Y is for Yawn!

Nah! Not really, but we don't get many 'Y's in the tag-list! This was going to be a figure-free day today, here at Small Scale World, looking at vehicles and I said as much to a loyal reader in an eMail last night, but in the end and because of the problems with BT-WiFi (which clearly means 'Where Is FIdelity) I'm chucking this up here for now, cos I've managed an Internet window, and it may be all you get today!

For those who have been on holiday, there's plenty published recently to catch-up on, for those observing lockdowns and social distancing who have been following more closely, sorry; 'cos it's not even that 'new' or interesting, but the box needs ticking!

Seen just about everywhere now, and associated with about five brandings already, we're adding another here; Stobok, almost certainly a phantom-brand of Amazon's own warehouses (it was a 'lockdown' purchase along with the Egyptians!), it's the accessories which are of interest here, the figures being-sub-sub-piracies and of the accessories, the totem pole, being also the least interesting (also a sub-piracy of a common design), that's got the worst image out of the way!

These are the nice bits; and worth the paltry sum you can find the set for. A 'sky' or 'air-burial' platform (which can also be a lookout!)* in six parts and a five-part camp-fire and cooking tripod arrangement. The latter useful with any period or scenario from cave-men to a galaxy far, far away!

* Or shelter roof!

The Teepee (Tipi) is a bit so-so, but nice for being not the Britains one! Both the decoration and the fully-round sculpting setting it apart from the much copied 'usuall' one and while it's fair to suggest the flat has britains DNA, equally there aren't many ways of showing a flap and folded back against the tent's body is the easiest!

Heh-hay! It's another Marra'jah'wanna-tree! The last time we saw this it was in a Red Deer dinosaur set I think? Which probably means this set may turn-up in Red Deer packaging, although it has already been attributed to Maxxi Toys, who sell in the same stores that take Red Deer branded product, so they may both be generics from the same source anyway?

That's it, that's them, box ticked.

S is for Swings & Roundabouts

An odd one here, and definitely from that 'We buy this shite so you don't have to' department, which has brought you so much quality tat over the years, I literally bought these knowing I was likely to be disappointed, but as they were so cheap, willing to take the hit if I got a Blog post out of them . . . this is a Blog post, but I was a bit disappointed; so - swings and roundabouts!

How they arrived, five novelty pens of Egyptian gods, in a fetching gold sprayed hard-placky, probably a cheap 'styrene, but I'll chuck ABS in the tags to cover my arse! 

There were branded to Toyvian but came [unbranded] from an Amazon warehouse so technically a  'generic' in phantom branding, and the photo's on the listing showed five different gods, but then stated they would be sent as a "random pattern", so a classic flagging of likely shite'ness in the 'small print' there!

Has it happens, getting two Bastets (insert your own joke about Amazon here), or two anything's is not so bad if you want to pair them-up either side of a doorway or something, but just annoying when you know there are other sculpts, and in fact three of the sculpts from the listing are missing!

Not strictly rack-toys, but priced in the same pocket-money / novelty brackets. And with both Anubis (jackal) and Bastet (cat) missing from the sales ads', I really can't bitch as much as I already have - here and elsewhere! A Pharaoh and Ra make up the four different ones I got, but that only brings us to problem number two.

The Pharaoh was broken! How? How do you break one (sealed) out of five (sealed together) and not the others? Probably because it was broken in the automated assembly and bagging process of a Chinese factory thousands of miles, and many months away from the ultimate delivery to my door, is how!

So, if we take the duplicate and the broken one out of the equation, only one of the five illustrated survives, with two newcomers! Suddenly seven-quid something starts to look pricy . . . we buy this shite so you don't have to!

From the back. If I wanted to use them as pens, obviously the Pharaoh's innards could be transferred to one of the others to extend their life, after they and run out, but pens, or 'more pens' is the last thing I need and they were purchased as novelty statuettes with a view to war-gaming scenery and that's where, hopefully you can see their potential . . .

. . . as here, where Atlantic's Pharaoh 'Ramses' is waved through the starg... err . . . portal to his throne room! Swings and roundabouts, init? They are what they are, and with a sand wash and matt repaint might be useful to someone! They do free-stand, without extra work, after the barrel and gubins are removed, but you'd need to fill the hole at the top.