News, Views Etc . . . Retailer Links

I've edited the list of US Makers/Retailers 'North & South American Dealers' which mostly consisted of - sadly - deleting listings, the Home Page for one had changed and Tedtoy seems very dead, but the email is still there with a nice image so I've left it up for a while, but having deleted seven or eight the list is a lot shorter. Micshaun's closet has replaced TSSD.

So if anyone knows of sellers not on the list who they think ought to be, maybe they could let me know - USA, Canada and Mexico, Central or South America only; with an on-line presence/ordering system.

I will try to work on the other link lists in a similar fashion over the next few weeks so if you can think of any changes, point out any dead-links or think something/someone's missing who should be listed, let me know.

maverickatlarge[at]hotmail[dot]com

And here at SSW we're loving this new range from Wm Hocker!

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I've also added the enhanced/fuller abbreviation pages to the G-H-I and J-K-L Blogs, and will add the rest in the next day or two, I also fixed the D-E-F abbreviations page's glitch, which I wasn't aware of . . . I think!

'Albator' is for Space Pirate Captain Harlock

I don't know why the French changed his name to Albator, but he's far better known by anime/manga fan's in both Japan and the US as the Uchu Kaizoku (Space Pirate) Captain Harlock, and also in Italy where Atlantic had to produce boxes with both monikers, the French named example seeming to be far the commoner version on feebleBay!

These were produced by Fabien Plastica (I have little idea what else they made . . . Moomins and Sesame Street stuff, that sort of thing?) in 1978, off the back of the French version of the Harlock animated TV series.

Harlock had previously appeared as a Gunslinger in the American West (Gun Frontier; 1970), in space as Phantamunt Harlock (1970's The Great Pirate Harlock) where he began his career as a freedom-loving freebooter and as a WWII pilot in his first outing - 1969's Pilot 262, all created by Leiji Matsumoto and revealed to me by Helen McCarthy's 500 Manga Hero's & Villains which you may remember I grabbed in a charity shop, against such moments as this, a while ago!

They aren't that rare, when I got Nausicaa (from Chris Smith - cheers!) a while ago I looked at completing the set I'd been building for years and managed to get Albator/Harlock himself, rather tatty for a few pence off-of a UK seller, but there were several complete sets (only the five are known) on eBay.fr at the time.

However, even after he'd arrived (before Christmas) I couldn't post them as they were all over the place! The witch Sylvidre (Silvydra on Atlantic's boxes) originally Lafressia?) was an ID-lacking sorceress in the 'Unknown Fantasy Characters' box (she's been kicking around since 2009 I think), the boy (PW-show a couple of years ago?) and the doctor (John Begg, about 15-years ago) were in the 'Minor Makes F-J' box, and the more recent girl and captain were down with me; waiting for the sort-out the other night week which brought them all together!

The witch is almost demi-rond or semi-flat in her sculpting, while Nausicaa is, er'hem . . . very 3D! The doctor has what is best described as a 'hitler-cat' in his pocket, yet has quite animal-like feet himself and along with another character - not in this set - really is much smaller than the other Human/Humanoid characters.

Albator/Harlock on the other hand has been modelled oversized in comparison with the others, denoting his importance as the main character, and while we're told his gun ('Cosmo Dragoon' - based on the old Colt Dragoon) is a major part of his character, I rather like his space-laser-sword-raygun-thing with its basket-handle and pointy-pointy, space-death anointy, harpoony-tip!

There wasn't anything on Tadashi worth highlighting so I used him as a foil to the Crescent 'Berserker' for the sizer! Equally is he representative of Tadashi Daiba, Tadashi Monono, or Tetsuro Hoshino?

The bottoms of the bass-less feet have the same neat little holes in them as many of the Olá/Tito and Tylers/Mundi/Americana gum and ice cream premium figures, which may be a clue as to the real source? Remember the Comansi Lucky Luke have them too, as Olá scale-ups? Maybe Fabien Plastica was manufacturing-for or involved-with some/all of them?

This site . . .

http://www.cornponeflicks.org/harlock/harlockmain.html

. . . will tell you all you neeed to know about Harlock, but to grab a few details of most of the five characters in this set - in the order of the first image;

Dr Zero - Alcoholic ship's doctor, the cat in his pocket is supposed to be a ginger-tabby (not Hitler!) called Mi.

Kei Yuki (French; Nausicaa) - Sixteen-year-old staff officer on the Arcadia (Harlock's vessel; a Space Battleship), specialising in science and navigation, best friend (but not lover) of Tadashi Daiba.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock (French; Albator) - Rebelling against the right-wing government of Earth he takes his chances in Space at the helm of something closer to a freebooter than a true pirate vessel, he has some ethics and morals!

Tadashi - [read the character guide ofter the link-jump, he could be any one of three or four characters including two Tadashi's]

Lafressia (French; Sylvidre, Italian; Silvydra) - an alien witch queen who sparrs with Harlock (sometimes) in order to save her species; the Mazone and is not to be trusted, there may be confusion with Sunora (another Mazone) in the sculpting/naming/name-changes?

8th May - Geoff, who knows far more than me about this stuff, has them only being painted in Portugal, but made in Italy by Fabienplastica (all one word), more here with cleaner figures!

News, Views Etc . . . Vectis - April Sales

With my usual uselessness and lackadaisical approach to news and views, I forgot the Vectis sales dates changes, there is actually one of their Specialist Die-cast sales onging right this minute, but of more import is the Toy Soldier & Model Figure sale tomorrow, mostly new metal and quality old hollow-cast, and for which you can grab the catalogue here . . .

https://www.vectis.co.uk/auction/military-civilian-figures-equipment-accessories-790-1

. . . with dolls and bears on Wednesday and a private collection (Mecanno) and vintage toy sale on Thusday. Note there is no bidding or viewing in person, due to Covid-19, they are strictly on-line only.

CHANGES TO APRIL SALE DATES

Due to the ongoing situation we have delayed some of our Auction Sale dates for April. 

The new dates are as follows-

Monday 27th April            Specialist Diecast & Toy Sale

Lot 7298 - Pixyland Kew & The "Teddy" Toy Company Ltd

Tuesday 28th April - Military, Civilian Figures, Equipment and Accessories Sale - RE-SCHEDULED FROM TUESDAY 21ST APRIL 

Wednesday 29th April - Doll & Teddy Bear Sale - RE-SCHEDULED FROM WEDNESDAY 22ND APRIL  

Thursday 30th April - The Chris Freeman Meccano & Vintage Toy Collection - RE-SCHEDULED FROM THURSDAY 23RD APRIL 

PLEASE NOTE - THERE WILL BE NO VIEWING OR ATTENDANCE IN PERSON AT THESE SALES.

L is for Let's Make it a 'Space Day'!

Seen briefly in passing the other day, I took some more detailed shots as I love these 'pulp' space and/or futuristic vehicles, they don't look remotely sci-fi now, they just ooze 1950's matinee silliness! Indeed, it looks more like an experimental electric-trolley in a car plant or something, rather than a 21st century motorway-choker?

Not only did the pulp stuff reflect the 1950's, but it reflected the 1950's retro-referencing the 1920's art-deco movement or the 'jazz age', this is more Empire State than Palpatine's Empire, more Metropolis than Martian!

The flatbed is slightly too short to take the little car we've seen before and I don't know if it came with any load? Often these 'dime-store' vehicles were sold lose from counter/shelf display boxes and there is usually a few different vehicles in a similar style, but a cursory-look hasn't found much on this one; a similar tanker was all I could find?

The 'U.S.A.' has been removed, but the Ideal remains, suggesting a UK or European partner was leant or given the mould, probably the Leicester thread of the Ideal Empire? Scale is a hard one, what sort of engines will they have in the future-past of the 1920's, is it a light utility vehicle or a heavy planetary-expedition vehicle with crew-cab?

Going on the windows (and the little car) it's a large lorry/truck vehicle in 1:72nd scale, but going on the contemporary die-casts, a 1:43rd'ish van! Also it's a soft polyethylene where you'd expect the US production of the time to be hard styrene or something less stable!

And similar to the larger (and nicer!) Archer vehicle Geoff posted the other-day.

G is for Going . . . Going . . .!

A cheap segue to look at the Hilco space figures, but there you are; I'm clearly a manipulative bastard! No, I thought there were similarities between my broken unknown spaceman and the Hilco figures (although I think 'technically' these were/are the full "Johillco"?), not least that he's in the same state as most of them, who are getting increasingly brittle!

He is similar to one of the [Jo]Hilco figures, but probably only because both are channeling the100-odd-mm  Archer 'space' grenade-thrower (looks like a foam or Velcro lawn-dart!) pose. The picture on the right is from a series I took in 2012 and destined for a future post, the guy on the left has (at time of shooting) just had his weapon's tip glued back on . . . ohhh! Misses!

Because this is how I found them - for the second time in recent years! The kneeling guy was OK and the shooter just needed a little work on his . . . err . . . tool! But panic-central guy was in a hell of a state! The two yellow arrows show previous mends, and getting the left hand guy back together was exactly like working with chalk.

How they look now (March 30th), and they won't move until I've bought a box of cotton-wool, at which point the bubble-wrap will be replaced with a bed of the stuff, and a second layer will be placed over them, thick enough to hold them firm when the lid pushes it down, but not so wadded it breaks them again!

I shot these on Adrian's table at Sandown Park's toy fair (back in 2012), you can see the kneeling guys tend to survive (with care) and fifty-years from now he'll be the only pose in collectors' collections! But the waist of the robot is a definite weak-point.

I thought I had a robot, as I remembered gluing one (at the waist), but I think I must have mended some of JB's years ago. In the meantime I shot this guy when I posted all the robots a while ago, and as well as the comparison/group shots, I posed him separately (as I must have subconsciously known I didn't have him?), so we have four poses and a broken duplicate in the whole image.

I don't know how many there are altogether; the early PW guidebook (B&W editions) have a similar figure with a base which they think isn't from the set, while the full-colour edition has a very nice pre-production test-shot never released (which looks to be in a non-chalky, therefore, lasting polymer), along with a walking figure which takes the set-count to five?

Also, despite the Hilco/Johillco comments at the start I wonder if they were only ever Cherilea? Firstly; Cherilea are known for their early, chalky, explosively-brittle shite and secondly while these are from Johillco hollow-cast moulds, later, Cherilea also issued them in hollow-cast . . . looked at here, where a sixth pose is the crawling figure.

There are also two (Cherilea-only) monsters (a cata-slug and a running gecko-dragon thing) neither of which have I ever seen in plastic? However, I think I have seen the rocket and separate launch-ramp in plastic? Joplin adds a Buck Rogers Treen-type and a vending-bot, along with a seventh 'human' (the plastics are always painted as green 'Martians') spaceman holding a dumbbell aloft! Joplin believes the boxy-bot and 7th humanoid never went to Cherilea.

But it's not clear when the mould went to Cherilea, and what packaging any Hill plastics might have appeared in, but for Cherilea to issue them in late space boxes already printed for the hollow-cast figures seems sensible?

Wilfred Cherrington is credited with designing these, and it may be that - with or without permission (?) - he took the mould as part of his severance from Hill, which would make the plastic figures a Cherilea thing.

Summing up of the preceding text!

M is for More of a Ramble than a Return!

We looked at these a while ago here, when I got my main sample, both carded and loose, but since then a few more have joined the 'legion' and more details have emerged which change the narrative slightly, so we'll have a meander through  them . . .

. . . starting with the most recent additions, which are two of the original (except they aren't 'original' anymore!) Legione Spaziale (Space Legion) figures from the previous post; an orange one and a fleck-marbled yellow one, along with two much better versions - in the 'proper' pulp-era metallics!

New ones added (orange asterisks) to the rest I already had, along with a bronze one kicking about and with a helmeted bronze version in the poorer sculpt-finish of the [not] originals, gives me six poses and three generations; poor, not-so-poor with helmet (1) and good (2).

But what we saw previously is only half the story, the better moulded ones are the originals, the poor ones are complete piracies, even down to . . .

. . . the packaging! They are a little bigger and it's a tighter-cropped image, so they appear even bigger, but basically one set - on the left - is a pulp-era set (1950/60's), the other is a cheaper fake (and that's the correct term when you're copying the product and the artwork), designed to look like the original, possibly as late as the mid-late 1970's?

That was sort of 'it', as while I had these two images and was pretty sure that they were mine and that they were the small copies (they are a mix of old Archer and Premier/Tudor Rose poses) I couldn't find them, so I didn't know for sure!

The blue guy is the Premier/Tudor Rose pose; also covered by a company in Australia - if memory serves - in the larger scale.

Then - looking for them - I managed to find two lots, which with the new pair and the bronze 'kicker' gave me twelve, or a small shed-load! Which I haven't photographed as they are only the three poses and the information is in the other images above and below, but I'll show them in the future when I've found all the poses in the better sculpts.

I also found the Christmas cracker prize ones, and another oddity, so thought 'fuck it' and grabbed the Lido (et al) box while I was at it . . .

. . . to get this comparison of smaller 'pulp' spacemen done! We'll look at the helmeted one (unknown I) in a second, while the blue one with an added base (unknown II; ee's 'armless! Or; it's der Milo from Venus!) will be back in the next post, the rest are - hopefully - annotated with clarity?

The Post premiums are the smallest, while the cracker giveaways are heading toward a standard size, the rest are less than half the size of the Archer and Glencoe (Archer re-issues) sets - which we will look at another day, with the originals (a) slightly taller than the copies (b and unknown I).

I saw another of these the other day, same colour, same helmet foxed with a tub of glue-fumes, different pose (but from the six), so I suspect (guess, assume, presume, imagine!) that A) he was/they were possibly a single thing, bubble-gum, cereal, pasta? Something like that, and probably Italy (as per the other two versions) or France, and B) is the original of the multicoloured copies, being ever-so-slightly better detailed, but much worse that the true originals, i.e.; the chronologically second of the three versions, and the first of the two generations of piracies.

So, someone made the original Legione Spaziale and may have given them helmets (which have been lost?) but I've never seen them, then someone-else copied them, with badly or heavily glued-on helmets (which do survive!) and issued them singly (?) as some kind of premium/giveaway or capsule/pocket-money toy? Then a while later; they (or a third party) found (or obtained) the tool (of the copies) and re-released them in candy-colours without helmets (there were no helmets in the big stock-bags from which my previously-seen sample came from) on a copy card of the original Space Legion. But . . . that is all, mostly conjecture?

Ghosts in the machine!

I is for Intermediate Scales - 40mm Wild West; Introduction

The following image is the comparison shot for the three posts which should have appeared immediately below it.

Both images consist of a Merten 40mm Wild West figure on the far left of the line-up, followed by - from left to right - an early Culpitt's cake decoration with separate base, also issued as carded rack-toys in France by Jouets Super Plastic (JSP) shipped into Portugal by Injectaplastic, a late Culpitt's version with integral base, a - probably Hong Kong - copy of Atlantic in that tinny plastic of the 1990's and a similar Waddington's clone - except it may not be a clone, but more on that in the relevant post below this, so scroll down if you want more on all four types.

I couldn't find the Elastolin box, so I couldn't add one each on the right of the line-up, as I had intended, but they are much-of-a-muchness with the Merten's, only Elastolin's sculpts tent to be slightly sharper in the sculpting/finish.

I is for Intermediate Scales - 40mm Wild West; M is for Macau

It's also for Injectaplastic of Portugal, Jouets Super Plastic of France, and - as we know them here - Culpitt's the cake decoration people. We looked at them years ago, and as far as the figures go I haven't got much to add, but hopefully the imagery is a little better this time . . . or at least - I think we've seen them before, but finding the old image un-cropped in the dongle folder, I'm not so sure, and  - in case I don't have time to check - I've added it to the end of this post.

So - the Indians or Native Americans first, and the upper row are the earlier versions, the lower two rows are the latter ones, possibly only issued as cake decorations, but the more we learn about all this stuff the more they turn-up elsewhere as something else or claiming to be someone else's!

The separate-based set has more poses and are slightly larger/better etched and - as stated - here in the UK were cake decorations handled by Culpitt, on the continent however they were imported by Injectaplastic of Portugal, and - through their packaging - we know they were made in Macau (a 'free' colony (similar to Hong Kong and just along the coast from it . . . also 'handed back' at around the same time?), they probably also supplied the sets branded to JSP over the Pyrenees mountains in France?

Unlike the cowboys we'll look at in a mo', the Indians are pretty original is sculpt/posing, with a slight nod to other makers in the spear-thrower and maybe the chief?

From an evilBay-lot a while ago, the Jouets Super Plastic set from France, as almost certainly supplied by Injectaplastic, these sets don't have any more poses, but they do have various accessories including both a teepee (or tipi) and a totem-pole, both of which seem to equate to the 'eighth pose'. There was also a camp fire and the fort, along with some rock piles which were issued with both cowboy or Indian cards.

Note the different coloured trousers on one figure, from the 'UK paint-scheme'?

The cowboys; here there are eight poses, and a definite Marx influence to most of the poses, from the larger 4 and 6" figures - much copied, particularly in Hong Kong? Unlike the Indians, the cowboys get different-coloured bases, with consistency between pose and base . . . or at least there was consistency before the green ones which match the Indians started turning-up! They're possibly Portuguese/French examples (?) and the two in the full row always have green bases, so it's not an exact science!

The upper row are darker fleshed (possibly Injectaplastic/JSP) and seem older, below them the full row is Culpitt, then the replacements with the moulded bases and finally a set which seem to have an all-over tan paint (on tan plastic!) before the other-colour highlights to match the usual scheme?

Each generation gets paler flesh . . . they go from the harder tanning of the early figures to almost white!

Backs and bases, the drummer and the native woman could almost be used as pencil-toppers, but I think it's just a material-saving device on the part of the manufacturer?

I may have shown you this already? Anyway; I showed more colour variations but in a less clear fashion and with the earlier figures in the centre of a sort of exploded graphic or pictogram. And with a smaller sample in those days (shot was taken in 2009) the separate base cowboys are a mix of [what might be] earlier and later figures.

I is for Intermediate Scales - 40mm Wild West; Atlantic Copies

Presumably Hong Kong but unmarked so no guarantee, they are however in that tinny polyethylene which was quite prevalent in the rack-toys of the late 1980's and 90's and follow the style (and size bracket) of figures from DFC and others.

Copies of Atlantic, most from Laws and Outlaws, one (lasso) from the Cowboys on the Ranch sets, the forth figure is purported to be Wild Bill Hickock and is the only 'character' figure copied from the Atlantic sets to this effort.

The colours are a greyish-white (showing bluish in the above image) and a pure white (creamier above)which seems to be the commoner, but that could just be the serendipitous or coincidental way they've come in?

The Indians also run to six poses, taken half-and-half from the two Sioux specific sets; Torro Seduto Sitting Bull (smoke signaller and the two heavily-armed warriors) and Sioux Camp. Colours are brown and blue, with the brown seeming far more common but the same caveat applies.

Some other buggers effort, painted to a 'toy soldier level' it gives you some idea of how these would paint-up - he's clearly not to be engaged in an argument!

I wanted to add an HO one, but could only find the cavalry/ACW over-spill and they have no sitting figures, so it's just Torro' himself, which is not the best comparison, as he's huge, closer to 60mm size (1:30) than the stated 1:32nd scale!

I is for Intermediate Scales - 40mm Wild West; Ex-Waddington's 'Battle of the Little Big Horn'

Very similar to the next set (above; or click 'newer post' below) and equally unmarked and equally Hong Kong production-looking are these Battle of Little Big Horn clones of the old Rojas e Malaret sculps, except I suspect they aren't clones so much as a late running of the final tool of the two or three we saw here.

Whether the mould was in Hong Kong or was moved to Hong Kong is - currently - anybody's guess, just because some people have attributed HK without recourse to evidence or caviat is not really the point, the figures exist and while those late painted ones 'look' Hong Kong'y, there is nothing to say either way!

Indeed; these may be from a late version of the board game, paint is not necessary for 'playing counters' and while I've never seen a set with these, equally I've never seen a carded or bagged rack toy with them either?

They could just as easily have been run as cake decorations, the same as those very frangible Triang-Minimodels ones - who also have unpainted versions. Note: the second shade of brown.

There is a clear difference is in the horses where there are various horse colours (and I must thank Gareth from Morgan Miniatures for putting a few of these - foot & mounted - aside for the Blog recently), but I don't think there is any import by it, beyond a bit of variation.

The real American [not a] Hero who gets to be massacred again and again and again and again and again and again and again . . . although when I say 'massacred' I mean taught a lesson by the locals "Never go south of the River if you're not properly tooled-up and ready for trouble" . . . . everybody knows that, ask a taxi-driver!

P is for Plastic Power . . . ♪♫ I Gotta' I Gotta' I Gotta' Jigga' Jig-Jig . . . Yeah! ♪♪

There are moments when you struggle to believe you've done something, and at Sandown Park the other day week month one of those moments overtook my ability to escape them and I bought a twelve-inch doll in order to add a one-inch doll to the collection!

A crime; a sin; a monumental act of stupidity I have still to fall-for a possible four-more times! Still, it's a while since we added a Galoob to the tag list, and getting the Spice Girls into the metadata won't hurt traffic!

Probably my favourite spice-girl (if I have one?), Posh was a haughty, humorless, thin-lipped tart, Baby was . . . well; a baby! Scary wasn't and Ginger was a bit OTT, but little Mel C was just a spunky Liverpudlian with a bit of attitude and 'up fer'it, jahnowhatahmeeen yer scally!'

Years ago, we had half a pallet of these to shift at the on-line auction house I worked for and they were bloody hard work, with a 99p start-price 'business-model' at the firm, we let a lot go for 99p, even whole sets of five, some people got mega-bargains!

I nearly got my mate JB to bid on a lot for me at the time, but I couldn't bring myself to subject him to the ignominy of taking delivery of-, or providing house-room for- five Spice Girl dolls! I did get him to bid successfully on the Star Wars stuff we were selling at the same time!

I daren't check what they go for now, but suffice to say I paid too much for it, I won't be telling you what that was, and you can be assured that everything bar the little figure was dropped into the Blue Cross animal-charity shop last Monday [last, last, last, last, last, last, last Monday now]! Sometimes you have to cut your losses and run, to save face; not with your mates, but with the chap in the mirror!

The little figure, however, is in the collection for keeps, I've been waiting for them to turn-up in mixed lots since I first became aware of them, and that was so long ago I gave up waiting and bought a whole caboodle a fortnight ago, just to get one!

Marked with a number and based to match the later combat infantry and Star Wars Micro Machines, the Galoob DNA is clear and as a standalone figure, just a young civilian woman; suitable for O-gauge railways! I wonder if that's where they all are; waiting for trains!

By now you've worked-out that each of the Spice Girl dolls comes with its own doll, the packing of which mirrors the packing of the larger dolls box, I still have four to locate and that's it . . . a bit horrid, but it had to happen - Toys is toys . . . all of them!