P is for Poplar's Popular Plastic Present Person and Pooches Pulling

Well into the Crimbo-spirit here at SSW, although I think I have a Highlander post still to come! I also think we looked at this briefly in a post ages ago, but I can't find it, and it would have been the one kept here, while this post is also drawing on the stored examples and wider oeuvre.

Originally a Thomas Toys (USA) model, or - more accurately; 'set of toys', I imagine they started to come here the same year or shortly after their debut in the 'States, so no more than the following year? Over here they were carried under the Poplar label.

Left - The best version; Santa and his sleigh, with Rudolph doing sterling-work 'up-front' and a spare seat - presumably for a bag of toys; sadly not included!

Inset top right - Rudolph's two components and a comparison between the draw-bars for reindeer and dogs! The deer get a pair of large rounded studs to locate in dimples in the shoulders of the animal, while the dog's version has two pairs of sharp-pointed pimples to hold the soft PVC hounds.

Inset bottom right - Both Santa Claus and the draft animal are PVC, the sleigh and seats being styrene; the PVC used by the Thomas-Poplar-Taffy group was a stable mix which mercifully means they don't eat the polystyrene parts, as cheaper/less stable PVC's would.

The Dachshund version in the upper shot, the passengers are Thomas/Poplar but not original to the sleigh, just a couple I grabbed for illustrative purposes, the slight should have two of the smaller infants, the girl here is from the play-equipment twins, while the doll/baby is a dolls-house accessory, I think.

Equally; I don't think it was ever issued with the other dog, and almost certainly never with the cat! But it fits and it's a bit of fun!

The full set of animals (to my knowledge) with a Hong Kong copy of the . . . spaniel? It seems to be quite modern, even current in that pink (?) and it's nice to see mouldings from the 1950's still enjoying a life, albeit as a gum-ball machine's capsule-prize or Christmas cracker's novelty clone!

Made in England is clearly marked on the chair-backs (are they 'thrones' on a sleigh? They should be!), except - of course - they were made in Wales!

Speaking of the chairs, they were also used on the swing, which was the natural hang-out (pun intended!) of the little girl and her twin brother.

P is for Peter

There's only one, and while I was worried when I heard the American's were getting their hands on him (visions of Pooh Bear getting a Mickey-Mouse nose flashed in front of my retinas), I'm pleased to say while the scriptwriters' DID shoe-horn a transatlantic character in, mercifully it wasn't a bunny!

Indeed, it (a cockerel) further; A) didn't get any clothes, so stays well out of the BP EU*, and B) was as good as stolen (as an idea) from the movie Chicken Run!

* Beatrix Potter Expanded Universe!

Also it's clear that the rights-holder F Warne (or their agents) kept a close eye on (and decision-making role in-) the film. As I haven't seen it yet I can't say whether the cockerel ruins it or not, but the stills I have seen (mostly in this Phidal set!) look very good and the figurines here, are lovely.

From the left; Peter, Benjamin, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail! The figures are slightly more realistic than Ms. Potter's original watercolours, more in keeping with the 'live action' (CGI'ed) movie.

Other characters include Squirrel Nutkin, Jemima Puddleduck, Pigling Bland and Mrs. Tiggywinkle, although I think Pigling should have been a bit smaller and Mrs T a tad larger perhaps, especially when you see the next two - below.

There's no real scale in the books as each is a self-contained story, but the Tale of Peter Rabbit, does have a human in it, and that human is to scale with the rabbits, so I guess the movie had to tip a nod to that by making them more equivalent to each other in real life, but then . . .

. . . that doesn't account for the small [-er] size of Mr Brock or the Sandy Whiskered Gentleman (an eggcellent babysitter . . . not!)? Nor the relatively vast size of the international interloper!

L is for the Little Baby Jesus; It's a Baby!

Of all the Nativities, in all the scales, from all the makes, in all the world, in the last seventy-odd years, which may contain figures of interest to plastic-figure collectors, it is arguable whether this is not the most exquisite, nay; finest example of them all.

The Louis Marx Nativity set.

Quite a large set too, with 15 pieces, against the mean of 8'ish. We only get three kings (I blame the carols and hymns!), but five separate animals with a carried-sixth; a lamb, some sets give you a carried lamb or a separate sheep!

The post-natal familial-group along with the archangel Gabriel. That's like the top job in the whole of everything, ever, isn't it? Impregnating virgins, appearing in the sky above shepherds (and mangers), you don't mess with an archangel; they'll turn you to a pillar of salt or something!

The Little Baby Jesus is separate in this set, most sets have him moulded (or glued) into his manger; usually some kind of basket or shoe-box which never saw action as a manger, except perhaps as a mouse-manger . . . do mice have mangers?

Two wise men and an interloper! I didn't realise until I was sorting the images and I wasn't going to shoot them again - the kneeling guy is a pesky shepherd!

The camel is a nice sculpt (as is the whole set), but very unlikely to have been in the Holy Land in the months before Ano Dominie! Bactrian camels (Asia) have two humps, Arabian camels have one, while this is clearly a modern hybrid, a mistake a lot of Nativity sets make.

For some reason, this line-up wouldn't photograph without glare, so I've had to stop the contrast right-down and raise the shadows to the max to get them viewable, leaving them looking like they are floating in the firmament! I think it's because it was a longer line-up so I was holding the camera further away?

Anyway; the missing wise man with his present in front of his knees, joins the beasts and the other shepherd. The donkey had to have his front legs glued back on for the photographs, and I'm not sure if they are both the right way round!

Examples of both the base markings and the exquisite detailing on this set. Kent Sprecher's site reports that there was a US re-issue in a colour similar to this (bottom of page), but these are the original 'early' British Marx issue from Swansea in a very-chalky plastic which is quite brittle now, but holds (or displays?) the fine etched detailing superbly, and gives them a cool but heavy or solid feel that makes them a joy to handle.

The 'stamp' lookalike or 'wax-seal' base mark on this early Marx stuff is getting hard to read with my eyes, so I knocked-up this; in case you're in the same boat!

Obviously; the inset graphic (bottom right corner) is a simplification of the central cipher.

Thought I'd better add a bit of colour! From the left Marx's Mary; an unknown Italian rubber Mary, apparently made specifically for the UK market (I'll look at it in another post); a Hong Kong copy of a (probably larger) Italian original; Jean Hoeffler from Germany; a modern mail-order set's Mary and Joseph; Art Plastic's larger scale Joseph (we've seen the smaller one link . . .  er . . . no we haven't, I thought we had, I'll sort that out; but it may be next year now!) and Marx again.

Too-bright, but as good as I could get them without further intervention? The shepherd is missing the top of his crook, and finding one intact is about as likely as finding Lone Star musketeers!

News, Views Etc . . . Look Wot Tis!

I done did find this happening in the Library on Friday init!

Members of the Fleet Historical Society actually putting this year's toy display together, they said it would be finished in a hour or so, but I won't shoot it 'till Monday, so hopefully post-it on the Blog this week sometime!

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Den Dis!

Now shot, but I don't know when they'll post - the "best laid plans...." and all that; I had five posts for today and tomorrow near-ready this morning, but instead of finishing them, I spent the morning making pretty piles of differnt coloured polymer on the bed after the arrival of an unexpected parcel from Chris Smith! Which Girly-girl immediately sat on!

Trouble is, I have stuff on Thursday, stuff on Friday, stuff on Saturday and have to get over to West Sussex, or East Sussex or some lonely bit of Hampshire that looks like Sussex at some point, so I think the not-a-plan's all gone a bit pear-shaped, and I'll post what I can when I can, but it won't be every-day like the last two years! I'll post something tomorrow for Wednesday/Thurday' though . . . with any luck?!

M is for Malleable Mouldings 54mm Marching Marines

Title says it all, which leave me with a problem vis-à-vis blurb!

You were going to get Phidal Peter Rabbit in this slot, he'll appear this afternoon if things go according to a non-existent plan known as the 'see-what-happens' schedule!

I shot these on Adrian's stand back in September and they're actually cropped-out of larger images of a zoo I hope to Blog over Christmas, so I'm pleased they are as decent, image-wise, as they are!

I don't know if these are Eriksson's-hand; ex-Comet/Authenticast (Gaeltacht Industries), or latter production, if anything they are superior sculpts, while he's rated, he is formulaic; these have a more realistic countenance, I feel? Although the join-line is quite 'hollow-cast' or poured-metal in execution so I'm really just generating blurb!!

They appear to be in four parts; hat, two arms and body with a additional base that Malleable Mouldings seem to have cut from sheet material, pretty rough sheet material at that; puddled or rolled-out cellulose-acetate!

Ppffh is for Phidal Fairies

Another of the part-sets of Phidal which turn-up in charity shops, these were a September purchase, and I'm missing a fat cat (who may have since come-in, in another lot!), a ladybird and two other fairies, a gold/yellow one in a long ball-gown and another brown one with a red/orange handbag!

It's OK Marm, I've got the interloper;

these board-game players get everywhere!

Phidal on the right (I think it's the eponymous Tinkerbell?); allowing for the fact that A) she's wearing eight-inch stiletto's and B) is totally fictional, she'll do for 54mm at a push, and 58 or 60mm perfectly!

The sample as found, like most Phidal, they are nice sculpts well painted for the price bracket 5/10-quid, Dollars, Euros . . . everywhere! When a sample is as clean as this you do wonder if the missing figures were lost, or kept as favourites?

Front and back covers for a little more visual info! What is starting to annoy me is the number of people selling these for twice their face value (or more) on evilBay, claiming they are 'unknown' or 'vintage' or - the great favourite - 'cake decorations'.

If it's one lot among a bunch of unrelated clothes lots, books etc... you can understand; they genuinely don't know what they are and maybe hoovered them up at a car-boot sale (or Charity shop!) looking to turn a little profit, but when they have all the sets from the last three years, on a drop-down-menu, single-listing, they are simply profiteering!

A is for an Army of Arachnids!

A year ago I was still getting excited about these Phidal's as a discovery (by Spectrum), but now they've become a bit of a box-ticker, also, they are coming out with a frequency that Airfix would have envied back in the 1970's and - as such - prove there's nothing wrong with the market, just that tastes (and brands!) have changed.

Picked-these up back at the beginning of August and - Spidey fans excepted - who knew? Who knew there were at least half-a-dozen of the little serum-contaminated blighters! There's girl ones, future ones, kid ones . . . they're everywhere! ♪♫♪♫ Spider-Man, Spider-Man . . . how many of you in the Clan? ♫♫♪

Boo! Shout the panto' crowd! It's the Phidal bad-guys, and they're in front of you! How come all these spider-things don't have eight legs or eight eyes? Just sayin'! Rhino looks more like a Blood Bowl player, although I think that particular piece of Nottingham's real-estate was nicked from something published earlier in 2000AD, or am I thinking of Rollerball?!

The best of a bad-assed bunch! I wrote the names on these as I guide for myself, 'cos I don't follow any of this, There are two movies out this Christmas, I think, I won't watch either of them, even when they come on DVD!

I've recently been catching-up on stuff I did half-intend to see, but was pretty disappointed; Will Smith's After Earth was unadulterated, self-indulgent, shite, with Cruise's Oblivion a better movie but so full of plot-holes and continuity/logic errors it was a poor excuse for Sci-Fi.

District 9 was actually better, but all three had week endings with the first two very 'Hollywood-mawkish' in the last minutes! I also watched Elysium, the sort of [not-a-]follow-up to District 9, and while it shared the earlier films gritty realism and production values, along with a CGI budget to match Oblivion, it also shared the Elysium plot . . . man with X-hours/days to live puts on armoured body-suit to [successfully] defeat baddies!

What was new with this set was a 'blind-bag' element which may be to prevent pilfering? I've seen a couple like this now (with the figure compartment covered), but most are still viewable, there's a nice set of Transformers out there at the moment with robots that look just like 1980's gum-ball capsule prizes, or pencil-tops - without the hole!

E is for Evolution

Evolution is a very real thing, not just in nature, but in technology and toys, which - if you've walked round Aldershot or Basingrad - can be seen to lead to negative results as well as positive!

Indeed the evolution of toys can be driven by the evolution of technology, and in this case, like Aldershot and Basingrad, it has resulted in a family tree who's DNA has degraded before our eyes!

It's not enough that Gem and/or Festival seem to have two or three versions of most of their figure output, but that Hong Kong chucked out almost as many copies! Although it has to be said that generally there are far more copies of the known (or believed) Festival items, than those catalogued to Gem.

This may have something to do with the relationship between Culpitt and either (or more accurately 'both') of the Musgrave imprints, and/or Culpitt's connections with the aforementioned Hong Kong . . . or Wilton in the 'States . . . or . . . ?

After the earthquake,

the draughty doors were 

less of an immediate problem!

In both images the cottage nearest the viewer is clearly marked Festival on the broad area of under-wall, the middle one is a different moulding, but still 'early British' white polyethylene, yet clear of markings, while furthest from the viewer is the Hong Kong piracy in hard polystyrene, happily carried by Culpitt (and others) as if they didn't know it was a plagiarist copy of the one they'd been carrying for a decade or two previously!

The clear inference is that either Culpitt didn't care, or, they were (in part at least) responsible? Whether this was done with the blessing of George Musgrave (following his retirement from active business), is the bigger question, to which my guess at an answer is - probably not!

There is a brown-plastic version of this seen in Gem museum images, which I'm still trying to track down, it clearly has no tree/shrubbery to the right and may be the actual pattern for the HK copy, with its lower gable-end?

S is for Snowboarding Santa, Snowman, Snotty-nosed Kids and err . . . Polar Bears!

This is one of those things you just can't believe you're returning-to, especially when it's fair to say 15 or 20-years ago you wouldn't have found a snowboarding figure anywhere on the planet! Skateboarders' yes (they appeared in the 1970's, courtesy of Gem and the odd key-ring), sailboards . . . maybe . . . and Britains did a sand-yacht I think; in that late line of 54mm extreme sports, but snowboarders are a new thing!

Got a mixed bag from a charity shop a few weeks ago and with a couple in the 'waiting to be sorted' pile tried to have a competition, but the camera's flash washes-out the 'slope' and it just looks like they've been strewn about on an old hankie! I can assure you it was the Devil's own job getting the bears to stop sliding down, long enough to get the shot in.

The newest additions to a collection which you'd be forgiven for thinking has less and less to do with 'Toy Soldiers', but that's more to do with my blogging more esoteric stuff, rather than endless box-tickers of figures most people are familiar with!

I suspect these two are from a board game, probably aimed at the 5-11 age bracket? But they might be from something more 'teenage'; there's a certain street-edge to their styling, I wouldn't be surprised to find their profile sprayed on the side of Underground rolling-stock!

This guy too is aiming for cool and trendy, but he's marked with the current Kinder 'K', although as he's far too big for one of their pocket-money eggs and doesn't seem to come apart (I've pulled him every-which-way!) he must be from a Maxi-Egg, which - I noticed in Debenhams recently - are more common that they used to be over here, being more of a Continental treat in the past.

He's also incomplete; that spigot is a pretty standard Kinder thing, and is usually either a locating stud (into something else) or a handle to be held by something/someone else. Also, while he's too big for the standard eggs, he's a bit small to fill a Maxi-Egg?

Cakeboards; I've picked up a few of their pieces recently; they seem to occupy the place of Gem/Festival (although there are a couple of other players), albeit only in the dwindling number of independent cake/craft shops or online, and working in poured vinyl-resin.

Seen before, but waiting in the TBS bag, so he was dug-out and included in the 'photo-op'!

While we saw this guy a while ago, and while I can't remembered who was responsible (possibly own-branded to a supermarket?), I only started the Poly-clay tag for that Culpitt's soldier the other day, so I can add him in, while I try to find the original post!

It's an irony - which may be keeping dentists in work - that Polyclay figurines look exactly like sugar-craft figurines!

Snowboarding - it's strapping yourself to a tea-tray!

News, Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events

Second-to-last weekend before Crimbo and Saturday seems quiet, so everyone can go and have some jolly festive fun down the High Street or the local Malls, no doubt! Not!

But Sunday is busy-enough and there's still the odd Auction around.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Toy Fairs

Saturday 15th December 2018

Gloucester - Steven Clement Fairs

Churchdown Community Centre, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL3 2JH
eMail: clementfairs@aol.com
01380 725 322
10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown
Refreshments available

Hawkinge - SRP Toy Fairs

Hawkinge Community Centre, Heron Forstal Avenue, Hawkinge, Kent, CT18 7FT

Web. - http://srptoyfairs1.co.uk/

eMail - srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Mob. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Sunday 16th December 2018

Coventry - Barry Potter / BP Fairs

The Connexion, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Coventry, Warwickshire, CV8 3FL

Web. - www.bpfairs.com

Tel. - 01604 846 688

Mob. - 07966 527 177

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission £3, seniors £2.50p, children £1, eraly bird (from 08:00hrs) £6

Free parking

Eastleigh - Steven Clements Fairs

Barton Peveril Sixth Form Collage, Chestnut Avenue, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO50 5ZA

eMail: clementfairs@aol.com

Tel. - 01380 725 322

Mob. - 07958 101 891

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Great Bentley - R & G Toy Fairs

Village Hall, Plough Road, Great Bentley, Essex, CO7 8LD

Internet presence unknown

Tel. - 01206 251 351 (Gary)

Tel. - 01255 473 509 (Richard)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission £2.00, under 16's free

Free parking, refreshments

(Cycled-there once, lovely place, but the weather was a little more inclement!)

Huntingdon - J&J Fairs (John & Julie Webb)

International Indoor Areana, Kings Bush Centre, Wood Green Animal Shelters, London Road, Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, PE29 2NH

Web. - www.j-jwebbtoyfairs.com

eMail - jandjfairs@virginmedia.com

Tel. - 01522 880 383 (J & J Webb)

10:00 - 14:30hrs

Admission £3, Seniors £2.50p, 1st Child £2

Orpington - SRP Toyfairs

Crofton Halls, Orpington, Kent, BR6 8PR

Web. - www.srptoyfairs1.co.uk

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Pudsey, Leeds - Steel Promotions - Leeds (Pudsey) Toy/Train Fair

Pudsey Civic Hall, Dawson Corner, Stanningley Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS28 5TA

Internet presence unknown

Tel. I - 0161 283 1255

Tel. II - 0161 766 2012

10:00 - 15:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Café, licensed bar

Southport - Barry Stockton Fairs

Splash World, Dunes Leisure Centre, The Esplanade, Southport, Merseyside, Lancashire, PR8 1RX

Web. - www.barrystcoktonfairs.co.uk

Tel. - 0151 334 3362

10:00 - 14:30

Admission £2.00, children 50p

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Auctions

Monday 17th December 2018

Downham Market - Barry L Hawkins

The Estate Office, 15 Lynn Road, Downham Market, Norfolk, PE38 9NL
Web. - www.barryhawkins.co.uk
eMail -  info@barryhawkins.co.uk
Tel. -01366387180

Newark - Northgate Auctions

17 Northgate, Newark, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG24 1EX

Web. - www.northgateauctionroomsnewark.co.uk

eMail - auctions@northgateauctionroomsnewark.co.uk

Tel. - 01636 605 905

Fax. - 01636 612 607

Mixed toys, vintage and modern

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

If you are an event promoter/show curator/auctioneer and you want your toy, model, collectable or popular-/youth-culture type sale/exhibition/event listed here - FOR FREE - or linked to; please eMail me -

maverickatlarge[at]hotmail[dot]com

- stating the date/s of the event, address of event, contact details, opening/viewing times, admission pricing and any other relevant facts/details or features - parking, travel notes, disability access, availability of refreshments, event subject matter &etc.

And please mention any flyer-art or poster-/leaflet-scans but send by separate eMail, in case they go to the 'junk' folder, from where they can be recovered and marked safe, but only if I know they're there!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Toys on the web!

I might not post one or two days over the next week or so as I have stuff to do, but no formal plan!