About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Sunday, December 11, 2022

T is for Two - Slime Zombies, or Rather; Zombies in Slime!

Sometimes I can be a bit scatter-brained, and this post is the result of a little moment of scattered brain! I've been tracking down the output of EMCE before they get too expensive or hard to get . . . there's a sweet-spot between new (a bit pricey for what are basically rack-toys) and when they are getting hard to get (also pricey), when people who've been gifted them and don't want them, sell them off for less than they are still listing for on Amazon "none in stock, we don't know when they will become available again" (half of Amazon is dead pages!), it's that sweet-spot I'm after!

Brilliant Novelty Co.; Dolgen Corp; Dolgencorp for Dollar General; Dolgencorp Imported; EMCE Toys; Glow In The Dark; Glow-in-the-dark; Glowing Slime; Oil Can Slime; Oil Drum Zombies; Parts Alive!; Previews Exclusive Zombies; PX; PX Zombies; Slime; Slime Play; Slime Zombies; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Spill & Rebuild!; Top-Secret Military Zombies; Zombie Toys; Zombies; Zombies At War; Zombies In Slime;
I knew there were glow-in-the-dark Zombies in slime-bins, so when I had a moment I searched for them on feebleBay, and one chap had some up for auction in the 'States, so I popped a bid on and crossed my fingers!

But, in those lines of similar/sponsored stuff underneath the listing was another chap, offering three, for considerably less, BIN? So I quickly grabbed them, uncrossed my fingers and desperately started hoping someone would out-bid me on the first lot!

Needless to say no one else bid, and in the end the larger lot arrived before the by-it-now lot, not that I'm complaining they were both not due until the 19th and we're in the middle of postal strikes (I'm totally supportive of; having spoken to both my beat Postie and the parcel-van guy).

Brilliant Novelty Co.; Dolgen Corp; Dolgencorp for Dollar General; Dolgencorp Imported; EMCE Toys; Glow In The Dark; Glow-in-the-dark; Glowing Slime; Oil Can Slime; Oil Drum Zombies; Parts Alive!; Previews Exclusive Zombies; PX; PX Zombies; Slime; Slime Play; Slime Zombies; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Spill & Rebuild!; Top-Secret Military Zombies; Zombie Toys; Zombies; Zombies At War; Zombies In Slime;
Anyway I started shooting them for the EMCE post, and scanned the box they came with (1st image above), only for the other three to turn-up a few days later, and they were something completely different! I hadn't bothered reading the blurb or studying the pictures, just saw 'slime', 'drum' and 'zombie' in the title-bar and hit Buy It Now!

But it was a pleasant surprise as they were more slime Zombies, just not the EMCE glow-ones! So, I took the first lot of images out of the EMCE folder (which is stuffed with other stuff, and may get further broken down anyway - gaming, horror, Star Trek?) and fashioned a quick T is for Two!

The late three being Dolgen (Dollar General Stores) Parts Alive, Spill & Rebuild Oil Can Slime, with a Lego-likey zombie figure! Here scaled with one of Berserker's mates who came in with a junk-lot the other day - he, himself, went to storage ages ago!

Brilliant Novelty Co.; Dolgen Corp; Dolgencorp for Dollar General; Dolgencorp Imported; EMCE Toys; Glow In The Dark; Glow-in-the-dark; Glowing Slime; Oil Can Slime; Oil Drum Zombies; Parts Alive!; Previews Exclusive Zombies; PX; PX Zombies; Slime; Slime Play; Slime Zombies; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Spill & Rebuild!; Top-Secret Military Zombies; Zombie Toys; Zombies; Zombies At War; Zombies In Slime;
It was during this process that I discovered vinegar is the solvent for slime, I wanted to flush the muck away, only to find that neither washing-up liquid, nor TFR had any measurable effect! Although, when I say 'discovered' . . . I Googled it!

The seller included a loose figure which appears to have had a strange reaction to the self-seal/click-shut bag he came in, soaking-up more blue than the bag ever possessed, but I'll keep him like it, it works quite well!

Obviously the figures are the same as the standard WWII Zombies we looked at here, and with one per 'oil drum' I'll leave the rest for now, I just don't have the time to be wrestling with multiple slime and vinegar patties!

Brilliant Novelty Co.; Dolgen Corp; Dolgencorp for Dollar General; Dolgencorp Imported; EMCE Toys; Glow In The Dark; Glow-in-the-dark; Glowing Slime; Oil Can Slime; Oil Drum Zombies; Parts Alive!; Previews Exclusive Zombies; PX; PX Zombies; Slime; Slime Play; Slime Zombies; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Spill & Rebuild!; Top-Secret Military Zombies; Zombie Toys; Zombies; Zombies At War; Zombies In Slime;
Forewarned (or previously experienced) is forearmed, so with this brown-black gloop, I just wrapped it in kitchen-paper and burned it on the stove! You can see it had invaded the packet the figure's parts were in, so it was still a messy business, but I rescued all his components.

There had been a leak from the 'sealed' capsule too, and like the EMCE Aliens egg-slime the other day, had set to a rubbery polymer which I could just rub off where it was stuck to the sticker-wrapper, rather than the cellulose outer wrapper.

Brilliant Novelty Co.; Dolgen Corp; Dolgencorp for Dollar General; Dolgencorp Imported; EMCE Toys; Glow In The Dark; Glow-in-the-dark; Glowing Slime; Oil Can Slime; Oil Drum Zombies; Parts Alive!; Previews Exclusive Zombies; PX; PX Zombies; Slime; Slime Play; Slime Zombies; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Spill & Rebuild!; Top-Secret Military Zombies; Zombie Toys; Zombies; Zombies At War; Zombies In Slime;
So quite by the result of too much speed and not enough haste or something I ticked two boxes, and learnt more than I need to about the properties of slime . . . you can also make it yourself, but as most of the recipes seem to include white wood-glue/PVA, I wouldn't advise it?

The fact that the Dolgen 'kubrick' Zombie is the same as the one on the can-art, suggests they are all the same so I will keep the other two sealed as well. He seems to be a US policeman in a WWII German helmet? While the EMCE as well as sharing billing with PX / Previews Exclusive again, are further credited to the Brilliant Novelty Company.

F is for Follow-up - Esquimaux Explorers

A quick follow-up to October's post on Kinder Arctic subjects, as I managed to pick up a colour variant on Friday, which we can have a quick shufti at! And re, that previous post's title, it's bloody cold now, they recon minus-7° tonight, which may be balmy for some of the Northern/Continental Loyal Readers, but it's pretty rare in sodding Hampshire!

Arctic Circle; Arctic expedition; Arctic Explorers; Capsule Toys; Esquimaux Dog Team; Esquimaux Novelty; Esquimaux Sled; Esquimaux Sledge; Esquimaux Sleigh; Esquimaux Toy; Ferrero Kinder; Ferrero Rocher; Inuit Dog Team; Inuit Sled; Inuit Sledge; Inuit Sleigh; Inuit Toy; Kinder Arctic Explorers; Kinder Figurines; Kinder Minifigs; Kinder Polar Explorers; Kinder Prize; Kinder Prizes; Kinder-egg; Novelty Figurines; Novelty Prize Toys; Polar Explorers; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Steckbaustein; Steckfiguren;
This one is all a primrose yellow, I could look up the code and value but I think I've made that point, and it'll all be on the A-Z's one day, or at least that's the plan! He comes with an ice-axe and husky dog, rather that the skis-&-sticks of the previous example


Saturday, December 10, 2022

E is for Exhibition - Fleet Library 2022

This year's theme is back to construction toys, a theme they (Fleet Historical Society) covered a few years ago, but it's mostly new examples, and I've ever seen the Phillip's sets before, or not so I've remembered?


 




















E is for Exhibition - Fleet Library 2021

I noticed I broke 2020's down into parts so I could tag everything properly, but I'm chucking these up here as a single post because A) I just need to get them off the Laptop, and B) there isn't a key to all the exhibits, so it's more a question of what can you spot? What did you have?!

Last year's theme was wooden toys, and they often seen to loose their packaging/branding quite soon in their ownership, but a few do have their box, and for a four-shelf cabinet and small table in a local library, I think it gives a good overview of wooden toy over the last 70 [plus] years!



















I'll try to get the other one up this evening sometime, but there's plenty here to amuse or entertain, not so sure about the educating or informing angle!

Thursday, December 8, 2022

S is for Solid Slime!

This'll be the seventh post on the Aliens franchise this year, so clearly 'the year of the Aliens' here at Small Scale World . . . purely accidental, or coincidental! These are another iteration of the EMCE 'Nanoforce' figures with an additional Alien sculpt and no Colonial Space Marines!

20th Cetury Fox; Alien; Aliens; Aliens In Glowing Slime; Diamond Select Aliens; Diamond Select Toys; EMCE Aliens; EMCE Toys; Facehugger; Glow In The Dark; Glow in the Dark Aliens; Glow-in-the-dark; Previews Exclusive; Previews Exclusive Aliens; PX; PX Aliens; Slime Play; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
Further branded to both Diamond Select and Previews Exclusive (PX), who have been associated with a lot of the EMCE 'toy soldiers' stuff, the slime has, over time, set solid! The material is a sort of bouncy-ball rubber now, so I had to break them out physically, rather than just pull them gently away from the gloop!

The solvent for slime is apparently vinegar (discovered for a forthcoming post!), but I'm not sure it would succeed in re-hydrating these lumps! I kept a few of the larger lumps as a 'might be useful later' addition to the 'spares box'!

20th Cetury Fox; Alien; Aliens; Aliens In Glowing Slime; Diamond Select Aliens; Diamond Select Toys; EMCE Aliens; EMCE Toys; Facehugger; Glow In The Dark; Glow in the Dark Aliens; Glow-in-the-dark; Previews Exclusive; Previews Exclusive Aliens; PX; PX Aliens; Slime Play; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
Of the six possible, I managed to end-up with four sculpts, which is not bad going, when I already have the standard ones, but there is a surprise here, in a sixth pose (a 'Facehugger'), as the previous issue only had the five adult Xenomorphs. It's not a very good sculpt, and out of scale (unless you collect Action Man/GI Joe dolls) but may - therefore - remain uniquely in the glow-material, as far as being a collectable goes.

20th Cetury Fox; Alien; Aliens; Aliens In Glowing Slime; Diamond Select Aliens; Diamond Select Toys; EMCE Aliens; EMCE Toys; Facehugger; Glow In The Dark; Glow in the Dark Aliens; Glow-in-the-dark; Previews Exclusive; Previews Exclusive Aliens; PX; PX Aliens; Slime Play; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com;
The Facehugger is not on the press image (left), probably because it's a bit shit, but the box clearly states "collect all six Aliens!". The box is shown as being apparently a 24-egg double-decker, while mine only has the one layer of 12 eggs, which also calls for a shout-out to eBay seller 'silver-acre' (Darryl Jones, Silver Acre Comics) who sent me the whole box with a multiple purchase even though it wasn't part of the offer - cheers dude; got a post out of them!