S is for [Mostly] Seen Elsewhere - Combat Types

So, a quick round-up of WWII'ey or Modernish stuff most of which I've posted elsewhere in the last twelve months or so, but a couple of which are here for the first time.

A couple more Polish figures, I've actually scored three lots, which we will look at in other posts, but this pair were my first two of the 'Four Tankers & a Dog', Polish TV/Movie related set from PZG, so they were posted with pride a while ago!

Flying West we find this chap (pink) as a Portuguese cereal premium, now, I thought I'd posted these here, but I can't find them, neither can I find any group shots in Picasa, or from the Faceplant Group where I posted this shot, so I don't know what happened to them, but there are more to come (four I think?), currently in storage . . . un-photographed?

Heading South on the same continent finds us in Italy where these could be Jumbo, but are more likely to be Dulcop given the lack of paint. I have Jumbo (or Jumbotoys) marked Wild West with paint, these - unpainted - are just marked Italy and were, I suspect, used by both brand-marks.

Staying in Italy, and we're back with Co-Ma (Coma, CO'MA), for their smaller Alpini, also available in a 60mm'ish size and various bright colours (white and red in my case), and a vary diminutive '20mm' closer to HO, these are a smallish 50mm and more realistic in polymer shade.

Returning home to the UK and we have the shooting targets from Kleeware/Ideal, courtesy of Chris Smith, we've seen them before, and on that occasion I also showed the Ideal catalogue image, but now I've found the Kleeware one . . .

. . . which has not been seen elsewhere, so is a 'blog exclusive'! I mean; it's just a scan and I seem to recal it's been seen in Plastic Warrior magazine, but it closes the circle on these, since their first appearance here!

Also not seen before, I shot the full Britains Deetail 'Battle Group' while they were on their way to the storage unit, we saw most of them when I cleaned them up a decade ago, but there are a few additions, and they nicely fill a 4-litre Really Useful Box. I've left the painted Afrika Korps officer with them, but he's a bit shy!

These two only came-in the other day; a quick feeBay snaffle, you may remember (it's on the Airfix Blog) that my existing bazooka man was cobbled together from a kit of parts and a lot of 'superglue', these two are nice, clean and still flexible, so complete. And here compared with the HO-OO figure.

These are just for fun, I don't have a brand, brand-mark or set name yet, probably late 1980's, Hong Kong 'army men', I just love the colours! The same outfit seems to have been responsible for the 25mm clones, where you find the Japanese are commonest, in the same whacky colours.

Found! They were in a different folder!

Portuguese cereal premiums! The radio operator is a smoother/cleaner finished sculpt - so two issues? And maybe Japanese . . . or generic post war 'army men'?

 

Apparently they are by/for Farinha Amparo, a flour-miller?

T is for Two - Current Dinosaurs

Just a quickie, I bought a set from don't-know-where (probably Asda?) back in January, and Brian Berke had bought some stand-alone's, also in January, so lets have a quick look.

A nice medium to large pair of the new style hollow in two halves dinosaurs, a Parasaurolophus and an over-sized Velociraptor, available the other side of the pond in Target Stores for a dollar, just a measly $1, so worth a punt. Branded to Anko Development and brand-marked '1 Count' . . . because they're sold singly?

Meanwhile I'd grabbed these, but I can't remember where, I think "it 'as to be Asda", I didn't go anywhere else around then? But there's a chance it was my local independent toy shop, they have a small range of rack toys including the HTI 'army men' stuff we've looked at here in the past. They would have been less than a fiver as I won't go over that on rack-toys!

The supporting bumpf for the Target dinosaurs and a close-up of the dino's. That's it, out there now for a few shekels if you're a dinosaur fan, and thanks to Brian for the US examples.

K is for Knock, Knock, Knockin' on a Corporal's Jaw!

It's been an odd 14-months, and while the light is at the end of the tunnel, I'm still uncovering things, despite thinking I've checked everything - I found four hedgehogs (of the silver-neff and chalkware variety) behind a curtain the other day, while another interesting thing I've found is this . . .

. . . door knocker, which I found in a drawer in the front room a while back, it's obviously Mr. the Lord Vice-Admiral Horatio,1st Viscount Nelson, Duke of Bronte, Knight Bachelor and All Round Jolly Good Fellow! I will have it fixed on the front-door of what's likely to be my eventual last home, but I had an inspired idea for the knocker plate, which looks a bit plain . . .

. . . this piece of originally - probably - hideously overpriced tat from Atlas Editions (think Franklin or Danbury Mint, but remove any residual or perceived - they don't have much, if you dig - class) which I picked-up on evilBay for pennies - it's Napoleon Blownapart!

It will have to be domed which I will do myself, I have also inherited smithing tools including a sand-filled leather pad and fine silver-smith's round-peen hammers which should do the job (the eagle will have to 'buy it'!), although it's probably some shite base-metal alloy so I'll have to be careful! A few knocks might actually improve that etching - he looks like a shop-dummy!

Then it can be braised (like welding) or claw-clamped to the curved knocker and the Corporal will receive Nelson's boots to the snoz every time someone comes to the door - bargain! I shall invite random Frenchmen to the house!

S is for 'The' Shark!

It's been a funny day, I awoke convinced it was Tuesday (so I got most of the right letters), but as the day progressed I sort of grudgingly admitted to myself in a sub-concious manner that it was Tuesday yesterday, so came to accept Wednesday as the day, only for someone to start announcing special programes for the Radio tomorrow, and the dawning realisation that a long weekend starts at midnight and if I wanted milk I'd better get my skates on and get to town!

Image courtesy of The News Elephant

So I don't know where the week's gone, but half of it snuck-by while I was doing something else! Anyway, what I was going to post at tea-time took a back seat, and, as I'd scanned these last night before their box went to storage, we'll have a bit of self-indulgence!

Back around '98, I had cause to design a shark, the main parameters being that A) it had to be executable on a vinyl-cutter and B) no one in the studio would show a mere fitter (for that is what I was!) how to use the CorelDRAW software! The irony there being that now I can 3D in Autodesk and the studio bods are probably still doing 2D signage!

The above are early efforts to 'get' a shark, not as easy as I'd thought it would be when I started, also - an additional parameter - I was trying to get there from the Christian fish, but sharks 'aint fishes! As you can see, far left bottom; I got closer to barracuda and tuna at one point!

Using the tracing-over-the-previous-image technique, a seven stage process lead to something I was happy with, although the final stage (with teeth) is missing, it must have been lost in the final scanning-to-PC and cutting phase, where I did get help from Jason in the studio and when the gills and eye were added from punctuation.

Once I was happy with the design, I had 12 printed-off in three colours, of which I have six left, the others having gone on various vehicles I have owned over the intervening 25 years . . . never mind this week, where the fuck has my life gone?!! Anyway, it became 'the shark' among my friends, and when I got a new vehicle it was always "You haven't put the shark on it yet then?"

In case you're still wondering . . . this was going to go on the opposite side of the boot/tailgate, but I never got round to finalising the design or getting it cut! It's alright; they raise again on the third day, apparently, although the way I'm counting days at the moment, that'll probably be next Saturday!

H is for How They Come In - Peter Evans March

I've rather lost all track of the 'H is for . . .' trope, with the Autumn's chronological catch-up, usurped by some up-to-date clearance, then another hiatus, while all, or some . . . most of the Charity shop stuff went in one folder except the stuff which isn't while a found objects (generated by clearing the house) folder is filling with esoteric shite from high quality to the broken Thunderbird Two leg I found yesterday, it's all gone a bit Pete Tong, so I'll just throw them up here regularly until they are cleared in whatever order!

This little lot came in the other day, courtesy of Peter Evans, and as I'd captioned it for publishing elsewhere, it might as well be blurb-lite after the above waffle, so in short-order with notes . . .

Unpacking; the fishy-fish will be saved for a future round-up, in a Rack Toy Month probably, we've now seen the dino'set and there were some blister-carded 'Army Men' (close-up below) which will also be saved for an RTM.

Apparently someone has since ID'd these as Blue Box, they are definitely not the quality of any Blue Box production and while I haven't seen the comment, so won't name him, he's probably making it up as he goes along?

'Nuff said!
(that's a bit of bubble-wrap stuck to his armpit I think?)

The relief!

Late-production Britains swivel troops, not the best, but . . . Toy soldier! We looked at the 'chocolate drops' here. This is the slightly more realistic colourway.

That hidden blister!

I think this is a re-issue of a Charbens piece, I have a vintage painted white one somewhere (sans sails) which I always thought was theirs, but the Toy Soldier Co. don't list it and they have stock of both farm and scenic reissues? Anyway, it's sort of chunky but it's semi-flat!

Very, very small, and not clear what it is, but certainly Hong Kong rack toy/gum-ball fodder.

Not Marx/MPC and not Phidal, but copy of the former and similar to the latter!

We did fishermen in a couple of posts a year or two ago, one on mine, one on Mr Smith's, and this is a fine addition to that sub-branch of the pile, it's a magnetic novelty, possibly a tourist thing (destination sticker missing) or cake decoration.

A couple of new to me and newish looking die-cast vehicle accessories.

Also new on me, but with a bit of age, not as old as the accumulated fluff might suggest, early Safari or K&M? If not another die-cast vehicle/play-set accessory.

Many thanks to Peter for an eclectic mix of odd, unusual, new or fun figures. And apologies to those who saw these elsewhere a week or so ago, but the nature of the Internet as a place of duplication is - to a certain extent - its present I'm afraid, and yes, I know it represents a fragmenting and dilution of the canon, but that's why it will all, always come back here in the end.

F is for Follow-up - Fresh Fellows from B&M Stores

These arrived in my inbox within the hour (at time of writing] this evening, but as I was clearing follow-ups today, they can go up right away! Cheers to Chris Smith for sending these, which are a follow up to this shelfie post of last Christmas. Chris's blub will more than suffice, after the shots;

"... you had these as a shelfie Dec 21st in a tub from B&M. Already appearing in mixed lots! 8 poses in two colours, yes some based on Matchbox, the crawling figure the most obvious and then 3 based on German and Afrika Korps that retain the cylindrical gas mask canister. One officer in my lot has a sticker  on the underside of the base. Possibly useful as military Junta or mercenaries? Better quality than a lot of cheapo stuff but weapons a bit cartoonish."

And it just remains for me to thank Chris for the update and close-ups - out there now and already cheaper than the not-much B&M Stores were charging three months ago (£5) . . . and probably still are!

F is for Follow-up - Phidel Busy Princesses!

The stream of Phidal has rather run to a trickle, in part because both WHSmith and TKMaxx seem to have stopped carrying them, but the website's still up and running with new titles, there's a Minions one I'm going to keep an eye out for, along with a Disney Raya set which looks like it will have useful figures, including Asian ner'do'wells of the Sumurai or PotC pirate type?

Anyway picked this up complete for a quid in a charity shop the other day, we've seen some of the contents in one of  the two previous 'Princesses' set, although this has a different mix with all ten of the contents being princesses, but the  old 'standards' are all present. "3 years and up" - I think that covers me!

From top left to bottom right we have; Cinderella, Tiana, Merida (seen here in a mixed lot, and as a different sculpt in her own set, recently), Snow White, Belle, Rapunzel, Mulan, Ariel, Jasmine and Pocahontas, and as I've pointed out before, some of these will paint-up nicely for Napoleonic ballrooms, Wild West saloons, Plantation House garden-parties and etcetera.

F is for Follow-up - Jurassic Set

We have seen BJ Toys before; modern poppa-trooper types I found in The Works a few years ago, these came from Peter Evans the other day and are very much a follow-up to this post from a month ago.

Not actually linking itself to Easter in the overt way the Hobbycraft one was, it nevertheless comes with similar blow-moulded eggs, which are far too large to be considered the birthing chambers of any of the dinosaurs included, unless they're all very, very young!

I must say I didn't notice the connotation of BJ when we last encountered them, but if someone can get away with Bum-Slot racing, it's not too far of a stretch to consider someone knew what they were doing when they went with BJ Toys, although the back of the card tells us it's B&J . . . right, the logo was just some accident, guys?

Six dinosaurs, similar to several sets we've seen recently (and others to come); 'monochromatic' in bright/primary colours and quite small, but not the same as any we've seen here - all new sculpts.

A couple of old favorites in a Triceratops and a Brontosaurus, also the Parasaurolophus - a dino' type which has gained popularity since my childhood and is now in most sets line-ups, having been all but absent when I wer't lad!

The two eggs and a palm tree make the weight, the palm tree - it must be said - is the poorest of the many vertions of this tree out there.

And it struck me the other day that there have been three generations of make-weight palm trees in rack-toys, since the popularisation of plastics; first Marx and many copies of both the large singles and small twins, then Britains and the many copies of the flat-four and 'trees' singles, and now these scraggy pairs, which have been with us for a couple of decades now, and while some are quite good, with coconut looking nuts and plenty of thicker foliage, sometimes doubled-up, the one here is a particularly small, sparse example with discs for coconuts!

Cheers Peter, two eggy-dino' posts in time for Easter! And there are still some 'sauroposts' in the near queue!

I is for International Micro-Rescue

As a follow-up to two of the last three posts (Thunderbirds and micro space ships), while I was getting the Jumbo game, I picked this up as a box-ticker for something silly between 99p and a fiver, it's common, modern'ish (1992, Peter Pan Playthings) and fun!

Box and tray; it's all happening on the lid and look at all those mini Thunderbirds!

The mechanism - which I didn't read - is collection tokens (pegs) while travelling 'home you go' style round a board and dealing with stuff as you go . . . I think! Each 'ship' has two holes for it's pegs, and there's no constant scale between them, with 'T4' as oversized as it often is!

The card Tracy Island helps divide the four launch-pads! While more pegs lead to the Hood.

Board, with close-up of the launch-pads.

There's a shed-load (small shed!) of exciting artwork littered about to keep the board interesting and the bored interested!

That's it, box-ticked!

M is for Micro Moon-Men and Many Marauding Martian Machines

Just a quickie, as they are definitely at the infant-toy end of the spectrum, but fun nevertheless!

We've looked at the mini wargame sets from Silvercorn now, but they also did an infant series, although when I say 'series' there's no evidence for others sets, but with three in the 'realisteic' line, I'm imagining maybe a dino' set and farm or zoo attached to this infant-toy line?

Two useful bits; nice space tank, which would paint-up well as a fire-tower for Micro-Machine Hoth figures? And a useful six-wheeled jobbie which again is just big enough to be a one-man battle-taxi in even 28mm role play - Banana Splits 'v' the Nottingham Mafia's Imperium?

The two figural's; the robot will go well with those looked at recently from SCS Direct, while the human is a chunky infant toy of limited use, unless you need an extremely overweight astronaut for some game or diorama!

I've also picked these up, mostly marked 'Hong Kong' so having some age, but equally factory mint, ex-warehouse or shop stock. Probably from a gum-ball, capsule-machine supplier (they came from the US), but equally likely to turn-up in other 'pocket-money' packagings, elsewere?

Three saucer/space station types and four ships - one of which looks like a jet-propelled, demented R2D2, with shock-absorber legs, I've seen him somewhere as a Japanese 'glico' with an added radar on his head - probably the original sculpt?

My favorite is the crane, which bears a passing resemblance to an old carrier crane from a 1:1200th scale model kit. The cracker/gum-ball/glico type fighter came in with a recent mixed lot from Chris Smith or Peter Evans (posts pending).

F is for Follow-up - More Snakes & Ladders!

I made a huge boo-boo on this morning's post, the catalogue and figures are DS Plastics, not De Gruyter (who were the premium issuing supermarket!), so I'll have to go back and edit all mentions of the one with the other! And I have no excuse as Theo made it all clear, indeed he corrected me once, but I was editing at 4am with matchsticks holding my eyes open!

In the meantime, Theo also sent me this by way of reply to my old Gibson/Victory set, and it's even nicer!

A more muted board and extra snakes makes this nicer than mine, and I love mine! The snakes are very similar but with less cartoony faces and there are 12 snakes to my board's 11, and ladders are also 12 (to my 10) and while ladders are shorter than snakes, they are not so short, so it should play a bit quicker than the Victory one.

I looked on evilBay, and this board gets an update (same split boarder, but different snake artwork) and an even later replacement which is very cheap, but I suspect this is a late Edwardian one, and the artwork is everything. Chad Valley (and others) also do an 'Indian version' with cut-off corners, but still 100 squares.

Again a charming - if rather violent - label on the outside of the board and bigger than our old family board, covering half the board or a whole 'fold', the lady using a ladder to escape a snake, while a fake fakir attempts some kind of venomous, viper murder!

Theo has the original playing pieces and their box, but also the rule sheet, missing on all the earlier ones I saw on feeBay. I think the tumbler is polished card, while the counters are turned wood.

The rules actually have a variation of our traditional family finish, but only that you have to sit there waiting for the right/exact throw, rather than our bobbing and weaving and risking a snake with every throw, but Chad Valley make up for an easy finish by having players who land on other players sending them (the sitting tenant of the square) "Back to square 1", which is well harsh!

Lovely board Theo, thanks for sending!

 

Late September the same year - and from the 'well fancy that' department; Collectors Gazette give us a history of Snakes & Ladders, no original imagery (all free-use internet stuff), and - it has to be said - not the first time that august publication has published stuff a few weeks or months after it's featured here at Small Scale World? It seems the Blog's influence is greater than some would like to admit!

 

What's doubly annoying is that when they copy Moonbase, they always credit them, when they copy me, they don't! And the usual author knows me well, so there's no excuse . . . Lesson there for all of us - if you fight the system, the system will fight back, so if you're a coward, don't fight the system, but expect to be shafted from the moment you're born until the moment you die, when your relatives will be charged three-times what it actually costs to burn a body!