F is for Fairykins - 3 of 6

The recent sample allows for a reasonable coverage of the second row down;

But Mary seems to have walked into a combined harvester's cutting bed and lost her feet - ouch! Pretty sure I have a loose one in the storage sample, but not as sure as I am about Bo', I have several Bo's I think? However Mother Hubbard and the Poor Dog are new, and the Boy Blue is the first complete example; his horn being easily broken.

Ah, yes; "get a brew-on, girls!" 

♪ Polly put the kettle on,
Polly put the kettle on,
Polly put the kettle on,
And let's have tea.

Sukey take it off again,
Sukey take it off again,
Sukey take it off again,
They've all gone away. ♪

I wasn't sure why she was carrying a rake, but I suspect it's supposed to be one of those long-handled dust-pans! And another which is commonly found damaged due to the small extremities. And what about poor Sukey? No one ever models her, no one ever paints her, no one's ever done a nice etching of her . . . what heinous crime did she commit to be excised from the visual record?

Ah yes; starve the dog! Actually, I notice Louis Marx has weakened and left some meat-based product on the plate, the old softie!

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the Cupboard
To give the poor dog a bone,
When she came there,
The Cupboard was bare,
And so her poor dog had none.

It gets weird though, as it often did back in the day;

She went to the Baker’s
To buy him some Bread;
When she came back
The dog was dead!

She went to the Undertaker’s
To buy him a coffin;
When she came back
The dog was laughing.

Pleased to get these two; I may have a loose mother already, but I don't think I've seen the dog outside of the book, so a nice addition to the collection.

Ah, yes; the illegal smuggling of freely-pooping livestock into a place of learning!

Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go

He followed her to school one day
Which was against the rule,
It made the children laugh and shout,
To see a lamb at school.

Although the new one is broken, Mary is another who survives quite well and I think I have one or two in the stash, note though, the different colour treatments of the two figures, especially the stockings, I still don't have the lamb, who has a distinctive bow.

Again there are other verses I don't think I've ever read/heard, but they are boring and moralistic, so you can look for them yourselves, if you need you!

Ah yes; a noisy neighbour and a fire-bug!

I think I've only previously had damaged versions of these two, so useful to get the whole ones.

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow,
the cow's in the corn.
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack, fast asleep.

There are two more lines in the common version;

Will you wake him? Oh no, not I,
For if I do, he'll surely cry.

While Jack's is short and sweet;

Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over the
Candlestick

Apparently a reference to a form of fortune telling!

The Boy Blue is a very American rendition I think with the dungarees and wide-brimmed hat, while Jack looks to be an insufferable prig from a rich landed family with his red jacket and George boots!

Another bunch tomorrow!

News, Views etc . . . Herald Toys & Models Update

 New news from Barney's site;

" . . . this week we have added a number of Crescent farm models, including some 60mm farm workers, to our existing stock of Crescent farm animals and figures, including one or two more interesting models. With Christmas in mind, we have also added a Crescent Santa from the Christmas Sleigh set."

The better things never last long over there, so best be quick if you're tempted! Barney's here;

Website

evilBay

F is for Fairykins - 2 of 6

So the first layer, level or row of the original 'secret compartment' book of Marx's hard, polystyrene plastic Fairykins in the Miniature Masterpiece style, and we are looking at the tales of Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peep, Jack & the Beanstalk, Simple Simon and the Pieman (or Pie Man, I think it can be either?)

I don't have the Giant in the recent purchase, but I know we have seen him in a donation or show plunder post, and I think I have a couple, possibly a third damaged one in the tub of glue'able 'broken's waiting for some whacky conversion idea!

Ah, yes; the careless fat one . . .

♪ Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses
And all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again. ♪

The second 'Dumpty doesn't really scan and is usually omitted? It's no wonder he fell off the wall it's hardly substantial upon investigation, and he must be hideously top-heavy, if you don't diet - stay near the ground, s'my advice!

Humpty came with no retainers and all the King's horses and all the King's men (such as there were; three or four?) were detained in the Disney Palace/Babes in Toyland sets! Which may be why the original reassembly failed, they never actually turned-up?

Ah yes; another careless one, she's usually only got the one, how did she lose it, dalliance behind the woodshed with a chopper I've no doubt, a post-luncheon tryst with a yodeling cow-heard and his lederhosen I bet!

♪ Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And can't tell where to find them;
Leave them alone, and they'll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them. ♪

Slightly different from the version I learned as a kid;

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And doesn't know where to find them;
Leave them alone, and they'll come home,
Dragging their tails behind them.

While some sources have 'bringing' their tails behind them.

The sheep she comes with is different from Contrary Mary's, and also differs from the two or three in the Miniature Masterpiece farm sets, but both (Bo's and Mary's) are realistic sculpts and fit-in well with the 'serious' set's animals!

Ah, yes; the murdering, thieving, bone-idol bass'tard!

"For a handful of beans, you traded the cow!"
Jack's poor mother raised a dreadful row.
And threw the magic beans out on the ground.
Next morning they say a sight to astound,
An enormous beanstalk reaching up to the sky.

Jack climbed up, up to the top and found nearby
A deserted stone castle with a roomful of gold.
He was filling his pockets when his blood ran cold.
Through the door crashed a Giant waving a knife,
And gnashing his teeth. Jack ran for his life.

He slid back down the great vine; took his axe from the wall
And chopped down that beanstalk . . . Giant and all.

This must be a Marx authored poem, as the original Jack and the Beastalk is a longer tale, I've broken it in a couple of places and jigged a bit of punctuation. As I say, the Giant's in storage somewhere, but the treat here is the Jack figure, hanging out of a little plastic beanstalk!

I will here just recommend the Jim Henson modern remake, as I think it's a little gem of a movie, including both the crimes of the original Jack and the redemption of his descendant in restoring things to the Giants, with a bit of help from the Giants of course!

But, there is also a poetical version by Roald Dhal, which is sublime . . .

Jack’s mother said, “We’re stony broke!
Go out and find some wealthy bloke
Who’ll buy our cow. Just say she’s sound
And worth at least a hundred pound.
But don’t you dare to let him know
That she’s as old as billy-o.”
Jack led the old brown cow away,
And came back later in the day,
And said, “Oh, Mumsie dear, guess what
Your clever little boy has got.
I got, I really don’t know how,
A super trade-in for our cow.”
The mother said, “You little creep,
I’ll bet you sold her much too cheap.”
When Jack produced one lousy bean,
His startled mother, turning green,
Leaped high up in the air and cried,
“I’m absolutely stupefied!
You crazy boy! D’you really mean
You sold our Daisy for a bean?”
She snatched the bean. She yelled, “You chump!”
And flung it on the rubbish dump.
Then summoning up all her power,
She beat the boy for half an hour,
Using (and nothing could be meaner)
The handle of a vacuum cleaner.
At ten p.m. or thereabout,
The little bean began to sprout.
By morning it had grown so tall
You couldn’t see the top at all.
Young Jack cried, “Mum, admit it now!
It’s better than a rotten cow!”
The mother said, “You lunatic!
Where are the beans that I can pick?
There’s not one bean! It’s bare as bare!”
“No, no!” cried Jack. “You look up there!
Look very high and you’ll behold
Each single leaf is solid gold!”
By gollikins, the boy was right!
Now, glistening in the morning light,
The mother actually perceives
A mass of lovely golden leaves!
She yells out loud, “My sainted souls!
I’ll sell the Mini, buy a Rolls!
Don’t stand and gape, you little clot!
Get up there quick and grab the lot!”
Jack was nimble, Jack was keen.
He scrambled up the mighty bean.
Up up he went without a stop.
But just as he was near the top,
A ghastly frightening thing occurred ---
Not far above his head he heard
A big deep voice, a rumbling thing
That made the very heavens ring.
It shouted loud, “FEE FI FO FUM
I SMELL THE BLOOD OF AN ENGLISHMAN!”
Jack was frightened, Jack was quick,
And down he climbed in half a tick.
“Oh Mum!” he gasped. “Believe you me
There’s something nasty up our tree!
I saw him, Mum! My gizzard froze!
A Giant with a clever nose!”
“A clever nose?” his mother hissed.
“You must be going round the twist!”
“He smelled me out, I swear it, Mum!
He said he smelled an Englishman!”
The mother said, “And well he might!
I’ve told you every single night
To take a bath because you stink!”
Jack answered, “Well, if you’re so clean
Why don’t you climb the crazy bean?”
The mother cried, “By gad, I will!
There’s life within the old dog still!”
She hitched her skirts above her knee
And disappeared right up the tree.
Now would the Giant smell his mum?
Jack listened for the FEE-FO-FUM.
He gazed aloft. He wondered when
The dreaded words would come ... And then,
From somewhere high above the ground
There came a frightful crunching sound.
He heard the Giant mutter twice,
“By gosh, that tasted very nice.
Although,” (and this in grumpy tones),
“I wish there weren’t so many bones.”
“By Christopher!” Jack cried. “By gum!
The Giant’s eaten up my mum!
He smelled her out! She’s in his belly!
I had a hunch that she was smelly.”
Jack stood there gazing longingly
Upon the huge and golden tree.
He murmured softly, “Golly-gosh
I guess I’ll have to take a wash
If I am going to climb this tree
Without the Giant smelling me.
In fact, a bath’s my only hope ...”
He rushed indoors and grabbed the soap.
He scrubbed his body everywhere.
He even washed and rinsed his hair.
He did his teeth, he blew his nose
And went out smelling like a rose.
Once more he climbed the mighty bean.
The Giant sat there, gross, obscene
Muttering through his vicious teeth
(While Jack sat tensely just beneath),
Muttering loud, “FEE FI FO FUM,
RIGHT NOW I CAN’T SMELL ANYONE.”
Jack waited till the Giant slept,
Then out along the boughs he crept
And gathered so much gold, I swear
He was an instant millionaire.
“A bath,” he said, “does seem to pay.
I’m going to have one every day.”

Ah yes; the idiot and the capitalist failing to meet in the middle!

Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair.
Said Simple Simon to the pieman,
"Let me taste your wares."

To Simple Simon said the pieman,
"Show me first your penny."
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
”Indeed I haven't any.”

There are other verses which can be found about, the Wikipedia one is free and uses 'said' instead of Marx's 'says', so we'll have a longer version, although the page makes clear there are far longer ones out there;

Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
”Let me taste your ware.”

Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
Show me first your penny;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
”Indeed I have not any.”

Simple Simon went a-fishing,
For to catch a whale;
All the water he had got,
Was in his mother's pail.

Simple Simon went to look
If plums grew on a thistle;
He pricked his fingers very much,
Which made poor Simon whistle.

He went for water in a sieve
But soon it all fell through
And now poor Simple Simon
Bids you all adieu!

Another bunch tomorrow!

F is for Fairykins - 1 of 6

This is an odd one in that half the images have been in the archive since I took them about 15 years ago, when I first got a digital camera, and before I really knew what I was doing with flash and macro, but I did think I'd posted them before now, however I can't find them on the Blog, so I obviously didn't!

While the second half of the images are a new, near-whole set I got the other day for literally no money, so I've combined the two lots to give us a reasonable overview of the whole set, excepting the Pied Piper who is a tad rarer, as he only came in a couple of late-issue sets. And it sort of carries on the cartoony theme from some of yesterday's Halloween stuff!

Front cover of the earlier version of the whole-set 'book', there was also a Disneykin book and the later version of this one with the additional Pied Piper, the artwork is redolent of many children's books of the time, especially collections of fairy-tales, folk-tales or fables.

Inside the cover we have an explanatory map of the compartments on the other, opposite 'page' (below), with a version of the traditional rhymes from which the modelled characters are taken, and there's very little 'Disneyfication' with the Fairykins, which is why I prefer them!

That opposite page . . . in all its glory! I said I was still learning the camera! Don't worry, we're going to see them all again in the next five posts, but yeah . . . a tad disappointing! There is a small piece of damage between Hansel & Gretel and Little Tommy Tucker in that the piece of blue card sitting on the divider has been torn-away and lost.

The back cover shows 'some' of the smaller sets, in fact, and again; less the Pied Piper, but also dropping Humpty Dumpty and Goosy Goosy Gander, it is all of the window sets, I've cropped them below, for better viewing but it too is a less than ideal image, and the level of print-quality on the original wasn't much better!

Extras in brackets; they are usually semi-flat or flats.

Giant
Jack & The Beanstalk
Hansel & Gretel
Little Boy Blue
(Golden Harp and wood-chopper's block)

Mouse/Clock
Pussycat
Poor Dog
Mother Hubbard
Little Red Riding Hood
Wolf
(Table, large jug?)


Mistress Mary
Jack and Jill
Mary & Lamb
Polly
(Pot of flowers, possibly a hay-rick?)

Bo-Peep & Sheep
Mother Cat
Three Kittens
(Tree, clothes line with mittens, maybe a watering can?)


Little Miss Muffet
Nimble Jack
Jack Horner
Pieman
Simple Simon
(Wall and tree)


Little Tommy Tucker
Goldilocks
Three Bears
(Hat stand, breakfast table, raised pouf/ottoman)

Future posts will look at each layer, row or shelf, in turn, starting at the top.

K is for Kinder's Kooky Karacters!

And . . . so to the missing post, I'd had the first two figures in the 'Halloween 2022' folder for a year or so, but when I started to collate all the other kwik-Kinder posts we've had in the last month or two, I renamed it and moved it to the Kinder section (2032), so it's been sitting five lines below the Halloween section (2033) in the Picasa index for the whole time I couldn't find it . . . sometimes I'm so dumb I'm a danger to myself; I don't care if I'm a danger to others, that's their lookout!

The left-hand pumpkin-head is by Zeta Espacial Sa., circa-2006, while the right-hand figure is a plug-together from Kinder, also 1980's (ran for a while) which came in various colours some of which the Germans get very excited about, but only if they know what they're looking for, they can all still be 99p on evilBay, or less as part of a mixed lot!

These I think were late 1980's or 1990's, and when I say "think", I mean I don't care! I've got the book back here to give chapter and verse, as I did the other night (to make a point), but really, if you need the code, estimated value and date, go find a Kinder site, there are dozens of very good ones.

Anyway, around that time there were two or three of these 'styrene sets of 'solids', which are of Ghosts doing everyday things, sometimes with a twist; painting one side of a wall from the other, sometimes not; reading a book?

While these are more recent, but include the same ghost trope with other characters, including a 'devil dog' chasing . . . . not sure, his own Ghost, a Ghostly rat? It's not clear! Likewise; "What's in the bag, sinister guy; kittens to drown"? And why is there a Werewolf in a bright-yellow flasher-mac? Very odd - is some of this Kinder shite!

Close-ups of the previous set, five of six and what is it . . .  a rabbit Ghost? All the pale bits - Ghosts, chased animal and sack are glow-in-the-dark, and I think the Werewolf has a cam-wheel connected to his working jaw? Some of these were shot a while ago and I didn't take many notes!

Not so Halloween'y, but it's a little Devil, the joke is he's stepping on the angel's scales to trick him into thinking he's overweight, but as he (the Putti)'s floating on clouds he should weight nothing! The set was of various mean-spirited actions by similar Imps!

These were the 2000's I think and again there may have been more than one set of Vampirellis, a very Italian-sounding title, because they are ultimately an Italian product.

These are odd; they are modern'ish 12/15 years back, maybe less? They are sealed Ghosts in a glasslike clear plastic, before they are sealed a very small 3 or 4mm's dice is placed in the cavity, so you can learn gambling!

Except it's quite hard to read the dice, and they sort of look like they are Ghosts of specific things, while also being pretty abstract designs, and the 'Championgho*st' graphic is given a medieval banner twist.

Another one from the MPG years (current), and also rather whacky stuff, almost channeling the daft plastic model-kits of Aurora, Revell and Pyro's 'Ed Roth'-esque and grotesque horror/surf-culture, back in the day, but very small!

It seems to me however, that while there's always something interesting around (Barbie and Superhero figures in recent years), the whole concept has lost something since MPG took over the management of the - now web-linked - toys? I guess trends, tastes and fashions move on!

I haven't even looked these up, recent additions; I think the one on the left is Kinder, but the one on the right may not be? I really don't care; it'll all come out in the wash, and while accuracy at that level will be needed on the A-Z Blogs, it's not so necessary here where narrative nonsense is fine!

Anyway, that's the [fun] horror stuff I've got for now, it's a few hours later than I said it was about to be in an eMail about three, four (?) hours ago, but i had to go out, then the cat puked - very Halloween! Something else tomorrow, and cheers to Brain, Chris and Theo for the other stuff earlier today. Happy Halloween!

D is for Dastardly Duckies!

Haahaa! I've found the missing Halloween post, so there will be one more sometime this afternoon or this evening, I got the images sorted in the early hours, but still have to do the blurb, however I have important stuff to do first! In the meantime this was the last of the pre-loaded posts . . .

A quickie, but fun, I had a Girlfriend/Lover about 20-years ago, who had a thing for Rubber Ducks and I managed to buy a shed-load for her one Christmas or Birthday which got me brownie-points! Colour Change, Glow-in-the-Dark, some character ones, possibly Hawkin's Bazaar (Tobar) as I seem to recall starting with a/the 'basic' net of five and then adding one-each from pick-bins?

Brian Berke shot these in a store a few weeks ago, and took a picture for us . . .

. . . then decided Grandson might like them in his bath so went back and purchased a few, taking more shots for the Blog!

What can I add? Supplied by FLP (Frontline Products) of Arizona, the Ghoul Essentials line of Halloween Rubber Ducks and they look to be about 60-mil by 70-mil, with paint variations - the 'Frankie' on a hook has different paint from the close-upped Frankie.

I know some people love these, they have dedicated collectors, they've been tracked across the oceans of Planet Earth, they are figural, they are Halloween related and one of the best, quirkiest Blogs I used to link to was 'Duck a Day' which showed - over time - thousands of these, and a few other non- 'rubber duckie' ducks, sadly it ran out of steam and disappeared down the link-list, before vanishing altogether, but we've got four different ones here today, so a big thanks to Brian and enjoy!

B is for Bone Breaker's Old Jones Bones!

Back together again apparently, but I don't even remember their first hit? Clearly a full-on homage to the Bone Shaker candy of the past, and of which we've seen the coffin here now once or twice, and very chuffed to find these.

When I couldn't find whatever I thought was in the queue for this year and realised I didn't have anything to post today, I remembered I had seen these in the window of a local sweet shop, but I had been rushing to somewhere else and they were busy, so I made a mental note to go back for them, which I did last Saturday (nine days before THE day), but they had not only sold-out, but sold the one/s in the window, and announced they hadn't re-ordered!

So, I thought; "Well, they must be online, and I've got a week?", so off to Google, where the most obvious result was an eBayer called The Wee Sweetie Company trading as Letterboxsweeties, who sent me three, from Dundee (or Glasgow?) in less than two days and for no more than a couple would have set me back locally, and that; Ladies & Gentlemen, is why the High Street is dying!

And "Specially produced in China for the Crazy Candy Factory - World of Sweets" (Leicester and Belfast), I hate to think what damage to the planet my purchase represents, but I know some scientists (and the Secretary-General of the UN) are only giving us about two years or less to save the planet now.

Although presumably new tools, the compressed chalky sugar candy (which I dislike) seems to follow the pattern of the old Bone Shaker faithfully and consists of 12 pieces, I did try one in case they were nicer than I thought, and it was rock hard for the first few bites, hence 'Bone Breaker', then melted away rather disappointingly.

But was otherwise as I remembered it; a bit chalky and not very tasty, or that sweet? Nor did it have the tang of sherbet, so the eleven remaining bones went under the hedge to feed insects after rain, while the other two coffins are still sealed for 'posterity'!

But not before I'd constructed the 'puzzle' once, for the Blog! For some reason the green and white sections are thinner than the other colours? Anyway, I managed - at the eleventh-hour to contribute something to the Blogs Halloween Day! This has reminded me . . . new paragraph -

When we were kids, little kids; about seven or eight maybe, someone gave us some Pez; not the holders, just the refill packs, which were similar candy, and we didn't like them, but as they were chalky-pink and brick-shaped, we glued-them into walls for our 54mm Toy Soldiers (with balsa-cement I think?), and a few were still hanging around, glued to cereal-pack card bases, when we moved from there in 1980, about ten years later - I don't know what they make that stuff out of, but it's nasty stuff!