank the lord of all gods; the Flying Spaghetti Monster; we have toys to collect; it'll keep us sane . . .

Toy Fairs

Saturday 22nd February 2020

Maidstone - Michael Spencer - Maidstone Vintage Toy Fair

Lockmedow Market Hall & Leisure Complex, Barker Road (Hart Street entrance), Maidstone, Kent, ME16 8LW

Internet presence unknown

Tel. - 01622 298 159 (Mike Spencer)

Mob. - 01732 840 787 (Geoff Martin)

09:00 - 15:00hrs

Admission £2.50p

Park & ride, pay and display parking, refreshments

Tauton - Ray Heard Train & Toy Fairs

Richard Huish College, South Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 3DZ

Internet presence unknown

Tel. - 01823 480 097

10:00 -15:30hrs

Admission £3.00

Free parking, refreshments

New Venue - New Show

Sunday 23rd February 2020

Cirencester - Retro Ronnie

Bingham Hall, King Street, Cirencester, Glousecstershire, GL7 1JT

Web - www.retroronnie.com

Mob. I - 07708 385 061

Mob. II - 07900 266 427

10:00-hrs 'till finish

Admission unknown, early bird (from 08:00hrs)

Refreshments

Rayleigh - SRP Toyfairs

Sweyne Park School, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 9BZ

Web. - www.srptoyfairs1.co.uk

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Wirral - Barry Stockton Fairs - Merseyside Hobbies & Model Railway Show

Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight, Wirral, CH62 5DH
Web. - http://barrystocktonfairs.co.uk/
Tel. - 01513 343 362
10:30 - 15:30
Admission - Adult £4.50p, Children £

York - J&J Fairs (J&J Webb) - 'York Racecourse'

The Knavesmire Stand, York Racecourse, York, Yorkshire, YO23 1EX

Web. - www.j-jwebbtoyfairs.com

eMail - jandjfairs@virginmedia.com

Tel. - 01522 880 383

10:00 - 14:30hrs

Admission £2.50p, seniors £2, 1st child £1.50p

Tuesday 25th February 2020

Garstang - Janet Pearson - Garstang Evening Fair

Kirkland & Catterall Memorial Hall, PR3 0HR

Web-presence unknown

01282 439 009

18:00 - Finnish

Admission fee unknown

Auctions

Monday 24th Februaray 2020

Lewis - Wallis and Wallis

West Street Galleries, Lewis, Sussex, BN7 2NJ

Web. - wallisandwallis.co.uk

eMail - toys@wallisandwallis.co.uk

Tel. - 01273 480 208

Fax. - 01273 476 562

General Toy Sale

Tuesday 25th & Wednesday 26th February 2020

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

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

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

Tel. - 01642 750 616

Sales commence at 10:30hrs

Wednesday 26th February 2020

Wisborough Green - Bellmans Auctioneers and Valuers

Newpound, Wisborough Green, West Sussex, RH14 0AZ

Web. - www.bellmans.co.uk

eMail - sussex@bellmans.co.uk

Tel. - 01403 700 858

Other Events

There aren't many, so I've found a few historical type heritage things for the weekend which may interest some of you? And most of the stuff listed (in the first, condensed section of Other Events) last Friday is finishing this Sunday.

Thursday 20th (yesterday) - Sunday 23rd February

London - English Heritage - Hands On With History

Eltham Palace and Gardens, Court Yard, London, SE9

Saffron Walden - English Heritage - Hands On With History

Audley End House & Gardens, London Road, Saffron Walden, Essex

(lovely 'Roman' maze in the town park too - 5 minutes drive from A-E)

Whitby - English Heritage - Vikings! Swords and Stories

Whitby Abbey, Abbey Lane, Whitby, North Yorkshire

Web. - www.english-heritage.org.uk (all three events)

Interactive stuff, readings, displays, living history

Sunday 23rd February

Maidstone - MGM Fairs - Doll & Bear Show

Downswood Community Centre, Chiltern Close, Downswood, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 8XG

Linnet Lodge, The Village, Wembworthy, Devon, EX18 7RX (promoter)

Website - www.mgmfairs.co.uk

Email - enquiries@mgmfairs.co.uk

Tel. - 07818 462448  

10:30-15:00hrs

Admission - adults/seniors: £2.50, children: 50p

Overseas Events

This Evening & Tomorrow all day

Warren (USA) - Great Lakes Comic Convention (GLCC)- The Ten-Year Anniversary Show 2010-2020

The Macomb Community College Expo Center, 14500 E. 12 Mile Road, Warren, Michigan

48088, USA

Web. - https://greatlakescomicconvention.com/

Admission;

Friday 21st - 17:00-21:00hrs

Saturday 22 - 10:00-18:00 (09:30hrs early bird admission)

Celebrity guests, signings etc . . .

Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd February 2020

Monroeville (USA) - Trainshow - Greenberg’s Great Train & Toy Show

Monroeville Convention Center, 209 Mall Blvd, Monroeville, PA 15146, Pennsylvania, USA

Web. - http://trainshow.com/monroeville

10:00-16:00hrs

Admission $10 both days, $9 Sunday only, under-11's free

Free Parking On-Site

If you are an event promoter/show curator/auctioneer and you want your toy, model, collectable, military, historical 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 a link; if the event or your organisation has a web-page.

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

A slowish start to the week turened into a bit of a flood on Thursday (yesterday), but back to the ebgining and actually last Friday, in Basingrad which brought a total of five items . . .

. . . and I paid too much for the probably home cast (or commercially sold from home-casting moulds) aeroplane, which, to be fair, has some age. Triple-A rubber Panda, a Splinter pencil-top (or is he a duplicate Phidal?), a vinyl 'smallimal' and a resin fairy made up the days finds.

Thinking - on Monday-evening - it might be a quiet week, I took a few comparisons with another Panda that came in the other day, both holding breakfast . . . or lunch . . . or dinner; they don't eat anything else! And the wax fortress I got off Adrian a few years ago. The metal one could be an attempt at a Mosquito or a Beaufort, it's not that obvious either way; it could be one of those AFD Fokker's that's actually a Messerschmitt!

Then, on Tuesday I got two little 50p bags (top left), a 'ling/'ding/'ming's bag (with another Panda!) and a medievals bag which I should have left, the two down the bottom have gone already; one (ELC - damaged) in the recycling, one (Macky-D's lever-operated novelty) back to charity. I kept the two HTI's and the Papo 'Rikh'ard Cour de Leon', but the HTI's are definitely duplicates and Rich'urd's sword is bent!

Wednesday brought three larger bags from two shops, the first (both right) giving-up a bag of animals and a bag of dino's. The animals included two Schleich leopards (beautiful models), a triple-A, two MEG's and an A&A, along with a bunch of 'generics'. The dinos; a Triple-A and a load of anonymous types including three plaster-block dig-em-out skeletons, who still have clay-coloured plaster between their ribs!

The other shop's bag (bottom left) is probably all Phidal, and earlier stuff I think (2010's?), being smaller and base-less, but some of them may be from another, similar source and the two Steampunk-bird 'Pirates' are totally new to me!

Then I got three large bags from one shop on Thursday gone and the week had given-up kilos of stuff! There was a bag of ancients and medievals (bottom), a bag of Wild West (top) and a bag of mixed farm & zoo including insects, reptiles, amphibians and some dinosaurs - middle.

Each of which had some Crescent circus in! But the two in the 'wrong' bags are both damaged which may be why they ended-up in those bags?

The ancient/medieval bag could have been left really, although I think the black horse goes with the Supreme Wild West in the other bag, but the Marx and Cherilea are both beyond saving and I have most - if not all - of the foot Saracens, but only one mounted, so that's the highlight in the middle lot above.

To the right I can add Schleich Lions and a Tiger to my earlier Leopard, which is nice! Some marked Safari dino's, a Reliable bear (well, he wasn't that reliable he waited until the last minute to show himself, leading to late-night candle burning to get this done), and what I think is another Zowie (Okapi), for the post/s I haven't forgotten!

While on the left the highlight is probably the soft-plastic copies of Johillco's hollow-cast (the red-blue-yellow pile middle left) cowboys and Indians. It's all grist to the mill!

And I hadn't finished; paying too much for the smaller pair of the poultry at 50p each and adding a bisque Santa Clause on deer. The two ducks and swanny-goosie thing are professionally-painted hollow-styrene, while Mr. Clause seems to be pinned to his saddle by a pair of particularly sharp and pointy-pointy-thigh-pierce-annointy antlers!

Received with thanks

As you will have been aware last week, Chris Smith went the extra-mile with 'pony-tail' and it's all sorted, to my chagrin! While Brain B sent more Gnomes, more firefighters and other bits along with the Dino' we've already slotted into a post earlier this week, he also sent several lots this week including more firefighters; many thanks to both.

And this morning I took delivery of a fat bundle of catalogues and ephemera from Peter Evans, so many thanks to him too!

And Finally;

Oh! A bag . . . bags are a whole different kettle-of-ball-game-fish to boxes; they have lurking lurgies and must be checked right down to the sock-end!

News, Views Etc . . . New Airfix Blog Page

Airfix - Modern British Infantry

I've added the Modern British Infantry to the Airfix Blog, the aim is to get all the 54mm pages at least started during the course of the year, with the readymade forts and vehicles next year - with any luck! I may even start to do a few pages; data tables, lists and the like.

M is for Mushy-mush Mushington!

Before the winter's entirely over and after seeing the story the other day about one of the big Northern 'mush' races struggling to find a course of the correct length than was snow, not mush, I thought these were timely after a fashion . . . or indeed a manner!

Not a patch on the sublime Britains Herald sledge team (which I don't have!), but aimed at a different price-bracket and consequently cruder, yet more robust, is the Timpo arctic sledge with Esquimaux/Inuit musher.

13 pieces (unlucky for some . . . especially if items are missing!) go together to make up the model, which was sold assembled. One of my dogs is the wrong pose, but one of his feet lines up with a hole in the base so I could bluff the assembled shot below.

It's a stunning piece, even it if lacks the subtlety of the Britains one, although you have to ignore the totally inaccurate arrangement of the dog-team, who are always in-line, lead by the pack leader and spaced so that they can't reach each-other with a bite!

The traces simply loop loosely over the dogs heads and given that both horse leathers and these dog-leads are known for their increasing brittleness these days, I was treating them with such care - so's not to break them - they kept popping off; as I got a couple over the heads one would come loose again, it was like a fiddly game of whack-a-mole!

The Britains set was different from the others by depicting Western explorers rather than native peoples, the green one is a Marx reissue and I think the brown one holding a fish aloft was by Ideal, also an American make, also a reissue?

The musher can take the same snow-shoes as the rest of the line, and; once equipped with a knife, makes a good bar-brawler or bear-fighter!

T is for Toy Fair 2020 Reports - Tobar

Tobar didn't have much on display this year, or at least not much new or exciting for the readers of this Blog (so this is another post with no inherent or actual urgency!), but if they were busy in December extricating from or protecting themselves from the fallout of the Hawkin's Bazaar collapse, they probably had other things on their minds?

They did have a set of dinosaurs, which are of interest only because we will be seeing them again twice - if I get all the Toy Fair 2020 reports out . . . in a vague and untimely manner!

In case I don't [get them out in a timeless fashion], I'll point-out now that the same weirdly decorated (mouldy birthday-cake? Cambazolasaurus?) stegosaurus (far left - bottom) was to be seen on both HGL (Grossmann)'s stand (top left) and in the inventory of Keycraft's 'Fumfings' (top right) pocket-money/rack toy lines.

I think we saw these last year (I shot them while I was talking to the sale manager about Erwin's bullshit re- both Schylling and Supreme!), but I thought we'd look at them again in such an untimed procedure as they are really rather good sculpts of fancy goldfish, for what are really 'only' simple bath/garden toys - except for the cartoon eyes perhaps! Note the differential between the unit price and the Recommended Retail Price (RRP)!

So, if you're timing the exercise; that's Tobar 2020! Did you see him this week; TJF? I don't live anywhere near Woking, and have mentioned Fleet so often we can only conclude he's a very stupid man. he then grandly announced a post of rare or unusual figures and showed us a bunch of mostly seen-before stuff, half of which was Dulcop, common as muck . . . common as Airfix . . . box-ticking!

The next day came two good'ish posts and I began to think they'd turned it round (the good ship shitestuff), but it all seems to have petered-out in the second half of the week, and that was with all of them running around like busy  bees! Sweet little Merkle Lickspittle was dispatched to buy the jeep I showed you a couple of weeks ago, and while it's lovely to know they use this Blog as their purchasing guide (that the whole point of the New Production News tag!), they then Blogged it without a brand, so what - exactly - was the point? To show that they can sit in my dust any-time; badly? We already knew that! Very stupid men, and one of them's a university type!

B is for Best Toy Ever? Working Machinegun

It's time for another Best Toy Ever post, and like the last one, thanks are due to Adrian Little (Mercator Trading) who took this along to a show where I was able to get a few shots off. Not 100% sure to the maker, but some of the ammunition resupplies are marked Märklin which is probably a good clue to the original maker too.

The contents were less than pristine having obviously been played with, well; you'd want to play with a best toy ever wouldn't you! Basically, it's a firing machine-gun, and I don't mean it makes a noise like a machinegun, I mean you feed it a belt of pre-loaded ammunition and it bangs . . .  as it fires rubber-bullets; it's too damn cool for the SF-Cadre!

A scaled-down feed mechanism and cap-firing hammer are operated by the turning of the handle, which is not far removed from the handle found on a Gatling Gun. Painting is similar to pre- or inter-war toys, but the two instruction sheets are cruder than you might expect from a 1930's toy, also at least one (the pink sheet above) seems to be that purpleish thing which I think we used to call  a 'roneo' (spell?) copy.

So I suspect it is just post-war? But using a pre-war tool, and painting style, just to get a product up and running in a blasted economy, and apart for the unconvincing clues to a post war sale, there's nothing in it.

This was the best bit! An exquisite chain of small brass turnings each of which can take a cap-gun charge at one end (top), and a rubber bullet at the other end (bottom), all tied together in a series of sort-of Morbius-loops or - more accurately - figure-of-eights, which allow for flexibility and a 'belt' feel, but which arrangement keeps the strings tight to the 'rounds' so they don't foul the mechanism, it's very clever!

The original bullets were small vulcanised rubber (tyre rubber) shells, but seem to have been replaced - due to loss - with small wooden splints which could be jammed in the blast hole between the cap-charge and the barrel, which must have worked because there were enough for the whole belt (with signs of jamming-in) which you wouldn't bother with if it all didn't work.

I couldn't try it as we had no caps on site, and you wouldn't want to break something like this if you hadn't paid for it, not to mention the cotton 'belt' arrangement looked like it might need replacing with some newer threads! But I can imagine what it must have been like spurting rubber death at ranks of composition or hollow-cast toy soldiers - best toy ever . . .

. . . 'till next time!

S is for Submarine - on a Card

I purchased this at the same time as the Tank in a Tin although it was a more reasonable pocket-money price of three-quid-odd I think? Also; it's the 3rd or 4th 4M thing to appear in the Blog now and I think I muttered 'up and coming' last time!

I love the card-art, an ocean filled with submarines like a school of dolphins, but then I guess a German wolf-pack would have looked something like that - if visibility in the North Sea was anything like an artist's imagination!

Because it's not that long since the last 'Subs' round-up I've no other images to fill the post with, so it's just a case of here it is; another bath toy, submarine. The slot for the coning-tower is slightly tapered so you can't put it back in the wrong way - helps the watch-officer navigate if he knows which way his 'fish' is pointing!

Shades of the old Kellogg's sub in the deck-slots and shades of another, more silvery modern one, in polystyrene (this one is propylene I think, with a nylon plug) which we've seen here before at Small Scale World, another novelty baking-soda submarine, or baking powder, it's all the same stuff!

Shipper's are Great Gizmos in the UK, Toysmith in the US and Playwell in Canada.

H is for Hugh's Handy Helpful Home Hobby Hints

I think I started this particular trope ages ago and it might have run to a 'part one' post, so this is probably only the second of Hugh's Handy Helpful Home Hobby Hints on Small Scale World!

You can go to a decent model shop (if you still have one near you) or you can go to a modelling supplies website and buy a pack of veneer sheets for whatever it costs, probably not a lot, but something, use them to create some scenic masterpiece and spend ages staining, dry-brushing and weathering it, or . . .

. . . you can check a wood-pile for old, weathered, de-laminated plywood sheeting, which can make excellent clap-board buildings, feather-edges fence-panels, split-rail fencing or various defence-works, or indeed anything wooden you may need in a diorama or as part of war-games scenery - mine workings, packing cases etc.

And (if it's not too rotted) it can be cut with scissors as well as a craft-knife, although the older stuff can be a bit crumbly! Non-crumbly stuff can be washed to get the worst of the lichen or algae off and once patted-dry can be re-flattened/straightened in a flower-press.

And it makes excellent fire-lighting material!