H is for How They Come In - Week 17

I had another parcel of lovely things for the Blog arrive just after lockdown, from Peter Evans which included a gnome-village starter kit! Sadly I haven't the necessary planning-permission paperwork to begin development here, but they will be a future project!

Normally coming at the end of these posts, she was in there so quickly I'd only got the outer tape cut, so she helped herself to the packaging!

The only way to alleviate the situation was to send her on an early tea-break and surrender possession of the bag Peter had used as packing in the end of the box, which she 'trophied' in her 'nest'

Leaving me free (without assistance!) to sort the plunder parcel into photogenic piles of plastic peeps!

We're looking at most of it below, the two animals 'on card' are from Poundland, and I had purchased a sample myself (luckily a different pair), so they'll be a separate post in the next week or so (I'm busy in the garden!). There were some more of the Kinder superheros as well, and a HK Teepee, along with the Gnome House which will be backdrop to a Gnome 'round-up' - maybe in the winter.

Three from the Gnome starter kit and - would you believe it; so soon after the last 'round-up' - but another Spanish terracotta figurine, this one a traffic-cop to add to the officer and gendarmerie we've seen recently. While the guardsman is unusual; I'm assuming he's a garden ornament . . .

. . . due to the long stick or spike? It's made from some weird pressure-rolled fibreglass/resin compound, which is literally harder than steel, if it was a steel bar I would be able to bend it further than I can in the material it is made of! I can see a couple of hack-saw blades going to recycling in the eventual removal?

Alongside a close-up of Mr Motorcycle Policeman! One day I'll have to do a comparison with the diminutive EKO riders!

These are lovely! They come to enhance landscaping/scenery kits as part of the educational range from Scene-A-Rama. When Peter said they were in the Toyway catalogue I though "Where, I didn't see them?", but that's because they weren't illustrated, so anyone who fancies a set needs to be finding WSP4445 American Civil War Soldiers from the Scene Setters line. Currently $10.99 plus shipping from Woodland Scenics and Amazon (US).

They are 28/30mm compatible, which blew my idea of comparing them with the Merten and Elastolin ACW's, but a comparison with Spencer Smith would be so one-sided as to be not worth the digging in the attic!

A nice selection of clones, I'd spent 30-odd years collecting the small-scale clones but it's taking a while to get on top of the larger ones as there are so many, but lots like this (Chris Smith has sent a bunch recently too - post coming) are building a bigger picture and/or filling the gaps which can be matched-up to other imagery from shelfies, the old trade catalogues or web-pages.

The seated guy is an Italeri kit-figure I think, while the intermediate scale Matchbox 8th Army is new, and possibly a sub-copy of Wing Lung's similar figure

Modern vinyl; with a nice police-dog and handler from Dacron/Wings et al! The astronaut is from a RedBox space-set I shelfied a while back (No I didn't, it's still to come I think, we looked at a Johntoy one with very similar figures, so similar they may be RedBox too!), the Galoob will join his mates and the pink one will be in a big post one day.

I think they're Carama (I have the notes somewhere) but they were contract manufactured back in the 1990's for both Tesco and Sainsbury's supermarkets, Woolworths and then their late branding as Chad Valley (just before the collapse back in 2009), all here in the UK, along with other brands in Europe, each lot having different base-markings (to reflect contracts or batches?) and coming in three or four sizes, some commoner that others (the 'German' firefighter standing being the most common; in all sizes and several paint treatments), so there's still much work to be done before they get a proper Blogging.

Two 'Disney' princesses pose before the walls of Archie McFee! One or both may or may not be Phidal, generic, or capsule toys, time WILL tell!

I think these are from one of the bulk assortments from Preiser, but the qulity isn't there in the sculpting/finish, and I thought - so soon after Blogging the Pyro's - that they make a good, generic, ship's crew! Which they may turn-out to be?

In the shenanigans with Girly-girl, I looked over my shoulder and took a quick snap of the ongoing pile! The remains of the Wild West sorting, the ongoing parachute page stuff, a large bag of lions, a Pyro/Kleewar/Lido sort-out, Chris's parcel and some other stuff!

Many thanks as always to Peter, who has already sent another lot, mostly for Rack Toy Month! I also have to get on with a PW178 review as 179 has already dropped heavily onto the door-mat . . . and it's a cracker!

News Views Etc . . . All Sorts of Stuff Piling Up!

It's been raining! Sadly only a pathetic drizzle so I'll have to water tomorrow, the grass - both the verges and the lawn - are looking like they did last July, or do in an average August, but we're only  a few days beyond May, and while it's fun to joke about this year being one of "Floods, Fires and Pestilence already, what's next; Aliens?", the fact is the weather in the last few years has become increasingly erratic and severe, and that the 33% who still think Trump's doing a good job, that the 46% who voted for the Tories (who've spent 41 years dismantling the post war 'deal'), those lumpen, meat-faced reactionaries who don't want to listen to experts, have failed to understand what's actually happening!

Anyway, it meant I could get some toy stuff done, and there's a post scheduled for tomorrow, things have sort of piled-up and I'll have to clear the decks a bit, PW178 needs a review as 179 is here already, while Peter has sent me two lots since I last Blogged H is For...'s; so one's next, then I have  a nice lot from Chris Smith with some very interesting bits and bobs, some shelfie stuff, loads of Toy Fair posts (but obviously I'm dragging them out for as long as I can!! Maybe forever?) and various other things including most of the stuff I mentioned last time as I haven't got round to that either!

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In the meantime here's a few links to interesting stuff

Pollution

Old hat but worth a reminder from time-to-time, every action has a reaction and all that!

Found Objects

Ongoing development of Poznań’s Rynek Lazarski district unearths Toy Soldiers

Power Rangers

Fun factor of 100% here!

Videos

• I'm not sure if this one has been on Moonbase, but I found it looking for something else!

• While this is the little girl who wants army-girls! (Yahoo)

Sci-Fi on Tor!

Lovely article on modelling and gaming with science-fiction miniatures here

Mattel Made M16's!

Nooooooooooooooot! But it's an good tale with a link to the Duke!

The Times Magazine on Toy Soldiers?

You have to subscribe to actually read it, so I can't say how good it may or may not be, it might be the last word on the subject, it might be a faux-humorous puff-piece! If you subscribe to The Times, let us know!

My Modern Met

Now I'm back on Faceplant (blame Covid-19!), these keep popping-up in my feed as I subscribed years ago!

• Japanese Miniatures
• French Minatures ( I posted this on FB's 'Freinds of PW' the other day)
  
• Fantastical Behemoths (may have had this one before, we've had the artist, but I think it was his 'Church Tanks' last time?)
• Yoga Joes (now in rainbow-colour sets, still cost too much; the .gif's fun!)

And they all tend to have further, related links at the bottom of the page.

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Toys in the Media

Both culled from Faceplant, both financial advert stuff, both probably Preiser, both seem to be the same figure, both following a long-shadow trope; so either the same PR-firm or the same image library? The latter brings to mind the frailty of all;

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Obituaries

Plastic Warrior Magazine 178 carried the sad news that Stewart Asquith had passed away (many tributes here), he was of greater importance to the wargaming and modelling-publishing arms of our extended hobby universe, but I know he always kept in touch with the PW team and contributed to both PW and 1"W, he will be missed by many, while Issue 179 had the equally sad news that we've lost Roy Dilly, big in Toy Soldiers and author of several books in my library, there's a memorial thread here, and the equally sad news that Les White has left us, he of all those conversion articles in PW itself, while a collector unknown to me has an obit' here Kenneth Jones, Cederhurst, Columbia, USA - all a bit grim I think you'll agree.

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Other Toy News

• Toy sales have surged during lockdown, but the bulk has been online which might prove bad news for retailers going foward?
• Toy Soldiers the platform game has announced a new version is coming . . . Toy Soldiers II!
• Basket of Toy Soldiers here
• The Cartamundi-owned Hasbro board-game factory in Boston, Massachusetts has converted to making facemasks for the Covid-19 fight.

Q is for Question Time - A is for Are They Kleeware?

You may remember the last in the series of posts from last-year's Sandown Park shows . . . checks . . . no, this February's; included a whole bag of mini- and micro-aircraft, the mini's having some properties in common with early Airfix production, but no evidence to link them so I'm leaving them for a while - I've seen them (mostly silver) on evilBay recently described as Tudor Rose, Kleeware and Tudor Rose/Kleeware, so no consistency or agreement there!

But I said I had different types of the smaller 'micros' and would return to them - this is that return, but it really only serves to clear things to the colour of mud!

The 'common sculpts'

The sample I had here turned out to be two, a few in with the aircraft and a few more in the Kleeware crate? Now, I'm quite a diligent collector and don't tend to put things in accredited 'zones' of the collection unless I've had some evidence they belong there, so we will proceed along the lines that, on one level, they were Kleeware or I have been led to believe such by one of the 'Old Guard!?

However it's never as simple as that with this early 'dime-store' plastic; All three of the samples just mentioned have only four sculpts, namely - as written on the upper wings and listed from left to right in the above image:

• ·         Navion - NC-37104 (the Ryan (originally North American) Navion)
• ·         DC-6 - NC-10747 (Doulas C-118 Liftmaster in United States Air Force service and as the R6D in the US Navy)
• ·         DC-3 - NC-1149W (Douglas C-47 Skytrain in military service; the 'Dakota' in Empire/RAF service)
• ·         C-69 - NC-6461H (the C-69 in military service, the Lockheed L-049, L-649 and L-749 Constellation in civil service)

Navion - NC-37104

North American/Ryan 'Navion'

But . . . the cereal premium site (1957 - Shredded Wheat Cubs Air Fleet Model Planes Free in Packets) have three of the same aircraft along with several (an unknown total?) others, the additions being:

• ·         XF-89 Jet
• ·         F-80 (?)
• ·         Canberra
• ·         Hawker Hunter
• ·         Vickers Valiant
• ·         DH Sea Venom
• ·         Vulcan
• ·         Folland Gnat
• ·         Sabre
• ·         English Electric Lightning

Based on the two different sculpts of Shooting Star visible? [The addition of the Constellation would give a fourteen count? The X-15; fifteen!]

You may remember that we saw a damaged Lightning in this post, which also contained a soft plastic DC3, which I now assume is one of the cereal premiums? However, my lightning is hard polystyrene, while Cluck doesn't list them at all?

DC-3 - NC-1149W

Douglas C-47 'Skytrain' / 'Dakota'

In America, Lido are credited with a set of five:

The Constellation, DC3, and Navion from the common 'menu', the F-94 (Lockheed Starfire; the same sculpt as Nabisco's XF-89) and an X-15 (North American 'X-plane'; the fastest air-craft ever!). The source also credits Irwin sculpts to Lido, so can't be taken as the 'last word' on the subject?

But they are acknowledged to have copied them from Caldwell/Empire, who presumably got the tool as a mould-share from Kleeware (or whoever was the originator of the expanded 'Nabisco' line), but did themselves add the XF-89 as a fifth - with/to the common four.

C-69 - NC-6461H

Lockheed L-049 / L-649 / L-749 'Constellation'

Now, the previous link's post was part of an MPC round-up, and some of the aircraft types are in their 'MPC Minis' set, but only a couple of them and in different sizes/sculpts, given they were all - in the most part - well-known 'planes in the popular imagination at the time, that's as far as I believe any connection with MPC goes.

Note also - the different lengths of the engine nacelles, some extending back to the wheels others not . . . possibly a tool-cavity thing, and a feature shared with the DC-3 mouldings.

DC-6 - NC-10747

Doulas C-118 'Liftmaster' / R6D

Another question is; what is the significance of the 'NC' coding on the hard-plastic forms found here, the codes are present on the three (probably; all four) duplicated in soft plastic for the Nabisco set, but none of the other 10/11 (?) seem to have one, some being unmarked, some having a full title spread over both wings?

I can't think of a toy firm offhand who would fit, but neither is it an early London postal zone (pre-postcodes); it would be 'North Central' which never existed, although once there were calls for one; it became N1C!

However, before moving to Durham (via a castle? Bit of topical humor there!), Kleeware's factory was in the Welwyn Garden City 'new-town', a minute or two's walk from the Nabisco Shredded Wheat factory (and near ICI's plastics plant) . . . well fancy that - as Private Eye would say!

The reason I said we'd return to them is that I knew I has some differences between the samples, even before remembering the soft plastic one. Some have a marked dimple which is part-spherical and might take a ball (from a ball and socket type joint) as part of a stand arrangement?

Some have two smaller but similar depressions at either end of the slot common to all, while the example on the far right (Lido) has two obvious mould-release pin-marks, although also retaining the slot . . . which is a notable factor as . . .

. . . the Lido sculpt - as stated - is a copy, not - as you might expect - a mould share? It's a good one, as it's almost same size, but the fine detail is slightly cruder and the wing-tips fatter.

Which is odder when you consider the evidence for direct mould/product share between Lido (and Pyro) and Kleeware on other occasions, and it may well be that Lido had permission to use the Empire product as the basis for their own?

As in - with the knowledge of the sender, and it's worth remembering that the mould-sharing which went on was due to US economic tariffs, and that therefore in may have been far more expensive for them (US firms) to receive moulds, than to lend them?

We did look it all up years ago on the HäT Industrie forum -  the page is long deleted - but a few aircraft could be exchanged at a toy fair or international convention and 'smuggled' past 'homeland security', moved via the Canadian office (of Kleeware), via Empire or just sent in a small parcel as gift/samples?

Lightning and Orphan 'Scooting Star'!

So; we haven't learnt much, but it would seem that someone (probably Kleeware) had a tool or tools with mini-aircraft sculpts, of which four seem commoner (and multi-cavity?) than the (probably fourteen, possibly fifteen) Nabisco cereal premiums, that Lido in the US carried three of them, after Empire; probably as pantographed, re-etched/re-finished copies with two additional marques, that some hard plastic copies of the soft plastic premiums have turned up and . . . err . . . that's about it!

But if the Kleeware attribution is accepted for now and/or proved in the future, it will make my provisional attribution of the 'other' set to Airfix a little stronger, as there aren't that many hooks to hang these particular hats on?

As you can see I dug the Lightning out, late; it's hard 'styrene, clearly with a different sculpting style (raised panel lines, sharper edges) and marked on the underside only, as the first of two prototypes which reads 'pia' to the eye, but is 'P-1a'. I also found another of the 'stars', marked USA, but I don't know who made it, it's clearly a Shooting Star, but has 'Scooting' on the wing!

A table, pulling the above together as a sort of check-list for anyone wanting to track them all down. However, you will need to find polyethylene and polystyrene versions of both the Nabisco and Lido sculptings?

And you can bet there'll be Aussie/NZ or Canadian versions/colours somewhere!!!

S is for Smart Toys

In the recent parcel from Chris Smith was another one of the 25mm versions of these (he sent most of the others previously), and I'd just seen the Smart Toys box tucked-away in the garage, so I dug it out and shot my small sample for a box-ticker, as I think I mentioned them when doing the PVC round-ups last  . . . October?

I encountered them in the mid/late-1990's as HO-gauge compatible sets of civilian farm and construction vehicles, or Micro-machine clones, both with HO figures of the 18/20mm bracket. These are some of the military sets in the two sizes I found them.

Plant, with some of the civilian figures, there is a definite parallel with the contiguous production of New Ray at the time, and there may be some cross-fertilisation, but I suspect just 'copying' for the same market/price-points?

A couple of tractors from the farm range and a blister of aggregate piles, clearly aimed at the model railway layout people, what you would do with that many identical piles is anyone's guess, but the sculpting is so crude and lumpy they could double for potato's or sugar-beet on a farm . . . with a bit of paint!

Every military set in the 20mm range came with a tent bearing a red-cross on one end, so they will be a feature of mixed lots till the dusk of time!

In the meantime the marked figures in a 28/30mm bracket have started turning-up in loose lots, and I've found a few of the vehicles (to look at, not buy) on feebleBay; an odd mix of late Cold-War stuff in approximately 1:72nd scale - German Unimog, French-looking tanker-lorry (ex-civilian?) that kind of thing, I haven't found heavy AFV's yet?

Both samples are of limited pose-range, and one suspects that as a pocket-money/rack-toy line, they weren't expected to gather in 'collected' numbers, but rather to be more impulse/pester-power purchases at checkouts or in corner shops (where I was picking them up back at the time? And rather nicely showing how a smaller size allows for a larger campaign!

The smaller figures are definitely aimed at Galoob Micro Machines customers, the larger ones are not so close to either size of the 'believed to be' Pioneer we looked at last time, so more stand-alone? Obviously the MG fits in a vehicle mount, but is super-glued to the operator's hands!

New Petition on 38degrees

I've started a petition on 38degrees to have Dominic Cummings sacked, please sign and share if you've had enough of his arrogance and heartless disregard for you and yours. [case closed!]

Sack Dominic Cummings

Why is this important?

If This cretinous buffoon with his obvious contempt for the people, the electorate, the Civil Service and the media, his total disregard for democracy, Parliament or the rule of law and his terrible wardrobe isn't dismissed forthwith, the contract between people and state will be irrevocably broken, and the Covid-19 legislation rendered no more than equivalent to the lavatory-paper which was in such short supply as the government dithered a few short weeks ago.

Update - Still Sack Dominic Cummings!

There would appear to be some rule at 38degrees that you can't call a cretinous person 'cretinous', or at least you can, but not in a petition! No matter, I only started my petition because I couldn't find one on 38degrees, the reason for which is that they won't allow one . . . because he's unelected! However, had I looked harder, I would have found the Change.org petition with the same aim which being a couple of days older has reached 200,000+ 400,000+ signatures and I would urge you to sign that one instead.

http://chng.it/P2H8b8kKPs

I'm currently listening to his self-justifying bollocks press-statement and he doesn't quite seem to understand that millions of other people had equally (or BETTER) reasons for breaking the Covid-19 legislation, but CHOSE NOT TO! And you can hear in his voice how sorry he feels - for himself! Sack him. Peston could barely get his question out he was so stunned by the brazenness of it all!