M is for Mohawk and More Military Miniatures

At the recent Sandown Park show I picked up a parcel from our roving reporter in New York, Brian Berke, which was very useful, as while I've mentioned them once or twice over the years, I've never encountered the sample while transferring things between different places, so they've remained rather absent from the Blog, but we can now tick that box - Mohawk's mini 'dimestore dreams'.

 

The one on the right is the colour of all my sample, so the pale herb-green ones, to the left, which made-up the bulk of Brian's donation were new to me, and this is a slightly larger version of the jeep we've seen before here more than once.

 

Brian also included a few marked-Lido mini's, so we can compare the two mouldings, as a full-stop to this original post, here, which compared the other three contenders for who's the pirate, who's the licensee, and who did the first version!

 

So that's six (Kleeware, Lido x2, Merit, Pyro and Mohawk) in total now, with the soft plastic Hong Kong version, Lido seem to have sanctioned themselves, toward the end!

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2018/08/l-is-for-lido-not-load-of-limp.html 

 

The lorry on the left, a sort of 1950's pantechnicon, is also a homage to other mini 'readymades' of the era (the Pyro 'artic'), and also scaled-up, while the Ambulance is a more original moulding. I know I have a tanker, to look at another day, but I think I was missing the pantechnicon, so lovely to get both colours.

 

The car is also based on another model, and while less obvious, joins the Empire-Ideal-Kleeware-Lido-Pyro (2 sculpts)-Wyandotte family of small post-war family saloons, for an eight-count! While Brian himself sent us the Carzol coloured versions of the Tank not that long ago;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2023/07/n-is-for-new-stuff-from-new-york.html

 

Lido on the left, Mohawk on the right and there's more on the cars here;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2013/03/s-is-for-siblings-take-2.html

 

Among the Lido's was a lovely bronzed version of the 'StuG III' which was new to me, and while rather washed-out by camera-flash in this shot (left-hand tank), is - in daylight - a distinctive goldish-bronze colour plastic, like some of the Captain Video figures!

 

At the same show Adrian had a few dime-store's saved for me, both of which are useful, having seen marked tractors and or guns from Banner, Bell and Merit, I'm not sure who issued this unbranded pair (left, the tractor has a 'Made in England' which I'll compare to others in the collection at a later date), but in a batch of British stuff, Kleeware, Tudor Rose or Merit (licensed or copy) are in the frame, and with the wreaker-truck a marked Kleeware copy/mould-swap of the Pyro, the clever money goes on Kleeware?

 

As with the Jeeps and 'Staff Cars', we've looked at many versions of the gun here at Small Scale World, already, but getting two new versions in one show is a feather in the collection's cap, with the unmarked green one, and a full-sized Hong Kong copy, in silver polymer, with eye-damaging ammunition!

 

There were a couple of more conventional/less contentious British 'Dime Store' AFV's from Tudor Rose, not copied by five other people, or licensed to anyone, the rather good Churchill IV, and the more dodgy armoured car.

Many thanks to Brian and Adrian, it’s all a dimestoretastic show-plunder and donations post, folks!

F is for Follow-up - Vehicular Plunder Post

A bitty post, but I'm trying to do a follow-up to each of Chris's donation posts, if only to clear some crud out of Picasa, but also to add to the previous, or illustrate a point made, with this one it's the landing-craft 'thing'!

 

Here it is, on a generic 'U.N. Army Set', and you can see what I meant about all the plug-in holes, there are at least six, but nothing plugged into them! I've never understood what the section of Bailey Bridge is for either, half unsuccessful WWI tank's steering mechanism / half bridge-support?

 

I think it's meant to be a depth-charge launcher, as there's a double row of blobs immediately in front of it? But for Old School war-gaming a'la the Terry Wise school of doing things, it could be used as one of the fire-support rocket launchers, from D-Day!

 

Further to the aircraft shot in that pervious post, the Stuka here is also ex-MPC 'Mini', but i don't think the other two are, however there's a chap on eBay at the moment selling a bucket-load of them in 20's, there are several more sculpts, another of which might be ex-MPC, the others like these two more chunky chaps! The Stuka is a fourth or fifth generation copy, with a large allied star added to the wing, as ahve the others!

 

And, another 'executive jet' pressed into service as a warplane, but the real interest here is the peculiar AA-gun, on a tripod mount, which isn't terribly clear in this shot, but the blue rendition on the card is an accurate likeness.

 

I've picked up several loose ones over the years, and was struggling to work out from none-too-clean samples, which small-scale (or other) figures they went with, but you can see here, there are no figures, just a dodgy pair of knock-off Action Man binoculars . . . You are the spotter AND the gunner!

O is for Once Upon a Time, in June! AFV's

So, the other half of the 'Army Men' post (which was going to be one post, but I couldn't face all that typing in one hit!), their transport, and it's an eclectic mix with a few interesting bits in it!

 

I know, but it was a Jeep! It was a Hugonnet card! It's otherwise the same rack-toy shite churned-out by Hong Kong, but a worthy addition to the collection, and confirms loose figures I've got somewhere! Starlux piracies!

 

These were from Isaac, who's surname I've never caught, but he'd saved them for me (along with the Wild West swoppet bags and some other stuff), and they were a real revelation, as when I got them home I found they were confirming one of the possible combinations suggested by me in this post;

 

https://smallscaleworld.blogspot.com/2015/09/p-is-for-pick.html

  

With the 'Long Tom' on the odd coastal-artillery type platform, as well as getting the 'Speedwell' tank, with/in the same card/bag, so a very useful addition to the collection Something I would have been even more excited about, back when I was a small-scale only collector, and new things were getting thin on the ground! Now I've seen the all-scale polymer mountain to climb, I'm a little more jaded, but these are much appreciated.

 

The CTS (now BMC) Sherman Tank, apparently a bit smaller than the rarer Airfix one, and in a hard'ish ethylene or propylene, I didn't get this from Matt, who I now know WAS Matt!, But either from Steve Weston or somebody near him? On one level it's a gap-filler/box-ticker, but on another level, also a nice model, and it looks the part, which is important with Shermans, get one major dimension, angle or curve wrong and they can instantly look very odd, or daft!

 

They need a clean, but for reasons you don't need to be bored with, cleaning's out at the moment. Also, we've seen them before, they are pretty common, but belong to a family of rack-toy stuff, including the Jeep-trailer/gun combo's we’ve also seen here,with and without plug-in crew, and with two or even three new colours, they are adding to the story, if we ever tease the full story out!

 

And the comments on Sherman's were specific, because this gets a lot wrong! Can't remember of this was a purchase or a contribution, but it's the sort of thing you see on eBay, and think "Even if I get it for 99p, it's not worth the postage!", but it was a box that needed ticking, and it has its own rack-toy charm!

 

Also, a generic, over-branded to Woolbro, and it has a telescopic barrel, to keep the box as small as possible, while the turret on the box art is even whackier than the turret in the box!
 

Thanks especially to Issack, but also Graham Apperley, John Begg, Barney Brown, Brian Carrick, Peter Evans, Adrian Little, Michael Mordant-Smith, Trevor Rudkin, Steve Vickers, and with no emails since the intro-post, anyone else who gave me stuff, who I have forgotten to add.

L is for Last May's Lots of Lovely Loot - Vehicles

Before I can get on to the very late Plastic Warrior show reports, I need to get the previous, and even later, Sandown Park's loot out of the way, which was purloined a few weeks before the PW show, so let's get them out of the way sharpish! Although I don't think you can say sharpish, when the posts are three months overdue!

 

A small Gescha/Gama style tin-plate tank, bearing more resemblance to some early post-war APC's, with a small turret, and high superstructure. I can't remember if it had branding, or if someone gave me a brand? Space Tank!

 

Two mystery (when I saw them) die-cast military vehicles. a nice inter-war armoured car, actually Charbens, it is die-cast alloy, but has lead wheels, and a British tanker-truck, which was marked Britain or England I think, the trouble with doing these posts so long after the event, is you forget stuff! But while in the style of Dinky, it's not, and is probably a re-painted Benbros Esso tanker - note the red on the paint-chips! Interestingly, a re-issue of an old Timpo mould.

 

Vintage Tootsie-Toys AFV's, one marked the other anonymous (can't remember which was/is which), I think the lorry may be pre-war (1930's), while the Armoured-car might be just post-war? But that's going on the wheels/tyres (or 'tires', they're American after all!), which could, just as easily, be replacements? You won't believe the trouble I had, getting the two MG's to look right, they are suspended, free-floating or hanging, between small bumps in the moulding, and loose with age, and were a bugger to get right!

 

Another Charbens, this all die-cast, wheels and body, and darker green than some I've seen, and while not the most accurate version of Humber out there, it's a darn-sight better than the plastic one they did later!

 

Two more French 'readymades', one each Noreda (front, Jeep-like) and Injectaplastic (behind, DKW with Jeep trailer), we've seen them both before, but they were clean, and cheap, so I took them home with me!

Banner 'row-crop' tractor in military green, possibly depicting an Oliver tractor (US Readers?), and two copies, the copies are slightly smaller all-round, and have a few detail differences, unmarked, I hope they are in Bill Hanlon's book!

 

Again, newish to me, similar to some Archer space cars from the 'States, I was told these were actually British so Kleeware or Tudor Rose, but the larger one is a Marx future car, the smaller however is a Pyro/Kleeware moulding, so could the Marx also be a mould-swap with Kleeware?

 

Two teeny-tiny battleships, probably from a late-Edwardian board game, and a larger lead yacht, which could also be a board-game piece, or a smaller component of something more decorative? It's covered in what appears to be black paint, but which could just be severe oxidation?

 

Because they came with a T4, these two reprobates have got themselves into the vehicle post! In the style of MUSCLE or Kinnukiman, these two Thunderbirds Keshi are new to the collection, along with the little Thunderbird Four.

 

A damaged Manurba coach and spare helmet crest for a Lone Star knight are snuck in at the end, just to get them off the laptop!

L is for Lots of London Loot - Four is for More (Sandown, Last September)

It all got a bit mixed-up through the second half of last year, so while this is 'the' Sandown Park show pictures/report, I genuinely can't remember if they are only purchases, some freebies, or Adrian bits which may be free or very cheap, so they're just going up as they are, and some of it might have been filtered out to other posts already, like the ceremonial one a while back?

 

Anguplas Mini-Car DUKW, I don't know what it's made out of, it seems to be a 'styrene, but I suspect - from the ongoing deformation - that it's actually made of a polymer from within the celluloid-cellulose acetate family?

 

It was re-issued by EKO, who inherited the tool in 1967, in a stable polystyrene, so a better version can be found, they are described as 1:87th scale (Anguplas) and HO (EKO). We've seen an EKO one here in the past, and I needed this one for a full - future - comparison!

 

Not 100% on this one, obviously Hong Kong knock-off of the Crescent Saladin in plastic, it's probably the M-Toy (May Moon-Marty) version, but there are several? You can tell it's copied from the Crescent matchstick-firer, as they have retained the channel behind and above the gun-mantlet where Crescent's trigger-bar sat in the fired position, although they have filled-in the cocking 'T' channel!

 

A small group of mini-vehicles to add to all the others, with the exception of the 'Manurba' wagon, they are all the slightly better and/or larger ones with separate wheels, to the moulded-in wheeled ones we looked at a while ago in more detail, but three or four manufactures are here, and I didn't take notes on any marks, so for now, just a pretty picture!

Nice painted paratrooper, probably a BR Moulds one, rather than the Airfix version (no pin-mark at the front of the base, slightly smaller), and useful parts for a whole and two half Kinder horses, although the connector is interchangeable, the colours not so!

 

Then a lovely Arab on horseback, in pretty-much 1:76th (HO-OO compatible) scale, standing on a box-plinth which could be for snuff, but it's more likely aimed for something like pills, or dressmaker's pins; matches even? The whole in a celluloid I suspect, and likely from Japan, although unmarked?

Four oddments, a Blue Box cable-car passenger, a Donald Duck, which from plastic and paint type/quality, I suspect may be an Argentinian product or piracy, and two Tin Tin figurines, from the Europeans, but I'm not sure which set and don't have the PW special in front of me!

 

Marx sentry, I can't remember if he was still a 'want' or if I'd got one a while back? Well, he carried two names in one of the issues, so I suppose two is the minimum required! A small novelty racing-car, probably Hong Kong, and chrome-coated, with another Processed Plastics Cadillac soft-top . . . I'm building a fleet! New colour!

 

Die cast wrestlers! Actually removed from key-rings issued by Placo Toys back in 1998.

 

These are a mystery, I think the mortar, which came with them is the Ougen issue of the Elastolin 40mm model, something about the paint maybe? But it could be the German original (painted metalwork?), I just don't know. When I bought them (off Adrian, I think), I assumed they were a home-modelled conversion set.

 

But the figures, don't look familiar, seem to match, may be home-painted but don't appear to be conversions, and that small-square base on the nearer one is ringing no bells, despite being close to some Cherilea stuff, while the guy behind him, shouting and pointing looks more Marx or MPC in the base department, but again, I don't recognise the figure . . . so anyone with any clue, idea or opinion, remarks gratefully received in the comments!

 

As a side note, the three figures are styled after the kind of fashion seen in Victorian or earlier depictions of Romans in art? The third figure is similar to one of the Charbens Greco-Roman, but I've rather hidden him in this shot. The helmets are very distinctive, but if they are the 'conversion', are very well done . . . ? Are they just some modern production which I haven't paid attention to?

 

Three pipes from a Matchbox 1-75 Series lorry - useful spares!

 

Love these! Four tinplate demi-ronde European infantry of a generic (but probably specific - if you know what you are looking at) unit of late 19th/Early 20th century troops, possibly Mediterranean or maybe South American, they might even be the Russo-Japanese war? I only have a handful of this type of stuff in the stash, and have photographed one or two more over the years, so to get four, cheap was a real treat!

 

The footballer looks like he could be home-cast, but the diminutive size says he's probably from a board- or table-game of some kind. The Timpo US Officer will be for comparison shots with the plastics and the mortar looks like a squat version of the Lone Star plastic one, did they do it in metal first, is it Crescent, or did someone clone it?

 

Classic rack toy! Jumping spider with air-balloon and hose . . . Brilliant!

 

Spanish rack-toy! The other 'Tin-Tin'! Funny, as someone else posted this a month or two ago, at Christmas time? And I saw another dealer with a box full of these last Saturday at Sandown's 1st show of this year, so like the Emirober Beatle's a couple of decades ago, or the Comansi rubber Thunderbirds, someone has found a warehouse full of these recently, it would seem!

 

These all came in a job-lot, with no riders and a fair bit of badly damaged stuff, in the 'car-boot' scrummage on the stands before the show's doors open, immediately dismissed by people in the know as worthless 'second grade', sub-scale Elastolin budget range.

 

I rather like them, and they are nearly a century-old, so there! AND, there's a motorcycle, and a medical vignette which is just as good as the 70mm range, and wasn't reproduced in the 40mm as far as I know, and if they are 'unloved' by the BMSS brigade, they may not survive in the same numbers as the 'posh' ones, which would make them rarer?

 

Thanks to Adrian Little of Mercator Trading, as he probably gave me some of the above, and if he didn't, he definitely gave me some stuff at the show, we've either already looked at here, or will be looking at in future posts, shortly!

L is for Late Show Report - Vehicular Elements!

Onwards and upwards and we get to transports of delight! One way or another, I came back from Whitton with a lot of the smaller novelty stuff, in part thanks to the donations from Trevor, Peter and Brian C, whose bags all had a few, so let me stop waffling and we'll have a look . . . 

These are lovely, well, I mean you can see with your own eyes, they are shite, but, they are new to me, new to the collection and new to the oeuvre of mini/micro-mini rack-toy shite! They were in Trevor's bag, and are so clean they might be quite recent, but could equally be old stock, looked-after? Quite wacky and two have a sort of 1970's US muscle-car lines to them, with the type on the right looking like some semi-demented cartoon armoured car, I know nothing else, but love 'em!

 

I think I had one of these scout cars from Barney a few years ago as an 'I've never seen it before' type thing, since when, several have turned-up and with these two I have a troop now, with some spare parts! What I love about them and the similar jeeps is that the little drivers are in scale with Airfix, even if the AFV's aren't, so they could be used in 'old school' wargaming! The Jeep is a modern rack-toy thing!

 

You've seen this stuff coming in, time and time again, if you've followed the Blog for any length of time, and, in ones and twos like this, the master samples continue to grow to workable sizes. We've looked at the semi-flats (front pair) before, both as French premiums with a variety of marks, and as these Hong Kong staples of Christmas crackers, but the Chinese only copied one of the original sculpts.

 

I think the pop-together green car (top right) is an early Kinder (there were similar military vehicles), the silver one may be new (cereal premium?), while the other green one goes with a growing handful of 'chunky' ones, we saw a while back in a mini-season of integral-moulded-wheels 'minis'. The red car in the centre is from the early-learning collection we've seen before, and the solid blue sports-car is another one joining mates in the stash!

The other two sports cars, with pierced bodywork are again somewhere in the pile as a larger sample with more colours, and have something (poor quality) in common with the first image above, while the one with separate wheels is a HK copy of an old Jean/Maurba/Siku type thing from the 1950's/early 1960's, and belongs to the genre we haven't looked at here, yet, but will - those with running wheels. There's many more of them, and several of the samples have outgrown their bags and moved up to takeaway tubs!

 

Again, we have looked at these in an overview, but there's plenty more to tell and plenty more have come-in since. Today we have a banana-plane (bottom right), two which are supposed to be SE5's I think (Biggles was still very big when I was a kid, I read them all in the school library, old hardbacks with glorious, bright, coloured lithographed covers and thick pages which were almost card!), and a small pale blue . . . Albatross? Some iterations of these have the supposed make on the underside, but I didn't think to look with these four, too much else going on!

 

A mix here of rack-toy tat and cracker/gum-ball tat, but again, all grist to the mill, all adding to existing samples, with a possible game-playing piece bottom right, and a possible new sculpt in the little primrose-yellow cracker-toy?

 

Two generations of cracker motorcyclist in the red pair, the third mine-wagon to come it, it must be from a railway scenery kit? One is complete with a cross-bar/brace, the other two like this missing the delicate piece, but when three come-in over 40-odd years, they must be from something relatively common?

 

The large motorcycle is another early Airfix one, and has lost it's handlebar tips, but the other marbled-yellowish one I found was the one we looked at with a crumbly area in the centre of the engine, so they must have had a duff batch with that colour?

 

The final piece looks familiar, but I can't place it, I think it may be the nose wheel from a possibly die-cast mini-plane, but that's pure guesswork, and it will join the spare wheel stock in the hope of being reunited with something, one day!

 

Gisby kindly ID'd the free sample of a Warlord Games 'Cruel Seas' British MTB from the fuzzy image in the Intro-post the other day, which he thinks was given away with Wargames Illustrated magazine, and to go with it are various other vessels.

 

The four silver ones are common, and we've looked at them before, the left-hand submarine is very useful, as it's the last one I needed lose, from the carded set of 1960's hard 'styrene naval vessels we have seen here. The other sub' is a 'Made In England' beach or bath toy which I think is new to me/the collection. 

 

The little white one is from the set of mini 'tree' crackers we have seen before, while the deck at the front is a useful spare from the various sets of Hong Kong copies of such Western makes as INGAP, and I may already have a bereft hull for it, somewhere.

Finally, a novelty white-button railway set, we've looked at a few in one or two posts already, and there is a bunch in the medium-to-long queue! I think the B&TAR is a madeupname railway company! I also think it's quite recent, if not still out there somewhere, it's the kind of thing you see in Poundland?

 

Many thanks again to Adrian Little, Barney Brown, Brian Carrick, Chris Smith, Michael Mordant-Smith, Paul Stadinger, Peter Evans and Trevor Rudkin, for contributions to this year's plunder-pile.